PRIMARY school pupils enjoyed a ‘magical’ evening when they performed with best-selling singer Russell Watson at Liverpool Cathedral.

The children are members of the choir at Barnton Community Primary School, which was invited to perform with Russell as part of his Christmas tour of cathedrals across the country.

The choir’s conductor is Cath Shaw, who teaches at the primary school and is one of the conductors of Frodsham-based chamber choir, Cantoris.

Cath conducted the school choir at the cathedral, and Cantoris, which also performed at the festive show.

“It was a magical evening, and we have never experienced anything like it before,” said Cath, from Barnton, who is a class teacher and a specialist music teacher.

“The biggest audience the children had performed for had been 200, and the audience at the cathedral was 1,000 people – it was full.

“It was a wonderful experience for the children, who were very excited about performing at the concert and were word perfect on the night.”

Cantoris were on stage for the whole of the two-hour concert, and the school choir performed a solo piece, Child in a Manger, which was specially written for children’s choirs at Christmas, and sang Away in a Manger with Russell as part of the encore.

Thirty-five children from the school between the ages of seven and 11 performed at the cathedral, and met Russell before the concert.