A CITY orchestra which went virtual after the closure of Southampton’s schools has now attracted 1200 musicians from 18 countries around the globe.

The Virtual Youth Orchestra is celebrating a number of high profile successes.

They had their version of the Avengers theme tune retweeted to the 5.4 million followers of the official Avengers channel and have been approached to record tunes for Sky Sports News, Channel 4 News and Good Morning Britain.

Today they release a tribute for International Nurses Day featuring 500 musicians to the backdrop of pictures of nurses in Southampton and worldwide.

The orchestra has attracted participants from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and the USA, as well as all parts of the UK and Europe.

It’s now taking four 14 hour days for Alex Pope, the Southampton music teacher and conductor behind the project, to piece together every single video sent in for each new song release.

He said: “The project is having such a profound effect in family homes. It has encouraged children to practise without being asked, it is a fantastic way to end a day of home schooling, families say we have saved their home schooling strains, children are benefitting hugely from the effects on their wellbeing. It is bringing families together every week to watch our new video, including elderly relatives who aren’t able to see their families and are tuning in to watch online.

“We are loving the project so much and how much joy it is bringing. It is really exciting.”

The orchestra, an extension of the Showcase Young Players Orchestra, has already released classical versions of songs including High Hopes by Panic at the Disco and Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir.

A programme for singers will be launched soon.