Recording a song for Nana leads to major record deal for 11-year-old Lancashire schoolboy…CORMAC
Hear My Voice Released 4th December 2020 A simple act of kindness from an eleven-year-old grandson to his beloved ‘Nannie’ – performing her favourite song for her on YouTube as they could not be together due to lockdown – has led to him being signed by the legendary Decca and playing Freddie Mercury’s piano!
When Cormac’s heartfelt performance of ‘Danny Boy’ came to the label’s attention by chance on social media, they immediately signed him up and his album ‘Hear My Voice’ will be released on 4 December 2020.
Cormac is from Lancashire and his maternal grandparents live in Northern Ireland. Due to the Covid travel restrictions, they could not see each other and so he had the idea to perform a song virtually. Now, since the song was shared and people far and wide fell in love with his wonderful voice, he finds himself label mates with the likes of Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Lisa Minnelli!
Not only that, but he started work on the album at the Metropolis Studios where everyone from Queen to U2 to Adele has created masterpieces. Cormac even got to warm up by using Freddie Mercury’s piano [he played it wearing gloves so that he could keep them as souvenirs!].
Cormac’s ‘Nannie’ (Colleen) said, “I could never have imagined that his little pieces, sung for me, would have led to this amazing opportunity. My husband and I are so very proud of Cormac, and we hope that his singing will give much pleasure. We also hope that it will help to shed a little light during these dark times we are all having to endure.”
‘Hear My Voice’ features fifteen brand new recordings that showcase the pureness and clarity of Cormac’s voice. The material included ranges from his own takes on songs like Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’, to evergreen classics like ‘Pie Jesu’ and [35 years after the original!]; and there is a very contemporary take on the Christmas classic ‘Walking in the Air’.
Thematically there is a nod towards missing loved ones, distance and the Gaelic tradition. Of course, the album features Nannie’s favourite, ‘Danny Boy’.
TRACKLISTING 1. Pie Jesu (Lloyd Webber) / 2. Run (Snow Patrol) / 3. How Can I Keep from Singing? / 4. Fields of Gold / 5. Walking in the Air / 6. You Raise Me Up feat. Secret Garden / 7. Shenandoah / 8. Tomorrow (from Annie) / 9. Be Thou My Vision / 10. Danny Boy / 11. I Have a Dream (Abba) / 12. Wexford Carol / 13. A Gaelic Blessing (Rutter) / 14. O Waly Waly / 15. O Holy Night
Whilst this has been an extraordinary adventure already for Cormac, and one that he could never have expected when he first decided to cheer up his grandma, he is a very down to earth boy. Singing live, perhaps performing his music in a Cathedral seems a slightly remote possibility at the moment. Cormac will have to content himself with the virtual world – as an 11-year-old he would love to do a show on Fortnite like Marshmello, Travis Scott or Dominic Fike! Whilst that may be a stretch, what is for certain is that Nannie couldn’t be prouder, and the whole nation will love ‘Hear My Voice’.
This November, a special collaboration between the Military Wives Choirs and Westminster City Council will commemorate the centenary of one the most poignant stories of World War One: the burial of the Unknown Warrior.
On 11th November there is a service hosted by DCMS / RBL and Westminster Abbey. It’s a recreation of the burial 100 years ago so will include Abide With Me being sung by the Abbey Choir. This is being broadcast live on TV, thoughthe usual Armistice Day commemorations at Whitehall are not happening this year due to COVID.
The Song
To commemorate the centenary of the journey, members of the Military Wives Choirs from across the country have recorded a new version of a song originally sung at the funeral 100 years ago. ‘Abide with Me’ was one of two tracks that survived experimental recording at the ceremony to become the first electrical recording ever sold to the public.
Military Wives Choirs
The guests of honour at the ceremony one hundred years ago, over and above any Government and military officials, were a group of about one hundred women. They had been chosen because they had each lost their husband and all their sons to the war. “Every woman so bereft who applied for a place got it”.
It is therefore fitting that Military Wives Choirs were chosen to record this special 100th anniversary version of ‘Abide With Me’. With 73 choirs and more than 2000 members in British military bases across the UK and overseas, the Military Wives Choirs is a charity that brings all women in the military community, not just wives, closer together and empowers them through singing.
The Recording
Conceived before the impact of COVID-19 had hit, and then created and recorded during lockdown, the production of the track became a journey in itself – showing the power of music to bring people together during difficult times. Conducted by Hilary Davan Wetton and produced by Sean Hargreaves, and featuring a trumpeter from the Band of the Scots Guards.
The Story of the Unknown Warrior
100 years ago, as the nameless soldier was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey, ‘Abide with Me’ rang out – and a nation came together. This special re-recording of the hymn aims to retell the story of the Unknown Warrior and, once again, unite a nation
Of the 1 million British and Commonwealth servicemen and women killed in World War One, some 165,000 would never receive a proper burial. Many were left in unmarked graves on the battlefields where they fell. Some were simply never found.
This tragic loss of life and the ongoing suffering of families with no place to mourn led to an idea. An idea that in 1920 saw one of the fallen – rank, regiment, service all unknown – returned from the battlefields of Europe and buried in Westminster Abbey with all the honour a war and flu-ravaged country could muster.
Here is an emotive and powerful music video to accompany the song, which succinctly tells the story of the Unknown Warrior https://vimeo.com/467783793/bf31287250
There will also be a short documentary video about the story of the Unknown Warrior, told by members of the Military Wives Choirs available very shortly.
The Military Wives Choirs’ recording of Abide With Me will be formally released on November 6th
Here is the music link and also a short video of footage shot 100 years ago…and today.
Since lockdown measures were introduced to cope with the coronavirus outbreak, there has been a stark rise in domestic abuse, with the National Domestic Abuse helpline reporting an 80% increase in calls in June. Fran Hipperson, family partner at B P Collins, advises on what victims can do to protect themselves and their children.
Domestic abuse isn’t always physical violence. It can also encompass a pattern of controlling, threatening and coercive behaviour. This behaviour can be emotional, economic, psychological or sexual. Perpetrators of domestic abuse often use coercive and controlling behaviour to seek to isolate their victims from friends and family and to remove any support network they have.? Lockdown has made it much easier for them to do this.
If you’re experiencing domestic abuse, there are various orders which can be made to help you, although applications are likely to be dealt with remotely through telephone or Skype hearings rather than at court. For example, it is possible for the court to make an order regulating the use of the family home, such as who can use the kitchen at a particular time.
The court also has the power to exclude the perpetrator of domestic abuse from the family home entirely (an occupation order) and to grant an injunction to prevent abusive behaviour (a non-molestation order). Breach of a non-molestation order is a criminal offence and as such will act as a deterrent for some.
Refuges also remain open, and the police will provide support to all those who are being abused – whether physically, emotionally, or otherwise.
If you’re experiencing abuse, you can also call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline for free on 0808?2000?247 and anyone in danger should call 999.
If your friend or family member is a victim of domestic abuse, you could provide information on organisations that offer help to victims and their children and explore available options with them. You can also help them to report an assault to the police if they choose to do so and you could go with them
October 12, 2026 1860 Elmer Sperry 1872 Ralph Vaughan Williams 1929 Magnus Magnusson 1935 Luciano Pavarotti 1942 Melvin Franklin 1944 Angela Rippon 1948 Richard Parfitt 1954 Les Dennis 1967 Susan Tully
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