Category: Scotland; Orchestras
Date: 12.01.2006
Printable version
Scores of Glasgow children will help to transform a load of old rubbish into a fanfare for the opening of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scottish Symphony Orchestra's new home at the refurbished City Halls in Glasgow.
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Recycled materials such as bin lids and car parts have been converted into new instruments for the young musicians, who will perform in the world premiere of Casting, a specially commissioned piece by Anna Meredith, resident composer of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scottish Symphony Orchestra (ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ SSO).
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This learning initiative will be the centrepiece of a day of music-making provided by the City Halls Education programme on Thursday 12 January and is part of a series of events to mark the opening of the refurbished City Halls.
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They include the chance to come and use ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 3's very latest composing software and to work with a team of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Interactive specialists to write your very own mobile ringtone on Saturday 14 January.
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The best ringtones will then be arranged for a performance by the whole orchestra during the SSO's first ever webcast event, Making Tracks Live! - scheduled for 27 February.
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For the world premiere of Casting, students from the RSAMD's Community Music course will join 250 children from nursery, primary and secondary schools in Glasgow's East End.
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Participating children will create a huge "noise machine" with the new instruments, conjuring up the industrial sounds of the city's heritage.
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The concert also heralds the start of the orchestra's extensive and innovative music learning programme, using their new state-of-the-art education facilities.
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Composer Anna Meredith said: "Writing a piece for children as performers was a wonderful challenge and incredibly exciting. I'm sure the children and audience will be thrilled with the result."
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During the opening few days at City Halls, events will be free for all. On Friday 13 and Saturday 14 January, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scottish Symphony Orchestra, under Chief Conductor Ilan Volkov, will perform three free one-hour concerts, with programmes that have been chosen to show off the orchestra and the venue's acoustics.
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In the coming months the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ SSO will develop distance learning opportunities across the country, for composers, performers and for those who want to listen and to learn more about the orchestra and its repertoire.
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Notes to Editors
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1. Presented by CÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s Angellica Bell and Adrian Dickson, the orchestra's first ever webcast event, Making Tracks Live! is already sold out. On 27 February, children from Glasgow primary schools will experience a fun-filled, interactive hour featuring music from film and television with a few orchestral classics thrown in for good measure. A simultaneous webcast will give schoolchildren across the nation the chance to listen to the concert, and teachers will have access to dedicated learning material on the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ SSO website to help them prepare the children for the event.
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2. February also sees the orchestra bringing together composers from around Scotland for a day of premiere performances. The Full Score Seminar on Monday 6 February will be led by distinguished composer, Robert Saxton, who will facilitate discussions on all aspect of writing music for a professional orchestra.
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In partnership with the City Hall's own education programme, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ SSO will take centre stage on 40 Experience Days over the next 18 months, which will give young people access to all of the Hall's facilities. These will include a visit to an orchestral rehearsal, to meet the players, the soloists, composers and conductors, and to hear the orchestra close up.
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3. The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s partnership with Glasgow City Council has been fundamental in delivering the City Halls project. As well as initial investment, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ will contribute almost £500,000 a year as part of its 25-year lease agreement with the Council. City Halls will be the permanent performing, broadcasting, rehearsal, education and administrative base of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
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