More than 1,000 pupils from four primary schools in north and west Belfast performed alongside the Ulster Orchestra at the Ulster Hall on Wednesday 10 June 2026. The gala event marked the culmination of the current phase of the orchestra’s flagship community programme, Crescendo.

The participating pupils, from Primary 3 and Primary 7 classes, attend Good Shepherd, Malvern, Holy Evangelists’ and Wheatfield Primary Schools. All four schools are located in areas of significant social deprivation.

Crescendo is a long-term partnership led by the Colin Neighbourhood Partnership and Shankill Children’s Zone, in partnership with Queen’s University Innovation Zones. It gives children access to music education throughout their primary school years, with the aim of improving educational and personal outcomes through sustained musical engagement.

The programme is part of the Ulster Orchestra’s wider Learning and Community Engagement initiative, which reaches more than 45,000 people of all ages across Northern Ireland each year through approximately 5,600 workshops, projects and performances.