Author: Jane Werry

So the concert is coming up fast! Here are some things you need to know:

• There will be some changes to rehearsals this week. There is an extra Concert Band rehearsal on Tuesday after school 3-4pm
• Jamsesh #2 will be on Thursday not Friday owing to Concert Band doing the Hazelwood concert on Friday
• On Friday, there will be no 5-note Orchestra, Simply Strings or Techsesh because lots of people will be out doing the Concert Band concert at Hazelwood
• The rehearsal schedule for concert day will be on next week’s blog (out on Friday), and will also be posted on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
• Parents evening for tour is on Monday 26th March at 6pm in the Hall. We will be collecting passports and EHIC cards at this time. Please speed things up by sellotaping your EHIC card to the back of your passport. 
• Remember you will need to wear all-black outfits for the concert. You can use CGD to put cases etc. in, but remember you need to be in the audience unless you are actually performing or just about to perform.
• Please remember that (as stated in last week’s blog) the concert is in school, not at St Mark’s. 
• Because the PTA is so low on numbers at the moment, we will be running our own refreshments for the Easter concert. Therefore, we will need all Music Leaders to be ready to help with manning the refreshments table and getting things organised beforehand.
• Packing for tour will happen on Thursday 29th March, at lunchtime. Any tour-going Music Leaders, plus any other tour-goers who want to help, should come along and be prepared to move lots of things around!

Concert Band: Hazelwood concert

Remember, we will be meeting at the beginning of lunch in the blue circle. Please be there promptly – we want to be on the coach at 1pm! You just need to be in your usual uniform/6th form uniform.

You will need to bring your instrument. If you play percussion, be aware that we will be using Hazelwood’s drumkit, timps, and marimba – we will just need to take any small percussion that is needed.

We will be back at about 4.30pm.

Please note that the Easter concert is at school, not at St Mark’s this year – this is because the church is not available on this date. (If you have been super-organised and put all the details into your diary from the dates list on the ‘about’ page, you will need to change this now – apologies. The ‘about’ page now has the correct info on it!).

Because we are running out of weeks to rehearse in, it is vital that we have everybody at all rehearsals from now on!

Please note that because of the Concert Band concert at Hazelwood on 23rd March, Jamsesh#2 will not be able to rehearse after school that day. Jamsesh#2 will therefore rehearse on Thursday that week, 22nd March. 

Tour meeting

Letters have now gone out about the tour meeting, which is at 6pm on Monday 26th March. 

Rehearsals will be back in full swing.

Chamber Choir, remember that we’ll have a rehearsal for Bridge Over Troubled Water on Monday at 2.40pm in CGD.

We are gearing up for the Easter concert now – it’s only a few weeks away!

If you like chords…

OK, if you are a chord geek, or if you like Hamilton, or musical theatre, or songwriting, or just understanding how music works, then this video is brilliant. It explains how the music creates characterisation and plot continuity in the show. If you liked that one, you’ll like this one too! My Shot will be coming to choir next term…

Huge thanks to Ben Fr for shooting and editing the video!

Congratulations to Chamber Choir for their performance of Tundra and ¡Cantar! at the Bromley Schools’ Festival of Music at the Churchill Theatre on Wednesday. It was nice to be the only secondary school taking part, and to hear all the great items from the primary schools. You sounded great!

Meeting for music tour

A letter will go out about this in due course, but the meeting for everyone going on tour (plus their parents) will be on Monday 26th March at 6pm in the Hall. This is when we will be giving you final tour details and your t-shirt, and collecting in your passports and EHIC cards.

This is the best made-up lyrics video since O Fortuna…

MusicFest was an amazing and inspiring occasion, with SO many fantastic performances! Well done to everyone who performed or helped out with the organisation of everything, particularly doing the programme (thanks Harry!), sorting out the refreshments, taking money, getting stuff out/putting it away again, shifting mic stands – it all needs to be done, and you just….do it! 🙂

Looking forward to next half term

The Easter Concert is on Wednesday 28th March. We haven’t really got long to prepare for this once we’re back from half term! Then, of course we’re on tour from 2nd April. Woohoo!

We want your plastic cards to make into picks!

What happens to all our picks??!? We have a pick cutter like the one above, but currently cannot keep up with demand, due to the rapid disappearance of the picks. Please could you give us any used up gift cards etc. that are made of the right kind of thick plastic. Just give them to MissW or stick in the post box outside the music office. Thank you!

The stick technique here is truly awesome!

…and this is an amazing bit of analysis!

This is just the sort of music geekery that we absolutely love!

Crikey! The 38th Hayes School MusicFest is the biggest and most bountiful EVER! We have an absolutely packed programme for next Wednesday. Here are some v. important points:

• ALL performers need to think carefully about where they can cut down on the length of their pieces. Cut repeats, cut intros, cut repetition – you won’t make less of an impact by your piece being shorter – you can still be utterly fabulous in 2 minutes! We really want to include everyone, but don’t want the whole thing to be a feat of endurance for the audience.
• If MissW is accompanying you on the piano, and you have not rehearsed with her yet, the time to do that will be Wednesday after school. Form a queue! The only exception to this is Isabella W-A who is rehearsing on Monday at break.
• MusicFest starts at 6pm. You can leave instrument cases etc. in CGD but nobody should be ‘hanging’ in the music rooms during the concert. You should be in the audience supporting your fellow performers.
• Performers can wear what they want (as long as they look respectable)
• It will finish at…. well, when it finishes.
• We will need people to set up at 5pm, people to take ticket money, sell refreshments, and move equipment around at the front. The smooth running of the night depends on you! Even if you have never got involved with this stuff before, you are welcome to come and help.
• If you are using a backing CD and have not yet given it to MissW, please hand it in on Monday. 

Germany t-shirt unveiled

Congratulations to Leo MacD for designing the winning entry in our t-shirt competition! This is the coat of arms of Leipzig, so it’s all highly relevant (and we like dragons). Huge thanks to everyone else who submitted a design too – sorry we had to choose a winner!

An opportunity in the holidays

Now if you’re coming on tour to Germany, you won’t be free for this, but if you’re not coming with us you’ll need something to keep you musical, and this could be it!! Please see full details and an application form here if you’re interested: easter music course april 2018 final

We really need a tour t-shirt design!

If we are to avoid going on tour with t-shirts with some really rubbish bit of clipart that MissW finds on the Google Images, we need some more t-shirt designs to flood in from tour-goers! So far there has been a total of…. one.

Remember, it needs to be in one colour and as bold a design as possible. Must say Hayes School Music Tour 2018, and then either Germany or Deutschland, OR Saxony/Sachsen. Can be drawn by hand (preferably in pen so the lines are as clear as possible) or computer-generated (or a combination of the two).

MusicFest ahoy!

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Entries are coming in thick and fast, and it’s going to be another humdinger of a MusicFest! The deadline for entries is Friday 2nd Feb. Entry form is here.

Just some forward notice:

• Performers can wear anything they like (as long as it’s decent)
• You will be sent a draft programme via email a couple of days in advance – please reply if anything needs to be changed
• MusicFest starts at 6pm and will be finished by 9pm.
• We will need an army of Music Leaders and other helpers to set up from 5pm on the day, and man the refreshments stall/ticket desk
• It would be great to establish beforehand who, exactly, will be on duty at the front to move mic stands/music stands etc. during the concert

This. Is. Amazing.

Alana and MissW have a love of the melodica… maybe we can persuade some others to love it too?!

This is rather good too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwN6dPNXklg

All hail to the utter legend that was/is Freddie!

We are looking forward to welcoming Mrs West back next week!

Isabella in year 11 is gigging at Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells on 27th January. We know she will be fabulous! For more info, you can ask Isabella herself, or see the theatre website.

Sign up for MusicFest

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up. If you haven’t yet, here is the link to the entry form.

Choir – learn the body percussion!

It would help enormously if everyone could practise this!

 

It’s great to hear some fantastic rehearsals going on for MusicFest items. If you haven’t already signed up, do it here. MusicFest is on Wednesday 7th February. 

If you are in any of the choirs, the choirs page (hover your mouse over ‘about’ at the top of your screen and you’ll see it) has been updated with this term’s songs.

Keep thinking about designs for the tour t-shirt. Send us your ideas!

What a difference a semitone makes

Just changing it from minor to major makes it a totally different song! Try changing your own pieces from major to minor (or minor to major) and see how it sounds!

Everything starts back this week, in the same time slots that they were in last term. See you there!

MusicFest is coming up fast!

This is on Wednesday 7th February. We want you to perform! Don’t worry if it’s your first time – take the plunge! Remember, you can perform anything you like (provided it’s not the sort of thing that will offend anyone) – pop, rock, classical, jazz, your own composition – grade 8+, beginner – it doesn’t matter. You can sign up now by filling in this form.

Tour t-shirt competition

Tour is getting close! Final payments are now due – parents have been emailed to let them know. If you are coming on tour, it would be a good idea to check your passport and EHIC card to make sure they have not expired!

We will be having orange t-shirts this year so that our 7-tour veterans in Year 13 complete their rainbow! But we do not yet have a design. This is down to you! We could all be wearing t-shirts with YOUR design on – competition now open (closing date 31st January). Here are the requirements for your design:

• Must contain the text Hayes School Music Tour 2018 and either Saxony or Germany (or, if you’d prefer, Sachsen or Deutschland)
• Design must be bold and one colour (it will be printed in black ink on the t-shirts)
• No boring treble clefs
• Have a think about giving it a German theme (but definitely no swastikas!)
• Can be computer-generated or drawn by hand

If you would like to submit a design, either bring it in on paper, or email it to MissW.