It’s a big gap between two eras. 82-year-old singer-songwriter Hugues Aufray made revelers dance in the last quarter of the 20th century, at a time when you still had to flip vinyl records to listen to an entire album. College kids in the 2020s are pretty fed up with unlimited hits on streaming platforms while following the actions of their favorite stars on Instagram or TikTok.
However, between these two generations so distant, the transplant took. Thank you children, Hugues Aufray’s next album will be released for Christmas 2022. The twelve tracks are covers of the French singer’s hits by young members of the choir of the Sainte-Marie college in Saint-Chamond in the Loire, a few kilometers from Saint-Étienne .
Chance knocked on the door of this choir. The music education teacher who supervises this workshop had chosen fifteen students to give a concert and record a small album. A production that has not gone unnoticed. “We made a little album that I came to have mastered at the studio mag in Saint-Étienne. They called me and said to me: the little group you had made, would you agree he sings on Hugues Aufray’s album?says Christian Didier, the music education teacher.
Obviously, he said yes. He would not have missed for anything in the world a collaboration with the interpreter of the timeless Santiano. For Christian Didier, it was also an opportunity to reward his students for the work done throughout the year. “To have students like that, who are motivated, responsive, who sing well, who master polyphony, I think all music education teachers would like to have..
“It was for a small thing at the beginning and it became something huge”
Tessaschoolgirl and choir member
The teenagers have also become aware of their luck. “It was for a little thing at the beginning and it became something huge. Making Hugues Aufray’s album is really incredible”, rejoices Tessa. For Coline, another member of the choir, the singer is “super funny” : “It’s incredible to speak with such a famous singer. It was weird. Especially since we sing for him”. Hugues Aufray, who lives in Paris, should come and visit college students before the release of the album.