KENDAL Town Hall was alive with the sound of flutes as players’ young and old got chance to take part in ensembles, classes, flute choirs and hear a professional flute performance. The main draw was Stephen Clark, the International flute star who fitted the Flute Day in to his busy schedule and worked with 120 enthusiastic children from 14 schools in the South Lakes area. He then did workshops with adult and secondary school age players, tutored the flute choir as well as a Question and Answer session, followed by a performance including some impressive Beat Boxing (amongst other techniques) on his £40,000 gold flute! Organised by The Cumbria Music Hub, the event was put together to inspire and motivate the next generation of flute players. Most of the children who attended take part in weekly whole class flute lessons provided by the Music Hub. In the Town Hall, they performed with modern backing tracks to an audience of parents and other flautists. Sarah Barkway from the Music Hub, said: “Playing a musical instrument is vital to children today more than ever. In a world where children can get quick answers at the tip of their fingers, an essential part of learning to play is failure and working through challenges, however that makes the success all the more rewarding.” Before leaving to catch his plane to Sydney for a program of concerts Down Under, Stephen said: “I hope I have inspired these young musicians as much as they have impressed me with their enthusiasm and love of playing their flutes.” (from The Westmorland Gazette)