Sheffield’s Brigantes Orchestra: Introducing younger audiences to the power of classical music
Even though he is one of the founders of Sheffield’s Brigantes Orchestra, Tony Hart admits that he used to have very limited experience of the classical music repertoire.
“My parents played more Rolling Stones and Dire Straits in the car than classical music when I was growing up and there wasn’t much music education at school either,” he says.
“We didn’t go to concerts as a family, although the Last Night of the Proms was the one time we sat down together and watched a concert on the television.”
Tony did have clarinet lessons for a while - “which mostly demonstrated my total lack of talent” - and it wasn’t until his late 30s that he actually attended a concert.
“I had no idea what was going on, the programme listed pieces I’d never heard of and used language I didn’t understand,” he recalls.
It was with that experience in mind that when he and Quentin Clare, the orchestral conductor, and other trustees made the decision to launch Sheffield’s first professional orchestra, the emphasis was on accessibility for all.
The orchestra has been performing to critical acclaim in the city since 2019 and its current season at Sheffield Cathedral is its biggest to date, with six concerts featuring classical greats from around the world creating a truly global musical experience.
“We worked hard on the choice of music, posters, themes, and programmes to help people understand what they were listening to,” Tony explains.
One of the orchestra’s most popular projects has been the launch of a series of concerts for children - the Brigantes was recently a finalist in the Sheffield Lord Mayor’s Awards for its work with local schools.
But Tony felt there was still needed to be done to make classical events truly inclusive.
“We had lots of young people and teenagers at our recent evening of Russian music and I was aware that our forthcoming concert of pieces from Germany and Austria might be a little more difficult for people who are not familiar with baroque music, which is beautiful but also challenging and exciting,” he says.
“So, I have written a programme specifically for ten to 14-year-olds for this concert and plan is to do it for the next concerts in the season too.
“It’s about teaching our younger audience members the basics of the different eras of music and famous conductors from the areas, on top of details of what to listen for in the concert.
“Like our adult programmes, these new programmes are free as it’s part of our attempt to make the music truly understandable and accessible.
“It’s been encouraging to see more young people coming to our concerts over the years, and it felt important to give them better information than I had at their age.
"We believe music is for everyone, and young people are the audience of tomorrow, so we hope this initiative sparks a love of live music that lasts a lifetime in them.”
The concert of German and Austrian music will be at Sheffield Cathedral on Saturday, March 21 and will feature music from Richard Wagner’s Parcifal, Mendelssohn’s early symphony commemorating 300 years of the German Reformation and, tying everything together, two reworkings of pieces by the master, JS Bach.
Still to come in the season is a British celebration - including some Last Night of the Proms favourites - on May 16 and a finale which takes in some of the greats of the American repertoire on June 20.
To book for all concerts or to find out more about Brigantes Orchestra visit thebrigantes.uk