Hallé Education has recently completed an exciting project in the small Derbyshire village of Clowne, which aimed to raise awareness of recycling within the local community through an innovative creative process combining film and music. Hallé Education worked with the residents of Clowne in 2011 on an incredibly successful project called ‘Heritage Back to the Future’ and we were thrilled to work with this vibrant and committed community again.
The 2013 project, ‘ReCyClowne: A Mission to Save Planet Earth’, enabled a group of students from Heritage High School to create a 15-minute film about recycling in their community, to which a soundtrack was then created.
In the early stages of the project the students, teaching staff and members of the artistic team visited Clover Nook Waste Transfer Station and Bolsover Household Waste Recycling Centre to collect recycled raw materials. These were then used to design and create a new musical sculpture, and film footage from the visits was used to create a film to educate local people about responsible recycling.
Alongside the students ALÉAtronic, the Hallé’s progressive new music ensemble, led by Hallé double bass player and composer, Bea Schirmer, then created a soundtrack to accompany the film, using the new sculpture along with orchestral instruments and music technology.
The final film of the recycling journey was premiered with its live soundtrack by the participants and a larger ensemble of Hallé players at Heritage High School during two unique performances for a capacity crowd of nearly 400 local residents on Friday 19 July 2013. A selection of orchestral repertoire was also performed by the Hallé during this concert, including Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture and movements from Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin and Walton’s Façade.
The evening, conducted by the Hallé’s Assistant Conductor, Jamie Phillips, was a great success and Steve Pickett, Hallé Education Director, said of the project: “This was a brilliant, brilliant project with a fantastic outcome. It was so good to see so many of the local Clowne folk getting their Hallé fix! A supreme effort by our very gifted double bassist, Bea Schirmer! Well done to all.”
The District and County Councils now hope to use the film in other schools and venues across the area to deliver the recycling message and showcase the talents of the school pupils.