Animate Orchestra offers young musicians in school years 5 to 13 opportunities to play together and create their own music in a ‘Young Person’s Orchestra for the 21st Century’.
Bringing together young people from a wide range of cultural backgrounds and musical interests, Animate courses are fun, sociable and musically adventurous. With specialist tutors and world-class musicians as mentors and guides, projects take place across the year – usually in school holidays or at weekends – and range from introductory 1-3 day local courses; more intensive performance projects, and; Animate Artists, exciting collaborations with other artists and art forms aimed at more experienced young musicians.
This Autumn, Animate Artists are collaborating with Trinity Laban’s Youth Dance Company, creating, recording and filming a new piece together, for public performance in December 2023.
What is Animate Orchestra?
Find out more about what it's like to take part
In summer 2021, a group of young musicians came together at Trinity Laban to create and then record their own music. In this latest Animate Artists project, Trinity Laban collaborated with the pioneering outdoor performance company Emergency Exit Arts to help create some of the soundtrack for Ideal Palace. Watch a short video of the project:
In June 2020, Animate Orchestra moved online to encourage young musicians across the country to explore their creativity and make music together from their own homes:
Self-Isolate | Create | Animate
To keep creativity flowing during lockdown, we set up a video series of creative musical challenges for you to respond to.
If you enjoy learning online, this series continues to be beneficial to your musical development.
Animate Re-Imagined Online
“Here we can see a Young Person’s Orchestra not just for the 21st Century but more particularly for the 2020s, responding to new challenges and exploring new opportunities. Animate Orchestra is an example of a flexible, hybrid, high-quality, creative, socially informed, and youth-led approach to re-imagining the orchestra as a vibrant collective.”
Read Agrigento Music’s interview with Sarah Freestone about her experience working on Animate Online in 2020.
Animate Local
Taking place during school holidays, Animate Orchestra local courses are usually of 1 to 3 days duration and are open to all, regardless of ability or musical experience. Led by specialist tutors and world-class musicians, they introduce a range of creative skills (such as composition and improvisation) and musical skills (such as listening to and playing with others). At the end of each course the ensemble shares the music made in an informal performance to friends and family.
Animate Artists
Animate Artists courses bring together experienced young musicians in exciting collaborations with other artists and art forms, taking place on a project-by-project basis at weekends and during school holidays. These courses normally last for a minimum of 4 days.
History of Animate Orchestra
Animate Orchestra began in 2011 and since then has grown and developed. To read more about Animate, please click below:
What Animate Parents Say:
“She has now taken part in quite a number of different music projects over the last 5 years and Animate is definitely her favourite. It’s not only the creativity musically, but also artistically, that is always inspirational for her. She comes home with her head full of ideas. The quality and complexity of the work the children create is always amazing”
Contact us:
For more information, please see below:
General enquiries: animate@trinitylaban.ac.uk | 020 8305 9361
Mailing List: Email animate@trinitylaban.ac.uk with your name, the name and date of birth of your child and the instrument(s) that they play.