Orchestra performance hits the right note for local schoolchildren
By: News Archive
Students at opposite ends of the educational system met yesterday (Wednesday 13 February) as primary school children from four schools in Norfolk were treated to a musical performance by the University of East Anglia’s (UEA’s) Student Symphony Orchestra.
Students from Years 4-6 from Queenshill Primary School and Costessey Junior School in Costessey, and Edith Cavell Academy and Valley Primary Academy in Norwich were given the opportunity to listen to six symphony pieces that included music by Beethoven, Dvorak and Bernstein.
Twelve students from UEA’s Music Centre performed the musical numbers to over 100 children and their teachers, with instruments ranging from trombones and oboes to the Clarsach (a Gaelic folk instrument) and a string quartet. The performers also demonstrated to the pupils how the sounds from the instruments are made and how to distinguish them from other instruments in the same family.
The event was hosted by the Outreach team at UEA, who work to widen participation of students from underrepresented backgrounds in East Anglia. The team targets primary schools in neighbourhoods with low proportions of progression into higher education and also those with high numbers of pupils receiving pupil premium and free school meals in order to promote children attending university in the future.
Before the performance, the children were given a tour of the campus by UEA student ambassadors and were asked to help spot important university buildings such as the library, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and the Sportspark. The pupils also participated in a short music quiz and were shown a presentation about the benefits of higher education.
Darren McMorran, an Outreach Officer at UEA, said: “Music has become a rarity in some primary and secondary schools’ timetables and we wanted to show the joy that music can bring.
“The aim of the performance was to broaden the horizons of all the children who came along – some of them may never have seen a string quartet or an oboe trio before for instance – and to show them that university life has more to offer than just studying.”
Rupert Mountjoy, a music teacher at Costessey Junior School, said: “It’s really important for students to see these performances, especially since there have been cuts to music education. I am a musician and studied music at university and I know that music is really good for wellbeing and that learning about music at a young age can spark a lifelong love of the arts in students.”
Stuart Dunlop, UEA’s Music Director, said: “We wanted the children visiting to have an unforgettable experience. It was great to see them so engaged with the music and asking questions about the various instruments we had on display. Hopefully it might even inspire some of them to pick up and learn an instrument themselves.”
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