´óÏó´«Ã½ SSO/Highland Regional Youth Orchestra collaboration
It's not often that the orchestra swells its ranks to 175 players, but that's exactly what it did on Saturday 24th March when we joined forces with Highland Regional Youth Orchestra.
As part of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ SSO's contribution to the year-long festival Highland 2007: Year of Culture, we have been working closely with Highland Regional Youth Orchestra on a pretty ambitious initiative, affectionately known as Fling! Allowing us to be a resource for young performers from across the Highlands, the focus of the collaboration was a new ´óÏó´«Ã½ commission from composer John McLeod called Fling, which was written for the two orchestras to play together. Not only did the youth orchestra get to work directly with the composer, they were also joined by 4 members of the SSO back in September to kick start the rehearsal process.
Saturday 24 March saw the grand finale to six months of hard work, commitment and enthusiasm from all of those involved. The two orchestras performed an evening concert to a sell-out audience in Aviemore following only three hours of rehearsal together! Each member of the SSO sat next to at least one member of Highland Regional Youth Orchestra, and mentored them throughout the day. Many handy hints and tips were exchanged (no doubt, in both directions!) and Conductor Clark Rundell made the whole event run like clockwork.
We're always on the lookout for ways in which we can perform alongside young performers, amateur orchestras and individual enthusiasts, and if you have always wanted to join a ´óÏó´«Ã½ orchestra for the day, then now is your chance! Check out the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s latest initiative, Play it Again. The SSO is hosting five events, two in Aberdeen, two in Glasgow and one at the St Magnus Festival in Orkney in the coming months, so if you haven't played for ages, would like to come and sing or you'd like to try your hand at playing the bongos, just fill in the application form here.
If you've already worked with the SSO on any of our recent projects, tell us about it. It's always good to hear your views, so just add them to the box below.
Jennifer Martin
Learning Manager
