Comedy string quartet Graffiti Classics has launched its 2025 Playground Proms tour.
The Proms, which are held in school playgrounds, are aimed at children aged 5–11, engaging them by introducing musical terms, rhythm, conducting and composition; performing well-known classical music, including works from BBC’s Ten Pieces and the DfE’s Model Music Curriculum; covering strands of the current music curriculum, including information about musical terms and instruments; and giving children the chance to take to the stage and perform the second verse of the Playground Proms anthem which they will have written in the weeks running up to the workshops.
This year’s tour began on 20 January in Westmorland & Furness, Cumbria; over the coming months it will visit Cambridgeshire (w/c 3 to 17 March) Suffolk ( w/c 17 and 24 March), Hillingdon, London (w/c 24 and 31 March), North Somerset (w/c 31 March and 21 April), Lancashire (w/c 21 and 28 April), Cumberland, Cumbria (w/c 28 April and 5 May), Derbyshire (w/c 6 and 19 May), Hounslow & Croydon, London (w/c 19 May and 2 June), Leicestershire (w/c 2 and 9 June), Tower Hamlets, London (w/c 9 and 16 June), Lancashire (w/c 16 and 23 June), Barnet, London (w/c 23 and 30 June), Haringey, London (w/c 30 June and 7 July), and Portsmouth (w/c 7 and 14 July).
Playground Proms was created by Graffiti Classics in 2021 as a way to perform during Covid-19 restrictions. It has grown year on year and has so far reached nearly 50,000 children in 160 schools in the UK and Ireland.
Though aimed at KS1–2, the whole school is welcome to attend. An online resource pack is available in advance for teachers and students; CPD sessions are available a week before the main Playground Proms’ visits, giving a general introduction to the project and the Dalcroze Eurythmics method of responding to music through movement, delivered by leading experts from Dalcroze UK.
Graffiti Classics was founded in 1997 as a street performance group with the aim of educating people in classical music while making it fun. Its founder, Cathal Ó Dúill, said, ‘We’re thrilled to be back, bigger and better than ever in 2025! The positive feedback from last year has been overwhelming, and we are proud of what we are building with the help of Arts Council England as well all our music hub partners and other generous donations. It is a privilege to travel the country and spread the joy of classical music to children in this way.’
