PRIMARY school children from across the Bradford district will take part in a celebration of music and song next week.

About 800 youngsters will experience a live orchestra as part of the Primary Music Live event, which is aimed at inspiring them to pick up an instrument.

The pupils, aged from seven to 11, will get the chance to experience and interact with live music alongside the Bradford Youth Orchestra on Friday, November 18. The orchestra will provide a performance of a variety of popular classical and film music.

Throughout the day the orchestra will present their instruments, talk about how they work, the differences between them, and how they sound.

The event is the second of its kind in the district and follows on from the inaugural Primary Music Live, which took place in February at St George’s Hall in Bradford.

Next week’s event will be split over two venues, with about 400 pupils at each.

The morning session is at Victoria Hall in Saltaire, before a session at Victoria Hall, Keighley, in the afternoon. The pupils will watch the orchestra play, before singing together and learning Bamboo Tamboo parts to go with the singing.

They will then perform with the orchestra at the end of each session.

Tony Johnson, head of Bradford Council’s music and arts service, said: “The Primary Music Live is an event that inspires and motivates children.

“The inaugural event last year, held at St George’s Hall, was extremely successful, so we made a decision to run this event again.

“Arranged and led by music and arts service staff, Primary Music Live is an event that inspires and motivates children.

“We are delighted that so many of our pupils will benefit from this cultural experience.”

Councillor Imran Khan, the council’s executive member for Education, Employment and Skills, said: “This is a great opportunity for pupils to be learning and performing alongside our talented musicians.

“There is a wealth of talent in our schools and other settings and they will benefit immensely from the students in the Bradford Youth Orchestra.”

Last year, 22 schools from across the district descended on St George’s Hall for a day of live music and singalongs.

The children were invited to clap along to songs as varied as Toreador from Carmen, the Can Can, and We Will Rock You.

There were also performances of well-known songs from films such as the James Bond and Superman franchises.

Felicity French, assistant head of the music and arts team, said before last year’s event: “We did a show of hands at the start of the day, and most children had never seen an orchestra playing live before, so it is a new experience for them.”