Benedetti Foundation Orchestra releases a single on Decca Classics
Nicola Benedetti and The Benedetti Foundation Orchestra (Photo Credit: Decca Classics)
On January 3, 2020, Nicola Benedetti and The Benedetti Foundation Orchestra release Mascagni’s Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana digitally worldwide on Decca Classics!
The single is available for download on Decca Classics as part of the 31-year-old’s education initiative, The Benedetti Foundation – which also includes upcoming weekend workshops, masterclasses and educational activities. The orchestra is made up of students, amateur musicians and professional string teachers. The foundation is committed to pulling these groups together, again and again throughout the year, to experience music making that shows no generational, professional or cultural boundaries. The Mascagni work is one of the pieces the young people attending the Foundation’s workshops are learning and the very first sessions kick off this weekend in Glasgow. The Foundation Orchestra represents every aspect of the music world including young players, amateur musicians, professional string teachers, college students, and all variations in between.
Benedetti shares, “Recording this was a beautiful and hugely revelatory experience, bringing together people from literally all walks of music-making life. We are victims of too many categories – young and old, professional and amateur, teachers and performers – but actually, the collective feeling and sound broke all stereotypes and allowed for one of the most positive, relaxing yet engaging musical environments I’ve experienced.”
“Music is the art of all the things we can’t see or touch. It is feelings and thoughts, offerings of generosity, vulnerability and openness. It addresses us, communicates and passes invisible things from people creating sound to people receiving sound. It has the power to capture us, to make us feel many complex things. It can lift us high into optimism and accompany us during feelings of hurt and pain. The making of music can be described as healing, invigorating, exhausting and all-consuming. It brings millions together through the basic act of listening and thousands together through the act of making melody, rhythm and harmony in the practice and service of collective expression. This is what I and the Benedetti Foundation want young people to experience and share,” she said.
The media has covered the release of the single with glowing praise!
The Strad and Rhinegold Publishing announced the release of the single, and Violinist.com covered the launch of Benedetti Session stating: “Superstar violinist Nicola Benedetti intends to give a big boost to music teachers and students across the United Kingdom, with the launch of a series of new workshops called the Benedetti Sessions, as part of her newly formed Benedetti Foundation.”
The single aired on WQXR. Classical FM wrote: “Nicky Benedetti is releasing the hauntingly beautiful ‘Intermezzo’, from the opera 'Cavalleria Rusticana' by Mascagni, Friday, January 3 on Decca Classics.”
The workshops, The Benedetti Sessions, cater for all playing abilities with workshops for Beginner String Orchestra; Intermediate String Orchestra and Advanced String Orchestra. There is also a General Musicianship morning for beginners; String Teachers Professional Development Weekend for instrumental string teachers; Primary Classroom Teachers Professional Development Workshop for non-specialist primary classroom teachers and a Primary Schools Workshop Session introducing pupils to the fundamentals of music.
To download the Decca Classics single, click here.
To learn more about the Benedetti Foundation, click here.