A city youth opera company has been nominated for a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society award for a show performed by children from three local primary schools and a community house.

Newport based company Operasonic were the driving force behind Newport Legends, a four-part operatic performance based around historical figures and legends of Newport.

Youngsters from St Michael’s RC Primary School, Clytha Primary School, St Woolos Primary School and the Community House in Eton Road, Maindee, collaborated with artists to create the potentially award-winning production last year.

The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) nomination, in the learning and participation category, came after the four separate pieces were pulled together into one performance at the Riverfront Theatre on July 2, 2017.

Newport born artistic director Rhian Hutchings said she was “absolutely thrilled” with the nomination.

Ms Hutchings added: “The RPS have these awards every year and they really are the gold standard music awards within the music scene. It’s definitely a big deal.

“It’s just fabulous for all the young people from all over Newport who put their hearts and souls into this project.

“For us, it means we can get more funding, which means we can do even more work in Newport.”

Ms Hutchings explained she used to work with the Welsh National Opera but left to found Operasonic, which gave her the opportunity to embed herself into her home community and make an impression on youngsters through the medium of opera.

“We worked with four different groups and picked four legends or historical stories from Newport,” said Ms Hutchings.

“St Michael’s RC Primary School focussed on the flood of 1607 with a story about a woman whose husband went to sea on the day of the flood.

“Clytha Primary School performed as story about the legend of Tom Protheroe who was the Lord of Tredegar’s land agent and was instrumental in putting John Frost in jail. It’s a Chartist tale from a different perspective.

“St Woolos Primary School worked on the legend of Twmbarlwm and stories of music and fairies drawing people into the hills.

“We also worked with the Community House on Eton Road to tell the story of their history using a little family choir that was founded in Maindee.

“Each show was about fifteen minutes long and had two artists attached who helped the youngsters shape the pieces. They all started with a short synopsis of maybe three lines and took it from there.

“The nomination is great for Operasonic because it puts us on the map in a lot of ways, but it’s even better for the young performers who have seen all of their hard work pay off. I couldn't be happier”

Funding for the Operasonic Newport Legends project was provided by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Ty Cerdd, Newport Live and created in partnership with the Riverfront Theatre.

The RPS Awards will be presented on 9th May and the awards ceremony will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3.