GIG IN THE DUMP:
Classical Music is Rubbish
Video: Click here to watch the Gig in the Dump >The beautiful music of Elgar could be heard amongst scrap metal, bin bags and shrieking gulls yesterday as players from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra played a recital in their most unusual venue ever – a London rubbish dump.
The special concert was held to Dumped
And instead of treasured centuries-old violins and shining trumpets, the musicians were playing bizarre instruments made from junk, including violins built from artificial legs, a cello created from an old crossbow and a clarinet that started life as garden hosepipe.
The instruments show some of the ways the 434 million tonnes of rubbish thrown out in Britain every year – enough to fill the orchestra’s regular venue the Albert Hall every two hours – could be recycled and reused in innovative ways.
Stephen Bell, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conductor, comments:
This is the first time in our history that we've deliberately set out to play a rubbish gig, but we're highlighting a serious environmental message. Every one of us in Britain throws away half a tonne of rubbish every year – and only a quarter gets recycled – but this recital shows that one man’s rubbish could easily be another man's violin and will hopefully make people think twice before they bin their waste.
Video: Click here to watch the Gig in the Dump >
