National Children's Orchestra Of Great Britain
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The National Children's Orchestras of Great Britain, more commonly known as NCO, is a
registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...
which provides orchestral training for children aged 8 to 14. The organisation comprises three age-banded
orchestras An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...
and four project orchestras. Entry is by audition and every year approximately 500 young musicians are selected to play in the orchestras. It offers a life-changing experience to talented young musicians.


About the NCO

The NCO was founded in 1978 by Vivienne Price MBE. Price, a violin teacher, had set up a number of local orchestras for children in Surrey but was acutely aware of the lack of national opportunities for younger musicians. The
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain The National Youth Orchestra (NYO), formerly the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, is the national youth orchestra of the United Kingdom, consisting of 164 members of ages 13 to 19 years. Auditions take place in the autumn each year at va ...
had existed since 1948 and there were many regional youth orchestras which catered for teenagers, but younger children struggled to fit in socially and so Price established the NCO.


The Orchestras

There are three age-banded orchestras: *Main Orchestra *Under 13 Orchestra *Under 12 Orchestra (There is an under 11s orchestra and it used to have a residential course, however, it recently has been cancelled, and assigned project orchestras, alike the regionals (see below))


Projects Orchestras

In addition to the age-banded orchestras, there are four project orchestras that meet around the country for 2 weekends per year. Projects Orchestra rehearsals are for a more inclusive age and standard bracket. Typically the project orchestras use schools or universities such as Goldsmith University and have sharing at the end of the course. The project orchestras were introduced as something similar to the Regional orchestras after they were cut. The regional orchestras were for national members and only-regional members and took place in six locations across the country on Sundays. In 2012, the organisation introduced an associate member scheme across all of their Regional Orchestras which gives talented youngsters who just missed out on an NCO place a chance to experience playing as part of a full symphony orchestra and to learn from members. Regional Orchestra members met monthly during term time and give members additional opportunities to meet and rehearse new repertoire. Typically, each Regional Orchestra rehearses at a school or centre which is easily accessible and can provide facilities to accommodate a full symphony orchestra. Each Regional Orchestra performed for family and friends once a year.


Courses

Each national orchestra meets twice a year at residential courses around the UK, where they receive training from leading music tutors and conductors. Main and Under 13 Orchestras have an eight-day course in the spring and another eight-day course in the summer, both ending in a public concert in a major venue, as well as a non-residential winter weekend for the Main orchestra. the Under 12 Orchestra has 2 7-day courses a year with one private concert and one public after the second course. The courses are spent in sectionals and full orchestral rehearsals, preparing repertoire to be played at the end of course concert. There is also time to explore other music and for recreation including something called surround sound.


Concerts

Each course culminates in a concert. The younger orchestras perform for family and friends, while Main and Under 13 Orchestras perform in public at major
concert venue A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Ty ...
s. Performances have been given at Symphony Hall, Birmingham,
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
, Bridgewater Hall,
Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank. It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell R ...
,
The Sage Gateshead The Glasshouse is an international centre for musical education and concerts on the Gateshead bank of Quayside in northern England. Opened in 2004 as Sage Gateshead and occupied by North Music Trust, the venue's original name honours a patron ...
,
Colston Hall Bristol Beacon, previously Colston Hall, is a concert hall and Grade II listed building on Colston Street, Bristol, England. It is owned by Bristol City Council. Since 2011, it has been managed by Bristol Music Trust. The hall opened as a con ...
,
St David's Hall St David's Hall () is a performing arts and conference venue in the heart of Cardiff, Wales. St David's Hall is the National Concert Hall and Conference Centre of Wales. It hosts the annual Welsh Proms and the biennial BBC Cardiff Singer of t ...
,
Leeds Town Hall Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow (formerly Park Lane), Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built be ...
,
Birmingham Town Hall Birmingham Town Hall is a concert hall and venue for popular assemblies opened in 1834 and situated in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It is a Grade I listed building. The hall underwent a major renovation between 2002 and 2007. It no ...
, The Anvil, Basingstoke,
Brighton Dome The Brighton Dome is an arts venue in Brighton, England, that contains the Concert Hall, the Corn exchange, Corn Exchange and the Studio Theatre (Brighton), Studio Theatre (formerly the Pavilion Theatre). All three venues are linked to the rest o ...
,
Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...
and
Nottingham Royal Concert Hall Nottingham Royal Concert Hall is a concert hall in the English city of Nottingham. It is owned by Nottingham City Council and is part of a complex that also includes the city's Theatre Royal. The Royal Concert Hall's striking modern architectur ...
. Repertoire for the concerts is varied and includes Classical, Romantic, 20th and
21st century The 21st century is the current century in the ''Anno Domini'' or Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. It began on 1 January 2001, and will end on 31 December 2100. It is the first century of the 3rd millennium. The rise of a ...
music, as well as
film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
s. The NCO has commissioned, premiered and played new pieces by contemporary composers such as Matthew Curtis and Stephen Frost. The Orchestras have a reputation for tackling challenging repertoire. , recent performances had included Gershwin's ''Rhapsody in Blue'' and ''La Valse'' by Ravel (both performed by Main Orchestra) and ''Der Rosenkavalier Suite'' by Richard Strauss and Curtis' ''Paths to Urbino'' (performed by the U13 Orchestra).


Tours

The NCO has been on tour, to Italy in 2008 when Lady Susanna Walton (widow of Sir William Walton) invited Main Orchestra to play in the Walton's open-air theatre within the botanical gardens of La Mortella on the island of
Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Although inhabited since the Bronze Age, as a Ancient G ...
. They also played a concert to a packed audience in the Basilica di Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. In 2006 Main Orchestra toured to China where they took part in the International Festival of Music in Beijing. They performed in the
Forbidden City Concert Hall Forbidden City Concert Hall () is a 1,419-seat multi-purpose venue in Beijing. The name of the venue came from the fact that it is located within the grounds of the Zhongshan Park (Beijing), Beijing Zhongshan Park, a vast former imperial altar Sh ...
and at the University of Beijing.


Alumni

After leaving the NCO many musicians continue to pursue other musical opportunities. Typically, over half of the NYO players have previously been members of the NCO (86 out of 156 in 2010). The BBC Young Musician of the Year 2010 competition featured 25 category finalists, 13 of whom had progressed through the NCO.Retrieved on 12 April 2011.
/ref> Many alumni become professional musicians, some playing for leading orchestras and ensembles. As well as those who build successful careers as professional musicians, many other NCO alumni go on to excel in other fields – medicine, law and engineering among others.


Notable alumni


See also

*
List of youth orchestras This is a list of active youth orchestras. National youth orchestras are highlighted in bold. Asia * Arab Youth Philharmonic Orchestra * Asian Youth Orchestra Afghanistan * Afghan Youth Orchestra Cambodia * Angkor National Youth Or ...


References


External links


National Children's Orchestras of Great Britain
{{Authority control National youth orchestras British youth orchestras 1978 establishments in the United Kingdom Musical groups established in 1978 Children's charities based in the United Kingdom