IT'S all happening for Southend Boys and Girls' Choirs who are busying themselves with concerts in Southend, London and across the world!

Follow Southend Girls’ Choir appearance on Tuesday, July 10 at London’s St Martin in the Fields Church in Trafalgar Square, both choirs will appear today (Friday July 13) in Southend’s Plaza Centre, when they will be presenting Night at the Musicals.

It starts at 8pm.

Tickets are on sale at brownpapertickets or from 01702 465460.

Southend Choirs will also be embarking on the tour of a lifetime for some of its singers this month.

On July 23, 40 singers aged 12 – 22 will be leaving the UK for a two week concert tour in Australia and Hong Kong.

The choirs will be hosted in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth by youth choirs, where connections have been established on previous concert tours.

In Sydney the Methodist Ladies’ College will host the singers in their families, and the choirs will do workshops and a joint concert with their hosting choir, as well as making a welcome return visit concert with the Sydney Male Voice Choir.

Sightseeing will include the famous Sydney Opera House, The Rocks and Manly. The choirs then fly on to Adelaide where they will be hosted by the country’s highly prestigious Australian Girls’ Choir. The name of Southend will be taken into churches and schools in Adelaide, when the choirs workshops and lunchtime recitals. The last place to visit in Australia is Perth, where again the Australian Girls’ Choir will host the Southend singers. The choirs will perform in St George’s Cathedral, before flying on to Hong Kong for the final three days of the tour, when they will be performing in the city’s St John’s Cathedral.

This is the third time the choirs have visiting Australia; in 1998 the Girls’ Choir had a three week concert tour to Australia, and in 2008 the Girls’ and Boys’ Choirs toured to Australia and Singapore.

This exciting tour comes one day after the 102 singers from the choirs will be taking part in the internationally acclaimed BBC Proms concerts, when they will be performing Mahler’s Symphony No 8 with three adult choirs and the BBC Symphony Orchestra of Wales at London’s Royal Albert Hall. This concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

Even while 40 singers and the musical directors will be in Australia, 25 singers not on the tour will be taking part in another BBC Proms concert, when they will be performing in the BBC Ten Pieces Proms on Sunday July 29, again at the Royal Albert Hall, broadcast live on Radio 3.