St Cross College, Oxford

St Cross junior member Ben Hebbert (DPhil Music) has recently taken a major part in a remarkable musical project.  Ben is at present combining completing his DPhil with a post as head of early stringed instrument making at West Dean College, Chichester, West Sussex, and was part of the team assembled by Charles Hazlewood, conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra, to make an entire orchestra of 44 instruments from scrap metal, unwanted furniture, the contents of roadside skips, or junk from any other source they could find. This project was filmed for BBC4 and the process of construction included investigations into the history of instrument making (Ben's speciality) and the science of music. Once made and assembled, the instruments were then played by the BBC Concert Orchestra at a Prom in the Royal Albert Hall on 23 July 2011.  It was an extraordinary and very successful performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, a piece written in part for unusual instruments.

Ben himself, with the collaboration of West Dean's tutor in metal conservation, made two double basses and three cellos from a remarkable assortment of junk.  He commented that 'the project was an amazing opportunity to turn instrument making on its head and see what would come out of it. The instruments, orchestra, and audience were amazing and we received huge applause at the Royal Albert Hall. You’ll have to watch the programme to see exactly why.' 

'Scrapheap Orchestra'  was first aired on BBC4 on Sunday 11 December and is to be repeated on Wed 14 December at 7.30pm.  The final opportunity to watch it, or at least video it, will be on 15 December at 2am.

For more details about the project, please see articles in the Guardian and Telegraph, plus information on West Dean's website.