STIRRING, toe-tapping tunes to hum along to or to shake in your shoes, the program for Coffs Harbour City Orchestra’s Spies and Secret Agents concert is curated to stir emotions.

Inspired by the famous music of movies and TV series giving centre stage to espionage, spies and secret agents, the concert features nostalgic tunes from James Bond, Get Smart, Hawaii Five-O, Mission Impossible and many more.

Kicking off with drama, the original vocal scores from the James Bond opening titles have been arranged by the orchestra’s Artistic Director, Tim Egan, to suit the instrumentation of the orchestra and the vocalist.

“Our pianist Wilma Romero plays a vital role in supporting talented vocalist Ursula Kay on vocals, a typical role for an accompanist included in the orchestral setting,” Tim told News Of The Area.

“The music from Skyfall is in a minor key which gives the music a dark and eerie emotional feeling.

“This connects to the isolation of the icy tundra environment, which depicts some of the movie’s geographical settings and the nature of spies and espionage,” he said.

Ursula is a local talent and has been cast in lead roles in a number of musicals with local theatre groups.

She will be singing Skyfall, Writing’s on The Wall and more.

“It’s just heartwarming when such amazing local talent combines to create goosebumps every time they play,” Ursula told NOTA.

“I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to sing with them.”

The leader of the orchestra on first violin, Wendy Nathan said, “It’s such a treat for us playing with an amazing singer, and it’s such dramatic music.”

The orchestra is a true community, with members ranging from the age of thirteen to 88.

“I am lucky to be in such a great orchestra that has an ecstatic atmosphere every time we play,” said thirteen-year-old Daniel.

It’s a sentiment echoed by his twin brother Simon.

“It’s an amazing orchestra with a nice variety of music and people,” Simon said.

Awarded the title of ‘Most Experienced Member’, Ruth Egan told News Of The Area, “I’m quite enjoying playing some more contemporary music after playing classical music all my life.

“I did my first music exam 81 years ago.”

Spies and Secret Agents concert by Coffs Harbour City Orchestra is on Sunday 26 May at Bellingen Memorial Hall.

As always, any school aged child is admitted free of charge.

By Andrea FERRARI