Music was on the theme of Curious Creatures and Adventurous Animals and included such pieces as Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee, Villa-Lobos Floresta do Amazonas and Mancini Baby Elephant Walk, to name but a few. Concerts were led by our Assistant Conductor Tom Fetherstonhaugh and presented and narrated by Matt Harrison using a spoken word script as well as Makaton (a communication tool with speech, signs, and symbols to enable people with disabilities or learning disabilities to communicate).

Jo Whittaker, a teacher from Victoria Education Centre in Poole talked about the impact of the concert on students:

“The main impact is engagement. Our children respond with movement, smiling, clapping, laughing and excitement. Many continue their interest following the concerts by asking more about particular instruments and we expand on the great work the orchestra do by following up with more class based opportunities for the children to explore, try out and listen to instruments they watched.”

“We are incredibly grateful for our strong links with our local music hub, Soundstorm and the BSO and look forward to these special visits. Our children get some much out of experiences like these and it deepens their individual love of music. We look forward to welcoming the orchestra back into school again very soon.”

Richard Cutler, Trustee at Talbot Village Trust, said:

“I was honoured to be among students and guests at the wondrous BSO concert at Victoria Education Centre. You could hear a pin drop, as students were enthralled by an animal themed exploration, with powerful shades of light and dark, loud and soft. It was a superb slice of the BSO at their best, shared among students who really came together to enjoy the energy and dynamism of live music.”

“It is so, so important that we continue to support the work of a great local institution like BSO that works intensely to entertain people of all ages and abilities and push itself into exciting new areas. Thank you very much to BSO and Victoria Education Centre for having us!”

And we look forward to seeing you all again soon!

These concerts are generously supported by the Talbot Village Trust and The Boshier-Hinton Foundation and Soundstorm.