OAE Education 2022 / 23

We were delighted to bring The Moon Hares to the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the beginning of November as part of the OAE’s season Songs of Travel It was a truly magical evening! The OAE were joined on stage by a band and company of dancers from Acland Burghley School (ABS), 110 pupils from three Camden primary schools and an adult choir made up of singers from our UK residencies, Camden Music and ABS staff. It was a real celebration of the OAE’s partnerships across the country and our residency at ABS.

‘...At the end of the show, seeing the pride and sense of achievement on the faces of the young performers, I couldn’t suppress the tears!’

– PARENT

‘I thought the project as a whole was great: the children were enabled to succeed and feel included and proud of themselves. ALL children, including those with complex needs, were able to remember actions, some words and the tune, which was fantastic.’

– PRIMARY CLASS

Teacher

‘ The internationally renowned Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment pushes its mission to enlighten to the max, currently basing itself at Acland Burghley school, Tufnell Park, London, working closely with the students. That collaboration has produced some remarkable results, not The Moon Hares, a touring community opera that takes music from Purcell’s Dioclesian – with additional attractive material from composer James Redwood – to tell Hazel Gould’s enchanting modern fable about self-realisation and freedom. Hundreds of schoolchildren around the country have already taken part. Last week, singers Kirsty Hopkins, Charmian Bedford, Timothy Dickinson and Robert Gildon were joined by terrific musicians and dancers from Acland Burghley and a gloriously enthusiastic, wonderfully rehearsed choir from three London primaries. It’s the turn of Wiltshire schools later this month. Lucky them.

Stephen Pritchard In The Observer

Our subsequent performance at the Wiltshire Music Centre of The Moon Hares later in November, with a completely different set of participants, was equally magical but very different reflecting the local community and our partners in Wiltshire.

Our programme for this academic year is well underway and to give you a sense of the range of our activity to come in 2023 we are planning:

At our home base at Acland Burghley School:

• A host of activity from our Musical Connections project to dance projects, Encounter Sessions, Young Producers programme, Playlist sessions to study days, a new string project and much more!

In our Residencies:

• North Walsham Residency to include a dance and music project alongside TOTS, schools and community concerts across the year

• York residency to include TOTS The King of the Sea and The Magic Flute for KS1 pupils

• Durham Residency to include The Magic Flute for KS1 pupils

• King’s Lynn Residency to include The Magic Flute for KS1 pupils

In our London Schools:

• Early years project The King of the Sea

• KS1 project The Magic of Mozart

• KS2 project The Life of the Sea

• KS3 project in Northgate school in Ipswich as part of Musical Connections

Special Needs:

• Work in Swiss Cottage Special school in Camden and Thomas Wolsey Special School in Ipswich as part of the Musical Connections project

• Something Special at the Royal Albert Hall with Swiss Cottage Special School and Great Ormond Street and University College Hospital Schools alongside a choir of 1,500 Camden children

For families:

• Pack your Bags OAE TOTS concerts at the Royal Festival Hall

• OAE TOTS @ LPO FUNharmonics workshops

• York Rise Street Party – The Magic Flute

On our Nurturing Talent strand:

• OAE Experience scheme

• Suffolk Young Strings project

Our participants come from a wide range of backgrounds and we pride ourselves in working flexibly, adapting to the needs of local people and the places where they live. The extensive partnerships we have built up over many years ensure maximum and lasting impact.

We take Inspiration from the OAE’s repertoire, instruments and players. This makes for a vibrant, challenging and engaging programme where everyone is involved; players, animateurs, composers, participants, teachers, partners and stakeholders all have a valued voice.

We do hope you can join us for some of these events!