The British Paraorchestra Win Big Society Award!

 The orchestra, which shot to fame after performing with Coldplay at the
closing ceremony of the 2012 Paralympics, is the latest winner of a Big
Society Award Prime Minister David Cameron has announced.

*The British Paraorchestra* has been recognised for providing a successful
platform for the country’s most talented musicians with disabilities.

The orchestra was founded by British conductor Charles Hazlewood, whose
youngest daughter Eliza was born with cerebral palsy and a talent for
music. As the Paralympics does for sports, the British Paraorchestra seeks
to raise awareness and to shift perceptions of disability by creating a
visible platform for gifted disabled musicians to perform and excel at the
highest level.

Since its launch in January 2012, The British Paraorchestra has:

   - written and recorded the theme music for Jon Snow’s Paralympic Show on
   Channel 4
   - performed a new version of the British National Anthem at Buckingham
   Palace for the Queen’s 2012 Christmas Broadcast
   - been the subject of a major Channel 4 documentary, screened just
   before the Paralympics Closing Ceremony
   - grown to a membership of 26 musicians
   - performed at festivals and venues around the UK, including the
   Unlimited Festival, Southbank Centre, Orchestra in a Field and the Snape
   Proms in Aldeburgh

The British Paraorchestra will open the Ipswich Music Festival tonight at 7.30pm, Great School.
The Ipswich School Festival of Music runs until Wednesday, October 2.
www.ipswichschoolfestival.org.uk