NEXT month, students from William Edwards School in Grays will be producing, presenting and performing in two major orchestral concerts featuring the City of London Sinfonia for other young people at the newly created Backstage Centre in Purfleet. The event is being run entirely by students, with help from the orchestra. The concerts will feature various pieces of classical and orchestral music, including the Angry Birds theme tune!
Ahead of the concerts, three workshops are taking place locally, with the City of London Sinfonia and music leader John K Miles, at which the students are getting to know the musicians, selecting the music to be performed, creating video projections, writing press releases and then tacking stage management, presenting and even conducting at the concerts.
Key to the success of First Time Live – Youth is putting young people at the centre of the project and giving them responsibility for creating a major orchestral concert for their peers. This includes selecting concert repertoire, scriptwriting, sound and lighting design, video projection, stage management, writing press releases, blogging, photography, concert presentation and even conducting. Through empowering Young Producers, the events generate high levels of engagement and enthusiasm amongst participants, both in the audience and on stage, including the professional musicians.
Another important element of the project is a partnership with Makewaves – the social media platform for schools, enabling the young people to create and safely share videos, podcasts and blogs with the other First Time Live – Youth locations and beyond.
Led by national music charity Orchestras Live, First Time Live – Youth is a unique and innovative orchestral touring initiative that brings orchestral music into the lives of young people aged 10 to 14 across England. It is targeted at young people who have had little or no access to a live orchestral concert experience and who live in local authority areas in the bottom 20% for levels of arts engagement. Working with local partners, Orchestras Live will present a series of concerts and workshops during Spring 2014 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and City of London Sinfonia in March, Peterborough, Thurrock, Doncaster, Grimsby and Mansfield.
First Time Live – Youth began in 2013 in Hull, Scunthorpe, Harlow and Luton. As the project enters its second phase, it has already generated some impressive statistics in bringing new audiences to orchestral music. An average of 85% of post-concert survey respondents across the four locations said that they had never attended an orchestra concert before. In Harlow that figure was 100%.
One of the Young Producers from William Edwards School said: “it’s opened our eyes to the world of classical music”.
First Time Live – Youth is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, as well as a grant by the D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust. Find out more about First Time Live at www.firsttimelive.org.uk
