On Tuesday 7 February, the Thirds had a special trip to Symphony Hall to see the CBSO
perform a concert for schools. Some of the students who attended wrote reviews of the
concert, as part of their music lessons. See below to read the reviews written by Simran and Inaya. We are so glad the Thirds enjoyed the concert and hope that it
has inspired them to go to more concerts in the future!
On Tuesday 7th February 2023, Thirds attended The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
(CBSO) at the prestigious Symphony Hall. The theme of this concert was ‘This World’,
reflecting the interactions between humans and nature. The type of music played was
‘program’ music, which tells a story.
Some of the ideas which I liked were that there was a narrator who would inform us what the
piece was called and who it was composed by; they also gave us some background
information about the piece and told us the story and meaning. I also really appreciated that
the musicians wore a variety of different coloured tee-shirts to reflect which part of the
orchestra they were part of, for examples strings, brass, percussion etc. This helped us to
identify the sections of the orchestra and what type of instruments they were playing.
I really enjoyed listening to all of the pieces but my favourite was ‘Portals’ (from Avengers:
Endgame) by Alan Silvestri as it was exciting to know that I recognised this tune. They
performed this piece very well and it was inspiring and regal. The atmosphere of the
auditorium was very exhilarating and I loved how there was lots of chatter of the different
schools talking to each other and then suddenly the lights dimmed and there was an
expectant hush as the musicians commenced playing a mesmerising piece of music. I learnt
how the different sections of the orchestra work as a team to produce the final piece. I think
that this concert was presented very well, although they could’ve interacted with the audience
a little bit more. I was delighted to see some of my friends from other schools who also
attended the concert. Overall, I really enjoyed this trip and will always remember this
wonderful experience!
Written by Simran
On Tuesday 7th February, we attended a concert at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. It was a
very elaborate event as it had the whole orchestra performing. There were many schools there
and the hall was massive! The whole theme of the concert was about nature and the music
really allowed the audience to use their imagination vividly. I really enjoyed the theme of
nature because it took you on an adventure in your mind.There was a lot of variety and all
the pieces told a different story from superheroes to a field guide for the orchestra. The choice
of programme was really interesting and I especially enjoyed the superhero music as it was
suspenseful. The pieces that were played were “Coalescence” by Dani Howard, “Field Guide for
Orchestra” by Gabriella Smith, “Portals” by Alan Silvestri, “Headbanger” by Matthew Hindson,
“Sospiri” by Edward Elgar, “Coda” from “Appalachian Spring” by Aaron Copland, “Danźon No.
2” by Arturo Márquez, “Chamber Symphony” 2nd movement by Dmitri Shostakovich and
“Finale” from Symphony No.1 by Johannes Brahms. I think that “Finale” was played the best
because the whole orchestra was in sync and it sounded very harmonious.The staging was
very vibrant and colourful and the different coloured shirts really help differentiate the
families of the orchestra. There was a lot of movement and swaying which really helped you
to immerse yourself in the performance. The atmosphere was very relaxed and calming
because the whole theme was nature and the actual performance was presented in a very
upbeat attitude.I feel like the performance could have been improved by really showing off
the different families of the orchestra because you could mostly hear the violins, personally I
would have loved to hear all the different instruments on their own. I also would have liked it
if the actual performance was longer as it seemed quite short.I would definitely recommend it
to others as it was very upbeat, wonderful and an amazing experience! I would definitely go
again if I had the chance. I learnt that when you perform in the orchestra you really have to
pay close attention to the conductor because of your timings and I also learnt that to be in an
orchestra you have to collaborate and work together!
Written by Inaya
