The Opéra de Dijon, in collaboration with the COE, organised a family workshop on the day before the COE concert, which was attended by approximately 100 people of all ages and backgrounds. The project was devised and directed by Hannah Conway, who led a group of ten COE musicans.

According to the Dijon newspaper, Le Bien Public, ‘The afternoon was a great success, full of play and fun!’ The project was designed to make the concert repertoire totally accessible. Hannah led an inspirational, fast paced workshop with activities involving movement, dance and guided composition based on characters from fairy tales. The children and their families, all with instruments, were guided along a musical journey that started with short musical fragments developing into chamber works inspired by Shostakovich, Schubert and Tchaikovsky, growing to encompass some of the full orchestral works presented at the orchestral concert the following day.