Our OrchLab resources explore the music and instruments of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and wider OrchLab project, using this as inspiration for musical activities, information and games.
Explore the four categories to start your musical journey.
OrchLab Soundmakers are a set of web-browser based instruments that you can use on a computer, tablet or mobile phone. The instruments available are called Circles, Squares, Percussion, Lines and Bars. Below you can find a video which introduces Bars to you. Feel free to use this as a starting point and then be as creative as you like with
Posted in Create & Compose, Resources, Staff guidance & training
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was a child prodigy – by the age of 12 he had written several operas and string symphonies, as well as a large amount of chamber and piano music. Two works which he wrote when he was 16 and 17 years old (the Octet and Overture to a Midsummer Night’s Dream) are
Posted in Listen & Discover, Resources
In this activity, you’re going to play some famous tunes from orchestral music with the London Philharmonic Orchestra! All you need is a set of chime bars, bells or an iPad/tablet, and you can play in a group or by yourself. For each tune, we will tell you which notes you need, and you can
Posted in Create & Compose, Resources
George Gershwin (1898-1937) Despite George Gershwin’s humble beginnings and short life (he died at the age of 38), he became one of the most famous and successful American composers of all time, and his music is still extremely popular and played all over the world. Though he started his career as a popular jazz composer,
Posted in Listen & Discover, Resources
Rise and shine! In this activity, we’re going to create a soundscape to represent dawn, inspired by Tchaikovsky’s famous ‘Fantasy Overture’ from Romeo and Juliet. A soundscape is a musical picture which uses layers of different sounds and melodies. For this soundscape, you will work in a group to create some different sounds to represent
Posted in Create & Compose, Resources
In this activity, play and sing along with us as we perform a song that’s guaranteed to make you feel cheerful – ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams! This song was featured in the movie ‘Despicable Me 2,’ and was so popular when it came out that it was the most successful song of 2014! For this
Posted in Create & Compose, Resources
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Igor Stravinsky is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant and pioneering composers of the twentieth century. He was born into a very musical family in St Petersburg, Russia. His father was a successful opera singer, and Stravinsky studied piano from a young age. A visit to see ‘The Sleeping Beauty’
Posted in Listen & Discover, Resources
In Autumn 2023, OrchLab worked with groups from Oak View (Look Ahead Care Support & Housing) and Bradbury Court (Livability) on a project inspired by Concerto for Orchestra by Béla Bartók. Bartók (1881-1945) was a Hungarian composer, and is often considered to be one of the most important composers of the twentieth century, particularly because
Posted in Listen & Discover, Resources
In our OrchLab workshops, participants make and perform music together using a range of instruments, including percussion, digital instruments, and their voices. The team at Drake Music have designed and created a set of touch instruments which make traditional orchestral instruments more accessible to OrchLab participants. The Touch Oboe is an accessible version of the
Posted in Listen & Discover, Resources, Staff guidance & training