Queenswood Music Scholar Danya Rushton (Year 9) performed with the Advanced Orchestra at the Benedetti Sessions at London's South Bank Centre on the weekend of 11-12 January 2020.

This was a fantastic opportunity for her to work alongside other young musicians as well as a team of established music professionals, and to participate in a truly inspiring and creative project.

The Benedetti Foundation (BF) was established with the aim of uniting the world of music education by uncovering and sharing its best practices and celebrating its greatest advocates. Over the course of the two-day workshop there was a very full schedule, which included rhythmic, vocal and kodaly warm-ups; performances from Nicola Benedetti, Tutors and Ambassadors (conservatoire students working with the BF) and full rehearsals.

Nicola Benedetti (left) and Danya Rushton

Danya was thrilled to meet and play with Nicola Benedetti at the Queen Elizabeth Hall Concert Hall. The repertoire included Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances and Elgar's Introduction and Allegro.

The conductor was Natalia-Luis Bassa, who on day one led a mass rehearsal of almost 300 students, comprising the combined beginner, intermediate and advanced orchestras. At the end of each day there was a sharing session for parents to hear some of the pieces the students had been working on.

There was an additional surprise in the form of Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who played Elgar for the students. Sheku, who won the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2016, participated in string workshops at Queenswood as a boy.