An integral part of the Festival activity each year is our Outreach work. Over the years we have interacted with literally thousands of local school children. Our activities over the years have included large-scale schools concerts at the Theatre Royal Winchester, attended by hundreds of local school children, and in more recent years we have enabled musicians to go into schools to give fun interactive sessions fitting into the school curriculum and really inspiring the children.
In 2026 our exciting plans include:
- fun, interactive concerts for two local primary schools with follow-up year of string teaching for one of the lucky schools
- an extensive school workshop programme working with professional musicians over a period of visits to compose new, original songs, performed by them on the opening morning of the Festival (accompanied by the pros!)
- musicians performing at the Winchester Go LD (our partner charity) ‘Funky Lunch’ which takes place at the Arc during the Festival weekend
- our Emerging Quartet-in-Residence programme, whereby the young players join the Festival for daily coaching during our rehearsal week, take part in a public masterclass, lead the fun schools concerts, and have the opportunity to perform at the Festival concerts both as a quartet and also side-by-side with the professionals
- a Family Concert – ‘Music and the Weather!’ to appeal to the younger members of the concert-going public!
- our first Young Musicians Platform to give talented local younger players the chance to perform to a discerning chamber music audience!
- Plans are also afoot to put on a concert in aid of the Home Start charity and to send musicians into care homes – watch this space…
In 2021 our we created a film to benefit thousands of schoolchildren who suffered through lack of musical interaction through the lockdown period. The video explores music performed by a Festival string quartet led by animateur, Sam Glazer. The film was sent out to every primary school in Hampshire that year, and was warmly received by the teachers as an additional teaching resource.
