Holyrood Secondary School Residency
In October 2019 the 麻豆社 Scottish Symphony Orchestra decamped from its home at Glasgow’s City halls to Holyrood Secondary School to share music with young people and local residents.
The 5-day residency saw the orchestra partner once again with Big Noise Govanhill, Sistema Scotland’s project for social change through music. It featured creative workshops, musical assemblies, side by side coaching sessions, and full orchestra concerts for primary, secondary and local families in Glasgow Club’s Holyrood Sports Hall
Find out more in the clips and galleries below…
Holyrood Secondary School is only 2 miles from the orchestra’s regular home at City Halls, but many pupils, teachers and local families experienced the thrill of a live orchestral performance for the first time during this residency
Govanhill has one of Scotland’s most culturally diverse communities and over the 5 days presenter and singer Lucy Drever hosted workshops and bespoke concerts that aimed to share the music with everyone.
As well as bringing professional musicians into the school at Holyrood, young French conductor Chloé van Soeterstède took to the podium to lead the orchestra in the cavernous surroundings of the Glasgow Club Sports Hall next door. Taking a break from the usual programme of games and exercise classes, it became the stage for a diverse range of music covering everything from Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, to Florence Price and Leonard Bernstein, to Anna Clyne and Star Wars.
Big Noise Govanhill is a community-focused orchestra programme, run by the social transformation charity Sistema Scotland. It is the largest Big Noise programme, with around 1,200 children (babies to S2) taking part regularly. One of this project’s highlights was a climactic side by side performance of Loch Lomond featuring the 麻豆社 SSO, children from Big Noise, Holyrood Secondary School and Shawlands Academy. Conducted by Chloe, it featured over 150 musicians. Needless to say, they raised the roof!
