Bow School

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britian

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britian

On Sunday 7th January we took 15 pupils to the Barbican to watch an all-star performance from the most talented classical musicians in the Country - the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. The programme started with an evocative piece called 'The Enchanted Lake' which showed off the rich NYO sound and led into the famous 'Sorcerer's Apprentice' by Dukas, which was featured in Disney's famous film 'Fantasia' from 1941 . It was full of colour and drama and showed off the full dynamic range of the orchestra.

The second half was the dark and harrowing 'Duke Bluebeard's Castle' by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok. It featured two opera singers plus a full orchestra and had really stunning and imaginative lighting to represent the various rooms of Duke Bluebeard's Castle - full of horrifying and dark secrets!

Before the concert we attended the 'Totally Teenage Reception' where students from Skinners Academy in Hackney introduced the National Youth Orchestra trombone section (8 trombones) and a witty violin and accordion duo. We had free refreshments and watched a video about the National Youth Orchestra (NYO) followed by a Question + Answer session with three of the NYO players.

Our own students will be helping to present the same reception in the Summer when the NYO will be performing at the South Bank Centre - so watch this space!

The Orchestra will also be performing in Bow School on Tuesday 24th April for the entire school which will be mind-blowing!

Mr Bourne

Learning from Every Situation – The Bow Way