The Barbican Young Orchestra launched the Open Weekend with a concert that ranged from avant garde percussion and jazz rhythms to Elgar and Sibelius. Drawing heavily on young talent from the host boroughs around the Olympic Park, the players ranged in ages from just eight up to those about to consider a professional career.
At the other end of the age range their conductor and mentor was Sir Colin Davis, now in his eighty second year, but with as much youthful zest at the podium as any of his young charges.
Drawing heavily on the spirit of London 2012, the Barbican Young Orchestra is one of the initiatives that bring together pioneering work by the London Symphony Orchestra, the Guildhall School of Music and the Barbican Centre to encourage musical excellence and participation in equal measures for more and more young people.
Seb (Coe) was on hand to introduce the concert, but as a passionate Jazz fan his (and my) ears and eyes were popping at the performance of a 12 year old jazz trumpeter. The sophisticated improvisations, screaming solos and glint in the mischievous eye of this young man convince me he'll make his way into Seb’s vast collection of Jazz recordings in the years to come.
The evening felt like the sound of things to come in a number of ways. The rest of Open Weekend has a lot to live up to.
My Olympics
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