• in Sync returns to wow audiences from ages 11 to 99, after its debut in 2022
• This theatrical concert is designed to invite first-time classical music listeners to enjoy a variety of works from different composers, places and time periods.
• in Sync offers children, their parents, and audiences who aren’t familiar with classical music, a chance to get up close and personal with the music and the musicians.
• Performing at Aberdeen Concert Hall, and Glasgow’s RSNO New Auditorium, this is a vibrant musical experience not to be missed.
• in Sync will also tour to schools in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee, offering inspiring opportunities for young audiences to experience live music in their day-to-day learning environment
Intro – what is in Sync
Scottish Ensemble and MishMash productions present in Sync, an explosion of phenomenal live string music for everyone, from ages 11 to 99! After its debut in 2022, in Sync returns to stages in Aberdeen and Glasgow this November, introducing first-time classical music audiences and established fans to a tour-de-force of classical and folk music from across the world.
Through movement and storytelling, audiences are invited to meet composers, their compositions and the ensemble’s performers, bringing you closer to the humans at the heart of the music.
Who are Mish Mash
For this concert, Scottish Ensemble reunite with Nottingham-based MishMash Productions, who are experts in creating musical experiences designed to in introduce young audiences to classical music in welcoming ways. Since their founding in 2015, MishMash have reached thousands of children across the UK through performances in schools and libraries, as well as prestigious concert halls (such as The Gulbenkian & Kings Place).
Scottish Ensemble first started working with MishMash in 2022, beginning with development sessions to design a show for younger audiences. These involved bringing audiences into rehearsals to listen to the work in progress and implementing feedback from young people and teachers into the final product:
“Involving our young audience in the creative process, giving them an opportunity to say what they would like to see and hear has been tremendously rewarding and made the show into something special”
Violist Andy Berridge on the development of in Sync
“in Sync was born from our experiences of sharing live music with students at Shawlands Academy (Glasgow) and our aspiration that great music should speak to any audience. Observing our trial audiences, it was clear that those aspirations have been achieved – minds were opened, toes were tapping, heads were nodding, hands were clapping……fingers crossed a new audience for this wonderful music has been identified.”
Liz Muge, Artistic Director of MishMash Productions
Why might young audiences enjoy in Sync
In Sync is no ordinary concert. Audiences will get to know the musicians when they introduce themselves, interact with audiences, perform from memory, move while they play and share insights into the music being performed. A vibrant stage set and colourful atmosphere make in Sync a joyful, energetic event for all the family.
The performance lasts 50 minutes with no interval. It features music from composers from all over the world – with pieces chosen for their immediacy, drama and emotional variety. Audiences will hear music from Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, genre-defying composer and Scottish Ensemble collaborator Anna Meredith, Indian-American composer Reena Esmail, and 17th-century theatre composer Henry Purcell, amongst many more. Each work packs a punch – giving people a flavour of how varied classical music is. If young (or older!) listeners don’t like a particular work, another is just round the corner! The show is high-energy, vibrant and full of friendly performers – designed to leave audiences feeling uplifted.
Relaxed performance details
In Aberdeen, there will be two public performances, one at 7pm and an earlier performance at 2pm, which will be a relaxed performance. This version of the concert is built in order to make classical music performance more accessible to those who would benefit from a more relaxed performance environment, including (but not limited to) neurodivergent people, people with a learning disability and parents with very young children. The concert environment will be ‘relaxed’ – with reduced volume, house lights remaining on, and an open-door policy and more space in the audience set up to allow audience members to come and go from the performance space as they please.
