Young Musicians Perform Side-by-Side with the BBC Symphony Orchestra

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This November, we were delighted to be invited back to the iconic BBC Maida Vale Studios in London for an exciting Orchestral Experience Day! 

Delivered as part of our long-term partnership with the BBC, our Thrive young musicians were given the opportunity to play side-by-side with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and take part in an audio production workshop.

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Side-by-side experience 

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Each young person was paired with a musician from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, giving them valuable insight into the life of a professional orchestral player. In the morning, rehearsals were led in Maida Vale Studio 1 by conductor Richard Farnes, where they ran through the first of the day’s two pieces: Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead. This piece is a symphonic poem – a self-contained composition meant to evoke the nature of a short story, poem or landscape. Isle of the Dead was inspired by a black and white version of Arnold Böcklin’s painting of the same name, which Rachmaninoff first saw in Paris in 1907. When rehearsing the piece, Richard showed the painting to the orchestra so they could picture it as they played. The orchestra then split into sectionals across Maida Vale Studios for strings, woodwind, percussion and brass.

After lunch, the orchestra moved onto their second piece, Aaron Copland’s Hoe-Down. The piece is taken from Copland and Agnes de Mille’s 1942 ballet Rodeo, set in the Wild West and combining the flashiness of Broadway with the discipline of ballet. Before performing the piece, Richard Farnes explained that Rodgers and Hammerstein asked de Mille to choreograph Oklahoma! after enjoying Rodeo’s opening night performance. 

As the day drew to a close, our Young Sounds musicians and the BBC Symphony Orchestra performed in Maida Vale Studio 1 for family and friends. The two contrasting pieces complimented each other well – whilst Rachmaninoff’s symphonic poem set an ominous and foreboding tone, Hoe-Down’s evocative and upbeat nature transported the audience to the American West!

Here’s what some of our young musicians had to say about the experience: 

“It was an incredible experience! Being able to sit next to the BBCSO players that I have looked up to for a long time was amazing. The repertoire was a good level of challenging but fun. It was an amazing day!” 

“My desk partner was absolutely brilliant both as a musician and a person. We have managed to connect so well that talking to him was the highlight of my day. I also loved the conductor showing us the painting that Rachmaninoff was inspired by. I’d love to relive the day.” 

“I had an amazing time working with such inspirational musicians, it was really interesting to see what a day of rehearsals looked like with BBC and helped give insight into what it would be like working with a professional orchestra!” 

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Audio production 

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Whilst the orchestra rehearsed and performed, Thrive musicians in our production group had the opportunity to record the experience from Maida Vale 1’s Control Room. They began the day learning how to mic up an orchestra and use the SSL System T mixing desk to balance and record the afternoon’s performance. The young musicians were also able to create their own radio show from start to finish, writing and editing a radio script and presenting the show between musical snippets. Finally, the young musicians conducted and recorded an interview with one of the BBC SO musicians, asking him about his experience as a professional orchestral player and his interpretation of the pieces played.

“The audio production team was very supportive and inclusive. It was amazing to learn from their expertise. It was really cool to be able to go to the studio and see and use the equipment there. I can’t think of anything that could’ve been done to make the experience better.”

“It was very fun and eye opening as I never had the chance to ever see what audio production was like.” 

Huge thanks to the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Learning Team, BBC Audio Operations team, BBC Chaperones and BBC Audience Services team, and to Richard Farnes and our Trustees for their assistance and support.