Over a thousand join BBC’s Virtual Orchestra for the Last Night of the Proms
More than a thousand amateur musicians will be part of the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms celebrations, after joining a digital ‘Virtual Orchestra’ which will be unveiled on Saturday.
Published: 10 September 2016
The response has been incredible and shows the love there is for amateur music making in the UK today. We have had a huge range of ages and abilities joining in which is exactly what we wanted.
Over 1,200 music lovers from all over the UK signed up to the scheme after the BBC invited music lovers everywhere to get involved and take part in the world’s biggest classical music party.
Members of the public jumped at the invitation, uploading video clips of themselves playing a single three minute piece of music - the Toreador Song from Bizet’s opera Carmen. The celebrated conductor Marin Alsop was filmed especially for the website to ensure everyone stayed in perfect time.
Comedian, David Baddiel was the Ambassador for the project, a keen amateur pianist, he has joined the orchestra and uploaded his performance. The BBC is now editing all their videos into a spectacular performance which will be shown at Proms in the Park events in London, Glasgow, Colwyn Bay and Belfast on Saturday night.
An excerpt of the film will also be shown on BBC Two as part of the Last Night coverage which starts at 7.15pm, and it will be available to view in full on BBC iPlayer from 3pm on Saturday.
The Virtual Orchestra is part of the BBC’s Get Playing campaign, which has highlighted and celebrated amateur music making across the country throughout the Summer on TV, Radio and online.
Jessica Isaacs from BBC Music says: “The response has been incredible and shows the love there is for amateur music making in the UK today. We have had a huge range of ages and abilities joining in which is exactly what we wanted. We are delighted at the vast choice of instruments people used – from banjos to bagpipes, horns to harmonicas and tambourines to tubas!”
Several big names can be spotted in the Virtual Orchestra. The scheme’s main ambassador comedian David Baddiel plays piano, The One Show’s Angellica Bell plays cello, Sarah Walker from BBC Radio 3 plays drums and Reverend Richard Coles from BBC Radio 4 shows off his talents on the organ. Proms Chief David Pickard even plays his part – on kazoo!
The BBC’s Virtual Orchestra campaign partners Making Music, Music For All and ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music), will also be providing advice and online resources for anyone wanting help and support practising or learning instruments in future.
The virtual orchestra is part of the BBC Get Playing campaign, which includes ‘All Together Now, The Great Orchestra Challenge’ - a nation-wide search for the orchestra that best captures the spirit of amateur music-making in the UK
The BBC Virtual Orchestra film will be live from 3pm this Saturday on BBC iPlayer and on www.bbc.co.uk/getplaying
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