BBC Ten Pieces 2019

The BBC Ten Pieces project is a wonderful thing.  It enables musicians of all ages and stages to come together to play great works of classical music.  Our 80-strong orchestra worked with inspiring conductor Patrick Bailey to produce not only a fantastic performance of Holst's Mars from The Planet Suite, but also a brand new composition which the students entitiled: "A Time in Space (2019 Space Odyssey)". 

Groups of instrumentalists devised a short section to represent one of the planets.  Patrick cleverly wove in our very own Bath Strings Academy motif in the brass section, using Morse Code to spell out "B-S-A".  The percussion section deserve a special mention for their wonderful evocation of Deep Space, produced by three players who had never played tuned percussion before.

We are so proud of all the musicians who came and gave so much energy and commitment to the day.  Special thanks go to the tutors and volunteers who supported everyone so enthusiastically, to B&NES music service for lending instruments, and to Hayesfield Girls' School for hosting us so generously.

Next year's project will be even bigger and better, so watch this space...

See more photos

Watch our film about the day...