A recent string session was delivered by The Benedetti Foundation at Meadowmill Sports Centre
On Friday 5th May The Benedetti Foundation Team were joined by 70 young string players from Midlothian Instrumental Music Service and 110 young string players from East Lothian Council's Instrumental Music Service for a great day of music making in Meadowmill Sports Centre.
The team of Benedetti Foundation Tutors led a group warmup and then, with less than four hours rehearsal, coached this huge string orchestra to two performances. The day was the final event from the Benedetti Foundation's 2023 residency in East Lothian. The young musicians look forward to welcoming them back in December for the Edinburgh Benedetti Sessions when world-renowned violinist Nicola Benedetti will also be in attendance. To watch a short video from the day, click here.
Jonathan Gawn, Instrumental Music Service Team Manager, commented “The Benedetti Foundation Team were great. They have been delivering these sessions up and down the country now for some time and they know exactly what our young people need to get the most from the day. The standard of ensemble performance the young people achieved was fantastic. It was good to see the East Lothian Council and Midlothian Council String Tutor Teams working together with the Benedetti Foundation Tutors. We now look forward to our East Lothian Instrumental Music Service Primary Ensembles Day on the 27th May as part of Haddstock Festival. You can see from the joy and energy in the short video made everybody had a great day”.
Benedetti Foundation Director Laura Gardiner commented "It was wonderful to see that music is thriving in East and Midlothian and to bring these music services together to collaborate with passion and commitment. Across the course of the day the young people were really focused, listened intently and had lots of fun together. We watched these young musicians delving deeper into their instruments and asking such intelligent questions. The end result was excellent, and we are really proud of what they collectively achieved. I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.”
Young violinists from St Gabriel’s Primary School were part of the ensemble. Some of their comments include:
- “It was really fun, I liked playing Mission Mars and the countdown at the end.”
- “The Benedetti instructors were all really nice and I’ve now got a Nicola Benedetti sticker which I put on my violin case.”
- “My mum and grandparents came to the concert and said it was 'brilliant'.”
- “My favourite bit was the games and doing the tremolo bowing for the countdown in Mission Mars.”
- “I really want to go again to the next one.”
The Benedetti foundation was established in 2019 by Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti. Led by Nicola and a team of exceptional musicians and educators from around the world, the Foundation provides equal access to music participation and appreciation for all. Find out more.
To view some photographs of the event, please visit our Facebook page.