Edward Gregson

Welcome

Welcome is a work composed by Edward Gregson, arranged for Upper Voices and Piano. It was originally composed for boys' voices, Organ, Brass and Percussion in 1996, but ten years later Gregson created a new version especially for the Kinder Children's Choir of the High Peak. This latter version appears here, and lasts around 4 minutes. The text of Welcome consists of the word 'Welcome', repeated numerous times in a variety of languages, from English to various European languages, to Hebrew and Arabic. Gregson's idea was to provide a fitting way to welcome a new and diverse audience into a new concert hall designed for a new Millennium. The voices are divided into as many as six parts in certain places, but it's left to the conductor to decide on how to distribute these parts, depending on the size and make-up of the choir. The work is suitable for performance by any mixture of upper voices, from children's choirs to female voices.