International musicians descend on Ludlow

The BISYOC Symphony Orchestra, made up of 85 young musicians from as far away as Hungary, Portugal, Malta and Norway, were assembloing at Moor Park School near Ludlow for the start of intense coaching and rehearsals to get ready for four concerts to be played around the region.

This year, for the first time, the orchestra will include two locals - Stewart Bates, 18, from Market Drayton, and Tara Dudhill, 15, from Kington - as well as a choir of 60 made up of people from Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

The main orchestral and choral performances take place in St Laurence's Church, Ludlow, on August 2 and Leominster Priory on August 3, both at 7.30pm, with a commemoration of World War One theme. Warm up concerts will also take place in St. Andrew's Church, Presteigne, at 7.30pm and again at St Laurence's in Ludlow on August 1 at 1pm, featuring the international team of 17 BISYOC tutors who teach at music academies and conservatoires throughout Europe.

Stewart, a former pupil of Wrekin College, is currently completing his gap year as a chorister at Southwark Cathedral and plays the French horn. He will be going to Cambridge University to study French and German in the autumn.

He said: "I'm going to be singing in the choir of King's College, Cambridge - but what makes BISYOC unique is the cultural interaction. This is what makes it a fantastic experience for me in so many aspects outside of music."

Tara, who is enrolling at Herefordshire Sixth Form in September and has played the violin since an early age, added: "The opportunity to meet and get to know musicians from all over Europe is absolutely incredible.

"We get to understand each other better and to develop our language skills alongside music. It's wonderful to have this kind of thing happening right on our doorstep, in Ludlow.

"Local young people should really come and see this.

"I think there will be more and more opportunities in the future for more local young people to be involved in all kinds of international activities, so they should come and experience this for themselves as an example of what is possible locally with international collaboration."

Founded by conductor Julian Gibbons from Presteigne, the BISYOC orchestra has assembled in the region every year since 2001.

As well as intensive daily rehearsals the participants will be taking part in an 11 day programme of cultural exchange activities, including showing off national costumes, an international food night and an international dance night, where the groups teach dances from their country, whether it's a traditional Swiss village dance or the latest club hit featured on German TV.

Proceeds of the Ludlow Concert will be shared with The League of Friends of Ludlow Community Hospital.