Concert to mark centenary of countryside charity

A teenager taking part in a concert celebrating the centenary of a countryside charity says the natural world is important for "our inheritance as young people".

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is hosting the event with the Bristol Youth Orchestra (BYO) on 29 March at the Bristol Beacon - bringing the story of the English countryside to life through music and archive film.

The CPRE, along with members of the BYO, will also be planting 100 native trees in the Avon Valley later as a lasting legacy of the concert.

Esther Clifford, 17, who co-leads the BYO, said: "Music and nature are inherently interconnected".

She added: "Lots of the students in the orchestra have come forward and talked about the importance of the natural world to them, from walking the dog, to being involved in allotments and rehabilitating animals.

"I think, as a generation, we're very aware of the critical moment we're at, and as such, the importance of organisations like the CPRE," she said.

A Concert for the Countryside will feature music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Edward Elgar and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, as well as music from guest composer and conductor, Debbie Wiseman OBE.

A screen will project archive film from the 1920s and 1930s, when rural business was still largely run by heavy horses and manual labour, to the post-war period and beyond when the intensification of agriculture dramatically changed the landscape.

Sarah Pitt, chair of CPRE Avon and Bristol, said: "The Centenary Woodland Grove, and the concert that celebrates it, are two sides of the same legacy. Together, they honour the past while inspiring action for the future."

Members of BYO will join local residents and volunteers to plant trees near a site in Pensford, Somerset.

The CPRE said the grove was being created "to honour the landscapes the charity has worked to protect since 1926 and to inspire a new generation of countryside custodians".

The charity has launched a £10,000 crowdfunder to raise money for the project, as well as to support its ongoing goal of restoring 10km (6 miles) of hedgerows by the end of the centenary year.

Tim Harrison, musical director of BYO, said: "Our players are not only learning and performing some of the most beautiful and evocative music written about the English landscape - they're also stepping into that landscape to protect and renew it.

"That connection gives their performance an even deeper sense of purpose," he added.

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