Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra Children’s Concert at the Subscription Rooms, Stroud on Sunday, June 25.

Notes from the tuba chair - by Paul McLaughlin

WHAT a joy it was to sit and look out at a sea of expectant young faces and not a phone or iPad (other tablets are available) in sight.

At the start of this, the 3rd GSO Children’s concert, the excitement was palpable.

Not much sitting still going on, enthusiastic chatter, laughing and giggling – then the conductor told the orchestra to keep quiet so the children could concentrate!

From the outset, conductor Glyn Oxley had his young audience in the palm of his hand. Not surprising really when we opened with a celebration of the birthday boy, Harry Potter in a Symphonic Suite by John Williams.

All the best bits were there and from my seat at the back of the orchestra, I could see the faces react as they recognised each film as it came along. All nicely settled in, we now came to the main part of the programme.

The very talented Lydia Kenny was our narrator for a wonderful telling of The Three Little Pigs story, with word this time by none other than Roald Dahl, and she gave it her all through this slightly darker than usual telling.

The music paints great pictures for the audience, with a lot of huffing and puffing assistance needed, and when Little Red Riding Hood’s surprise appearance ends in a gruesome twist, we could hear the gasps! Great fun all round.

The second half was a bit rowdier – mainly thanks to the young audience being supplied with an array of percussion instruments and, eventually, invited onto the stage to sit in the orchestra and experience the music from within.

As a musician, it’s inspiring to have a young person sitting next to you watching what goes on with something approaching awe (and I think some of the mums and dads enjoyed having to be there “to look after them”!)

The look of excitement on Rose’s face when I asked her to actually help me play the triangle in the famous Toreador’s March from Carmen, was perfect – and a high five followed to boot!

Listening is one thing but being in the middle of it all gives these young musicians of the future a different and more exciting sense of what it’s all about.

I, for one, would still pay good money to be allowed to sit in with one of the big orchestras so plaudits are due to GSO for breaking the barriers between audience and musicians in this way.

Here’s to the next one and an open invitation to kids of any age to come along and join us.