THE North Devon Sinfonia did their county proud when they beat the competition to win the BBC’s television series ‘All Together Now – the Great Orchestra Challenge’.

But those who attended Holsworthy Communtiy College, past and present, may have noticed a familiar face or two on the BBC challenge show.

Appearing on the show Mr Nik Rumney and Mr Tim Body, both previously taught as music teachers at Holsworthy Community College and are both members of the North Devon Sinfonia.

They joined current music teacher Miss Tracy Iles and Mr Richard Sillivan, who was previously the head teacher of Holsworthy Primary School, to compete with the Sinfonia in the final of the BBC’s Great Orchestra Challenge.

Over 250 orchestras countrywide applied for the competition and the North Devon Sinfonia battled it out on the weekly show to claim the top prize.

Speaking on the experience of winning the BBC competition Mr Nik Rumney, ex-head of music at Holsworthy Community College and currently working as a registrar in Somerset, added: “This is quite possibly one of the most incredible experiences of my musical life! I think it all felt quite surreal. I know people were really excited about it all and I found it both exciting and challenging in equal measures. I also found it an incredibly uplifting experience.”

Speaking about her involvement, Tracy Iles, teacher in charge of music at Holsworthy, said: “North Devon Sinfonia is a fantastic group to be able to work with from my perspective. There are people from all professions and all ages. Our youngest, Kelsie, 16, has just sat her GCSE’s and our eldest member Richard Sullivan (ex head of Holsworthy Primary School) is in his 80s.

“Our demographic is as wide as our age with people travelling from Camelford and Somerset. Living in Devon/Cornwall you have to accept that to experience good things you may have to travel — for Richard [Sillivan] and I the 90 mile round trip for each rehearsal is definitely time and money well spent.”

Tracy always had a keen interest in music growing up and regularly attended her local orchestras including the Rhondda Symphony and the Cardiff Philharmonic. She also made good use of the county music schemes available to her in her home town of Pontypridd, South Wales.

Miss Iles said: “Music making for me is an essential part of my daily routine developing my own individual skills but most importantly it’s the time spent with other like minded musicians in group practices that really makes it happen.”

She has taught at Holsworthy Community College for eight years and started playing with the North Devon Sinfonia around 2011.

She said: “Across the whole BBC process the orchestra developed greatly not only in terms of playing together or playing different styles of music, but probably one of the best outcomes of the experience was how we now work more as a team. People’s listening skills have developed and this has directly impacted on the quality of performances.”

Along the way the North Devon Sinfonia encounter many exciting opportunities and challenges in order to become the most ‘Inspirational Orchestra’. One event, which Miss Iles described as ‘emotional’, saw all the orchestras join together to perform one final piece.

She said: “The orchestras combined for the final piece ‘Nimrod’ by Elgar. In life there will always be that one piece of music that moves us emotionally. This is my ‘one piece’ and it certainly did on that day with over 100 musicians being conducted by Paul Daniel, some of us were crying before we had even started to play on the stage.

“Was it the music? Was it the relief that the final part of the competition was over? Who knows, but now it was in the hands of the marvellous Paul Daniel as to who he crowned the most Inspirational Orchestra!”

Receiving that crown, the North Devon Sinfonia was proud of their achievement as they won the ‘All Together Now – the Great Orchestra Challenge’. As a result, they were given the chance to perform on the BBC Proms in the Park stage. They said they were ‘thrilled’ to be given the opportunity to perform on stage in Hyde Park, with the performance being filmed for broadcast in the final episode of the series.

Miss Iles said: “And then there was the Proms in the Park, which was probably the most exhilarating and the most nerve wracking at the same time! Where else will I ever get to play on the stage as the likes of Alfie Boe or Michael Ball? Or even in front of an estimated 20,000 people at 3.30pm on a Saturday afternoon?

“Overall it was a fantastic experience to have and to be able to share via the television series with my students.”

Headteacher of Holsworthy Community College, David Fitzsimmons, expressed how proud he was of his teachers involvement with the competition, he said: “It has been a wonderful opportunity for musicians in the wider area, but especially for music teachers. I was delighted to hear that three teachers, who have at various times been the music teacher at Holsworthy Community College were part of the Sinfonia, as well as a previous head of Holsworthy Primary School.

“I think it is marvellous that pupils can see Miss Iles putting her own musical talent into being part of something much greater. I hope she will be able to draw on these amazing experiences in her teaching and persuade others to overcome their nerves and perform both in front of others and with others.”