Royal Philharmonic Holds Workshop for Students

In their visit to the Southland, members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra held special workshops for elite high school musicians and elementary school students at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.

“We don’t tend to do traditional children’s concerts,” said Judith Webster, head of education for the London-based orchestra. “We introduce the instruments and let the children become familiar with the people behind the penguin suits.”

“Oh, that sounds cool,” said Andrew Scott, a fifth-grader from Alameda Elementary in Downey, as he listened to Martin Owens play the xylophone.

Thirty-five students from the Los Angeles and Orange County high schools for the arts and Long Beach’s Polytechnic High School joined members of the orchestra on stage for a class on improvisational techniques.

“The general idea is to get the students involved listening to each other and working as a group,” said Webster. “We encourage music making which is not necessarily tied to the printed score.”