Music Pupils Experience CBSO Concerts at Symphony Hall

Music pupils from RGS Worcester recently enjoyed two visits to Birmingham’s Symphony Hall to hear the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) perform live, with trips organised for Year Seven pupils and also for a group of pupils from Years Nine to Upper Sixth.

All Year Seven pupils travelled to Symphony Hall on Friday 13 February to attend the CBSO’s Schools’ Concerts, designed for Key Stage Two and Three audiences. The programme introduced pupils to the sound and scale of a professional symphony orchestra through a selection of music spanning classical repertoire, film, television and video game soundtracks.

Many of the pieces were instantly recognisable, with music from Star Wars, E.T., Doctor Who and Plants vs Zombies featuring alongside the dramatic opening of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and the finale of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, giving pupils the opportunity to hear some of the best-known works in the orchestral repertoire.

The programme also included music from around the world, including the Bollywood hit Jai Ho and Dai Wei’s The Dancing Moonlight, which blends traditional Chinese musical ideas with Western orchestral instruments. Throughout the concert, pupils explored how composers use rhythm, dynamics and orchestration to create atmosphere and tell stories through music.

More recently, a group of 13 pupils from Years Nine to Upper Sixth returned to Symphony Hall for the CBSO Benevolent Fund Concert on Wednesday 4 March. Conducted by CBSO Music Director Kazuki Yamada, the evening offered pupils the opportunity to experience a full professional concert programme.

The performance opened with Berlioz’s energetic Roman Carnival Overture, followed by Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, performed by soloist Steven Osborne. After the interval, the orchestra performed Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, a vividly imaginative symphonic work.

Following the concert, pupils had the opportunity to meet Kazuki Yamada in the foyer of Symphony Hall.

Director of Music, Mr Conway, said: “It is always a wonderful opportunity to take pupils to Symphony Hall to hear the CBSO perform. The pupils were particularly excited to meet Kazuki Yamada after the concert, and we are very grateful to him and to the whole CBSO and B:Music teams for putting on such a fantastic event. We look forward to organising similar trips again soon.”