Superstore
co-commissions UK's first Supermarket Symphony
ASDA
has announced a ground breaking partnership between the BBC Philharmonic
and Manchester's North City Arts, which will see it co-commission
a brand new piece of music to be performed on traditional instruments
as well as items from the supermarket shelves.
The
Supermarket Symphony by composer Barry Russell will be performed
for the first time on Thursday 10 April 2003 at midday at ASDA in
Harpurhey, North Manchester. There will be a second performance
at 2.00pm, which will take place as customers go about their normal
weekly shop.
Twenty
musicians from the Manchester-based BBC Philharmonic will be joined
by seventy local people, schoolchildren and supermarket staff, who
will be playing (among other things) pan lids, food baskets, wooden
spoons, packets of cereal, shopping trolleys, yoghurt pots filled
with pasta and pulses as well as tin cans which have been fashioned
into cowbells.
The
participation of staff, local people and schoolchildren will be
developed through a series of workshops with Barry Russell, kicking
off on Thursday 13 March, and culminating in the performance in
April.
The
Supermarket Symphony was devised by the Education & Community
Department of the BBC Philharmonic along with North City Arts, the
cultural division of the North Manchester partnership team, which
is spearheading a major regeneration drive in the area.
This
work is part of their Pop Up Project which presents exciting and
unusual arts events which pop up in unexpected places.
The
Supermarket Symphony continues the three year partnership between
North City Arts and the BBC Philharmonic, which will culminate in
an outdoor concert by the entire Orchestra in Manchester's Queens
Park in 2005.
Musicians
from the Orchestra, more used to performing at The Bridgewater Hall
or at the BBC Proms, have already played in the Outpatients Department
of North Manchester General Hospital, and will shortly pop up for
a series of impromptu operas in local pubs.
Richard
Grossick of North City Arts says: "The Pop Up Project is all
about people being able to take part in a cultural experience with
a difference. This can be a stepping stone to taking part in many
other ways in the regeneration of North Manchester. The support
of the BBC Philharmonic is making this experience invaluable to
the area and very special to the people taking part."
Phil
Rogers, Store Manager in Harpurhey adds: "We're excited and
thrilled that Britain's first Supermarket Symphony will take place
in our aisles. We've always hoped that we hit the right note with
our customers - now's our chance to prove it with great entertainment,
fully involving our local community."
It
is hoped that the premiere of Supermarket Symphony will go out on
store's radio station, so all 258 shops can enjoy the performance.
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