tune in – sPRing / summer 2014 –
sound journeys
roald dahl’s ‘dirty beasts’
Treasure, a pupil at Drumbeat special school in Lambeth, meets LPO double bassist George Peniston and his instrument
Sound Journeys © LPO – Dirty Beasts illustration © 1983 Quentin Blake
‘I
f a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away.’ (David Thoreau) The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the partners that make up the South Riverside Music Partnership – a vital part of the music education ecology in south London. Along with Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music & Dance, we work with the boroughs of Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark and, in particular, children and young people in schools. Some of the most stimulating, challenging and joyous work we do is with schools whose focus is away from the mainstream. In two schools in particular we are working across the whole school year, bringing our world-class players into their classrooms and introducing music in a practical and creative way. Because we believe that both the schools and the LPO are embarking on a wonderful voyage, we have called this project Sound Journeys. Drumbeat is a brand new Special Educational Needs school in Lewisham for children and young people with autism. Already this year our team, led by Tina Pinder and including LPO members George Peniston (double bass, above) and Dave Whitehouse (trombone), have led a series of workshops with children and teachers exploring and responding to musical stimuli, improvising, composing and encouraging language and co-ordination development. This closely aligns with the school’s aims of helping pupils build upon their individual strengths and interests and, vitally, respecting and listening to their voices, however subtle or loud. Park Campus in Lambeth is an Alternative Educational School for 11–16 year olds, many of whom have been excluded from other schools, and is the home of Lambeth’s Behaviour Partnership team. The school has no music provision, so we are working with a Year 9 group to develop their musical understanding, nurture their musical talent, and help support the school in working to improve the students’ confidence, communication and social skills. We are all learning to step to our own music in some way. It’s quite a journey for us all. FIND OUT MORE lpo.org.uk/education/sound-journeys Sound Journeys is generously supported by The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust, Help A Capital Child, The Kirby Laing Foundation, The David Solomons Charitable Trust, The Coutts Charitable Trust and Education Partner Faraday.
lpo.org.uk/education – 05 –
For our FUNharmonics family concerts at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall in 2014, we will be giving the public premieres of three new LPO commissions. Dirty Beasts is a sublimely ridiculous collection of absurd poems from the timeless pen of Roald Dahl. The Orchestra commissioned brilliant young composer Benjamin Wallfisch to set them for narrator and orchestra, and the wacky, pacy results were given two preview performances – under the composer’s baton – to an enthralled and hugely entertained audience of primary school children at Royal Festival Hall in June 2013. One school wrote and told us: ‘We loved the music, the conductor, and how he makes music "crazy”.’ Another child wrote: ‘I saw the instrument that has the player’s hand put up its bottom.’ (We think he was referring to the French horn, but never did get to the ‘bottom’ of it ... ) Anyhow, catch these if you can: an aunt-eating anteater, a group of hungry Frenchmen drooling over the world’s largest snail, and a gleeful dentist using his pliers on a completely new part of the anatomy. Perfect for wise old children as well as naughty young grown-ups ... Sunday 16 February 2014 | 12.00pm Yikes, Spikes! Featuring Roald Dahl’s The Porcupine Sunday 11 May 2014 | 12.00pm Noses Featuring Roald Dahl’s The Ant-Eater Sunday 26 October 2014 | 12.00pm The Toad and the Snail Featuring Roald Dahl’s The Toad and the Snail FIND OUT MORE lpo.org.uk/education/funharmonics