A triple 'whammy' for Oldham Council's music centre groups.

Talented pupils from Oldham’s Music Centre are celebrating thre‘e-major’ successes.

The Oldham Youth Wind Band was the first to hit the right notes last month when they achieved a Platinum Award – the highest accolade you can get – for their performance at the Royal Northern College of Music in the finals of the National Concert Band Festival.

Under the direction of their talented conductor, Duncan Byers, the band wowed judges with their strong performances of Guy Woolfenden’s ‘Illyrian Dances’ and Rossano Galante’s ‘Transcendent Journey’.

Fast forward a week and it was the turn of Oldham Youth Orchestra to say ‘cello’ to another accolade. The group were invited to take part in a special coaching day at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on Sunday 12 May as a prize for their outstanding performance at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, in the National Festival of Music for Youth last summer. 

The achievement means that more than 70 pupils from Oldham music service will receive an experience that money cannot buy at the brand new mutli-million-pound Royal Birmingham Conservatoire working alongside its tutors and students.

Pupils will learn and record several popular pieces including ELO’s popular 1977 hit Mr Blue Sky, Queen’s 1975 song Bohemian Rhapsody and Robert Mile’s Children from 1996.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Youth Orchestra further cemented themselves as one of the best groups nationally when they were told they had qualified once again for the finals of the National Festival of Music for Youth 2019.

Councillor Mohon Ali, Deputy Cabinet Member for Education and Culture, said: “In Oldham we’re well known for our local musicians and much of this is down to the huge amount of opportunity we have here.

‘It is a great source of pride to the people of Oldham that our young musicians are continuing to demonstrate that they are amongst the best to be found anywhere in the UK. 

“These latest awards confirm that belief and will help to ensure the ongoing success of the Music centre and its talented students’.

"Oldham Music Service is committed to supporting and fulfilling the musical aspirations of all young people living in the borough.”
To find out more about Oldham Music Service or how you can get involved, just visit:www.oldham.gov.uk/music