What's on News Roderick Williams and National Youth Choir collaborate on new choral work, 'I’m Here' National Youth Choir are delighted to present the latest release on the National Youth Choir Recording label; I’m Here, a new commission from composer Roderick Williams. Watch the music video for I'm Here The 12-minute-long piece was created in collaboration with National Youth Choir (18-25 Years). The singers answered questions from Williams about their experiences on their recent tour to South Africa, their feelings around leaving and returning home and how they feel about singing with one another. Williams used the answers to form the lyrics of the piece, crafting a rich texture for the ensemble, with sung and spoken solo lines. Hear from composer Roderick Williams The piece, which was kindly supported by The John S Cohen Foundation and Steinberg Media Technologies (Dorico), received its world premiere performance at the 2025 Three Choirs Festival in Hereford. National Youth Choir are celebrating 10 years of their independent record label, National Youth Choir Recordings. I’m Here is the first track to be released in the label’s second decade. Roderick Williams says: “I gave the choir an exercise where they answered some fairly simple, open-ended questions, about going away, about coming home, about what music means to them. I got some amazing answers back. So, I fashioned a text from these that would have a universal appeal, to singers coming after them. I hope that in future generations, people who come to this piece will be able to identify with it.” Nic Chalmers, Principal Conductor of National Youth Choir (18-25 Years) says: “The special thing about this commission from Roderick Williams is that he's captured the imaginations of our young people. He’s taken their words and written a magical piece and really captured what the essence of the youth choir is. We couldn’t have wished for anything better.” Our commissions National Youth Choir is committed to commissioning new choral works that inspire singers, support composers, and enrich the musical landscape for everyone to enjoy. Find out more Browse our recordings We recently celebrated the 10 year anniversary of our in-house recording label. Listen to our full recording catalogue, as well as our 10 year album now. Find out more Manage Cookie Preferences