New music for non-traditional inclusive ensembles: RNS Moves & National Open Youth Orchestra in dynamic new pieces

RNS Moves (Photo: Tynesight Photographic)

New music for non-traditional inclusive ensembles: the Royal Northern Sinfonia's RNS Moves is premiering a piece by Héloïse Werner at The Glasshouse, Gateshead, whilst the National Open Youth Orchestra is presenting a programme of new music at the Barbican's Milton Court. Both ensembles feature disabled and non-disabled musicians.

RNS Moves, the inclusive ensemble featuring disabled musicians and non-disabled members of Royal Northern Sinfonia will perform a new commission from Héloïse Werner, Wander, on Sunday 17 March at The Glasshouse, Gateshead. Some of the instruments were completely new to Héloïse Werner: the Headspace, played by RNS Moves founder Clarence Adoo and the robo-recorder, invented and played by Liza Bec. Werner worked closely with them to integrate the distinctive instruments into the music. 

Werner's new piece is inspired by city life, evoking the sensation of strolling through a bustling landscape and being drawn to buskers using a mixture of field recordings and solo parts played live by the players. The concert will include more of Werner's pieces, plus Liza Bec’s  Space Dinosaur Music and music from Purcell and Barbara Strozzi to Stockhausen and Nina Simone. 

Full details from The Glasshouse website.

Members of the National Open Youth Orchestra

The National Open Youth Orchestra, world’s first disabled-led national youth ensemble, is returning to the Barbican's Milton Court Concert Hall on 21 April 2024 for Feel the Music, a relaxed performance welcoming a diverse audience inclusive of disabled and neuro-divergent concert goers and families to a joyous afternoon of music. 

Twenty-four of the orchestra's young disabled and non-disabled musicians will perform a lively programme on acoustic, electronic, and accessible instruments. Among more traditional instruments, the musicians also perform on some instruments not often found in orchestras, such as electric guitars, accordions, or on accessible instruments that may be completely new to audiences - from the Seaboard RISE to the ClarionTM, which some performers play using head movements.

The concert includes new music by Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, Ben Lunn, Anna Meredith and Michael Betteridge. Ben Lunn's piece pays homage to the virtuoso pianist, Paul Wittgenstein, who, after losing his right arm in the First World War continued to play left-handed.

Following the London concert, the orchestra will be touring to Bristol, Poole and Birmingham

Full details from the Barbican website.