It may not seem the most obvious place to throw a classical concert but, on a Saturday in September, one half of the Clyde Tunnel could be shut so that 1000 choristers can perform a new work by Glasgow-based composer Gareth Williams.
The performance, Mr Williams said yesterday, will emphasise the tunnel's "cathedral-like qualities with a musical pilgrimage under the Clyde". He admitted, true, that the "tunnel is usually a bland, noisy space that is barely noticed by commuters". The concert is the brainchild of Kathy Friend, a camerawoman and adopted Glaswegian trying to raise £1m to light up the tunnel and make it into a fitting gateway for the city. Her project is named Hold Your Breath - after the tens of thousands of children told to do exactly that for the 57 seconds it takes to drive through the tunnel at 30mph.
"We have agreed to it in principle," said a spokesman for Glasgow City Council after being asked if the authorities were really going to shut one of the two sections for a concert. But he added: "We haven't seen the detail of their planning yet." Ms Friend warned: "We might have to shut the other section too, during the concert itself."
Her organisation has been awarded funding from the Performing Rights Society Foundation to commission Mr Williams.
She said: "I am very excited to be able commission local composer Gareth Williams to write a new choral work for our launch event. The composition will be a promenade piece which will include 1000 singers from community choirs and Taiko drummers from the Japanese tradition." Hold Your Breath is determined to brighten up the tunnel. Ms Friends has already planned a system that would transmit "tunnel" music into the radios of cars making the 763-metre journey. It was while surveying for that system that she came up with the idea for a concert.
"We walked into the road tunnel while it was closed to traffic," she said. "It was so impressive on foot, and I got a real sense of the bravery of the men who went down there to dig it by hand."
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