‘Sudbury Sounds’ please crowd as musical project reaches crescendo

Over the past month, the ‘Sudbury Sounds’ programme has been run by musicians from Sinfonia Viva, with workshops taking place at The Bridge Project, Chilton Croft Nursing Home, St Joseph’s Care Home and Mellish House Residential Home.

The workshops – attended by older residents, vulnerable people and those living with long-term health conditions, such as dementia and Parkinson’s – help to tackle social isolation by bringing people together through the joy of live music.

On Monday, 29 July, a final, free, concert was held at the Sudbury Arts Centre celebrating the end of the project by performing some of the music made at the workshops.

At the concert, Sinfonia Viva also performed a number of well-known tunes for the crowd, before attendees gathered round to reflect on their experience over refreshments.

Cllr Daniel Potter, Babergh District Council cabinet member for thriving communities, said:

“It has been an honour to work alongside Orchestras Live and Sinfonia Viva once more to bring another exciting musical project to our district.

“These events are all about bringing people together through a shared love of music, so I’m pleased that we have been able to offer this opportunity for another year.” 

Stuart Bruce, senior creative producer at Orchestras Live, said:

“Sudbury Sounds has been a fantastic collaboration between a dynamic artistic team from Sinfonia Viva and four groups of adults from this part of the district. 

“The music workshops and celebration concert at Sudbury Arts Centre have been full of energy, creativity and fun. It’s a great example of how engaging in appropriate styles of arts and culture can contribute to the wellbeing of a community, in this case with vulnerable people and those who care for them. 

“Orchestras Live is so pleased to have produced this ambitious project through our partnership with Babergh District Council, and we look forward to developing further orchestral projects which support the Council’s strategic priorities.”

This project has been the latest in a series of collaborations, building on the success of a similar event last year.