For over 50 years Cumbria Rural Choirs (CRC) has brought together  singers from across north Cumbria and beyond to perform large scale  choral works, which would be too demanding for small community based  choirs to sing on their own. Its programmes include classical and  contemporary works. CRC encourages the involvement of young people in  its performances. It involved, for example, the recently established  Cumbria Youth Choir in its last concert in March 2018.

CRC is currently raising funds to commission a new choral work  ‘Encountering Wordsworth’ to celebrate, in 2020, the 250th anniversary  of Wordsworth’s birth. 

William Wordsworth was one of the most influential of England's Romantic  poets. Settling at Dove Cottage in Grasmere in the Lake District in  1799, his most famous poem, 'I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud' was written  here. As Wordsworth was born and lived in Cumbria, this anniversary is a  unique opportunity to celebrate Wordsworth’s legacy and enable people,  locally and globally, to learn more about their cultural heritage.   CRC needs funding to pay the composer, Will Todd and the librettist Alan  Titchmarsh. This is the equivalent of £700 per minute of composed  music. ‘Encountering Wordsworth’ will include sections that young  singers and young instrumentalists will enjoy performing.  It will be premiered at the Sands Centre in Carlisle on 25th April 2020 and by other community choirs in the future. 

In order to start the project funds need to be in place by the beginning of September