On a Friday evening earlier this spring at St Edward’s School, the stage was set – not for an ordinary performance but for something built from the ground up by the imaginations of Oxford’s young people. The Let’s Build a Town! concert, led by Music at Oxford (MaO), alongside students from Oxford’s St Francis C of E Primary School and Oxford Spires Academy, was the culmination of a series of creative workshops with the schools, in which children designed their own town – one without adults, shaped entirely by their ideas of an ideal community.
Under the guidance of professional musicians, educators and theatre-makers, the children transformed their ideas into music, theatre and movement. In the spirit of composer Paul Hindemith’s 1930 original, which inspired the collaborative project, young people from Oxford made his nearly century-old work feel entirely fresh and current as they performed co-created music and theatre which spoke to contemporary issues of community-building and identity.
After the performance, participants and members of the artistic team took part in a talk with audience members, sharing insights into the project and its impact on the young participants’ confidence and creative skills.
Drawings from one of the Let’s Build a Town! workshops.
For Giles Masters, Fellow at Magdalen College and curator of the project, the experience was as inspiring as it was moving. Read what he had to say:
“To witness our town come to life through performance was joyful and moving. The children used their creativity, teamwork and all sorts of different skills – singing, dancing, speaking, playing, building – to create something that was so much more than the sum of its parts. I loved seeing how they rose to the occasion of the performance and how proud they and their families were of what they had achieved.
If I had to choose highlights (which is hard – there were so many!), I would pick out two things. First, the announcements between scenes, when children took turns to come up to the microphone in the middle of the stage to share some of their ideas about what their ideal town might be like (we need enormous 6-decker buses, obviously). These were by turns funny, charming and genuinely thought-provoking. I was really impressed by how brave all the young people were about speaking to such a big audience!
Second, as the music historian on the project, I really enjoyed seeing how much the children took to singing Hindemith’s music and making it their own. Although Hindemith’s original piece is nearly 100 years old, through their energy and commitment, the young people from St Francis made it feel totally fresh and of today.
Many thanks and congratulations to all the participants, the schools, our creative team and our partner organisations for joining us on this project – you achieved something really special. Now, it’s time for everyone to lay down their buckets and shovels and enjoy a well-earned break.”
‘Let’s Build a Town!’ captured the energy and creativity of the young performers, and offered a thought-provoking reflection on the ways we build and shape communities today.
For Felicity Newby-Smith, Educational lead from Music at Oxford, the project was more than just a performance – it was a journey of personal transformation for many of the young participants, read as she reflects on the event:
“The joy surrounding the performance on the night was completely infectious; there was laughter, cheering and applause, and I loved looking around the audience to see huge smiles on so many adults’ faces! For grown-up members of the audience it was a reminder of how to be a child; how to play, how to create something from almost nothing and ultimately how to have fun!
The children from St. Francis Primary School who performed on the night blew me away with their commitment, confidence and energy. This was visible (and audible!) while watching them perform as a group, and the team work that involved, but what was really special to me was the added awareness of the journeys individual children had taken during our project Let’s Build a Town!. When we first arrived in January, there were a few children who were so lacking in confidence that they struggled to even engage in simple classroom discussions or warm-up games. Fast-forward to the final performance and I had to pinch myself as I watched those same children performing with such dedication and confidence, in some cases having chosen solo roles for themselves, all in front of 300 members of the audience!
I’ve always known that the value of making music is unparalleled, especially for children, but what I wasn’t expecting was the realisation that by engaging with the performing arts, even for a relatively short period of time, those children had gained transformational skills that would set them up for the rest of their lives.”
By the end of the evening, it was clear that Let’s Build a Town! had created something far greater than just a performance. It had built confidence, creativity, and a sense of shared community among the children, teachers, and artists involved.
Let’s Built a Town was produced by Music at Oxford in collaboration with The University of Oxford’s Cultural Programme, and with the support of the Faculty of Music, Magdalen College, RETUNE Festival and the Marchus Trust.
