Education ViVA

Perspectives
19th March 2008
The Peepul Centre, Leicester

Around 100 young people from across Leicester and Leicestershire came together with ViVA musicians on 19th March 2008 for the exciting final performance of Perspectives at the Peepul Centre, Leicester.

"It was really exhilarating, I loved the piece and it was nice to play alongside young children, I feel we really make an impression." - Senior Strings Participant

During February and March 2008 students from Buswells Lodge and Inglehurst Junior Schools worked with percussion ensemble O Duo, Oliver Cox and Owen Gunnell, and a team of ViVA musicians to explore Latin American rhythms. The team also worked with young instrumentalists from Leicester-Shire Arts in Education senior strings and percussion ensembles to create a new composition based on Latin American influences.

"I was nervous when the music stands were taken away because I didn’t know what to expect" - Senior Strings Participant

Young people from the senior strings and senior percussion ensembles from Leicester-Shire Arts in Education also worked closely with conductor Benedict Holland and some ViVA musicians in desk sharing sessions. This provided an opportunity to inspire young people whom already had an interest in music through working closely with professional ViVA musicians.

"I learnt that if you believe in yourself you can play really well and sitting next to a ViVA musician gave me so much confidence. I was inspired!" - Senior Strings Participant

The culmination of the project was seen on stage at the Peepul Centre on 19th March, with a matinee concert for schools and evening concert for the participants’ friends and family. The concert performance began with the Carmen Suite by Shchedrin, which was performed by the joint massed orchestra combining young people from Leicester-Shire Arts in Education with musicians from sinfonia ViVA.

"I learned that anyone can have fun with music no matter what standard they are and even professionals can have a great time whilst playing amazingly. I felt inspired by all their enthusiasm." - Senior Strings Participant

The concert then came to its climax when the newly created piece was premiered in front of friends and family. All 100 participants joined together with sinfonia ViVA to perform this final collaborative piece. The primary school children all played percussion instruments and the two schools took turns in performing their own sections, as well as joining together with the rest of the participants. This turned out to be a great success and it was generally agreed that everyone who took part had enjoyed it thoroughly and gained a lot from the experience.

"The younger students did a fantastic job and it was nice to be able to show them what they can get involved with in the future. It would be great if it inspired some of them to continue and I’m sure it will." - Senior Strings Participant

The project was supported by East Midlands Airport, Rolls-Royce plc, Leicester City Council, Leicester-Shire Arts in Education, Orchestras Live and sinfonia ViVA.

Images from the project...