Introducing The Planets: Beyond Earth

In 2026, Wyatt Sinfonia will be delivering our next project, ‘The Planets: Beyond Earth’. This unique project gives young people from Tower Hamlets and Hackney the chance to compose music for vocal parts to go with Gustav Holst’s famous orchestral suite ‘The Planets’, and perform in the premiere performance of this new version in November 2026.

Part 1: Composing

Wyatt Sinfonia and acclaimed composer David Önaç will be delivering 6 workshops to young people, helping them to explore Holst’s exciting music and create their own musical ideas in response. Önaç will then synthesise the ideas into a set of choral parts which can be performed alongside Holst’s original orchestral suite.

 

Part 2: The Performance

From September 2026, 10 schools will receive workshops from Wyatt Sinfonia’s professional musicians to rehearse their new piece, ahead of the performance in November at Evolutionary Arts Theatre Hackney. Young people in ensembles from Tower Hamlets Arts and Music Education Services (THAMES) and Hackney Music Service (HMS) will also receive workshops from visiting Wyatt Sinfonia musicians. In November, over 350 young people will come together for a day of rehearsals, supported by Wyatt Sinfonia’s professional orchestra and singers, before the concert premiere of their new version of ‘The Planets’, performed to an audience of friends, family and the local community.  

This project will give young people the exceptional opportunity to work alongside active professional musicians and experience professional music-making first-hand. We’re working to raise young people’s aspirations and encourage and inspire them to continue to engage with music. This project celebrates every young person as a musician – regardless of previous musical experience, everyone is included.