The Hallé Orchestra is involved in a project which will see its musicians visiting the Derbyshire village of Clowne over the next year to create music with young and older people.

Initiated by Bolsover District Council, Orchestras Live and The Mighty Creatives with support from Derbyshire County Council and Tesco Ltd, the project will involve young people from Clowne Infant & Nursery, Clowne Junior and the Heritage Community School working alongside older people from their community to create film and music that will celebrate life in Clowne from the past, present and future.

Derbyshire-based film company Creative Forum has been working with young people at the schools through an established skills-development programme managed by The Mighty Creatives. Over the coming months they will be joined by older people to share memories and perceptions of Clowne, and they will make a film that represents their ideas. A team of musicians from the Hallé will then lead a similar creative process to compose a sound score for the film. This will be performed by the participants and the Hallé Orchestra in a special concert to mark the opening of the new Heritage school in spring 2011.

A pilot project was held in November 2009 in which a small number of students from the three schools and some local older people made a short film and musical score which they presented to other students in order to show the kind of work that would be happening and to encourage more people to get involved. ALEAtronic, an ensemble of Hallé musicians led by double bass player Bea Schirmer, held the music workshops at Clowne Infant & Junior School over two days. They will be regular visitors to the village during the main project throughout 2010/11, and a film about the pilot project will be uploaded to this website shortly.

Bolsover District Council leader, Councillor Eion Watts, said: “We see this as a project aimed at engaging the young and the elderly in Clowne and its surrounding communities, and developing relationships based on mutual respect. It is a very exciting project and will not only be fun for everyone but help develop their skills and creative abilities.”

Stuart Bruce, Partnership Manager of Orchestras Live, said: “This is an opportunity for the people of Clowne to experience a world class orchestra in their own community. The final concert, where local people will share the stage with the orchestra and perform together, should be something really special.”

Visit the Hallé Orchestra website

Visit the Bolsover District Council website

Visit The Mighty Creatives website