THE Philharmonia Orchestra returned to The Anvil on Monday for another of its Orchestra Unwrapped afternoon concerts.

These concerts are specially tailored for children aged between seven and 11 years-old.  

One thousand schoolchildren from eighteen schools in Basingstoke and the surrounding area, including Park View Junior, South View Junior, North Waltham Primary, St Mary’s CE Junior and Bishopswood Junior, had the opportunity to experience one of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras perform live music in their local concert hall The Anvil.

Led by music education specialist Paul Rissmann, the hour long concert included a varied programme designed to introduce the orchestra, its instruments and repertoire to a young audience in an interactive and accessible way.

The programme, conducted by Robin O’Neill, included Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Beethoven’s Symphony no 6 Pastorale, Rossini’s William Tell Overture and John Williams’ Shark Theme from Jaws.

Children also sang with the orchestra in Eco, a new piece about caring for the environment written specially for the concert, which they had been learning in school since the beginning of the year.

Christine Bradwell, chief executive at Anvil Arts, said: “The reaction from both pupils and staff to the Orchestra Unwrapped concerts is fantastic and we are thrilled to be able to offer such a great opportunity to so many local primary school children.

“It is one of the most rewarding concerts of the year and a great example of the successful partnership between the Philharmonia Orchestra and The Anvil Trust”.