Chandos Symphony Orchestra put on a live screening at No. 8 Pershore. This orchestra is made up of musicians from all over England and they rehearse intensively for a weekend and put on a Sunday evening performance. They organised a drinks reception before for local history societies and The British Legion and put on an after party for the orchestra in the pub across the road. There was also a Somme exhibition in the foyer. Toby Haggith (IWM senior curator) and Laura Rossi also did a pre-concert talk. All these extra activities really added to the engagement and helped make this a very special remembrance event. This was portrayed in the feedback from this screening, which was brilliant and both the orchestra and the audience really connected with the film.

This was a great concert – a full house, an appreciative audience, a very friendly orchestra and conductor Michael Lloyd was brilliant! Sheila (who played the violin and was one of the organisers) discovered that her great grandfather had been on the Somme and through doing this project had discovered that he was brought back as a wounded soldier but sadly died back in England. She announced this at the start of the afternoon rehearsal which was a very emotional moment. I also met a lovely bloke who gave me a parcel of items he had found on the Somme battlefield. Here is his letter and a photo of these items:
(Laura Rossi)

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Here’s a video of the audience reactions:

Quote from orchestra member: “beautifully crafted music, an amazing experience.”

Chandos Cover spread July 2016