Orchestra · Composition · Poetry · Contemporary Music · Young People
The project
Secondary-school students from Fife worked with composer Martin Suckling, Luke Crookes and Scottish Chamber Orchestra musicians to respond creatively to Candlebird and the Don Paterson poems that inspired it.
The group listened, discussed, improvised and composed together, developing an original ensemble piece that incorporated poetry and was performed before an SCO concert in St Andrews.
Creative learning beside professional performance
The project gave young people space to encounter contemporary orchestral music as makers rather than only as listeners. Their own composition became a way of entering the artistic world of the concert repertoire without reducing it to explanation.
“It was an extraordinary experience thanks to the workshop leader Luke Crookes.”
Participant reflection
What this demonstrates
- Young people can engage deeply with contemporary orchestral repertoire through making
- Poetry and music can become equal creative starting points
- Professional musicians and composers can work alongside participants rather than perform at them
- A project can prepare people for a concert by widening artistic ownership rather than teaching facts about the piece