Music project strikes a chord with youngsters

A group of young people have performed alongside professional musicians from Sinfonia Viva after joining a creative project tackling the emotive subject of global warming.

The afternoon and evening concerts at Derby Theatre marked the grand finale of an ambitious project entitled ‘Energy’ that has engaged more than 500 young people.

The creative students at Firs Primary School, Becket Primary School, The Bemrose School, and Derby College Group crafted music and songs through collaborative workshops with Sinfonia Viva led by James Redwood and Jessie Grimes.

Educational workshops, supported by science director Brogen Murphy and the learning team from Derby Museums, illuminated the story of energy, spanning the first wind and watermills, through fossil fuels, to the transition back towards sustainable energy sources.

Invaluable insights from Rolls-Royce engineers, who contributed their real-life experiences and expertise, further enriched the learning experience, which was the latest in the award-winning orchestra’s series of projects aimed at bringing science, maths and technology subjects to life through music.

Sinfonia Viva music leader Jessie Grimes said: “It was clear throughout the project that climate change is something that even the youngest of the participants were very engaged with.

“Hearing the emotion that the young people brought to the song lyrics resonated with everyone in the audience that changing our focus from fossil fuels to renewable energy is something we should all care about and strive for.”

Marianne Barraclough, the orchestra’s deputy chief executive (programme), said: “Projects such as these provide a wonderful creative and learning experience for the young participants.

“They also enable teachers to further develop their own artistic and leadership skills and to take these beyond the life of the project.

“The culmination concert was a wonderful mix of music performed by the young people and pieces performed by the orchestra and left us all feeling totally uplifted and hopeful for the future.”