Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

25th February 25

Yesterday was our final performance with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and marked the end of over 4 years of collaboration that started during the pandemic.

As you can imagine, the event was bitter-sweet; we are so sorry that this has come to an end but what an amazing few years it has been! The school have collaborated with pupils from Northgate High School and selected pupils have taken part in a number of workshops and performances over the years working at times with both the highly talented pupils from Northgate and the wonderful professional musicians from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the composer James Redwood.

Access to, and an opportunity to participate in, high quality, live music has been an amazing experience for our young people – we think the photos say it all!  Being part of an ensemble has helped develop their team-building and social interaction skills and given them exposure to instruments they wouldn’t normally come across.  The smaller group working of the workshops has also ensured that everyone has had a voice and been able to share their creative ideas in a variety of ways to create a composition.

Enjoyment is also an important part of the project. Through observations of the levels of engagement throughout the sessions and comments made by pupils and staff, it is evident that all sessions have been a thoroughly enjoyable experience for everyone involved.

Pupils were able to personally thank Cherry Forbes and her team yesterday and the pupils and staff from Northgate.