150 young musicians from across the Ripon Episcopal Area entertained a large audience at Ripon Cathedral at a ‘pre-launch’ concert ahead of this weekend’s Ripon Revealed Festival from April 28- May 2nd.
Among the young people were children who have taken up musical instruments as part of a government initiative to give young people an opportunity to play music.
The government initiative started in Nidderdale five years ago and children from Nidderdale’s ‘Wider Opportunities Band’ played a major role in the concert. They included pupils from Year 3 at Dacre Braithwaite Endowed Primary School, St Cuthbert’s Primary School and Fountains Earth Primary School lwho have been learning a wind instrument - their repertoire ranged from the Camptown Races to Yellow Bird to Please Mr Postman. They also played with Blast Off, a band that meets at St Aidan’s School on Saturday mornings and is part of Harrogate Music Centre.
Also taking part were the Bridge, the Nidderdale Community Youth Band that represents pupils from Years 7, 8 and 9 at Pateley Bridge High School. They played film themes including The Pink Panther , Colours of the Wind, the Flintstones and the theme from Mission Impossible.
The final musical pieces in the concert , the William Tell Overture, the Red-haired Boy and Do You Hear the People Sing , were played by children from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 from schools at Kirby Hill, Brafferton and Roecliffe who are part of the Boroughbridge Area Primary Orchestra.
In all there were around 150 young musicians, conducted by Stephen Price, taking part in the concert. Later around 50 members of the choirs of Ripon Grammar School, conducted by Ed Seymour, sang songs and anthems including Steal Away, Scarborough Fair and View Me Lord. The grand finale saw all the musicians and the choirs combining in a mash-up of Uptown and Happy.
The concert was arranged by the North Yorkshire Music Hub in collaboration with the cathedral and attracted an audience of around 200 people. A retiring collection was taken and split between the hub and the cathedral.