This week years 2 and 5 visited The Barbican Centre where they listened to performances by The London Symphony Orchestra and sang songs we have been practising at school.

The orchestra took year 2 on a whistle stop tour of landscapes that have inspired composers. We visited Mexico with Arturo Márquez and his 'La Conga del Fuego Nuevo', Phyllis Tate took us for a spin around 'The Maze at Hampton Court from London Fields', we journeyed to the Czech Republic with Bedřich Smetana's Vltava (The Moldau) from Má vlast (My country) and listened out for the nocturnal whippoorwill bird in William Grant Still's work Whippoorwill's Shoes from Wood Notes. The children sang beautifully and their impeccable behaviour was remarked on by members of the public both on the journey and at the venue.

The year 5 concert was all about the concerto, a conversation between the soloist and the orchestra, this was presented and conducted by Tim Redmond alongside piano soloist Alexandra Dariescu (your child may delight you with a song about Miss Dariescu!).  We listened to compositions spanning over 300 years including some by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Rachmaninov, (Clara) Schumann and James Lee iii.  The children were very patient when our journey back was affected by a power cut on several of the lines at Liverpool Street station.