After two weeks of commitment and dedication from the Orchestra, the Spring residency and Collide tour is complete, with 45% of the audience attending through Free for Teens tickets.
Audiences were welcomed with pop-up pre-concert performances in the foyer, before the percussion section took to the stage to perform a medley of pop and film songs, as the rest of the Orchestra took their seats. Audiences were then taken on an adventure through Hisaishi’s Howl’s Moving Castle and Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. After the interval came Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, guided by conductor, Alpesh Chauhan OBE. Then came the encore, an a cappella version of Something Heavy by Jacob Collier met with a standing ovation. Some musicians were moved to tears by the palpable emotion of the music and the culmination of two weeks of commitment to a shared goal on stage.
- Over 1,000 teenagers came to see Collide and experience the power of orchestral music, making up 45% of the audience.
- The Orchestra musicians acted as mentors to 100 young musicians in Side by Side rehearsals in Manchester and London.
- Musicians from the NYO Community toured Blackburn, Wigan and Chorley Youth Zones to inspire the next generation through creative workshops and live performances to local young people.
Couldn’t catch Collide live in concert halls? The Manchester performance will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 1 July 7.30pm.