Bollywood orchestra on national stage

QE’s Bollywood Orchestra won a place in the Music for Youth National Festival in July.

Eighteen boys from Years 9-12 prepared a version of A R Rahman’s Raga’s Dance, including elements of improvisation, at the Bollywood workshop at the start of March, working with Bollywood expert Sam Suriakumar. They first entered a recording of this in one of the regional festivals run by Music for Youth, a long-established educational charity.

The boys played at the National Festival at the Adrian Boult Hall, part of the Birmingham Conservatoire. The performance also included pupils from Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School dancing to the QE boys’ music.