The new agreement commits to providing much-needed support for creative opportunities in and around Devon, with particular focus on access and inclusion and health and wellbeing.

The University of Exeter is the Orchestra’s home in Devon. In addition to its series of professional symphonic performances, the Orchestra is known for giving free Schools’ Concerts in the county and supporting the Exeter Community Family Orchestra.

 

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and the University of Exeter have signed a four-year partnership that commits to bring further opportunities for life-empowering music-making into people’s lives, supporting creativity in and around Devon.

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the University of Exeter are longstanding partners, and the new four-year agreement is set to deepen relationships with communities in and around Devon.

Over the coming years, the BSO will extend its award-winning work deeper into communities across the region; and it’s set to provide the next generation of medical professionals with greater access and insight into the empowering impact music can play in health and wellbeing settings.

Since last autumn, the BSO has reached 2,500 primary-aged pupils with its popular Schools’ Concerts at the University’s Great Hall. The performances present opportunities for children in Exeter and the rural centres beyond and are supported by teaching resources and additional training opportunities for teaching staff.  Designed for primary-aged children, the concerts have provided pupils with both their first taste of live music and an experience of a higher education campus.

Musicians from the BSO continue to reach out to young people this spring: they’ll perform GCSE Set Works concerts [28 February, Plymouth]; and continue to support the intergenerational Exeter Community Family Orchestra, which rehearses weekly to bring all ages together through live music. The Orchestra also returns in full to Exeter, with music ranging from Brahms and Vaughan Williams [23 February] and a celebration of film music by John Williams and Hans Zimmer [29 February].

The University of Exeter’s Camborne School of Mines is a partner of the BSO’s Cornwall Residency this March, when a powerful and interactive new chamber opera — Fault Lines — takes place across Cornwall’s Mining and Heritage sites, produced in association with Tête à Tête, Carn to Cove and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

 

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Executive, Dougie Scarfe OBE DL, said:
“We are proud to commit to an extension of our partnership with the University of Exeter, which will see a deepening of our work with communities in and around Devon. The University recognises the value of welcoming internationally-regarded musicians to the region – and we’re proud to have brought our guest artists to Devon this year. To have a world-class orchestra and a world-class university strategically aligned in this way is key in pushing forward the importance of creative opportunities across both access and inclusion and health and wellbeing agendas — it is a partnership that means a lot.”

Mike Shore-Nye, Senior Vice-President and Registrar & Secretary at the University of Exeter, said: “Our work together continues to go from strength to strength, and we are delighted to have signed the four-year partnership agreement. One of the reasons for this immensely successful partnership are the values and commitments we share as organisations, as well as both being extremely passionate about reaching out and collaboratively broadening our engagement across our regional communities.”

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is a professional ensemble known for championing the role of culture in people’s lives. Based at Lighthouse, Poole, the Orchestra has residencies in Bournemouth, Bristol, Exeter, Portsmouth, Southampton and Yeovil — it is the largest cultural provider in the South West, serving one of the biggest and most diverse regions in the UK.

 

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NOTES TO EDITORS

For more information please contact:
Claire Rawles | crawles@bsorchestra.co.uk | 07860 776646 or Rebecca Johns | rebecca.johns@premiercomms.com | 07715 205 196