St Paul’s Sinfonia became the Associate Orchestra with the Gipsy Hill Federation of schools in 2013, and has taken part in three extensive education projects during the summer terms 2013-2015.  Musicians from the Sinfonia work closely with students from all eight schools, and have collaborated in a series of short concerts that mark the culmination of the projects.

The projects involve working closely with the Year 4 ukulele classes in producing a joint performance. This results in a short concert that takes place in each school, involving all the visiting musicians, that would comprise

• a work involving the ukulele classes and the musicians together, plus potential
  other players from the school (percussion/recorder/singing/other instruments).  This work would be ‘open score’, with simple chord sequences, so that any
  musician from the school would be able to take part.
• a performance from the visiting musicians together as an ‘Introduction to the
  Orchestra’ (for example: a chamber arrangement of Saint-Saëns, Carnival of the
  Animals and/or Rossini, William Tell Overture)

We in the Sinfonia are very excited about these projects, and hopeful that we will be able to continue to work with the GHF schools on at least one project per year.  It is anticipated that this collaborative venture will benefit both sides, and from the Sinfonia’s point of view, that the audience for its regular monthly concerts will become steadily more diverse, in age, ethnic background, and in geographical reach.