Members of the Apollo Chamber Orchestra visit each school six times for classroom sessions, in which small groups of musicians play music by Beethoven, Ravel, Shostakovich, Mozart, Haydn and others. The children are invited to ask questions, and to respond to the music verbally and in written exercises. They see how the musicians and the different voices interact, as we take the music apart and reassemble it.

The children attend an orchestral workshop at Shoreditch Town Hall, where they are introduced to more instruments and longer excerpts. The session finishes with an opportunity to see the instruments up close.

Finally there is a full orchestral concert at Hackney Empire, featuring a programme of music for Symphony Orchestra. The children are introduced to each section of the orchestra, and each movement is played through, preceded by a short introduction with musical examples showing the key points to look out for in the music.

AMP has been awarded a £20,000 Community and Voluntary Sector Grant by Hackney Council, which will enable it to double the numbers of Hackney school children benefiting from the programme in 2011-12.