Classical music is taking centre stage this week for Central’s children as six players from the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra (DSO) tour local schools.

The musicians will perform interactive concerts at primary and intermediate schools to introduce children to the sounds of the orchestra. 

In the past three years DSO has expanded the tour beyond the Dunedin region, and this year, as well as touring around Dunedin, the ensemble is visiting the Central Lakes district for the first time since 2019. 

This year’s concerts include classical music, pop, TV and movie tunes, such as the theme from How to Train Your Dragon, music from the opera Carmen, the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah, and The Little Mermaid’s “Under the Sea”.

The concerts aim to support local music education, increase access to live music, and, most importantly, spread the love of classical music.

The tour will be in Queenstown and the Central Lakes District between  November 14 - 18.

Organisers thanked the Central Lakes Trust (CLT) for committing their support to the Central and Queenstown District Lakes portions of the schools tour.

The DSO will visit Cromwell’s Goldfields School at 11am and then Alexandra Primary at 1.30pm on Wednesday (November 16); and Omakau School at 9am, Poolburn School at 11am and St Gerard’s at 1.30pm on Thursday (November 17).

The final Central day is Friday (November 18) when the group visits The Terrace School at 9am and then Miller’s Flat School at 11am. 

Schools tour audiences will hear the sounds of the flute, viola, violin, cello, horn, trombone and percussion, played by DSO members Feby Idrus, Cameron Monteath, Rose Stevenson, Lydia Ford, Ben Walker and Rob Craigie.

The DSO consists of part-time professional musicians drawn mainly from Dunedin and the greater Otago region. The size of the DSO varies from approximately 30 players for matinee series performances, to as many as 70 for international series performances.