Orchestra of teenagers performs to 3,000 students at Blackpool Tower Ballroom

2 March 2026, 12:39 | Updated: 2 March 2026, 16:30

By Classic FM

@ClassicFM

Join us every day on Classic FM this week from 2pm, to hear a recording from the concert.

This week the National Youth Orchestra, an Official Partner of Classic FM, brought an orchestra of 90 teenagers to Blackpool Tower Ballroom, where they performed free concerts to more than 4,000 school students from across the country.

Students from Blackpool and Lancashire packed out the ballroom for a concert of exciting orchestral music by Leonard Bernstein, Stevie Wonder and Rimsky-Korsakov, plus film favourites like Pirates of the Caribbean, scored by Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt.

To mark the 40th anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber also created a special version of the score exclusively for the NYO.

Delivered in partnership with Lancashire Music Service and Blackpool Music Service, the concerts aim to bring live orchestral music to every teenager in the UK. For many students it was their first time hearing an orchestra live.

They performed again the following day at Kearsley Academy in Bolton, where music has not been a core part of the curriculum in recent years. Bringing music into state schools without musical opportunities is central to NYO’s mission to share the power of orchestral music with every teenager across the UK.

Andrew Lloyd Webber said: “I don’t think there’s ever been a time when the arts have been more important. I really, passionately, believe that.”

Kaya, a flautist in the NYO said ahead of the first concert: “My favourite thing about orchestral music is its sheer force.

“There will be many people in the audience who have never seen an orchestra before, so I’m quite excited to see people experience the power for the first time. I’m particularly looking forward to Phantom of the Opera as this edition was written for this concert and I think it really captures the big energy that I love.”

Every day after 2pm this week, Ritula Shah will broadcast music from the concerts on Classic FM.