Using music to share environmental concerns

The National Open Youth Orchestra (NOYO) is a world-pioneering inclusive orchestra where brilliant 11 – 25-year-old disabled and non-disabled musicians rehearse and perform together. Earlier this year, they premiered a new piece called ‘Elements’ by Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres which highlights environmental issues through music. Music Mark CEO, Bridget Whyte, attended this fantastic premiere, so we got in touch to learn more about what inspired NOYO to commission the work.

The National Open Youth Orchestra premieres original music written for them by cutting-edge composers and new arrangements of well-known pieces, reworked for the orchestra’s diverse group of musicians and instruments. Its sound innovatively blends acoustic, electronic and accessible instruments – some of which are not traditionally found in orchestras, such as the electric guitar or the accordion, and others unfamiliar, such as the Seaboard RISE or the Clarion®, which some musicians play with eye or head movement.

Photography by Giulia Spadafora

Since its launch in 2018 as the world’s first disabled-led national youth ensemble, the National Open Youth Orchestra and its partners have successfully established a programme for young disabled musicians to develop their skills at an advanced level, offering accessible ensemble practice and performance opportunities in five regions. Alongside young musicians, the orchestra has pushed the boundaries of contemporary classical music, inspiring composers with a new range of instrument sounds and showing it could help widen audiences for contemporary classical music through relaxed performances.

The National Open Youth Orchestra is a dynamic orchestra that evolves each year. Twenty-three musicians came together this year to present a broad programme of contemporary classic music. All National Open Youth Orchestra musicians come through the ranks of five regional NOYO Ensembles, which are delivered through major partnerships:

• London NOYO Ensemble, in partnership with Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
• Bournemouth NOYO Ensemble, in partnership with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
• Bristol NOYO Ensemble, in partnership with Bristol Beacon.
• Birmingham NOYO Ensemble, in partnership with Services For Education, B:Music and Midlands Arts Centre.
• Cardiff NOYO Ensemble, in partnership with Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

In the Spring of 2024, the National Open Youth Orchestra premiered ‘Elements’ by award-winning film composer Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, a beautiful new piece the young musicians themselves chose to commission. They wanted to perform a piece that would spark conversations about environmental issues, and share their deep concern for the planet’s future through music. This commission was made possible thanks to a grant from the Vaughan Williams Foundation.

Alexandra wrote musical sketches for NOYO musicians to workshop, drawing additional inspiration from her visit to their rehearsal. She says:

“Talking to musicians in the break, and realising how impassioned they were about the topic of climate change, and actually very political, was amazing. It made me want to include even more strong feelings and took me into quite an emotional place. I wanted to paint these portraits – imagery that I’d actually seen, footage from around the world of real fires, floods, real problems that people are experiencing, and try to paint that picture for the audience. The piece I created is about the elements – but the destructive elements – to drive awareness of the reality of climate change and what we truly face.”

‘Elements’ was composed in four movements, Flood, Air Pollution, Landfill and Wildfire. Through their concert series “Feel the music”, NOYO musicians invited audiences in London, Bristol, Poole and Birmingham to experience the devastating impact of each of these natural disasters, and the need to take urgent action:

• Flood: This opening movement is rhythmically intense, capturing the relentless force of heavy rain and the swells of waters underneath the cloudbursts.
• With Air Pollution, the music gives a sense of the air becoming increasingly tight, mirroring the suffocating nature of polluted air, with sustained, slow-building tones that convey inevitability.
• Landfill: This thick and chordal movement is evocative of the overwhelming scale of waste. We hear the melody of seagulls fighting over other people’s rubbish.
• Wildfire is an intense climax to the four movements. The energy is fast and percussive with no time to lose where land is burning, and we feel a sense of urgency to avoid destruction.

On stage, as the music reached its peak intensity, NOYO musicians delivered their poignant message: “We must look after our planet!”.

Watch their performance of Air Pollution, from ‘Elements’:

Visit the National Open Youth Orchestra website to find out more. You can also learn more about the Clarion here.

Don’t forget to visit the This Is Not A Rehearsal webpage to explore more news, training & events, resources and research to support you on your sustainability journey. If you’d like to stay up to date with training and resources related to the climate crisis within the music education sector, click here to sign up for our ‘This Is Not A Rehearsal’ monthly newsletter.