Meet 18-year-old Phoebe from Manchester. The self-confessed musical theatre fan first joined the National Orchestra for All family as a flautist and is now a trusted ambassador. Here’s everything you need to know…
When did you first become interested in music?
My parents have the belief that everyone should play an instrument, so when I was in Year 3 they started me on the flute and I’ve just carried on ever since!
I also play a bit of guitar, a bit of ukulele, I play a bit of everything. (I'm one of those people!) But honestly, my main thing is singing. It’s one of those where I would just pick something up and kind of figure it out – I’m a Jack of all trades, master of none!
What music have you been listening to in lockdown?
I'm doing a joint honours in Music and Musical Theatre at [Chichester] university, so I've mostly been listening to musicals – a lot of Six, Heathers, Wicked... that’s more my ballpark. I'm very excited about everything coming back to the West End and theatres opening again! It’s so raw and you never get the same thing twice. You've got the set text and the set notes, but each performer does something completely different with it from night to night.
“If it wasn’t for National Orchestra for All, I wouldn’t have done music at university,” explains Phoebe
It’s been so different just singing in my room, or just to my teacher online – it's been quite challenging indeed! I've got a very different experience than other people because I go to a very small university. It’s actually a conservatoire, so the conservatoire itself is quite small. We’ve been [learning] in person for a large part. It’s very interesting trying to do ballet with a mask on...
We do a core of musical theatre, so I study three types of dance a week, style and genre, contextual modules, music theory and a class in professional resilience, which is all about taking care of your mind and body. ‘Cause it’s quite a harsh industry, we also do an hour of yoga every week, which is nice!
Tell us about your journey with Orchestras for All.
I joined Orchestras for All when I was in Year 9, so I was about 14 years old – and I can honestly say that I don't think I would have gone down the route I have in doing performing arts at A Level and going on to do music at university if I hadn't had that experience of travelling the country in a large youth ensemble. I genuinely don't think I would have ended up going down the path I'm on now.
Flautist Phoebe (pictured top right) supports the National Orchestra for All
What’s the best thing about playing in an orchestra?
It’s just hearing all the different parts! You'll be sat there in the middle of the orchestra and hear the brass on one side with all their individual parts and the strings on the other. You’ll sit there knowing the music and thinking, ‘Oh, they’ve got a little twiddly bit coming up!’ and hear every individual person coming together into something big – it’s just really amazing to be a part of.
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I started off playing in smaller ensembles at school. It was very much the Wallace and Gromit theme tune, playing backing for carols at Christmas concerts – quite generic things, whereas at Orchestras for All we’ve played Jewish folk music, Romanian folk music and classical pieces like Swan Lake. We also performed pieces from operas and musical theatre pieces – which excited me a lot because I then went on to have to sing one of the pieces we’d played and I thought, ‘I know the tune to this, I’ve played it!’.
If you could give one piece of advice to other young people who are considering joining an orchestra, what would it be?
I think it would be: don't put yourself down. I know when it comes to my playing, sometimes I get quite nervous if I can just hear me. I’ll be there going, ‘Oh, I’m making all these mistakes! Oh, I can’t quite hit that note!’ – but in your collective part, chances are the person next to you might be able to do that bit, so you've got someone to cover you a bit.
There might be a part they’re struggling with that you’re really confident with. It’s all a bit of give and take, so even if you personally feel like you might not be good enough and you've got all these doubts in your head, I’d say just go for it! There’s no other way to really gain that confidence other than to just get out there and do everything!
‘I don’t think I would have gone down the path I’m on now if I hadn’t joined Orchestras for All’, says young musician Phoebe
Orchestras for All is…
Fun, family and exciting! I feel like people should join and support the cause because there’s no other way to do it really. I come from quite an impoverished area and if it wasn’t for being able to go out and gain confidence and travelling around different parts of the country then I wouldn’t have been able to go to university to study music.
I’d probably still be sat at home in my room, in my town – rather than travelling across the country to study what I love. I feel like people should support Orchestras for All, so that more young people like me get that opportunity and that confidence to really go and do what they love.
Even if playing in an orchestra isn’t your bag or your cup of tea, like it’s something you’ve never really done before or thought about (I trained as a solo singer first and [perform in] musical theatre style – nothing like Romanian folk music!), it’s just such a different experience. Even if your interest lies anywhere else – in opera, jazz, or any other areas of music – gaining that experience by being part of something different really helps.
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