Rising stars play with orchestra

OLDHAM'S young musicians at the "Come and Play with the Hallé" concert at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

MORE than 1,300 talented children from Oldham performed at a unique concert alongside the Hallé Orchestra.

Come and Play with the Hallé allows thousands of primary school children from across the North West of England the opportunity to participate with the Hallé, one of Britain's finest symphony orchestras, in a series of concerts at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.

It was another amazing musical experience for the borough's young musicians.

The Hallé and the children were under the direction of Jamie Phillips. As in previous years, the concert was presented by Tom Redmond, formerly a horn player with the orchestra, and now a regular presenter on BBC Radio 3.

This year's theme was the USA and the event featured music by Bernstein, Barber, John Williams and many other American.

The concert is a major highlight in the calendar for future stars and marks the culmination of their year's work.

The children also had the opportunity to hear a symphony orchestra perform and this would have been a whole new experience for many of them.

Gerard Booth, the director of Music for Oldham, said: "Oldham's young musicians were exceptional in this year's Come and Play with the Hallé at Bridgewater Hall.

"We were particularly pleased that the mayor and mayoress of Oldham were able to be present for the concert along with the youth mayor and afterwards they remarked on just how wonderful it was to see so many children from Oldham making music together in this way."