91Èȱ¬ Proms 2007
91Èȱ¬ Proms events for families
Bringing new and young people to classical music has long been at the heart of the 91Èȱ¬
Proms season, and this year there are more opportunities than ever for children and
families to get involved, or simply come and hear top-quality music-making.
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- A new 'dramatic musical piece' by Oscar-winning composer
Rachel Portman and poet Owen Sheers, with nationwide
91Èȱ¬ talent search to cast 40 children in main roles
(27 August)
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- Out+About in Brighton for the first time (13 June)
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H2hOpe:The Water Diviner's Tale
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The 91Èȱ¬ has commissioned a new dramatic musical piece for
people of all ages from Oscar-winning composer Rachel
Portman, whose first opera, The Little Prince, was such a
success on 91Èȱ¬ Television.
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For The Water Diviner's Tale she has
worked with the award-winning poet and playwright Owen
Sheers to create a drama that draws on global myths and
legends about water – from ice and storms to flood and
drought – as well as on current stories, to reflect on climate
change and the way it affects young people.
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The work calls for five professional singers, a narrator (the
Water Diviner) a 40-strong group of children including four
principals, and a large youth choir made up of young singers
from Berkshire, Bromley and Hertfordshire.
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91Èȱ¬ New Talent
undertakes a nationwide search to cast the children's roles.
Denni Sayers directs and David Charles Abell conducts the
91Èȱ¬ Concert Orchestra in a Bank Holiday matinee which
promises to be one of the highlights of the season.
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Applications are invited from children aged between 11 and
16 (boys' voices must not have broken) and who enjoy
performing. Audition workshops take place in July 2007 and
children selected are invited to attend a 10-day residential
music camp prior to the performance in August. More
information and entry forms are available at
bbc.co.uk/newtalent
Monday 27 August (Prom 57)
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Blue Peter Proms
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These ever-popular children's concerts return once again in
2007. Families can spend a fun-packed musical morning in the
company of Blue Peter legend Peter Duncan, children’s
presenter Dave Benson Phillips, the 91Èȱ¬ Philharmonic, a
variety of children's choirs and the funky Bollywood Brass.
This year’s 'jamboree' includes the blazing brass of Copland's
ceremonial Fanfare for the Common Man, a new piece by
Jonathan Dove, march from anniversary composer Grieg's
famous Peer Gynt Suite and Elgar's 'Land of Hope and Glory'–
a traditional Last Night of the Proms favourite.
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This year's Proms Shakespeare theme appears in classics
inspired by Romeo and Juliet from Prokofiev and Bernstein –
and there’s even Stravinsky’s arrangement of 'Happy Birthday',
written for the 80th birthday of conductor Pierre Monteux,
but here marking the 80th anniversary of the 91Èȱ¬'s running of
the Proms.
Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 July, 11.00am (Proms 10 and 12)
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Out+About
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91Èȱ¬ Proms Out+About goes to Brighton for the first time,
bringing together the 91Èȱ¬ Symphony Orchestra and the local
community in a range of musical activities spanning several
weeks.These culminate in two events at the Brighton Dome
on Wednesday 13 June – a matinee concert for school
children and an evening concert for families – providing
thousands of children and their families with an opportunity to
hear live orchestral music of the highest quality (often for the
first time).
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The concerts, which include dramatic lighting, big screens and
lots of audience participation, feature a range of music from
Elgar, Copland and Jonathan Dove to music from John
Williams's score for Harry Potter, presented by children's TV
presenter Dave Benson Phillips.
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Public spaces all around the Brighton Dome will be filled with
music and dance from local performers immediately before the main evening concert. A Family Orchestra, formed for the
event in the weeks before, will create a new work for the
main concert and talented young musicians from Brighton and
surrounding areas are invited to play 'Side-by-Side' with the
professionals of the 91Èȱ¬ Symphony Orchestra.
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Children and their families who get involved are also invited to
attend Proms concerts at the Royal Albert Hall with take-up
in previous years contributing to more than 7,500 under 16s
attending main Proms concerts last year.
Wednesday 13 June, Brighton Dome
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Proms Family Orchestra
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The idea of the Proms Family Orchestra is simple: family
members, whether mums, dads, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles
or grandparents, sitting alongside each other, making music.
Whatever instrument is played, and at whatever level, people
can join in the fun.
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The first experiment began at Out+About in Reading 2006,
and the 91Èȱ¬ Symphony Orchestra has continued to make an
enormous success of it, attracting 70 families to its last session.
It will be expanded further during the 2007 Proms season
with many opportunities for families to join, with an ongoing
scheme throughout May at the Brighton Dome. Family
Orchestra events take place on the days of the Blue Peter
Proms (21 and 22 July), the Proms debut of the Simón BolÃvar
Youth Orchestra
of Venezuela
(19 August), and
H2hOpe:The
Water Diviner's
Tale (27
August).
Throughout May
in Brighton, 21
and 22 July, 19
and 27 August at
RAH (Proms 10,
12, 48 and 57)
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91Èȱ¬ Music Intro
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91Èȱ¬ Music Intro is designed to introduce children and their
families to live classical music for the first time, offering £5
seats to families for specially selected Proms. Each of the five
concerts is preceded by a workshop where participants get a
preview of what's going to be played, learn the stories behind
the music, and get the chance to play the themes themselves.
There's also a Meet the Players session where members of
the public can chat to members of the 91Èȱ¬ National
Orchestra of Wales (20 July). 91Èȱ¬ Music Intro is now in its
third season at the Proms.
4, 11, 14, 19 and 26 August (Proms 29, 38, 41, 48 and 56);
Meet the Players 20 July (Prom 9)
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Side-by-Side
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The 91Èȱ¬ Proms and performing groups have long maintained
that the best way to learn what it is like to perform is to work
alongside professionals, and the 2007 91Èȱ¬ Proms season
offers yet more opportunities.
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As part of Brass Day up to 200 students from Manchester, the
North West, London and the South East take part in a
specially commissioned new work for epic brass forces by
Peter Wiegold. He is armoured without is part composed, part
improvised and has been created via a series of workshops for
the vast spaces of the Royal Albert Hall.
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It brings together
huge brass forces, including the 200 students, as well as the
military fanfare trumpets of the Band of the Coldstream
Guards and trumpeters from an ancient Uzbek tradition.
Students also perform alongside brass players from the 91Èȱ¬
Philharmonic in Musorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (in a
special arrangement by Elgar Howarth) and Janá?cek’s
resounding Sinfonietta (28 July).
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On the south coast, Brighton’s young and amateur musicians
play a crucial role in Proms Out+About with the 91Èȱ¬
Symphony Orchestra (Wednesday 13 June).
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Brass Massive
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Brass Day begins with Brass Massive, an open ‘come and play’
event for brass players of all ages and abilities. All participants
need to bring is their own instrument. Anyone taking part gets
the chance to play a world premiere on the steps of the Royal
Albert Hall and is encouraged to stay on for the two Brass
Day concerts, which promise to be the loudest, most
spectacular and memorable concerts of the season which
should appeal to people of all ages.
10.00am–12.00 noon, Saturday 28 July
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Inspire (Young Composers Competition)
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Hundreds of 12- to 18-year-old composers are invited to
come to London and attend the Inspire day (17 August).This
provides an opportunity to meet Sir Harrison Birtwistle,
professional musicians, other young composers and key music
industry people and to participate in creative workshops.
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Inspire also includes an invitation to hear the winning pieces
from the 91Èȱ¬ Proms/Guardian Young Composers
Competition in the Young Composers Concert at Cadogan
Hall, as well as that evening's Prom with Oliver Knussen
conducting the 91Èȱ¬ Symphony Orchestra in works by
Schoenberg, Henze and Stravinsky, as well as his own Violin
Concerto (Prom 45).
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The 91Èȱ¬ Proms/Guardian Young Composers Competition,
now in its ninth year, has helped many thousands of creative
young people gain skills and confidence in expressing
themselves through music, and set others on the road to
recognition.
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New for 2007 were nationwide Composer Labs
launched in February and designed to help nurture the
broadest variety of young talent and to make the Young
Composers Competition appealing and relevant to the widest
range of teenagers keen to push at the boundaries of their
musical world and to write music.
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Anyone between the ages of 12 and 18 can enter the
competition. Entries are judged by a panel including top
composers from varied musical fields and the winning pieces
are performed in concert by professional musicians in the
91Èȱ¬ Proms/Guardian Young Composers Concert, and
broadcast on 91Èȱ¬ Radio 3. Winning composers, for the first
time, will receive a commission to write for the 2008
Composer Labs.
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Half-price Tickets for Under-16s
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Once again the 91Èȱ¬ Proms is offering half-price seats in any
seating area for all Proms (except the Last Night) to children
under the age of 16. This is part of our ongoing commitment
to making the best of classical music accessible to the widest
possible audience.
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