HUNDREDS of young musicians got together to rehearse for their appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The final rehearsals at Bovington Middle School took place on Saturday on Sunday, with the 200 instrumentalists attending on both days and 400 singers on each, from a total of 32 schools all over Dorset.

 

They were preparing for their Movie Mash-up, a performance of film themes throughout the ages, from the Dambusters to Pirates of the Caribbean The concert has been organised by the county council’s Dorset Music Service with support from Bournemouth and Poole borough councils’ Soundstorm music service.

Nichola Pendlebury, head of Dorset Music Service, said: “It’s the first time we’ve brought it all together with the singers from across the county.

“It went very well and they really worked hard.

“I was watching their lovely happy faces at 4.30pm, and although they had been there since 9am, they still had big smiles and were really enjoying themselves.

“We’ll do another run-through at the Royal Albert Hall.”

The concert on Friday, May 3, which features a total of 1,400 youngsters from the age of nine upwards, includes a guest appearance by the group Dodgy, whose drummer Matt Priest teaches as part of the music service. The choir will be backing their song Good Enough from the film Sliding Doors.

Nichola admitted the concert was ambitious, but added: “It’s an experience that a lot of these children may never get again and something they will remember forever.

It’s a real experience for them all to perform in such a large arena.”

So far around 2,000 tickets have been sold but there are still 500 left.

They are available from Dorset Music Service on 01305 225770, or the box office at royalalberthall/com/tickets or 0845 401 5034.