Musicians pulling out all the stops

Tram Tracks pop up performance by Oldham Music Service, saxophonists at Oldham Mumps Metrolink Station.

MUSIC pulled into Oldham's Metrolink stops yesterday as a group of young saxophonists wowed travellers and commuters with a pop-up performance.

The celebration, which included a live set at Mumps, featured musicians from Oldham Music Service performing a specially-composed piece of music.

It formed part of the Tram Tracks project, a large scale creative music scheme in which Transport for Greater Manchester and The Bridgewater Hall joined forces to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Metrolink and The Bridgewater Hall's 21st birthday.

As part of the project, more than 1,200 adults and children took part in the creation of 93 new pieces of music ­- one for each stop on the vast Metrolink network. Created by and with members of the community, each track reflects the area and activities around each individual stop.

Local groups involved from the Oldham area included: Oldham Music Service saxophone quartet, Saxation, (Oldham Central); Oldham Theatre Workshop, (Oldham King Street); Failsworth Community Choir (Failsworth); and The Radclyffe School, (South Chadderton).

As of yesterday, the official anniversary of Metrolink, all 93 tracks were made available via The Bridgewater Hall website, to download free, together with notes and lyrics.

Paula Wilson, The Bridgewater Hall's learning and participation manager, said: "I would like to congratulate each participant and the vast team of community songwriters, composers, arts organisations, education providers and musicians from across Greater Manchester who have helped to create this outstanding project."

Councillor Andrew Fender, chair of the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee, added: "Working alongside the Bridgewater Hall as part of Metrolink's 25th anniversary celebrations has been wonderful. Tram Tracks has been a great community project, thanks to all the schools, charities and community groups that produced these fantastic pieces of music."

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