HASLEMERE pop sensation St Bart’s School Choir hit number one on the iTunes charts before Christmas and pupils will also take to the big stage at Barbican Hall in London for a rock concert featuring a galaxy of UK stars.

In November, record label CRC Music released the ‘St Bart’s Choir Perform Pop or Not – the music of Whyte Horses’ album, the school’s imaginative re-recording of the Mancunian psychedelic band last May.

The band’s originator Dom Thomas wanted to give all 17 tracks a fresh creative twist by re-recording them with a children’s choir. St Bart’s headteacher Charles Beckerson and music leader Sally Hollyer set to work re-writing the 11 vocal and six instrumental tracks to be sung by the school choir with a piano and guitar backing.

St Bart’s choir is now all set for a live performance at the Barbican on May 11, which will see a full performance of Pop or Not by Whyte Horses, together with special guest artists, including The Go! Team, Badly Drawn Boy, Josefin Öhrn, La Roux, and Stealing Sheep.

Billed as ‘The Whyte Horses Experience’, it will be a multi-media journey through film and music to celebrate the band’s success. Pop or Not has already been named album of the year by Piccadilly Records.

Mr Beckerson said: “Having had the incredible opportunity to work with the school choir and CRC Music to make and release our own album, we are so excited by this new opportunity to perform the songs live at the prestigious Barbican, in London.

“The concert will be an event the children will never forget and I am hoping as many parents and others members of the school community will join us for the show and help celebrate our new-found success as Haslemere pop stars.”

• To buy tickets go to: www.barbi can.org.uk