News and Reviews
News: Lincoln Pupils Join Musical Journey
October 2007
Sixty pupils from two Lincoln schools are joining forces with East Midlands' only resident orchestra sinfonia ViVA and soundLINCS the Lincolnshire Music Development Agency for a creative music project culminating in a public performance at the Drill Hall later this month (October).
The 10 and 11-year-old pupils from Monks Abbey Primary School and St Faith and St Martin Church of England Junior School have been working with workshop leader James Redwood and a team of professional musicians from sinfonia ViVA and soundLINCS to create their own compositions on the theme of Journeys. Their hard work will culminate in a performance of the new music created by the pupils and ViVA musicians using voices, percussion and other musical instruments at Lincoln Drill Hall on Tuesday October 16.
The performance will feature 14 musicians from sinfonia ViVA who as well as accompanying the young people will perform a range of Journeys themed repertoire. The whole evening will be compered by lively and engaging workshop leader James Redwood. After the performance, the musicians will meet up with the participants to gain their feedback on the performance and the work will then continue for six months with community musicians from soundLINCS visiting the schools to help the young people further develop the musical talents they have discovered.
Marianne Quintrell, Education Manager at ViVA, explained: "The Journeys project is an extension of our hugely successful education programme – working with schools throughout the East Midlands to give young people the chance to create and perform collaborative compositions alongside our professional musicians. Whilst sinfonia ViVA has been performing regularly at Lincoln Drill Hall for several years, this is the first time we have engaged with the community on such a creative level. Through working with soundLINCS and the Drill Hall we have been able to design a programme which will enable us to keep a connection with the school beyond the end of Journeys project. We are planning that this ongoing relationship will inform future work with the two schools. We hope therefore that this will be the start of a longer term relationship with these and other schools in the Lincoln area, ViVA, the Drill Hall and soundLINCS, giving young people the chance to positively experience all sorts of music at an early age."
Sue Blyth, Assistant Headteacher at Monks Abbey Primary School added: "Our children do not have individual music lessons at school although they have done some composition in the classroom. We therefore hope that our involvement in this project will herald a whole new dawn for music in the school. The chance to perform alongside ViVA's professional musicians is a unique opportunity and it is wonderful that we will then be able to build on the children's enthusiasm with soundLINCS."
Media enquiries: Sarah Jenkin-Jones, JJPR, Tel: 01332 515102/07951 945 665 or email sarah@jjpublicrelations.co.uk