Finlay showcases his musical talents with virtual youth groups
27 April 2020 | Jill Lundberg | Posted in: Community, Performing Arts
Finlay McKechnie, in Year 11, has been making the most of his musical talents during the lockdown by joining three virtual groups. Finlay, who is well known at school for his excellent saxophone playing, found the Showcase Musical School group through a recommended post on Instagram. Finlay said: “I had been looking for new artists to follow and this group popped up, along with the 8-bit big band ensemble which I have also joined.” In addition, Finlay is a member of the VVGO online group.
The Showcase Musical School is based in Southampton and they enrolled 465 artists to be part of their Virtual Youth Orchestra, to play the Sky News theme. This is believed to be the highest number of musicians doing a virtual performance so far.
Finlay has taken part in three pieces – the Sky News theme, The Avengers theme and High Hopes. The Sky News theme performance can be enjoyed here
The band’s conductor has spoken on Sky News about the students’ fabulous work. It is hoped that the orchestra will continue to run until the end of quarantine, and potentially beyond. There has been a lot of media interest in the youth orchestra and the composer of the Avengers theme has posted about how good he thought their performance was.
Photographs from the Showcase Music School Virtual Orchestra production of The Sky News theme.