Aerial concert at sports centre

Lancaster University sports centre was the venue for an aerial concert by brass players from the Lancashire Sinfonietta.

Five of them donned a hard hat and harness to scale the climbing wall to play excerpts from the James Bond theme tune and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.

The event began the Lancaster University Curate the Campus arts project from May 1 to 12 which features artists staging unusual projects in unusual locations.

Fiona Sinclair is the general manager of the Lancashire Sinfonietta, which is the orchestra in residence at Lancaster University.

“We were inspired by the Olympics this year to do this because sports and music do not often go together. It’s an amazing sense of achievement to have played two pieces so well while suspended up high.”

After the climb, tuba player Ewan Easton said he would never forget the event.

“I have never played while hanging around like that and my muscles are shaking from the effort, but it was absolutely fantastic.  The tuba was attached by a rope and it was very heavy but I’ll relive this over and over again.”

Trumpet player Helen Quayle said that none of the musicians like heights but were determined to take part.

“It was hard to breathe while trying to play and keep yourself stable so I kept swinging around. We don’t like heights but we like a challenge.”

Climbing wall instructor Alice Benson taught the brass players how to climb the wall just a few hours beforehand.

“They were nervous but really keen and  they didn’t have any qualms about going up.”

The aerial concert is a dry run for the Lytham Open, when the Lancashire Sinfonietta is considering playing on top of a church tower. 

Helen Quayle said: “Once you’ve started, where do you stop ? “