UK: The London Chamber Orchestra and schoolchildren get into the Olympic spirit by performing 2012 Games train-inspired compositions at London's St Pancras Station

Record ID: 331047

  • Title: UK: The London Chamber Orchestra and schoolchildren get into the Olympic spirit by performing 2012 Games train-inspired compositions at London's St Pancras Station
  • Date: 28th June 2012
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (JUNE 27, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ST PANCRAS INTERNATIONAL STATION ST PANCRAS SIGN
  • Embargoed: 13th July 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVANMJTFVZ65S4DJ01QTHWOIZ64
  • Story Text: Under a giant set of Olympic Rings at London's St Pancras Station, musicians on Wednesday (June 27) treated commuters to a free concert with music inspired by Olympic journeys.
    The London Chamber Orchestra worked with 100 youngsters to compose a piece of music called Javelin Train - inspired by the new fast train service between St Pancras to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.
    The concert was held to mark the one month countdown until the Olympic Opening Ceremony on July 27.
    The Javelin train service officially began on Wednesday. It can shuttle 25,000 passengers to the Olympic Stadium every hour and is integral to London Games organisers' plans to successfully run what they call a "public transport" Games.
    The London Chamber Orchestra (LCO) was commissioned to write the train-inspired music by organisers of the Cultural Olympiad, which runs concurrently with the Olympic Games and is a celebration of arts and culture.
    Principal Conductor of the LCO, Christopher Warren-Green, said, "We know that sports and the arts are essential to our culture, so to be involved in it in any way at all is fantastic."
    LCO composer, Graham Fitkin, also wrote another piece inspired by the Javelin train, called "Track to Track".
    He said he was inspired by the thought of athletes making their dedicated professional journey's to qualify for the London 2012 Games and he took some of the children's ideas and incorporated them into his own musings on the meaning of journey.
    "I took little bits from their music and put it with my own idea of train travel and the notion of journey of an athlete, say from that 5am start going right the way through to an Olympic arena sort of gig at the end of it," said Fitkin.
    All Olympic ticket holders will be able to use the Javelin train for free during the Games. It takes just six minutes to get from central London to the east London Stratford site.
    Getting the millions of people moving around London during the Games is one of the biggest challenges facing London 2012 organisers, given the capital's creaking and overloaded public transport system.
    The new Javelin service is part of efforts to ease the impact of the massive influx of Olympics visitors to an already crowded city.
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