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BSO Supports GCSE Music Studies

Published 14 April 2021

The Covid-19 Pandemic has had an enormous impact on music provision for schools and it is so pleasing to see how the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) continue to reach thousands of GCSE Music  pupils this spring thanks to digital innovation.

 

The BSO’s pop-up digital studio — which has enabled the Orchestra to livestream full symphonic concerts around the globe during lockdown — was used to bring performances by BSO musicians to 3,500 pupils in classrooms or at home in support of their GCSE Music studies this spring.

Supported by the Cornwall Music Education Hub, and presented by BSO Associate Musician Patrick Bailey, this project helps to unpick 5 GCSE ‘set works’ including: Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A (finale); Kodály’s Intermezzo from Hary Janos; music from The Chinese Room’s award-winning Little Orpheus video game; Schwartz’s Defying Gravity; and a choice of JS Bach’s Orchestral Suite No.2 (finale) or Brandenburg Concerto No.5 (finale) before concluding with a composition specially written by Patrick Bailey based on ideas submitted by schools as a further study of rhythm, harmony and melody.

Take a sneak preview

Schools and colleges will be able to access this wonderful musical resource via their regional Music Education Hub, but for a sneak preview of what is in store for GCSE pupils, here is a short extract featuring BSO musicians playing the music from The Chinese Room’s video game Little Orpheus.
Photo: BSO musicians play the music from The Chinese Room’s video game, Little Orpheus ©BSO written by Jessica Curry and Jim Fowler

 

“The BSO is beloved by generations of music lovers for its engaging schools concerts, so we’re thrilled to be able to continue this work with a diverse, informative and exciting programme during lockdown and reaching more young people than ever — and at a time when it’s needed more than ever before. The Orchestra’s digital transformation over the past year has enabled it to livestream symphonic music around the world; and it’s essential that we continue to reach the next generation of musicians here in our home region in the South and South West.” Lucy Warren, Head of BSO Participate

 

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