BBC Philharmonic Musical Storyland: North Yorkshire Tour

Children across North Yorkshire enjoyed visiting ‘Musical Storyland’ with BBC Philharmonic last month.

The live performances from their award winning CBeebies series explored fairy tales through magical music, offering children the chance to see beloved on-screen characters in real life. It was fantastic to see young audiences engage with the music and stories of Ananse and the Monkeys, with lots of listening and joining in.

The tour visited Skipton Town Hall and a wide range of schools across North Yorkshire, thanks to careful geographical planning with our partner AMP. Following the performances, BBC Philharmonic and Note Weavers delivered interactive workshops in selected schools.

The tour reached over 750 children across 15 schools and nurseries - our highest engagement to date.

Making Waves with Music

In March and April, in partnership with Britten Sinfonia and Peterborough Music Hub, we launched Making Waves with Music, a participatory schools and teacher development project exploring climate change and sustainability through music.

Led by Britten Sinfonia, the project will reach at least 15 primary schools, engaging around 2,850 pupils in Peterborough.

Inspired by The Tale of the Whale by Karen Swann and Padmacandra, the project combines live orchestral performance, co-creation, teacher CPD and cross-curricular learning. Across March, composer Raph Clarkson, percussionist Owen Gunnell and presenter Sheena Masson worked alongside Britten Sinfonia musicians to create a new participatory piece that empowered children to use music as a voice for environmental awareness and positive change.

The project combined creative music-making and environmental learning through three main strands: co-creation workshops in two schools, shaping original material for a new piece to include in the school tour; teacher development for all the schools through CPD and a school’s tour combining live music, storytelling and recycled instruments in schools.

Over the course of March, workshop leader Sheena Masson alongside with percussionist, Owen Gunnell and Britten Sinfonia musicians engaged with KS1 pupils from St James and Hampton Lakes schools to generate ideas for songs, body percussion and recycled instruments. By linking environmental challenges in the book with local issues such as waste, littering and river pollution, pupils connected the narrative to their own lives. Their contributions culminated in the creation of an interactive new piece, performed over six days in April by Sheena Masson, Owen Gunnell, and a Britten Sinfonia quintet, with a set designed by Sophia Lovell Smith using recycled materials.

Throughout the school tour, pupils had the opportunity to perform alongside professional musicians, bringing their lyrics and compositions to life with environmental messages such as “Don’t use forever chemicals!” and “Stop Plastic! Cease Plastic!”. Overall, it was inspiring to witness how readily pupils connected music, storytelling, and environmental action, highlighting the impact and relevance of orchestral music as a catalyst for change!