Two songs commissioned by Cambridge Youth Opera as part of their ongoing creative project ‘Footprints Through Time’.
The project was inspired by a collaboration with the Museum of Archeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. As CYO describes: ‘The young people were inspired by the Trumpington Bed Burial to write the story of a ghost of a young Saxon girl who meets her modern counterpart. The action takes place on Trumpington Meadows housing development, where the real Saxon girl was discovered.’
There then followed a series of workshops creating the story of the opera and composing song lyrics. Nathan Williamson was commissioned to set two of these poems to music: Roby sees the Ghost – in which the ghost of the Saxon girl tries to attract the attention of her modern counterpart – and then Odilia, where the Saxon girl Odilia sings of her longing to be remembered.
These songs in turn led to the creation by members of CYO of beautiful artwork, drawings and designs for the opera – some of these can be seen in the accompanying image on this page.
This project was made posible thanks to the generous support of the University of Cambridge. More details about ‘Footprints Through Time’ can be found at the CYO website.
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