Film

"The Choir and Conductor is about a visionary conductor hired when few women were given the chance to conduct and her extraordinary impact on thousands of children who love to sing together in a Choir, now world renowned. "It's the best children's choir I've ever heard," says conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and one John Williams, Billie Eilish, Gustavo Dudamel, and John Mayer have performed with, the Los Angeles Children's Chorus. The story takes place in Iceland and Norway where conductor Anne Tomlinson leads her last tour with 65 choristers. As they rehearse songs of social justice, of mothers and martyrs, of warriors of change and songs of beauty Allison says: "She doesn't think of us as just kids who are singing. She says we're artists and to think and perform like that." In a Reykjavik rehearsal we see the special skills a great conductor needs to elicit children's musical gifts. "If we hadn't found this choir, we wouldn't be singers - she takes ordinary people and turns them into extraordinary musicians," says Jamie. With nationwide arts cutbacks Conductor Anne says, "It's so important that our children not lose their voices and that our country not lose the voice of their children." Says Mwi, "She's an incredible example of what it is to be a strong, powerful woman in a world that is mostly controlled by men. She has taught us how to be individuals and how to find who we are through music - she often says we're going to change the world someday."