MORE than 150 youngsters packed into the hall of Downfield Sixth Form to give a whole new meaning to music piracy.

The budding young musicians, who were taking part in a week-long course run by Gloucestershire Music and Cotswold Music Tutors, performed various tunes from the soundtrack to Pirates of the Caribbean, including Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slave orchestral piece.

They also dressed up as pirates and were conducted by Captain Jon Trim whilst aboard their ship – the Cotswold Cacophony, otherwise known as Downfield Sixth Form hall.

Several members of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra joined the young musicians for the special Pirate Day, coaching and later performing with them.

Funded by the Arts Council, the summer workshop was attended by children aged six to 18, who also enjoyed a range of other activities in the afternoons including samba dancing, bowling and rounders.

Lucy Farrington, 14, who attends Stroud High School and was one of those taking part in the course, said her favourite aspect of it was learning to play new pieces of music.

"The Pirates of the Caribbean music is really good. I’m definitely improving as the week has gone on and I’m trying to play lots of different types of music which I haven’t played before."

Celeste Aylott, 10, who also plays the violin, said she was enjoying making new friends and the challenge of playing new music.

"I thought it would just be playing the whole time but we have done activities every day as well, like bowling, so it’s been really good," she said.

Steve Legge, one of the organisers of the course and the head of instruments and vocal tuition for Gloucestershire music, said this year’s course had been a huge success with almost twice as many youngsters taking part than compared with 2012.

"The week-long workshop enables students to improve a massive amount within a short space of time so it was a very rewarding and worthwhile exercise," he said.

Gloucestershire Music currently has 90 places available in Stroud for youngsters who would like to try and learn a musical instrument for the first time, with classes running every Saturday at Archway School.

For more information contact Steve Legge on 01452 330300 and ask about first access or visit gloucestershiremusic.co.uk