On Tuesday 4 October the RPO's Community and Education team, RPO Resound, visited Thorpe Park alongside 8,553 schoolchildren for a day celebrating STEAM education - Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. RPO musicians lead activities that engaged the children with orchestral music with interactive performances, trying out musical instruments and having opportunities to make their own compositions.
Read on to view more photos from the day.
Students from over 100 schools earned 'stamps' by taking part in educational activities from over 75 organisations, ranging from robotics to sustainable agriculture to music. They could then trade in those stamps for access to the rides around the Park.
The day included participatory activities led by small groups of RPO musicians. Instrument Trials allowed students to try out string, wind and brass instruments and discover how they each make their sounds, while Film/Ride Scores asked students to conduct an RPO string quartet while making decisions around tempo, style and volume to represent different storylines.
RPO musicians also performed Queue Jams around the Park, encouraging students to use hand-held percussion and improvise 'hold' music while waiting to board the rides
Second Violin Sali-Wyn Ryan made a new friend in Titan the Robot!
RPO Resound then took up residence in the Birthday Bash for interactive performances of orchestral music.
“I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for an absolutely fantastic day at Thorpe Park yesterday. Our children absolutely LOVED it... Many of the children had never been to a Theme park, and probably never will. As staff, it was a real privilege to be able to make this trip happen for the children. The static displays were excellent, and the children loved playing instruments with the musicians from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra."
Rosalie Taylor - Assistant Headteacher for Inclusion - Minet Junior School
You could say that the RPO definitely made a splash...
Students got more chances to get a feel for the instruments of the orchestra...
Helen and Andrew Storey got to do some sight-seeing...
With one last performance our day at Thorpe Park came to a close...
...and we got our family photo done!
Find out more about ACS Partnerships' STEAM Day 2022.
Find out more about RPO Resound.