Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Mason Bates Mothership
John Williams  Excerpts fromStar Wars
James Newton Howard Suite from The Hunger Games

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain 
Kwamé Ryan conductor
Karen Gillingham director

Playscript by Michael Wicherek 
Actors from the National Youth Theatre

Think you know what a classical music concert is like? Well think again. Look up from your screen and reset your ears because this Spring the world’s greatest orchestra of teenagers brings you a totally electrifying live musical experience. 

You can forget sitting still and staring at the stage at this concert. Consumed by sound, you'll be right alongside the musicians: marching into battle with Star Wars’stormtroopers, chilling to the cool electronica of Mothership, and dancing to the wild Latin beats of Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, which will be introduced by a short theatrical piece performed by young actors from the National Youth Theatre. 

Bernstein MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players & Dancers

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain 
Chineke! Junior Orchestra
Marin Alsop conductor
Paulo Szot celebrant

Marin Alsop conducts the Mass Orchestra, comprising young musicians from Chineke! Junior Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, plus Tony award-winner Paulo Szot in a performance of Bernstein’s MASS.

Premiered nine years after the assassination of JF Kennedy, this seminal work captures America at a moment of crisis: the end of the golden age of 1960s optimism.

The unpopular Vietnam War and the rise of the feminist and civil rights movements, which drew attention to discrimination against African Americans and women, left many Americans questioning what their country stood for.

Originally intending to write a traditional mass, Bernstein instead decided to compose a piece of musical theatre about the Catholic religious ceremony. The word ‘mass’ also suggests a crowd of people, who can be a force for change, good or bad.

Bernstein’s MASS bridged the gap between classical and popular music, and its eclectic, theatrical style influenced later generations of composers.

The cast of MASS includes a celebrant – the Catholic priest who performs the mass – a choir, a children’s choir and a congregation of street singers. The cast are accompanied on stage by a full classical orchestra, as well as a rock band and a brass band.

As the mass progresses, the congregation develops doubts about the meaning of the ceremony. Will harmony be restored?