On Friday 17th April, at 5 pm, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain is organising an “Ode-to-Joy-a-thon”. They say “we’re inviting every musician in the UK to pick up their instruments and share a massed 40-second performance of Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’, as a gesture of community and solidarity dedicated to the people in society who might be in need of a musical-pick-me-up: our hospital staff, supermarket workers, friends and family in isolation, and vulnerable members of society”. More information, including all-ability parts, can be found on the NYO website.
This seems an ideal opportunity for Merchant Sinfonia players to escape briefly from the loneliness of individual practice and take part in a performance with thousands of others.