In Autumn 2024, OrchLab worked with groups from Antill Road (Look Ahead Care Support & Housing) and New Court Place (Shaftesbury) on a project inspired by The Planets by Gustav Holst.
Holst (1874-1934) was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire and, after injury prevented him from pursuing a career as a pianist, he worked as a trombonist, composer and music teacher. Although he wrote lots of music throughout his career, the orchestral suite The Planets is by far the most famous.
In our OrchLab workshops, our Community Partner participants made music inspired by the qualities of the different planets, creating their own musical journey through space. As well as taking inspiration from Holst’s The Planets, they also performed their own versions of ‘Space Oddity’ by David Bowie and ‘Lovely Day’ by Bill Withers.
We really enjoyed making music with Antill Road and New Court Place throughout 2024, and we hope you enjoy this short film celebrating our Autumn project!
Explore more:
- Explore Holst’s The Planets with our listening guide
- Make your own Planets-inspired music and art
- Play and sing along with Bill Withers’s ‘Lovely Day’