BBC Music to hold Live Lessons as part of widening scheme of activity for Ten Pieces III

Ten Pieces aims to open up the world of classical music to 7-14 year-olds across the UK and inspire them to develop their own creative responses to music. The initiative launched in 2014 and has so far reached over four million people across the UK, inspired three hugely successful BBC Proms concerts and won a BAFTA for the Ten Pieces II film.

A special Ten Pieces and The Nutcracker Live Lesson inspired by The Royal Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker is set to bring music and dance to primary schools on Monday 13 November. In partnership with the Royal Opera House and The Royal Ballet School, the 30-minute Live Lesson from BBC Learning will be presented by CBBC’s Naomi Wilkinson and Karim Zeroual and live-streamed to schools nationwide. A second 30-minute Ten Pieces Live Lesson Extra will also be exclusively available online and will develop the themes covered in the first Live Lesson.

The vast range of free Ten Pieces resources available includes a set of short films narrated by Lemn Sissay and Naomi Wilkinson which accompany the new repertoire and support students in their explorations of the pieces and six-weeks’ worth of lesson plans devised for each piece.

• The Ten Pieces and The Nutcracker Live Lesson will encourage children aged 7-11 to create their own original dances to Tchaikovsky’s famous ‘Russian Dance’ from The Nutcracker suite. It will be presented by CBBC personalities Naomi Wilkinson and Karim Zeroual, and led by Royal Opera House Dance Practitioner Elizabeth Foster and former Royal Ballet Soloist and Royal Opera House Education Administrator David Pickering, with students from The Royal Ballet School. The interactive Live Lesson will support UK school teachers in bringing the curriculum to life in a shared learning experience for their pupils. By the end of the project, students and teachers will have the basic tools to choreograph their own original dances to any piece of music. The Ten Pieces Live Lesson will be live-streamed via webcast at bbc.co.uk/livelessons on Monday 13 November at 2pm.
• The Ten Pieces Creative Responses Uploader will open on Monday 13 November, immediately following the Live Lesson. Schoolchildren are invited to submit their creative responses to the Ten Pieces III pieces - in any art form, from poetry to dance - to be showcased on the Ten Pieces website.
• The popular Ten Pieces Coaching Scheme will return, led by musicians from the BBC Orchestras and Choirs and Ulster Orchestra in Northern Ireland. Aimed at young musicians aged 10-18, the scheme offers aspiring instrumentalists and vocalists the chance to improve their performance skills and musicianship through a selection of bespoke workshops and coaching programmes. The BBC Singers will deliver special workshops, working with existing choirs or school groups to learn and perform No Place Like, a new vocal piece written by Kerry Andrew for Ten Pieces III.
• Also announced today are a series of Ten Pieces Schools Concerts for 2018 presented by the BBC Orchestras and Choirs, giving young people across the UK - including Perth, Skegness, Salford and Northampton - the opportunity to see a full orchestra and world class conductors performing the ten pieces of music live. A series of Ten Pieces Family Concerts will offer families a chance to enjoy music from all three sets of ten pieces. See full list of dates and venues in Notes to Editors.

CBBC presenter Naomi Wilkinson, says: "I’m delighted to be supporting BBC Ten Pieces, which brings classical music to young people all over UK. It’s been a pleasure to watch the initiative evolve over the past few years and I hope that these new resources, including the Live Lesson which I’m very excited to be presenting, will engage and inspire teachers and pupils alike. And I can’t wait to see the creative responses to this new set of pieces!"

David Pickering, former Royal Ballet Soloist and Royal Opera House Education Administrator, says: "The Nutcracker is such a special ballet. It was one of my favourites to perform with The Royal Ballet and one that children love the world over. The Ten Pieces and The Nutcracker Live Lesson with the Royal Opera House and The Royal Ballet will enable us to reach and inspire children and teachers across the UK, sharing the joy of creating dance together to Tchaikovsky’s stunning score."

James Purnell, Director, BBC Radio and Education, says: "I’m proud that Ten Pieces continues to go from strength to strength and it’s a fantastic example of our Education and Music teams coming together to create something truly special. As the biggest commitment the BBC has ever made to music education in the UK, I hope that the wonderful new resources, as well as the live concerts across the UK, will continue to inspire teachers and young people alike to find out more about classical music."

Ten Pieces is a project delivered by BBC Music and BBC Learning in conjunction with the BBC Orchestras and Choirs. Schools can find out more information on the Ten Pieces website: www.bbc.co.uk/tenpieces

Live Lessons are thirty-minute live interactive webcasts. For each Live Lesson, there is also a follow-up programme called Live Lessons EXTRA. This will not be broadcast live but will be published on the dedicated Live Lesson website shortly after the live broadcast, and will build on the outcomes of the live programme.

Participating schools will receive educational resources including a full lesson guide and downloadable activity sheets to aid teachers in their delivery of the BBC Ten Pieces Live Lesson.

MC4

Ten Pieces III Repertoire

• Kerry Andrew No Place Like - Commission for a cappella voices
• Mason Bates Anthology of Fantastic Zoology - Sprite; A Bao A Qu
• Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges Symphony No. 1 in G major - Allegro (1st mvt)
• Aaron Copland Rodeo - Hoe-Down
• Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 9 in E minor, 'From the New World’ - Largo (2nd mvt)
• Edward Elgar ‘Enigma’ Variations - Theme (‘Enigma’), variations 11, 6 & 7
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker - Waltz of the Flowers; Russian Dance
• Carl Orff Carmina burana - ‘O fortuna’
• Henry Purcell Abdelazer - Rondeau
• Jean Sibelius Finlandia

BBC Ten Pieces 2018 schools and family concerts

School concerts:

• Wednesday 7 February: Ten Pieces Schools Concert - City Halls, Glasgow (BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra)
• Thursday 8 February: Ten Pieces Schools Concert - Perth Concert Hall (BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra)
• Tuesday 27 February: Ten Pieces Schools Concert - Watford Colosseum (BBC Concert Orchestra)
• Wednesday 28 February: Ten Pieces Schools Concert - The Embassy Theatre, Skegness (BBC Concert Orchestra)
• Tuesday 15 May: Ten Pieces Schools Concert - MediaCityUK, Salford (BBC Philharmonic)
• Wednesday 16 May: Ten Pieces Schools Concert - MediaCityUK, Salford (BBC Philharmonic)
• Thursday 21 June: Ten Pieces Schools Concert - Royal and Derngate, Northampton (BBC Symphony Orchestra)
• Friday 22 June: Ten Pieces Schools Concert - Barbican, London (BBC Symphony Orchestra)

Family concerts:

• Sunday 11 February: Ten Pieces Family Concert - His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen (BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra)
• Saturday 3 March: Family Concert - Sir Thomas Picton School, Haverfordwest (BBC National Orchestra of Wales)
• Sunday 18 March: Family Concert - Venue Cymru, Llandudno (BBC National Orchestra of Wales)
• Sunday 13 May: Family Concert - St David’s Hall, Cardiff (BBC National Orchestra of Wales)
• Saturday 26 May: Family Concert - The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (BBC Philharmonic)

Booking details for the Ten Pieces School and Family Concerts will be available via the BBC Ten Pieces website shortly. Schools can sign up to the Ten Pieces Coaching Scheme via an Expressions of Interest Form found online to be returned to tenpieces@bbc.co.uk by Thursday 16 November.