Orchestras and performing groups across the UK will take part in a major music festival on the weekend of 3–4 March next year as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. The BBC is coordinating the Music Nation festival, which will feature performances and workshops in 45 locations across the country, with more than 25,000 participants. Events include a visit to the Shetland Islands by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; a performance by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Nicola Benedetti in Glasgow; the Ulster Orchestra and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra performing together for the first time in Belfast; and folk group Bellowhead working alongside young string players from Wiltshire.

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