THE idea of getting musicians from one of Britain's top orchestras to go into a council estate and work with local people on a major composition sounds like one of the loonier schemes of some out-of-touch arts body.

But the fact that they did it, and pulled it off spectacularly, is a credit to everyone involved.

The "Sounds In The City" project involved musicians from the Halle Orchestra in Manchester teaming up with residents from the Bank Top and Roman Road estates in Blackburn.

Scores of other people also got involved in the music-making, including local schoolchildren, the unemployed and disabled people.

After six months of rehearsals, 200 people came together in King George's Hall, Blackburn, last night for the performance of their unique creation entitled "Voices of the River".

By all accounts it was a triumph which our reviewer described as "a truly fabulous evening".

However, even if the music had not been such a success, the project would still have been worth doing.

Leo Nolan, one of the organisers, said he had been amazed at the way those involved had grown in confidence and discovered new aspects to themselves throughout the rehearsals.

And the enjoyment and passion of the youngsters involved was obvious to everyone.

The project, which has now been going for two years, was funded by a generous grant from Royal Insurance and had the backing of Blackburn Council and Lancashire County Council.

Let's hope they all decide to back "Sounds In The City" for another year.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.