THERE'S a celebration taking place in Colchester to mark the BBC's National Music Day.

Taking place this weekend young people from all over north Essex will be performing together at St Botolph's Church for the event, which will include works being studied in schools across the country.

Members of the Colne Valley Youth orchestra will be joined by students from Academy East music school, Tendring Music School and pupils from local schools including Philip Morant, Thurstable in Tiptree and Colchester Royal Grammar School to perform some of the BBC 10 pieces which are being promoted by Essex Music Education Hub through workshops and lessons.

The works to be performed include Bizet's Habenera and Toreador’s Song from Carmen as well as a special arrangements of Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, Vaughan Williams' Lark Ascending and Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt.

The young musicians will meet this Friday, June 3, at 2pm for a rehearsal with the concert taking at 7pm in the St Botolph’s Street church, and there's still time to take part.

Players who perform on orchestral instruments, who are at about grade 5 standard or above, can contact the Colne Valley Orchestra's principal, Nigel Hildreth on nigel@cvyo.net for more information.

Nigel says: “This is a brilliant opportunity for young people from our area to get together to celebrate music making and to perform some of the BBC Ten pieces with which they may well have studied and listened to in class, but will now be alive to them thanks to this performance.”

Admission to the concert is free but there will be a collection of donations at the end of the concert.