Forty-five of the Hub's youngest string players enjoy a morning of creative music making.

On Saturday 24th February, members of Acorn Strings and Elgar, the Hub's two beginner strings ensembles, spent the morning in a workshop with workshop leader Neil Valentine. 

The day started with a few warm-up games to help the children feel some of the rhythms they were about to play. They then learnt to play "Ah Ya Zeem", a traditional Arabic tune, before exploring different ways to change their performance of the music. The players also had the chance to visit the Southampton Youth Orchestra mid-rehearsal, to experience the sound of a full symphony orchestra and see how they rehearsed. Finally, they worked as an ensemble to turn the short tune into a five-minute work adding to the original piece with their own ideas for creating soundscapes using different techniques on their instruments. 

Chris Nichols, Director of Acorn Strings, says:
"It was really exciting to see the children work creatively without the confines of sheet music and an orchestral setting! It was also a good opportunity for the children to get to know each other better, outside of the weekly rehearsals. Several of the children played the music to each other as soon as they arrived at the next rehearsal!"