It was a great opportunity for the young virtuosos to work together, with 12 members of Crackley Hall’s Orchestra joining 18 Crescent instrumentalists for a day designed to develop and stretch their music and performance skills.

Pupils from both schools worked under the guidance of Crescent School’s Director of Music, Julie Barnes, to prepare and rehearse a mixture of pieces ready for an impromptu afternoon performance.

The children relished making music, especially in such a big group. They worked hard to prepare two challenging pieces, including the stirring Can You Feel The Love Tonight from the hit film The Lion King and the complex jazz piece Fidgety Feet by Larocca and Shields, both pieces testing the players’ technical and music-reading ability.

The young musicians performed so well in the morning rehearsals, that Mrs Barnes organised an audience of Year 5 and Year 6 pupils to watch a short impromptu performance in the afternoon. The concert was superb, a symphony of sound, and as well as featuring the full 30-piece orchestra playing their now near perfect pieces, it also included four solo performances, from Kate Knudsen and Elsie Roots from Crackley Hall and Evie Bierton and Katherine Lee from Crescent School.

Mrs Barnes, commented, “We had a very successful day and the pupils enjoyed working and collaborating together. They achieved a very high standard of performance, learning challenging music in a short space of time, it was a great opportunity for them all to play with so many other talented musicians. Thank you Crackley Hall for joining us today."