Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra : KS4 Concert

Bring your GCSE and BTEC Music students face to face with a live orchestra, and watch the set works come alive in front of them.

This interactive concert is built specifically for students studying, or about to begin, GCSE or BTEC Music. Led by BSO Associate Patrick Bailey alongside seven musicians from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, it turns analysis into something students can hear, see and question in the moment rather than only read about.

The first half takes four set works in turn. Each one is unpicked through live analysis and then performed in full, so students hear exactly how the techniques they’ve studied sound in practice.

The second half puts composition in their hands. Students explore the compositional process as it happens, and the session ends with the premiere of a brand-new piece written by Patrick Bailey from ideas submitted by participating schools through a composition storyboard.

Your students leave with a sharper grasp of the set works, a clearer sense of how composers actually make decisions, and material that feeds directly into their coursework.

 ‘I really like the way Patrick delivers some analysis of the pieces before we hear them. The visuals on the slides are really helpful too. It is amazing for the students to hear their set works brought to life…and the pupils will remember these pieces better as they have now seen them performed live.’  Head of Music, St. Katherine’s School, Feb 2026