Displaying items by tag: Music
Yew & Aspen Attend Orchestral Day at Uppingham School
Our Yew and Aspen pupils have been learning to play brass instruments in their music lessons since September. Their progress has been so good that we were able to take them to the Orchestra day at Uppingham school just before half term. We also took a number of other orchestral musicians from other year groups.
The day included sectional rehearsals in the morning and a full rehearsal in the afternoon. A number of other prep schools were invited, and the full orchestra comprised nearly 300 musicians. The theme of the day was ‘Out Of This World’ and the Head of Music at Uppingham selected a number of pieces on the theme of space.
At the end of the day there was a concert for parents and teachers, it was lovely that a number of our parents were able to make the journey to attend. The concert started with Also Sprach Zarathrustra (Richard Strauss’ piece used as the them for the iconic film 2001 a Space Odyssey). This was followed by the strings playing Fly Me To The Moon and a medley from the Planets Suite. The wind and brass then played Fanfare For The Third Planet and The Forge of Vulcan. The concert concluded with the whole orchestra playing a very challenging arrangement of melodies from Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
The pupils worked very hard and focused through long and challenging rehearsals. The brass players are hoping to be able to perform a little closer to home in the near future.
Thanks to Mrs Lawrence, Mrs Hodges and Henry Berkin who supported the pupils throughout the day.
Mr Wakley
Lunchtime Concert - February
It seems strange, looking back, that years ago when we first started to have lunchtime concerts often there would be only ten or so pupils taking part. Now we feel the concert is quite a small affair when, like today, there were thirteen children playing, singing or reciting. It is wonderful to think that so many of our young people chose to be part of the marvelous world of the performing arts.
Lunchtime Concert - January
Harini Sivavakeesar began our concert with a fantastic piece called ‘The Reef’ by W.Carroll. With her great attention to detail, loud fortissimo chords, pedal control and dramatic interpretation, she impressed us all.
Ife Adekanmbi’s cello piece was ‘Runaway Train’. It was full of dramatic effects and had a very exciting finish. She played with control and strength.
Emma Bird’s piano piece had lots of fast notes and sometimes it sounded like it was scurrying about. Can you guess which animal it was depicting? Yes, a mouse, but a ‘haunted’ one.
Elise Craig was able to bring some lovely ‘articulation’ to her performance of ‘Train Ride’ and her left hand was very speedy. Avanthii Nadeshwaren had lots of fun playing a piece about bells ding-donging away in a ‘Cathedral’ steeple. They rang very prettily in both hands and she was reading her music very carefully too.
Autumn Pim’s ‘Gypsy Band’ was full of drama. It was in a fabulous minor key with lots of chords, which made me wonder what story the music was telling. Grace Sun’s piece ‘Agincourt Son’ was also very evocative; it sent us right back into the courts of a medieval king- I could just imagine all the knights in shining armour.
Speech and drama pupils showed they were equal to the expressiveness of the music students. Jude Cronin-Webb and Taran Mehat performed a charming duet called ‘Story Time’. Their voices were so clear that even with Jude’s cold we heard every word. Eri Ojemuyiwa’s story of a swimming teacher called ’Mr Porter’ was very amusing. She has a great way of bringing her audience into her performance.
Alexander Briscoe performed a wonderful poem all about ‘Chips’, it made us feel very hungry with its vivid description of all things chippy. Talking of food; Minnah Elakama told us all about the ‘Veggy Lion’ who found carrots so much easier to kill than his fellow animals, and far less gory! Well done Minnah, you really enjoyed performing this and we enjoyed listening.
Isabella McCall had us enthralled with her reading (although she knew it all off by heart anyway) of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ that included a brilliant American accent and lots of fabulous characterisation.
Sorry I couldn’t mention everyone. You were all amazing!
LVAC Evening Concert
It was a real privilege to listen to the young people’s performances on this cold wintry evening. There was o lovely mix of instrumental, vocal, piano and speech and drama to take our minds of the darkness outside. I will only be able to mention a few of our students here but a big thank you must go out to all who participated. Harini Sivavakeesar’s piano piece ‘Holiday In Paris’ by W. Gillock was a joy. The beautiful singing phasing, the colours in her sound and all of the tempo changes bringing life to the character of the music were articulated with great style and skill. Meera Batakurki played us ‘Diversion’ by Richard Rodney Bennett. This piano piece was so interesting and took us in all sorts of directions musically. She played with lots of expression and was technically very sure footed. Gauri Batakurki played ‘Allegretto Grazioso’ by Cornelius Gurlitt. This fast little piece was performed with great dynamic interest and was delightfully confident too. Ben Pickering chose a wonderful piece called ‘The Harp Player’ by Sibelius to share with us. A flourish of notes opened this gorgeous performance with spread chords played so well in time just as a harpist would. The chords were so evocative, Sibelius would have been proud. Eleanor Yeomans sang ‘Sweet Nightingale’ a traditional folk song unaccompanied. She was pitch perfect, we wanted more, a stunning performance.
Mrs Hodges
LVAC Lunchtime Concert - November
Avanthii Nadeshwaren started the concert off with her beautifully rhythmical version of ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ which she played with great concentration on the piano. Alexander Briscoe played ‘Bells of Great Britain’ giving time to each bell as we listened to them ring out from the piano. Victoria Diniz Fernandez-Lomana's piano piece ‘Lightly Row’ had a lovely pulse and she put in a wonderful crescendo towards the end, brilliant!Chiemenem Iwuagwu’s piano piece ‘Whirling Leaves’ was so gorgeous. Her pedal work made it sound very atmospheric as she listened carefully to the simple repeated rhythms of her left hand and the ringing patterns in her right. Kiaan Fesharaki’s clever touch brought out the light character of his piece ‘Waltz’ by Kabalevsky with some excellent staccato playing that was delicate too; very tricky to do. We wanted more!
Dimitri Korontzis was so proud to play ‘Star Wars’ on the piano for us. I know he has been desperate to perform this famous piece for a while now; it went very well! What was good was the poem ‘Star Trip’ came just before setting the scene perfectly. Chikamso Iwuagwu was so expressive when performing this that I wanted to join her on the journey to a planet not very far away.....!
Emma Bird and Eleanor Tichivangana should have performed their poem ‘Our Club’ for the Strictly Come Dancing judges there was so much ‘arm-ography’ going on. They would have scored 10, 10,10,10 and Amogh Mathur certainly made me feel ‘glad to be alive’ as he recited ‘Gran’s XI’, a poem I’ve not heard before. It was very funny!
Daniel Nunez and Kyle Dissanayake did so well with their conversational piece ‘Goal’ by Ellen Weeks. They kept the drama of their situation going brilliantly and had us really believing that horrid Mr Mortimer’s dog was actually going to come and get them!
Isabella McCall was unusually the only vocalist today. Her beautiful voice filled the hall and we were treated to a ‘Ride on a Rainbow’ to remember for a long time to come.All the performers can be very proud of their lovely sense of pride in their work and their wonderful listening skills as they politely enjoyed their friend’s performances. Everyone took care to bow for their audience and being ready when it was their turn was a noticeable feature of this delightful concert. Pupils who take part in these lunchtime concerts work very hard on their chosen pieces and understand what it is like to take the stage, so they are very respectful of others as they do the same.
Well done everyone, I can’t wait for our next concert on December 12th
LVAC Lunchtime Concert - October
This thoroughly enjoyable concert got off to an excellent start; Harini Sivavakeesar played the evocative piece by W. Gillock called ‘Holiday in Paris’. Straight away we were transported to the streets of Paris. Harinin’s musical performance brought out all the colours, with pauses, dramatic tension and accents that made the music come to life. What a delight!
Victoria Diniz played her piano piece for us too. ‘The Mouse’ was actually in the room…! We could hear it tiptoeing so quietly. Well done. Anvi Mulik brought us a ‘Rocking Horse’ to ride. I loved this because it was very gentle, almost like a lullaby, just what we all needed at the end of a busy half term. Eleanor Tichivangana played ‘Old MacDonald’ with great character. It was beautifully in time and so lively and confident that we could have easily sung along.
The Speech and Drama moments were excellent too. Autumn Pim was very persuasive when sharing her thoughts ‘Pets’. I don’t know how your parents have managed to keep your household free of them up to now! Autumn’s words were so clear and she brought her audience in to every moment, using her eyes and facial expressions brilliantly.
Lacey Weatherley’s performance was very funny and very cheeky; she definately persuaded us all that she had ‘Tried to do (her) my homework’. Lola Grant’s poem ‘There Isn’t Time’ was so clear and she performed it with lots of expression too.
Erioluwa Ojemuyiwa’s presentation really helped us to understand why she loves reading the Sherlock Holmes Solve-it–Yourself Mysteries. She gave us lots of detailed description in a confident performance. Frederick Lancaster’s ‘The Golf Lesson’ was fantastic, he was managed to make us believe that he actually had a golf club in his hands, I loved the space he gave to each part of his talk, we were all able to join in and understand everything he said because of this.
Quite a few of the children in this concert hadn’t performed before; Oliver Surley being one of them. You wouldn’t have known it; he confidently played his saxophone piece ‘Jazz music for Beetles’ with a great sound and sense of purpose. It was a wonderful finish to another wonderful concert.
Well done everyone, you can be very proud of yourselves. Keep practising.
Mrs Hodges
LVAC Lunchtime Concert - September
It was good to be part of the first lunchtime concert of this academic year. We were treated to some delightful performances that made us very proud of our young musicians and drama students.
I will mention a handful here if I may. Isabella McCall played a very mysterious piano piece called ‘The Haunted Mouse’, she managed to invoke an atmosphere straight away with a careful touch. The last note was the lowest note on the piano – you don’t often get to play that note in a piece!
Emily Foster sang ‘Edelweiss’ from the Sound of Music. She sang with such ‘line’, a glorious tone and clear words. It isn’t easy to sing with a beautiful legato line; you have to know how to breath properly.
Eva Pillai and Jude Cronin-Webb were brilliant as they clearly delivered their speech and drama poems with confidence and a smile. Jude’s was ‘My Hat’ and Eva’s ‘My Puppy’. Taran Mehat’s ‘Mix A Pancake’ was a really joyful performance with an extra helping of expression!
Aron Sonander played ‘Train Ride’ on the piano with a lovely balance between his left and right hand and Giovanna Opoku showed us how well her tonguing is coming on in her flute solo ‘Lazy Sunday’.
Well done everyone, you are all obviously practising hard, keep it up!
Mrs Hodges
Yew & Aspen Music Lessons - Brass Instruments
Yew & Aspen (Year 3) pupils are learning to play brass instruments in their music lessons this year. Each class has been formed in to a band with children playing, trumpets, trombones, cornets, euphoniums and tenor horns. The children are really enjoying it and are currently making some very interesting sounds!. They are looking forward to sharing their work in performances later in the year.Lunchtime Concert
I can tell that this year is going to be a very special one. The children who performed in the first lunchtime concert of the year were brilliant. It was a delight to hear all of their contributions and can’t wait for the next instalment.
Harini Sivavakeesar’s piano piece ‘Allegretto Grazioso’ was played with great musicality, she felt the music from the bottom of her toes to the top of her head. Emily Foster sang ‘We’re off to see the wizard’ with a rich round sound and Barnaby Davison’ ‘Catch a falling star’ was beautifully observed, full of confident feeling and the last note was awesome.
Elijah’s Speech and Drama poem ‘Cats Protection League’ was wonderful, funny and scary all in one great rendition! Freddie Lancaster’s ‘Theme’ was a stunning Mozart-like piece that sounded very tricky.
We say ‘Ye Ha!’ to Chibugum Iwuagwu, ‘Yo Ho Ho!’ to Giovanna Opoku and ‘AHHH!’ to William Lam for their fun filled performances. Teachers who are cowboys, pirates who play the piano and sharks for Father’s Day cards were a big hit with us.
Isobella McCall played ‘Old Mac Donald’ on the black notes for her very first piano recital after only five lessons and Tabitha Simpkins sang a beautifully sunny ‘Ride on a rainbow’ after only a handful of lessons too. How amazing girls!
All of our performers remembered to bow and we were very proud of them, especially the ones who carried on even if something went a bit wrong.
Please don’t forget to come along to our next concert. You will be amazed at the talent that is being nurtured in our school.
Practise makes perfect everyone!
Lunchtime Concert, March
This lovely lunchtime concert was just what we all needed to pick us up and put a very large smile on all of our faces. Many children took part. There were 29 items, one of which included our Senior Choir and there’s 23 of them! The girls sang their favourite ‘Jazz is Cool’ with all the moves.
Chamber group, which numbers eight now, played a little piece called’ Daisy Chain Walk’ really carefully, they are learning to listen to each other very well.
Other items included a beautiful little poem, ‘New Day’, by Emma Bird. she melted our hearts. Elise Craig played ‘The Princess’ with two hands on the piano very well. Barnaby Davison sang ‘Where is Love?’ from Oliver and brought a tear to my eye. Mariam Elakama chose to tell us about her love for Ballet for her ‘Public Speaking’ and Giovanna Opoku played her flute for the first time, her piece was ‘The Nightingale’.
We heard some stunning piano playing from our pupils and it was very exciting to hear so many wonderful poems and solos on violins and cellos. Thank you to all who took part and to all who came to join us to celebrate the children’s excellent achievements.
Mrs Hodges
