Tuesday 15^th October

Leeds Youth Jazz-Rock Orchestra, 5-7pm. Grade 5+ (Please note that we are currently only looking for Tenor Saxophone and Trombone players at this time).

Leeds Schools’ Wind Orchestra, 5.15-6.45pm. Grade 1-4.

Leeds Youth Singers, 5.30 – 7pm (for high school singers interested in jazz, folk, and pop). 

Friday 18th October

Roots Alive 5-6.30pm. Grade 4+ (Please note that we are particularly keen to hear from guitar, keyboard, and percussion players)

Leeds Schools’ Brass Ensemble 5.15-6.15pm. Grade 1-4

Leeds Schools’ String Orchestra 6.30-8pm. Grade 1-4

City of Leeds Youth Training Orchestra 6.45-8.45pm. Grade 4-6

Please contact educ.artforms@leeds.gov.uk if you wish to come along and try out!

Please check out our City of Leeds Youth Music web pages for more details on each group!

School performances. 11am and 1:30pm at Pudsey Civic Hall

7pm at St Edmund’s Church

Click here to purchase your tickets!

The City of Leeds Youth Orchestra are putting out a second call for the following instruments:

• Viola
• Trombone
• Percussion
• Clarinet

Auditions for these instruments will take place on Friday 20^th September at Pudsey Civic Hall. Auditionees will be asked to play two contrasting pieces of at least a Grade 6 standard and an orchestral excerpt (which will be sent out two weeks before). There is no accompanist available on this date, so all pieces will be unaccompanied.

If you play any of the instruments above and would like to audition for CLYO, please complete this google form – https://forms.gle/2t2nW19SSRnhWX5C9

The deadline is Friday 30^th August 2024.

The City of Leeds Youth Orchestra is not looking for applications for instruments other than those listed at this time.

Please contact educ.artforms@leeds.gov.uk if you have any questions.

You must be a resident in Leeds or attending a Leeds school/college (anybody from outside of Leeds will be subject to review).

The deadline to apply is 2pm on 26^th May 2024. Please complete the google form – https://forms.gle/sCCeyFGNsYrPeDW47.

If you have any further questions, please contact us via educ.artforms@leeds.gov.uk or 0113 3782850.

Audition information sheet CLYO CLYWO 2024

Tickets for The Snowman Film Concert are now on sale!  SOLD OUT!!!!

First shown in 1982, this magical story has become a must-watch classic and has been repeated every year since.

Now’s your opportunity to see the film accompanied by a live orchestra. On Friday 15th December at 8pm, our very own City Of Leeds Youth Orchestra will be playing along live to the film at Pudsey Civic Hall. This magical concert is not one to be missed.

Get your tickets for this unmissable concert (and other Artforms events) here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/artforms-music-service?fbclid=IwAR1GKQly2W-FYmWhktXFuMqz_KuDtEmlDp_WyuJaT3wfhioYRC8ol_klGCw

Sunday 17^th December, 6pm-8pm

Adults – £6

U18s/Carers – Free

Tickets for sale here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/artforms-music-service/t-moqdxep

In 1936 Sergei Prokofiev composed ‘Peter And The Wolf’ which tells the story of interaction between a cat, a bird, a duck, a wolf and a small boy, with different instruments in the orchestra representing different animals in the story, alongside spoken narration.

Adults – £7

U18s – Free

To purchase your tickets, please follow the link below:

‘Peter and the Wolf’ Concert event tickets from TicketSource

Wednesday 21^st June 2023 saw the Celebration Concert at Leeds Arena funded by Leeds Music Education Partnership (LMEP) and led by ArtForms Music.  The event was a huge success, featuring over 700 children and young people from schools across Leeds.

The 2,000 strong audience were treated to performances from ArtForms’ flagship City of Leeds Youth Orchestra, Leeds Youth Jazz Rock Orchestra and Roots Alive, the ArtForms folk band.  In addition several LMEP Partners were featured including the DJ Schools’ Beat It Team with the Corpus Rappers and the Leeds Junior Conservatoire’s band, Hole In The Ceiling.

A big part of the work that LMEP and ArtForms offer Leeds schools are the projects that provide new learning and performance opportunities in Music.  Our Taiko Project that has been running in Leeds secondary schools for 2 years now, provides teachers with training, resources including a scheme of work, and a full class set of Japanese Taiko drums.  At the Celebration Concert Cockburn School’s Thunder Taiko Drummers performed a fantastic piece called Kamaete after working with Jim Gaylard from the ArtForms percussion team.

The Taiko project for secondaries is part of Music Connect, our support programme for Music education in all Leeds schools.  It was originally delivered by our working partners, Louder Than Life who also run our Samba project for primaries.  The Celebration Concert opened with the specially commissioned Marching On Samba by Tim Brain featuring a samba band of 70 children from 3 different schools – Alwoodley Primary, and Cross Gates Primary – and featuring the Temple Moor drum group – Raven Percussion, and their light-up drum sticks.  A bold, loud, impressive way to start the show with a Samba groove just for Leeds.

The ArtForms Singing Strategy was brilliantly represented by the four different choirs featured in the event.  These were the Cockburn MAT Choir, The Woodkirk Upper School Choir, the choirs of Roundhay School and finally the Leeds Schools’ Choir featuring 400 children and young people from over 50 schools across Leeds.  The singing strategy is lead by our Choirs Co-ordinator, Claire Rivers and puts singing at the heart of Music education in Leeds.

This enormous choir, conducted by Jayne Leadbeater, took the lead role in our finale performance of The Future’s In Our Hands.  This song was commissioned by LMEP specifically for this event and written by our very own, Sarah Crowley who is the Events Co-ordinator for ArtForms.  Accompanied by the ArtForms house band, as well as the Youth Orchestra, the Jazz Rock Orchestra and the Samba Band this was a great way to finish off a great show with a big, big performance.

The Celebration Concert was the flagship event and centre piece of the annual, LMEP/Artforms Youth Music Festival.  For more information about events taking place across the city please click on the above link.

We are so proud of all the 700 children and young people involved in the Celebration Concert and of all the young musicians that we work with in Leeds.  Congratulations to them all for putting on such an impressive show.