Anyone who has ever had the experience of playing music in a public place, only to have a dampener put on the joyful majority by the inevitable few curmudgeons who complain about the noise, will sympathize with the Robin Hood Youth Orchestra of (where else?) Nottingham. The eager young players were engaged to give a three-hour Christmas concert at the Victoria Centre, only to be ejected after a third of their allotted time.
Reported in The Guardian, a shopping center representative said, "We received a number of complaints about the noise levels in the center on Saturday so unfortunately we had to ask the Robin Hood Youth Orchestra to finish its performance earlier than planned after two sets."
Now, it should be said that we at Classicalite have every sympathy with those bothered by pounding, air-vibrating drumbeats from various mobile devices. But, come on, young people playing instruments live is a glorious, life-enhancing thing (unless of course they can't really play them, but we presume that wasn't the case here).
Is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" really so disruptive? Disruptive to, please note, shopping.
The orchestra showed the enterprising spirit of determined young people and found another venue within minutes, where they completed their concert.
We hear that, traumatized by the events, the Robin Hood Youth Orchestra members have now removed themselves to nearby Sherwood Forest where they have taken up a new, socially aware side to their community work--which principally consists of stealing musical instruments from the rich and giving them to the poor, whom they then encourage to give guerrilla performances of eclectic modernist classical music at the Victoria Centre.
That last bit may be employing some journalistic license. In fact, all seem to have made up as the center has invited a smaller ensemble from the orchestra to return.
