Bodies, Brains and Breathing with guest artist Katy Jones
As part of our summer Orchestral Weekend in Manchester, we were thrilled to run a workshop in collaboration with Young Sounds UK Connect programme.
Children came from Young Sounds Connector Hubs Greater Manchester and Blackburn with Darwen, One Education Music, and Bradford Music & Arts.
Led by guest artist and trombonist Katy Jones, 44 young participants took part in a workshop called Bodies, Brains and Breathing, before joining NCO North Orchestra for a Q&A with Katy and conductor Helen Harrison. The day was finished with a joint performance of Greg Beardsell’s new body percussion piece during the final sharing by NCO North.
We were also delighted to welcome two former NCO musicians, now part of the National Youth Orchestra, who returned as mentors for the day on Young Sounds mentorship programme — a brilliant full-circle moment.
Schools workshops in Manchester and Bradford
This month, we delivered four fantastic school concerts for 1192 children and four strings workshops for 123 children in partnership with Bradford Music & Arts, Bolton Music Service and Bury Music Service.
Designed for primary aged children, the young audiences were engaged and enthusiastic, showing a real excitement for the essential building blocks of music-making. Presented by Jessie Maryon Davies, workshops led by Veronica Urrego, performed by NCO Tutors and students from RNCM.
Supporting ABO's Schools campaign
We’re proud to support the Association of British Orchestra’s #AnOrchestraInEverySchool campaign, advocating for access to high-quality music education for all children. NCO remains committed to bringing music to young people, fostering their health, happiness, and hopefully sparking a lifelong love of creativity and music-making.
