News and Reviews

News: Pupils Visit Nightingale Ward
Apr 28 2010

Media call: Wednesday April 28 1pm: school pupils visit a former Nightingale Ward at the London Road Community Hospital, London Road, Derby, to gain inspiration for the Floratorio music making project to commemorate the life and work of Florence Nightingale.

Pupils from six Derby and Derbyshire schools will visit a former Nightingale Ward at the London Road Community Hospital (former DRI) this week (April 28 and 29) to gain inspiration for a music making project to mark the 100th anniversary of Florence Nightingale's death.

The style of ward was named after the famous pioneer of professional nursing practices who officially opened the hospital in June 1905.

More than 180 pupils from St Werburgh's Primary School, Spondon; Becket, Bishop Lonsdale and Firs Estate primary schools in Derby; and Lea Primary and Crich Junior schools will visit the ward over the two days.

They will join music, writing and theatre workshops designed to bring the Victorian nursing era to life – led by East Midlands orchestra sinfonia ViVA and theatre company Babbling Vagabonds in the first stages of the music making project 'Floratorio'.

Activities will include looking at newspaper reports from the time and then dressing up and acting out scenes of life on the front line in the Crimean War, what it would have been like in a wartime hospital before Florence Nightingale's arrival and the improvements that the nursing team made.

Then, in the coming weeks, the pupils will work with ViVA's choral leader David Lawrence to learn songs from a specially-commissioned oratorio by playwright Peter Roberts and ViVA composer James Redwood. The oratorio is based on the play written by Roberts, 'A Lady With A Lamp', which was performed by Derby Youth Theatre early this month and focuses on key issues and themes from Florence Nightingale's life experience ranging from the Crimean War to the role of women in society.

The young people will also write their own songs about Florence Nightingale which they will develop with James Redwood and ViVA musicians.

'Floratorio' will be performed at the Assembly Rooms on June 22 as part of Derbyshire's Illuminate Festival, led by Living Derby, to celebrate the centenary of the death of the Derbyshire nursing pioneer – bringing together arts organisations in the county for a series of performances and exhibitions.

The final stage of the 'Floratorio' project will be a series of short performances at the Royal Derby Hospital and at the London Road Community Hospital on June 25 which will provide a fitting conclusion.

ViVA Education Manager Marianne Barraclough explained: "The visit to the Nightingale Ward at the hospital has been organised by Living Derby and the Derby Hospitals NHS Trust who are both key partners in the Illuminate Festival to mark the 100th anniversary of Florence Nightingale's death. Although the ward is now empty, many of the original features are still in place which will help us to evoke the atmosphere of a Victorian hospital Ward."

She continued: "The visit will therefore start the 'Floratorio' project in an unusual and imaginative way and I am sure that the young people will gain a lot of inspiration for the workshops that they will then be using back at their own schools to create the music and words for the final performances. 'Floratorio', supported by Heritage Lottery Funding, is similar in format to the Orchestra's summer residency 'More Glass Than Wall' two years ago which celebrated the life of Bess of Hardwick and was shortlisted in the British Composer Awards. The schools involved are very much looking forward to exploring all sorts of different themes and issues that Florence faced during her lifetime through the oratorio and their own songs."

Note to Editors: Due to security measures on the site, it is vital that attendance for the media call is confirmed beforehand (by 5pm on Tuesday April 27). Please contact Sarah Jenkin-Jones (see below) who will confirm arrival and parking arrangements etc.

Media enquiries: Sarah Jenkin-Jones - Tel: 01332 515102/07951 945 665 sarah@jjpublicrelations.co.uk