AURORA ORCHESTRA

Aurora Orchestra aims to inspire, challenge and astonish new audiences with great music, brilliantly performed. It seeks to be the UK’s most versatile orchestra, combining world-class performance with eclectic and innovative programming, a commitment to adventurous collaboration and a refusal to be bound by convention.

Alongside this outward-looking and versatile approach to music-making, Aurora has been defined by its focus on learning and participation, which permeates all aspects of its work.  Guided by the passionate conviction that its entire programme of work should be accessible to as many as possible, Aurora provides access to world class music making through innovative inspirational creative programmes of work, particularly targeting those with limited access to music and those who may be excluded from regular arts provision. A young orchestra itself, Aurora believes it has a special responsibility to make significant contributions to the delivery of arts for young people and provide a clear vision for the future of orchestral music.

The orchestra has developed a wide range of programmes in schools, including Listen Up! (projects which build musical skills in primary school children, launched in 2008), Listen Live!  (a cross-arts programme targeting secondary school pupils linked to New Moves, launched in 2010), Little Big Concerts (chamber programmes for audiences with limited access to the concert hall), and Re-Imagined projects (piloted in 2011), which enable primary and secondary school pupils to work together to explore orchestral repertoire and share creative responses.  Aurora also regularly presents interactive concerts for families and schools at Wigmore Hall, Aldeburgh Festival, Little Angel Theatre and Kings Place and is proud to be a strategic partner within the Tri-Borough Music Hub working to provide opportunities for all children to develop a life-long love of music and realise their musical potential.

Aurora’s programme of learning and participation work reached a total of over 6,600 young people in the 2012/13 season alone.