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Celebrating An Awfully Big Orchestradventure!

Orchestradventure! hit the road again this year, heading to Builth Wells and Llandudno by way of  Cardiff’s St Davids Hall.

Presented by Tom Redmond, and featuring the RWCMD Symphony Orchestra and a few special friends, the concerts were once again a huge success, performing to over 3000 children and adults.

And it’s not just the school children who love being involved. It gives our students the chance to use all the skills they learn in the classroom in a professional environment:

“Orchestradventure! has just been the most eye-opening experience for me in so many ways,” said Emily Rowell, a first year harpist.

“It was fascinating, and hugely inspiring, to see a whole spectrum of the arts world come together and witness how it all fits; technicians, stage managers, orchestral managers, performers, designers, conductors, an animateur…

I’m always amazed by the industry we’re in anyway and how these skills all interact but it was particularly awesome to see it all in practice.

I enjoy arts management and do manage a small orchestra already but this totally married my love of theatre, storytelling, outreach, and the power of a symphony orchestra and so I am really keen to set up a (smaller-scale!) outreach orchestra off the back of this project.”

The puppets, designed by student Georgia Hill, were an integral part of the performance

First year violist, Ana Varandas Lamelas added,

“Orchestradventure! was one of the most rewarding experiences in my life!

The best part about this project is knowing that we brightened up the day of hundreds of children and that they brightened ours!

There is not anything better than that… It was true magic! ”

“It’s been transformative for me to see both the energy that we put out into the project and how it pays off for the audiences.

This entire experience, from the planning to the rehearsals to the presentation itself has greatly inspired me to re-evaluate my role in the music community, and I’m now even more motivated to share my love of music with as many people as I can.

I have definitely grown as a musician – this has been an exceptionally positive personal experience and I’m definitely looking forward to doing more visits in the future.”

Una Shea, third year violinist

Orchestradventure! 2019 is supported by UBS, Arts & Business Cymru, the Gwendoline and Margaret Davies Charity, The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund and the Experiencing the Arts Fund: Creative Collaborations, funded by Arts Council of Wales and Welsh Government.