Save the date! Thursday 14th October
The Symphony For Lockdown Virtual Concert will take place:
- Thursday 14th October
- 7pm Sydney time
We will publish and send out the link where you can watch the concert online shortly. The concert will include the first ever performance of Animals of the Orchestra by Australian composer Emma Greenhill, performed by the children of Symphony For Life playing ‘alongside’ an incredible group of professional Australian musicians and volunteers.
Background to Symphony for Lockdown
The children of Symphony for Life showed incredible commitment by continuing to practice and play through the lockdown in 2020. They are now doing so again. Living as they do in Western Sydney, they are under the most restricted conditions and yet are determined to play on, not taking their musical tuition for granted. This has inspired us to follow their example and launch Symphony for Lockdown, initiated and organised by our supporters at Macquarie Group, to help raise much needed funds so we can continue to bring the joy of music to children who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity. Macquarie Group Foundation will match money raised dollar for dollar. Together, let’s fight lockdown. Let the music play on!
“Musical experiences can be life changing, especially for the young, and I stand with Symphony For Life in its mission to bring the joy of music to children who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity.”
– Sally Walker, Ambassador, Symphony For Life
“There have been countless academic studies that prove the…benefits of learning a musical instrument from a young age…and I wholeheartedly endorse Symphony For Life’s mission to bring music to every child.”
– Richard Tognetti, Australian Chamber Orchestra
To watch and see the incredible roll call of endorsements for Symphony For Life from leading musicians from Australia and around the world, click here.
The virtual orchestra
Volunteers from staff at the Macquarie Group, our own supporters and members of the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, the Brandenburg Orchestra, the Sydney Conservatorium and others have signed up to join the children and their talented and dedicated teachers to play in a virtual orchestra. Practising and recording alone, but workshopping together online, they will record their own parts on video which will be edited together to create the ‘performance’
The music
This will include the first ever performance of a piece by Australian composer Emma Greenhill called ‘Animals of the Orchestra’. This piece of music, in three short movements, was written especially for the children in the Symphony For Life Orchestra. The animals featured in this composition each represent one of the many cultures and countries of origin of the students in our orchestra: The Bengal Tiger representing India, the Golden Silk Orb Spider representing Tonga, and the Kookaburra representing Australia.
The performance
We are planning an online live-streamed event for Macquarie Foundation Week on Thursday 14th October at 7pm Sydney time where it will be played for the first time, and the children and their communities, the players and their supporters, the followers of Symphony for Life, the people of Western Sydney and classical music enthusiasts across the country will be encouraged to tune in for a unique musical experience – the link will be published shortly.
How to get involved
Donate: Please give what you can by clicking here, and your contribution will be match funded.
Fundraise: Support our amazing individual fundraisers or set up or set up your own fundraising page at this link to spread the word through your community and help us raise funds which will be match-funded by the Macquarie Foundation.
Local businesses: If you represent a company in Western Sydney and would like to support this local community initiative, and be featured in the related media, please email dclose@symphonyforlifefoundation.org.
Spread the word: Please share this page with your community via email and your social channels, and follow us on facebook for updates and sign up to our newsletter.