Copland 125 - Music Festival

Hi my name is Kevin Lindegaard and I am setting up a future facing, grass roots music festival in Bristol aimed at children, young artists and aspiring composers. It's called Copland 125.

The Copland 125 festival will embrace the legacy of the American composer Aaron Copland with a year-long grass roots music festival in Bristol from November 2025. The festival will use the shared history between Bristol and the US and utilise positive and affirmative music to reset and renew. The aim is to make art music more inclusive and diverse by providing expansive exposure opportunities that go far beyond the concert venue norm. Furthermore, the festival will promote contemporary and recent music that reflects modern society and speaks about issues of our time. It will therefore help reframe classical music making it more relevant to young people.

About me

I am a champion of Copland’s music, his legacy and contemporary classical music in general. I regularly blog on my website aaron-copland.com from the perspective of someone who does not read music or has had no music education.

If you want to get a feel for Copland's music and how it can appeal to kids see this video:

BBC Teach Jameela Jamil on Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copland

Why Copland?

Copland’s music is a perfect entry point to classical music. During his life Copland produced a great deal of “music for use” composing for ballets, films, TV, kids operas and youth ensembles. The progressive aims were to encourage young performers and provide a simple, accessible style introducing art music to a wider public. He also served as a teacher and a mentor to countless early career composers.

This piece is another great one for getting kids interested in music - it's one of the pieces that appealed to me when I was a kid

An introduction to Rodeo - Hoe-Down by Aaron Copland | Ten Pieces | BBC Teach

The challenge to change the status quo

Classical music audiences have a distinct demographic. The average age is over 60 with just 2% in the 16-24 age bracket. The likelihood is that only a tiny number of children/young adults from deprived communities have any relationship at all with this art form. This presents a blank canvas. Furthermore, it is difficult for venues to market concerts that don’t involve established classics that appeal to a particular type of listener. There are few opportunities for new, relevant sounds and pieces that reflect modern society and written by young composers to be heard. Consequently, not enough people, particularly young audiences are exposed to new music which inevitably means that an established and entrenched status quo remains. Copland 125 will put Bristol right at the epicentre of being part of the solution by disrupting the narrative and providing more opportunities to get contemporary and late 20th century classical music heard in places far beyond concert venues.

What it is likely to include

The festival includes several components:

• Pop up, free performances at non - concert locations across Bristol, both indoors and outdoors.

• Utilise non-musical organisations to spread the message to new, harder to reach audiences. We are in talks with Bristol Flyers basketball team, BBC Natural History Unit, the Pride Festival and Bristol Parks Forum.

• Composition competitions and mentoring opportunities for aspiring composers and performers.

• We will offer opportunities for children to attend concerts and win prizes for piano lessons or vouchers towards the cost of an instrument.

• Links with US based organisations to offer reciprocal opportunities for performances.

• Piggy back on existing and planned events such as concerts by the National Children’s Orchestra and the Bristol Youth Orchestra and Choir.

• Conventional paid for concerts and events at established venues often showcasing young performers and new music (solo recitals, chamber ensembles, dance performances, film projections, some with live musical accompaniment).

This range of activities will draw in new listeners whilst not excluding or marginalising existing audiences and ensure that no one is left behind.

Here's another short video showing how Copland painted pictures with his music for the ballet Billy the Kid:

Philharmonia Orchestra Listening Guide Copland's Billy the Kid

We are working alongside key delivery partners in the Bristol Music scene including Sound World, Bristol Ensemble, St George's, Bristol Youth Orchestra, City of Bristol Choir and many others and have submitted a bid for Arts Council England funding. This funding will only go so far. In order to achieve great things and maximise musical opportunities for young people we need your help!

Your funding will go towards the most impactful elements of the festival, enabling us to take classical music out and about to parks and shopping centres around Bristol, and to provide opportunities to enable disadvantaged children to hear and participate in music making.