SÓN worked with artist & presenter James Mayhew again this summer, inspiring almost 200 children at a Somerset school last week
“This should be a movie” – Toby
“The music was magic and it was amazing to see James Mayhew paint in time with it” – Kitty S and Lucy S
“I loved it because it told one of my favourite stories with music” – Lydia H
“I really enjoyed the performance, because you could listen to the music and watch the painting at the same time” – Emma G-J
“It was magical watching the paintings come to life whilst listening to the orchestra” – Mrs Warren
Throughout our concert season we aim to change the lives of youngsters through inspirational education and outreach programmes. Even though SÓN is only 2 years old, we’ve already presented a number of music education projects at venues throughout the region, including our supersónic summer school (making a welcome return next month), large-scale orchestral coaching & improvisation workshops in Petersfield, visits to Southampton schools such as Cedar special school, and our warmly-received family concerts.
Last week we were invited to perform an event combining music and art at Hazlegrove School in Somerset. SÓN shared the stage with master presenter and artist James Mayhew, as he lead the crowd of nearly 200 excited youngsters through the fascinating tale of Shakespeare’s A Midsummernight’s Dream, creating each new painting in time with our performance of Mendelssohn’s complete incidental music. The children were not only offered an hour of wonderful music and art, professionally presented, but gained a rich insight into the virtuosic skills of our orchestra, learning about literature & drama, as well as about art & music, even enjoying a pre-concert art class with James about painting dinosaurs!
A mini-SÓN orchestra – a sónette, perhaps (sorry!) – of only 12 players including piano duet brought Mendelssohn’s music to life whilst James enchanted all with colour, timing and those incredible stories.
We’ve more educational events, visits and larger-scale plans in the pipeline for next year, too. If you’re interested in finding out more, would like us to visit your school, or are able to contribute to these projects please send an email to our education team by clicking here.
All photos on this page courtesy Naomi Warren, Hazlegrove School, Somerset and reproduced with permission.
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