Classroom Music Workshops
Bring our NZSO Music Educator into your classroom. Through the experience of hands-on music-making, students won’t just learn about the orchestra … they will become one!
Our interactive Classroom Music Workshops give students and teachers with no previous musical experience the chance to compose, perform, conduct and collaborate in a memorable musical experience led by NZSO Music Education Animateur Chris Lam Sam.
Designed for students in Years 0–8, each workshop encourages creativity, teamwork and confident participation while giving teachers practical ideas they can take back into their own classrooms.
Workshop Types
Once Upon a Beat
A familiar fairytale becomes a musical adventure as students use percussion, movement and expressive storytelling to create the story’s soundtrack together. Perfect for introducing younger learners to composing, listening and ensemble playing.
NZSO Concert Preparation
Available exclusively to schools attending an NZSO School Concert, this interactive workshop prepares students to get more from their live orchestral experience.
Working alongside up to three orchestral musicians and our Animateur, students become an orchestra, exploring the themes, ideas and musical building blocks behind works they’ll soon hear performed live. By recreating and reshaping the music together, students arrive at the concert ready to listen with greater understanding, excitement, and confidence.
Story Sound
Students become composers, conductors and orchestra performers creating original music inspired by their own ideas and stories. Along the way they’ll work together to shape a collaborative orchestra performance and discover how music can tell stories without words!
Ngā Tohu o te Taiao / The Signs of Nature
Bring the NZSO concert experience into your classroom.
Designed for schools unable to attend a live NZSO School Concert, this workshop prepares students to watch the filmed 2025 NZSO School Concert Ngā Tohu o te Taiao / The Signs of Nature.
Students become a classroom orchestra, creating their own musical response to the changing seasons through composition, storytelling and collaborative music-making. They can then experience the filmed NZSO performance featuring the music of Dr Jeremy Mayall, live sand art by Marcus Winter (The Sandman), and our Animateur Chris Lam Sam.
Workshop details
Practial information
Cost: $5 per student
Student numbers: Minimum 12 students, maximum 30 students per workshop
Instruments: We bring a selection of hand-percussion instruments with us, though we welcome the inclusion of instruments you and your students already play.
Location: Available at schools throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, subject to scheduling.
Rated 4.9/5 overall by teachers (82 workshop evaluations).
Why teachers love these workshops:
Curriculum-linked learning – Workshops support learning across The Arts while encouraging collaboration, communication and creative confidence.
Active participation – Every student contributes through music-making and creative thinking.
A classroom orchestra – Students experience what it’s like to work together as an orchestra using the small hand-percussion instruments we provide.
Composing together – Students experiment with sound to create unique music of their own.
Creative thinking – Students use music as a vehicle to learn the skills of listening to each other, making decisions together, building on each other’s ideas, taking risks and create something collectively.
Ideas teachers can use tomorrow – Teachers leave with practical ideas and musical activities they can confidently adapt for their own classrooms.
Get in touch
Ready to bring the NZSO to your classroom?
Complete the enquiry form or get in touch via email and we’ll help you find the workshop that best suits your students, timetable and learning goals.
education@nzso.co.nz