Choirs will be at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, in supermarkets, in schools and in flash mobs on the streets as they join together to sing When I’m Sixty-Four as part of Liverpool’s Sgt Pepper at 50 celebrations.
Thousands will be taking part, and one of the biggest gatherings will be on Liverpool’s UNESCO World Heritage waterfront, when hundreds of people will congregate near the statue of the Beatles to perform the track at 10.30am prompt.
Organised by BBC Radio Merseyside in partnership with the Sgt Pepper team, the track will be broadcast live on the station (95.8FM), and those who can’t be there in person are encouraged to take part and are asked to post a video of themselves singing on Radio Merseyside’s Facebook page.
Also on the 8 June a series of poems from writers across the world will be loaded on to www.sgtpepperat50.com in response to the track itself. The poets range from those with international reputations (two are T S. Eliot prize winners), to some in the early stages of their careers. They are Roger McGough, John Kinsella, Tracy K. Smith, Sinead Morrissey, Yasuhiro Yatsumoto, Owen Sheers, Kim Hyesoon, Don Paterson, Angelica Freitas, Lavinia Greenlaw, Kei Miller, Nikola Madzirov, Ulrike Almut Sandig and Zaffar Kunial.
When I’m 64 forms part of Sgt Pepper at 50 which has seen each track on the iconic Beatles album inspire 13 brand new events. The world premiere commissions are a mixture of large and intimate events covering the genres of art, dance, music, poetry and theatre.
Until 16 June there will be performances, installations, live spectacle and moments of surprise across the city, as the spotlight falls on Liverpool celebrating their most famous sons in a way befitting of an album which broke the mould and changed music forever.
For full details of the Sgt Pepper at 50 programme please visit www.sgtpepperat50.com, or follow itsliverpool on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
