Young musicians work with top London orchestra players

Students from Tonbridge Grammar School are busy preparing for their chance to make Olympic history – in music!
 
Musicians from London Chamber Orchestra who performed at the Royal Wedding last year visited Tonbridge last week to continue an exciting project with a series of workshops with leader Neil Valentine and LCO Musicians: Alexandra Reid (violin), Dougie Mitchell (clarinet), and James Turner (percussion). The students are linking their work this year to LCO’s Track to Track, which is a 2012 Cultural Olympics project. Track to Track uses the Olympic Javelin Train which travels 6 minutes in each direction from London St Pancras to Stratford as its inspiration.
 
GCSE Music students from Tonbridge Grammar School worked with the LCO musicians for the second time, together with members of the Skinners Kent Academy choir and pupils from Barnardo’s Meadows School pupils at Tonbridge Oast Theatre last week for the afternoon creating some ‘train motifs’ and lyrics which will be developed into a companion piece to the official composition composed by LCO’s Composer in Residence Graham Fitkin. Graham will also use the youngsters’ material to inspire his writing of a 12 minute piece (2 X 6 minutes) which will become the Track to Track composition.

The school has been a musical partner of the Orchestra in its Music Junction programme, since 2009, devising a composition inspired by the engagement of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge last year.
 
Assistant Head Teacher Adrian Pitts commented

The students get so much out of this partnership: creatively from the composition process expertly led by Neil Valentine, and musically working with professional musicians at the top of their game and interacting with the different schools involved in the project.

Track to Track is one of twenty twelve minute pieces which have won the PRS award for performance in the Cultural Olympics. The world première of the students’ piece will be in LCO’s concert on the 22nd March 2012 at Cadogan Hall, Chelsea. Other performances will happen on London’s South Bank in July and are planned at St Pancras Station.
 
More on Neil Valentine http://www.neilvalentine.com/
More on Graham Fitkin http://www.fitkin.com/
 
Music Junction Administrator: Mercedes Malcomson, Administrator, London Chamber Orchestra
6th Floor Imperial House
15-19 Kingsway
London
WC2B 6UN
 
T +44(0)20 3397 1298
E mercedes@lco.co.uk
M +44(0)7946 538787