Bringing music to the children (From Daily Echo)

Bringing music to the children

1:59pm Monday 15th March 2010 in

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THE sights and sounds of the orchestra are being brought to life for pupils at Southampton schools.

A unique project run by Southampton University Sym-phony Orchestra saw a full complement of musicians visit three schools for special concerts.

The scheme is designed to show youngsters how the sounds of classical music, which they may have heard through films, computer games or TV ads, are created.

The full orchestra went into three schools – Cantell Maths and Computing College, Portswood Primary and Bitterne Park – to give 30-minute recitals.

They are performing a mixture of pieces used in popular films like Harry Potter and Pirates Of The Caribbean, alongside work created by members of the orchestra.

The first concert saw the orchestra perform to Cantell pupils and youngsters from Swaythling and Bassett Green primaries.

Children were encouraged to join in with conducting and some also got the chance to play instruments with orchestra members after the concert.

The idea was the brainchild of orchestra president Kat Hattersley who was delighted with the response to the project, funded through the Higher Education Funding Council for England and Southampton Uni-versity Student Union Commun-ity Volunteering Projects Fund.

She said: “I’ve had a lot of kids come up to me and say they really enjoyed it and it was very different to what they’re used to.

“But they said they definitely want to go and see concerts again, which is what we really wanted.”