The week-long Waltham Forest Music Festival has been hailed a success with over 1,200 children and numerous professional acts performing at three different locations over eight different free concerts.

Festival organiser Judith Glossop said: “There was a real variety of music on show.

“The children’s concerts saw around 400 different children from local primary schools performing at each concert.”

She said the Tuesday afternoon children's concert was wind and brass focused, including 90 trumpets playing at once, followed by 90 children playing ukuleles together on Wednesday's ukulele and guitar focused afternoon.

Then 200 young violinists, some of whom revelled in the opportunity to perform for an audience because they had only been learning since September, performed on Thursday afternoon in a strings focused concert.

All children’s performances were at Walthamstow Assembly Hall.

“The standard of music at the evening concerts was excellent and really inspiration,” she added.

Councillor Ahsan Khan, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “This year’s free summer music festival was a tremendous success with some 1,200 musicians taking part and hundreds of people coming to see them perform everything from Purcell arias to modern pop hits.

“As well as offering a wide range of entertainment for all ages it was also heartening to see the entire breadth of the borough’s musical talent perform, from seasoned professionals at the top of their game to young musicians making their first tentative steps.”

The events took place between Tuesday and Thursday and were held at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, Leytonstone Library and Leyton Sixth Form College’s Alfred Hitchcock Hall.

Other acts included former BBC soprano singer Lynne Hirst performing arias and songs by Purcell and Schubert, winners of the CBBC TV competition ‘Sport Relief Does Glee Club’ The Real Deal and the London Forest Choir.

 

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