The afternoon and evening concerts at Derby Theatre marked the grand finale of an ambitious project entitled ‘Energy’ that has engaged more than 500 young people.
The creative students at Derby College, Firs Primary School, Becket Primary School and The Bemrose School have crafted music and songs through collaborative workshops with Sinfonia Viva led by James Redwood and Jessie Grimes.
Derby College students had the opportunity to help create the music as well perform.
Helen Tilley, Teacher of Music Performance at DCG commented: “Our students are studying an Advanced Diploma in Music and are from three different College classes.
“They demonstrated that they were able to develop their professional skills, as well as working as a team and also enhancing their social and communication skills.
“It was such an enjoyable project for them and they loved that, through their work, they could help make science more accessible.”
Educational workshops, supported by Science Director Brogen Murphy and the Learning Team from Derby Museums, have illuminated the story of energy, spanning the first wind and watermills, through fossil fuels, to our transition back towards sustainable energy sources.
The invaluable insights from Rolls-Royce plc engineers, who have contributed their real-life experiences and expertise, have further enriched the learning experience, which was the latest in the award-winning Orchestra’s series of projects aimed at bringing science, maths and technology subjects to life through music.
The afternoon concert was attended by pupils for other schools in the city and county who also learnt and joined in the songs after working with Derby and Derbyshire Music Partnership and learning about renewable energy with the full time learning team from Derby Museums.
They were Ashcroft, Becket, Firs, Village and Bemrose primary schools as well as Lees Brook Academy, Derby Moor Spencer Academy in Derby and Highfields School in Matlock.
Sinfonia Viva music leader Jessie Grimes said: “It was clear throughout the project that climate change is something that even the youngest of the participants were very engaged with.
“Hearing the emotion that the young people brought to the song lyrics resonated with everyone in the audience that changing our focus from fossil fuels to renewable energy is something we should all care about and strive for.”
Sinfonia Viva Deputy Chief Executive: Programme, Marianne Barraclough concluded: “Projects such as these provide a wonderful creative and learning experience for the young participants.
“They also enable teachers to further develop their own artistic and leadership skills and to take these beyond the life of the project.
“The culmination concert was a wonderful mix of music performed by the young people and pieces performed by the Orchestra and left us all feeling totally uplifted and hopeful for the future.”
Energy has been a collaborative production by Sinfonia Viva, Derby Museums, Rolls-Royce plc and Derby & Derbyshire Music Partnership uniting forces to inspire a brighter, more sustainable future.
