Soweto Baroque

Prom 3, Albert Hall

Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the conductor, travelled to Soweto ten years ago with the fifteen players of his orchestra, the English Baroque Soloists, to lend a hand to an intrepid viola player who had distributed string instruments to fifteen South African kids, aged 7 to 17. The instruments had been bought by a charity called Buskaid. She had already achieved miracles with the children.

Since that first encounter Sir John and his orchestra have worked with the Soweto kids on several occasions. They have made astonishing progress. Their delight in music making is infectious. The are now called "Buskaid Soweto String Ensemble". Recently a Parisian audience responded warmly. They frequently combine with "Dance for All from Cape Town". At the Prom the sound of the combined orchestra will be galvanising and moving: two complementary approaches to the same music, ethnically and geographically separate but united but united by the genius of composer Jean-Philippe Rameau.

Explosion of ecstasy

Reviewer Geoffrey Norris reports: "Cultures coalesced brilliantly on Sunday night in a performance of unrivalled zest". "A sort of ecstasy swept over the auditorium".