GCSE Music students to learn set works with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Harriet Clifford
Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Around 3,500 KS4 students will benefit from the BSO project this spring, which provides access to pre-recorded concerts from the orchestra’s pop-up digital studio.

BSO musicians perform the music from Little Orpheus for GCSE Music students

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is extending its reach to give more students in the South West of England access to specially recorded concerts covering five GCSE set works.

Spanning several exam boards, the pieces included in the project are: Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A (finale); Kodály’s Intermezzo from Hary Janos; music from The Chinese Room’s award-winning Little Orpheus video game; Schwartz’s Defying Gravity; and a choice of JS Bach’s Orchestral Suite No.2 (finale) or Brandenburg Concerto No.5 (finale).

The project is supported by Cornwall Music Education Hub and presented by BSO associate musician Patrick Bailey, who will unpick the five works.

In the second part of the concert, students will learn from a specially composed piece written by Bailey, focused on ideas schools have submitted based on rhythm, harmony and melody.

Lucy Warren, head of BSO Participate, said, ‘The BSO is beloved by generations of music lovers for its engaging schools concerts, so we’re thrilled to be able to continue this work with a diverse, informative and exciting programme during lockdown and reaching more young people than ever — and at a time when it’s needed more than ever before.

‘The Orchestra’s digital transformation over the past year has enabled it to livestream symphonic music around the world; and it’s essential that we continue to reach the next generation of musicians here in our home region in the South and South West.’

These concerts have been created using the BSO’s pop-up digital studio, which has enabled the orchestra to livestream full symphonic concerts around the globe during lockdown.

Schools and colleges will be able to access the materials via their regional Music Education Hub - ten hubs spanning the South West have signed up for the programme.