Family Music Day - Years Ahead of it Time

Hannah Ellis, Family Music Day Co-ordinator talks about this year's Family Music Day;

With Back to the Future replays filling our screens, echoes of ‘Let’s do the Time Warp again’ ringing in our ears and Hollywood inviting us to meet the ‘Time Traveller’s Wife’, Britten Sinfonia has jumped on the time travelling bandwagon as this year’s Family Music Day promises to take you on a journey through the centuries. Our Creative Learning department is busy excitedly planning the day taking place at West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, on Sunday 1 November, this year directed by Tim Steiner from CBBC’s Clash, who boasts a wealth of experience in family concerts.

This event has been hugely popular over the past few years (and we’ve nearly sold out for this year, so get your tickets fast!), and it provides the ideal opportunity for families to learn more about how music is played and composed in a fun and informative way. What’s more, you don’t need any prior musical knowledge to be able to enjoy the day!

As well as the usual fantastic workshops – percussion, gamelan, instrument building, and strings, wind and brass workshops – we’ve listened to what you have told us in previous years and as a result this year also sees the addition of singing and guitar!! There’s also lots of other activities going on throughout the day and at the moment we are putting together our Composers’ Time Machine (collective ‘ooooooooooohhhh’ please!), to be unveiled on the day! Not forgetting face painting, the Boomwhacker challenge and various competitions with fab prizes!

So as you can see, this year looks set to be even bigger and better than previous years, and with Tim Steiner captaining the (space)ship, you can guarantee everyone will enjoy themselves.

Forget the X Factor and even Britain’s Got Talent, Britten Sinfonia’s Family Music Day is the place to showcase your musical talent.

So grab your nearest flux capacitor and come and join us for a fun filled day!