Home / Arts and Entertainment / Choir Sings Charity Hit Inside Coal Power Station Cooling Tower
Choir Sings Charity Hit Inside Coal Power Station Cooling Tower
29 Apr
Summary
- A choir recorded charity songs in a cooling tower at the UK's last coal power station.
- Proceeds from the unique recordings will benefit a children's hospice.
- The power station closed in September 2024 after operating since 1968.
A choir has transformed a cooling tower at the UK's last coal-fired power station into a recording studio for a charity single. The Institute Collective choir used one of the cooling towers at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire to record two songs. Energy company Uniper granted special permission for the unique recording session, allowing the choir to leverage the tower's remarkable acoustics.
These songs were released on Tuesday, with all proceeds benefiting the Loughborough children's charity, Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People. Composers Hughie Gavin and Vince Pope were inspired by the station's closure, creating compositions as a tribute. The power station, which had generated electricity since 1968, was switched off on September 30, 2024.
Musical therapist Rosie Robinson from Rainbows Hospice plans to use the songs in her work with babies, children, and young people, enhancing music therapy sessions both at the hospice and through its outreach program across the East Midlands. She described the compositions as "powerful and hauntingly beautiful."
