Aurora Orchestra places a commitment to young people and the future of live music at the centre of its conception. Through an extensive and exceptional programme of participatory work with young people in schools, communities and the concert hall, Aurora is now reaching thousands of young people across London and the UK

Central to Aurora Orchestra’s Participation and Learning programme is its collaboration with the renowned music education organization, the Da Capo Foundation, which produces work of outstanding quality by bringing together experts in their relevant fields. This collaboration has produced the innovative Listen up! project which focuses on building skills in large numbers of children.

The orchestra’s fresh approach to concert programming, new commissions and cross-arts collaborations is applied to our Performances for schools and families and is being praised for its innovation and ability to engage. Events have included Hans Krasa’s childrens’ opera, ‘Brundibar,’ the BBC Young Composers Competition, and concerts in festivals and the Wigmore Hall.

The orchestra is also working alongside secondary school and youth orchestras in Orchestrated! projects and in July 2008 we launched the Instrumental Introductions scheme, which brings live music to schools and gives children the opportunity to try instruments.

2010 sees the launch of Listen Live!, a new series of projects for secondary school pupils. Every concert in the LSO St Lukes New Moves series will incorporate a Listen Live! project in a local secondary school, which will enable up to forty young people aged 14-16 to attend each concert. These projects will also give participants the opportunity to create their own cross-arts collaboration within their school, based on the repertoire in each concert. Please click on the link to Listen Live! for more details.

Please take a look around the Participation and Learning pages. There are online materials available in the Resources section, and information on how to get involved on our Supporters page. Plus a new video about Listen Up!, coming soon to the Gallery section.