Youngsters will be more than welcome at Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra’s next concert – and encouraged to join the ensemble’s percussion section by playing the chopsticks.

All Together Now, at Huddersfield Town Hall, promises an interactive event based on the BBC Ten Pieces project, which aims to inspire children to experience and enjoy classical music.

Young concert-goers will be coached by the Principal of Musica Kirklees, Thom Meredith, to accompany the orchestra’s performance of Mars, the Bringer of War, from Holst’s Planets Suite (one of the BBC 10 pieces). The chopsticks have been provided by Chris and Caroline Barrow of the Flying Ferret at Shelley, one of the organisations that supports the orchestra.

The concert, on Sunday, February 11, at 2.30pm, will give every member of the audience and all ages a chance to be part of the music-making. As well as the mass percussion session, there will be an opportunity to sing along to Bizet’s Toreador Song and even ‘dance’ the hornpipe. Organisers also plan an entertaining music quiz to round off the afternoon. President Ruth Holmes says the idea behind the concert is to show the variety found in classical music. She explained: “This isn’t your ‘sit down and listen very carefully’ type of concert, it’s one where youngsters can move around and even do a bit of dancing in the aisles if they want to. We have deliberately chosen contrasting pieces to represent the different styles of classical music and show how a classical orchestra can play different styles.

“Someone asked me if it would be suitable for a three-year-old and I said ‘yes, absolutely’. No-one is going to be worried if children want to run around. None of the pieces of music are horrendously long and we don’t expect them to sit still the whole time.”

Conducted by Robert Guy, Tutor in Conducting at the universities of Huddersfield and Manchester, the programme is entirely comprised of well-known and well-loved pieces. As well as Holst and Bizet, it also includes Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King from the Peer Gynt Suite; Stravinsky’s Danse Infernale from The Firebird; Parry’s Jack’s the Lad hornpipe from Fantasia on Sea Songs, a regular at the Last Night of the Proms; an arrangement of pop anthem YMCA and ‘I Want To Be Like You’ from Jungle Book.

Tickets are just £5 for children and £10 for adults from kirkleestownhalls.co.uk or 01484 225755 or huddersfieldphilharmonic.co.uk