Author: Jane Werry

The Summer Concert is coming up fast! We only have a week and a half left of rehearsals. So it’s really important that we have everyone at everything between now and then (exams permitting).

Hey Jamsesh, MissW and MrT are out on a trip next Friday and so will not be around for usual rehearsals. Jamsesh#2 are getting together to have a runthrough on their own. I’m sure Jamsesh#1 will decide what they need to do and organise themselves!

Music Leader applications 2018-19

It’s time to appoint our new music leaders for next year. Here’s what you need to know:

• Anyone, in any year group, can apply
• We are looking for people who are committed and tuned in. By that, we mean people who come to rehearsals really regularly, check the blog, answer their emails and generally know what’s going on
• This year, we want a smaller group of Music Leaders – no more than 8
• What do Music Leaders do? Well, some of them direct ensembles, i.e. conduct a choir or band, or lead/organise an activity. Others help with admin tasks such as filing music, creating programmes and posters for concerts etc. We have an exciting new opportunity in 2018-19 to be part of a research project run alongside the Institute of Education where you will teach something (musical) that you are good at to other students. Or, you might have ideas for something brilliant that we have never thought of – we will listen to your ideas and (if we think it’s good) support you in making it happen
• If you are chosen to be a Music Leader, you will get a snazzy purple badge like the one above. Please could this year’s Music Leaders return their badges (unless you are in Y13, in which case you can keep it)
• An announcement will be made at the Summer Concert as to who has been chosen to be a Music Leader 2018-19
• If you want to apply, you need to fill in this form
• Deadline for submission is Monday 25th June
• If you have any questions, please talk to/email MissW

SEND Pops Choir – help needed

Mrs Allsopp is setting up a new small choir for SEND students, and is looking for helpers. Please go over to M block and talk to Mrs Allsopp or Miss Jones, or email Mrs Allsopp on ela@hayes.bromley.sch.uk if you’d like to know more about what’s involved.

Wider listening – chill time

It’s getting to that time of year where a) if you’re doing exams, you’ve had enough of them and want them to stop, b) everyone is getting tired and c) we can’t wait for the holidays to come. So this week’s wider listening is a beautiful Mozart slow movement. Zone out for 5-and-a-half minutes of tranquility and let the ‘Mozart effect’ do its thing (to find out what the Mozart effect actually is, read this).

 

Huge well done to all those who participated in the music assemblies this week! It is a huge deal to perform in front of your peers – the hardest gig that we do. Especially well done to those who did solos, and in front of your own year groups too. Both songs went really well, and we were really proud that the school got to see you in awesome action.

Summer Concert is coming up fast! 

…It’s less than three weeks away! 28th June is the date. So we need everyone at rehearsals (exams permitting…)

Music tour

The deadline to get tour deposits in was today (8th June) but we’ll be counting the numbers on Monday so you have a cheeky weekend to get a last-minute deposit in. Go on – you know you want to! Letters went out via ParentMail a few weeks ago.

Wider listening – Anthem from Chess

This week’s piece is the monumental, heartwrenching anthem from Chess, which has recently been on at the ENO. What exactly is it that gives this piece its emotion? The answer is all in the melodic line, the harmony, and the orchestral arrangement (as well as Tommy Korberg’s brilliant performance here).

 

Music assemblies

Remember we are doing our music assemblies the first week back after half term. So all members of Choir will need to come to the Hall very promptly at 2.40pm every day. There isn’t any need to be let out early, but you will need to get there quick, dump your bag somewhere (on the stage behind the curtain?) and get into choir positions ASAP.

The running order is this:

1. Adiemus (we will do this from the front – it is probably too disruptive to do it in a circle in an assembly)
2. MissW will talk a bit
3. My Shot (there will be mics set up)

If you are playing a cajon/surdo/bongos or whatever (either in My Shot or Adiemus) then you are in charge of making sure you have this in the right place at the right time! It is essential that everyone knows their words, especially for My Shot, which was going really well last time but is still a bit on the hairy side of well-rehearsed!

Music tour 2019

Letters have gone out via Parentmail to parents of all members of Choir and Concert Band. Let’s get those deposits rolling in and get our tour to Budapest off the ground!!

This week’s wider listening

Check out this cover version of Africa – there are some extended techniques in there (i.e. not playing the piano in the conventional way)…

Also here is what happens when you play a world map (keep watching….)

 

This graphic has been created to help you learn My Shot. We will be performing this (along with Adiemus) in the music week assemblies straight after half term. We only have two more rehearsals before then! You need to spend some time listening to it with your copy in front of you, and using this graphic to memorise the structure.

It is easy when you know it!!

Remember the audio for My Shot is on the Choirs page.

Music tour 2019

It’s great that you’re so excited about next year’s tour! Letters will be going out to parents of everyone in Choir and Concert Band in the next few days. Get those deposits rolling in!

Wider listening for this week

It helps to actively work to get better at listening. Here is a really great article from the BBC about how you can do this.

This week’s wider listening piece is from Beethoven’s Moonlight piano sonata. But it comes with some amazing choreography here!

 

We now have 2 more weeks before half term. Yay! However music assemblies are in the week straight after half term!

Choir will be the main event. We will be doing Adiemus and My Shot. That means we’ve got THREE rehearsals to get My Shot perfect! You had better start really learning it now!

 

Exams are coming!

We are now getting really close to exams for Year 11 and Year 13. Remember that you have got LOADS of revision material on OneNote!

Wider listening for this week

If you are in Year 11, 12 or 13, you need to practise your aural analysis. Listen to this track and write out a quick description of what’s happening using musical terminology. Remember to make it chronological (say at what point in the piece something happens), name instruments/sections (say which part plays something), and also exactly what is being played. 

If you are in KS3, practising this now will stand you in good stead for your future exams!

Music tour 2019

Next year’s tour will be from 7th to 13th April (the first week of the Easter holidays) and we will be going to Budapest in Hungary. More details coming very soon, but we will want to get deposits in straight after half term so we can get our early booking discount!

Well done today on putting together our first flashmob in ages! Unfortunately the filming of it didn’t go entirely to plan – owing entirely to Miss W’s failure to press ‘go’ on the audio recording! So it will just have to live in everyone’s memories… we will be planning more flashmobs, so if you have any ideas, please tell us!

We still need some people to sign up for Friday B breaktime busking. See last week’s blog for details!

Rehearsals continue as usual next week. Looking forward to some more Hamilton action in Choir on Monday!

Great podcasts on BBC Radio

Find the podcast on iPlayer here. In case you haven’t come across Jess Gillam before, she is an incredible young saxophonist. Here she is showing her general awesomeness…

Everything starts on Monday. All rehearsals are at the usual times and in the usual places. The only exception to this is 5-note Orchestra, which we are giving a rest this term.

Friday B breaktime busking!

We are going to start having a regular busking slot in The Street on a Friday Week B breaktime. This is open to anyone who wants to perform. The buskers will locate themselves near the piano at the top end of the street – obviously the piano can be used, but if you want to do anything else you will need to set it up there very quickly at the start of break. Singers – would recommend that you use a mic and run that through an amp.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a solo performer or a small group – you just need to have enough music to play from as soon as possible after 10.35 until the whistle goes at 10.50.

Please sign up for a slot here! The dates available are:

• Friday 4th May
• Friday 18th May
• Friday 8th June
• Friday 22nd June
• Friday 6th July
• Friday 20th July

Flashmob revival

It’s been a while since we’ve done a flashmob at school. Find out in Choir on Monday what our next flashmob is going to be!

Perhaps our best ever flashmob (so far) was Ravel’s Bolero. This was way back in 2012! The video doesn’t do it justice (we’ll get a better sound recording for our next one)!

PS to find out what songs we’re doing in Choir this term, visit the Choir page!

It’s been a busy term, we’re just back from our fab tour of Saxony… so here are some videos to remind you of our highlights! Huge thanks to Ben for shooting and editing the Easter concert footage.

This sums up our week in Saxony pretty well – as you can see we had a brilliant time!

Thanks to Mr Foster for drawing our memories for us!

One of the highlights of tour was our impromptu performance of Steal Away at the Frauenkirche in Dresden, destroyed by bombing during WW2 and recently rebuilt as a symbol of peace and hope.

Start of term arrangements

We need to unpack from tour on the first day of term (Monday 16th April). Come along at lunchtime to help out.

Rehearsals will start in the second week (beginning 23rd April).

The coffin is packed.

We are ready to go!

See you on Monday!

Non tour-goers – we will be posting on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter with news of all happenings on tour!

All rehearsals are in the hall unless otherwise stated. The concert will be in the hall too – quality questions only now please!

You will notice that we have not put down setting up during p1 on the schedule. This is because there is an assembly in the hall, and after that Miss Werry’s class are going to do the setting up.

You are only permitted to miss lessons when you actually have a rehearsal – no taking the mickey on this! ALL teachers will be aware of when you are supposed to be out of lessons – and when you are not.

Things you need to know for the evening:

• the concert starts at 6.30pm
• you need to wear all black 
• tickets are £5 on the door for adults – under-18s and senior citizens FREE
• you can leave instrument cases etc. in CGD but do not hang about in the music rooms during the concert  – you should be in the hall supporting everyone else and being a brilliant audience (i.e. supportive, attentive, quiet, and appreciative)
• The concert will finish at about 8.45pm

Parents’ evening for tour

This is on Monday at 6pm in the Hall. You need to remember to bring your passport and EHIC card. It will really help if you can sellotape your EHIC card to the back of your passport (then we know where your card is, and also don’t have to look inside the passports to see whose is whose).

Although it is a parents’ evening, students are of course very welcome to be there too!

Packing for tour

We will be doing this on Thursday lunchtime. Come to the music department to help, be organised, and make sure nothing gets left behind!

Amazing overtone singing

Watch to the end!