A young orchestra from Caerleon will represent Gwent at the national school 'Proms' at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on Monday (Nov 10) The Isca Linea Senior Strings will be appearing for the first time at the event but has been at the forefront of youth music-making in Gwent for many years.
It is a product of the Gwent Music Support Service, which tutors orchestras and other groups outside school hours and also supplies travelling tutors to schools in Newport, Monmouthshire, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent.
The service supplied no fewer than twelve ensembles at this year's National Festival of Music for Youth in Birmingham, among them the Isca Linea, which rehearses and plays at its Caerleon music centre along with junior and intermediate sections.
Peter James, its musical director and senior assistant head of the service, said it was a “tremendous” achievement for the service's conductors, tutors and musicians to have an ensemble chosen for the Proms.
Many parents will be travelling to London to support the orchestra, along with the Mayor and Mayoress of Newport and the chief education officer, Dr Brett Pugh.
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