“What we do is bring everyone into the story,” says Sophie Price, founding member, double bass and administrator of string quintet Toscana Strings. She’s also the narrator for the quintet’s Stories Set To Music launched in 2018 with the primary aim to deliver good quality live music in primary schools in a fun and interactive way. They’ll be returning to Symphony Hall this September with ‘Little Red Riding's H.O.O.D & Monkey Puzzle’ and on December 1^st with ‘The Snowman & The Nutcracker’. “It’s not just us performing. The audience is performing with us too.”

B:Music's mission is to inspire a love of live music, through performance, participation and learning across Birmingham and beyond and Toscana Strings and their performances with dancers Laura Tye and Elize Layton really embody that, especially for young people. Each Stories Set To Music performance introduces the string family and the concept of dance, and the children are taught mimes and dance moves so they can join in during the concerts.

It’s no surprise that this love for music has followed the members of Toscana Strings since they were children too. “I'm very fortunate to be born into a musical family,” says Sophie. “I've grown up with music. It's in my DNA. I've just fallen into this without really thinking. I'm a great believer in fate. As long as you do something and don't just sit down and wait for it to come to you.” The members of the quintet all graduated from the Birmingham Conservatoire and formed Toscana Strings in 2002 once they graduated.

“I'm very passionate about children and education. I feel that, recently, education has been very academic. There's so much more to life than maths and spelling, music and any form of art form opens up different parts of the brain and puts you in different moods.” Toscana Strings’ repertoire encompasses this variety. “‘The Wind in the Willows’ with music by Elgar is quite a calming one and we notice the audience tend to be calmer in that one as well. Really thought-provoking music. Whereas some of the more upbeat ones, the audience tend to be more upbeat too just because of the music. Every story has its place and with different kinds of music.”

“There are so many people who are incredibly creative, and it's not tapped into. We cherish any opportunity where we can perform to children to give that experience and realise that they could do something similar,” says Sophie. “Music is everywhere, in the background, watching a film, on their computer games—but to see it live is something really special.”

For some of these children, this is their first experience of live music. “Our concerts are open to everyone and for any age.” Sophie acknowledges the stigma attached to classical music but that only fuels the work that Toscana Strings does.

“I think sometimes there's a thought process that you go to a classical concert and you have to sit there and you can't make a noise. Which is fair enough because people are there paying to listen to the concert, but that's very difficult when it's your first concert or when you're very little."

"And parents— I know being a mother myself— you’re really nervous that your child is going to be the one that makes the noise.” Sophie adds: “Hopefully, we can break down all those boundaries and you can just be yourself and enjoy the music. Join in. You don't have to. It's not compulsory. But you can dance along, then sit back down and watch a little bit and then join in again.”

“It's just for people to enjoy and experience. Be really close to us, you know, they're dancing with a professional dancer, which is already an amazing experience, especially at a venue like this. They're a metre away from us playing our instruments.” Toscana Strings will take over the Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space this September and December, a space that was opened back in 2021 with the aim of breaking down barriers in music.

When asked which story is her favourite, Sophie hesitates. “Oh, this is so difficult because they're like your children! You work so hard on each story. It takes probably a year from the idea to actual the first performance that you've invested so much that whichever one you're performing at the time, that is your favourite.”

“If I really, really had to choose it would be ‘Monkey Puzzle’ because one of our violinists, Julianne Bourne, wrote the music for that. That's really special to us. That music had never been heard by anyone in the whole world and it was all her ideas that went with the story.”

Combining the music of a string quintet and performance by professional dancers, this collaboration brings another layer to familiar children’s tales. “It's really exciting for us,” Sophie says when asked what’s it like to work with dancers. “It's another art form. A visual art form. We've got the music going on, and then there's something for people to watch. Dance is one of these beautiful things that anyone can join in. You don't have to use your whole body to join in. Even just your eyes flickering is a form of dance. It doesn't matter if it's right or wrong, you know? It just frees everyone up and puts a smile on so many people's faces. The way dance communicates with the audience. Yeah, it's just— it's really fun.”

“That's another thing about our stories is that we want to add that fun element. It takes the pressure off us as well,” Sophie jokes. “[Our dancers] can do that bit and we can just play the music.”

When asked if she had any favourite moments during Toscana Strings’ many performances at Symphony Hall, Sophie beams. “I think it was last Christmas when we performed ‘The Snowman’ and the snowman dance. I would say nearly the whole audience got up. You know when you link arms and go round and round? Honestly, it was just like one big party. It was absolutely fantastic.”

“Then there’s this little boy who I think has nearly been to every performance we've done here. One time, he came in with a tutu and oh my goodness. I can't tell you the smile that it put on all our faces. He melted our hearts. He joined in when we weren't expecting people to join in, and he was the dancer. He was the star of the show. With this blue tutu and leotard. A real special moment that.”

In September, Toscana Strings will bring a whole new story set to music to Symphony Hall, a retelling of a well-known fairytale, Little Red Riding's H.O.O.D.

“Each story we do, we try and involve the audience in maybe a slightly different way. For example, in ‘Peter and the Wolf’ we teach them the dance moves, and then they join in towards the end. In ‘Monkey Puzzle’ they join in throughout the story. If you come, it will be a different experience. With Red, we're really looking forward to a different kind of participation.”

Sophie excitedly explains the story behind this new addition to Toscana Strings’ repertoire. “The red stands for Rebecca Evelyn Dorothy. That's her name. Riding is her surname. The HOOD stands for: Hideously Outrageous Over the top Dance.” There’s a hip hop dancing grandma and a dance competition in which the audience gets to choose which type of dance Red will perform at the competition.

“There’s a hip hop number, a jazzy one and a classical one. While Red’s learning the three dances with grandma teaching her, the audience learn them as well and then we do a vote. The favourite is the one we perform.”

Keep an ear out for some fun easter eggs during Toscana Strings’ retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. “I love putting little extra bits in,” says Sophie. “When Red’s listening to the radio and she hears about the dance competition, you can hear Jack and the Beanstalk’s Garden Centre doing an advert. Jack and Jill are Woody Cutter’s nephew and niece who are also entering the dance competition.”

Don’t missToscana Stringsat the Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space at Symphony Hall this September with their special performance of'Little Red Riding's H.O.O.D & Monkey Puzzle' and on December with 'The Snowman & The Nutcracker'. These performances are a perfect introduction to music and dance with an informal atmosphere. Joining in encouraged!

Interview by Lerah Barcenilla, Marketing & Communications Officer

Photography and Filming by Ibi Keita, Digital Marketing Assistant