Side-By-Side - Brixton Chamber Orchestra & Lambeth school children, conductor Matthew O'Keeffe - Church of St John the Divine, Kennington

Side-By-Side - Brixton Chamber Orchestra & Lambeth school children, conductor Matthew O'Keeffe - Church of St John the Divine, Kennington

On Friday 13 June 2025 at the Church of St John the Divine in Kennington, the Brixton Chamber Orchestra (BCO) presented the second of two concerts in which they were joined by local school children playing Side-By-Side. The result of a month-long project, they performed together at the Lambeth Country Show on 7 June and at St John the Divine on 13 June. Matthew O'Keeffe conducted and the 19 members of Brixton Chamber Orchestra were joined by over two-dozen young students for an eclectic programme that moved from Sibelius, Vivaldi and Copland, to Joe Hisaishi to arrangements of Alicia Keys, Fela Kuti, Stormzy and Avicii.

We began with an impressive performance of Sibelius' Finlandia and then for complete contrast we had Merry-Go-Round of Life from the music Joe Hisaishi wrote for the film Howl's Moving Castle, and the piece began with a piano solo from Lily. Then it was the chance of the different sections of the orchestra to shine, first the strings in Vivaldi's lively, and very rustic, Concerto in G RV151 'Alla Rustica'. Then the wind and brass turned big band in an arrangement by Misha Mullov-Abbado (who was playing bass in the concert) of Frank Foster's Shiny Stockings, with great fun had by all. Then it was the turn of the percussion, presenting us with a percussion improvisation. Iain Farrington's arrangement of the Hoe-Down from Aaron Copland's ballet, Rodeo brought this section to a lively close.

Then we turned to more popular contemporary artists. Singer Lauren-Grace Ogodo joined the orchestra for a terrific version of Alicia Keys' 2003 song If I ain't got you. Then came Fela Kuti's 1975 track, Water No Get Enemy, the name inspired by a Yoruba proverb, with a violin solo from Josiah. For Stormzy's Blinded By Your Grace, arranged by Nicky Cartel and Ola Akindipe they were joined by Lauren-Grace Ogodo and two other vocalists. We ended with a dance number, Avicii's Levels in an arrangement by Crystal Serghiou.

BCO hopes to expand its Side-by-Side project and work with a wider number of local children, though of course this requires funding.

BCO is taking its Disco Orchestrated programme to British Summer Time in Hyde Park, and then their Summer Estates Tour 2025 takes place from 18 to 27 July 2025, 11 free concerts across two weekends bringing live music to estates across Lambeth, see the BCO website for details..