At the beginning of the month, nearly 60 young musicians from the primary schools in the Crediton Learning Community had a fantastic day at Queen Elizabeth’s School taking part in a music workshop.

Together, children from Cheriton Fitzpaine Primary, Landscore, Copplestone and Haywards, formed an orchestra under the direction of one of QE’s music teachers, Lucy Welsman. They were joined by several Year7, 8 and 9 QE students who also played and mentored the young players throughout the day.

They began the day by learning ‘Stressed Out’ by Twenty One Pilots, which they worked on and performed at the end of the morning. In the afternoon they worked on a much more challenging piece called ‘Copenhagen Haze’. Many of the children found this quite difficult, but with determination and support from the QE mentors, the children mastered some quite advanced techniques and even learned some new notes!

Afterwards, Lucy Welsman commented on how impressed she was with all of the children involved; “A huge ‘Well done!’ to all those who took part! They made a significant contribution to the day and were fantastic ambassadors for their schools.”

Alison Golby, who will be setting up a Crediton Youth Orchestra in the New Year, along with Lucy and a team of people within the Crediton community, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for the young musicians, both socially and musically. It was wonderful to see the Primary school students embrace this opportunity to work collaboratively with the more experienced students at QE. They all had so much fun!”

The future looks very promising for the musicians of Crediton and the launch of the new Crediton Youth Orchestra is awaited with excitement.