In the run-up to Brighton Festival performances from Brighton and East Sussex Youth Orchestra (BESYO) and London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), members of the LSO are joining the younger performers for two special mentoring sessions, providing the young musicians with support and guidance to help get them stage-ready. The initiative is part of LSO Discovery, an education and community outreach programme that aims to connect the orchestra and its music to performers, creators and listeners of all ages and backgrounds through a year-round series of workshops and events. This collaboration between the world-renowned orchestra and local up-and-coming performers reflects Brighton Festival’s Guest Director, musician, DJ and broadcaster Nabihah Iqbal’s call for audiences and artists to ‘Gather Round’ and enjoy shared experiences together.
BESYO co-leader Esther said: “It was an amazing opportunity to work with members of the LSO. They were backing up what our regular tutors have been saying, but also gave us different and new ways to improve our playing. We were also able to ask them about their jobs as orchestral musicians which was useful for those of us wanting a career in music”
Brighton and East Sussex Youth Orchestra is one of the UK’s leading youth orchestras. Young musicians who perform at grade 6 or above can join and are given the opportunity to not only learn how to play challenging and impressive classical music pieces, but to also perform annually at Brighton Festival. This year, they will perform folk and dance-inspired pieces, including Doreen Carwithen’s Suffolk Suite and Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, as part of a concert that has been influenced by Nabihah’s love of folk music as a method of storytelling. The performance will also see Elgar’s Cello Concerto performed by prize-winning young Polish cellist Maciej Kulakowski.
BESYO is part of Create Music, a music education hub managed by Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival to help people of all ages, abilities and communities access arts and culture. Create Music provides high quality, inclusive music and arts education and performance opportunities for all children, young people and adults across East Sussex, including music lessons, ensembles, orchestras and bands, workshops and summer schools.
London Symphony Orchestra’s concert will see captivating virtuoso pianist Yuja Wang perform Magnus Lindberg’s new piece Piano Concerto No.3, led by pioneering French conductor Francois-Xavier Roth. It is a dramatic three-movement work written specifically for Wang, to showcase her sensational talent. The concert ends with a performance of Beethoven’s evergreen Pastoral Symphony.