If you are going on the trip to the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 15th March, there will be a trip meeting on Thursday 13th March after school in CGG (only for 15 minutes) during which I will go through all the information regarding where and when to meet, what to bring, what to wear, what we will be doing etc.

Keep an eye on Satchel One for a reminder about this meeting.

The Wicked trip (22nd July) is definitely going ahead. We are looking forward to taking over 50 of you up to London to see Wicked The Musical. More details to follow.

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Congratulations to Grace in year 11!

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Sign up to perform in MusicFest here

Tickets here

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Holocaust Memorial 2025

Nelly Ben-Or Clynes MBE (née Ben-Or; born 1933) is a concert pianist and professor of music. She is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where she has taught the piano and the Alexander technique since 1975. Ben-Or is a Holocaust survivor. Watch the following clip to find out more about her life:

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Click here to read the article

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And finally …

“All You Need Is Love” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in July 1967, with “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” as its B-side. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song was Britain’s contribution to Our World, the first live global television link, for which the band were shown performing it at EMI Studios in London on 25 June. The programme was broadcast via satellite and seen by an audience of over 400 million in 25 countries. Lennon’s lyrics were deliberately simplistic, to allow for broad appeal to the show’s international audience, and captured the utopian ideals associated with the Summer of Love. The single topped sales charts in Britain, the United States and many other countries, and became an anthem for the counterculture’s embrace of flower power philosophy.

Read more about the song here

The next MusicFest is just over a month away so you need to get planning, collaborating and practising!

MusicFests are informal concerts where students from any year group can perform pieces of their own choice to a friendly and supportive audience. We always have a huge range of music, from students’ very first public performance to students who are already hugely experienced musicians. We have all styles of music from classical to rock to musical theatre and students’ own compositions. There are solos, duets and groups. One of the loveliest thngs about these events is when students from different year groups work on something together. MusicFests are always a much loved event on the Hayes Music calendar.

Here is the video from last term’s MusicFest so you can get a flavour of what it’s like:

Sign up to perform in MusicFest here

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And finally …

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Suite bergamasque is a piano suite by Claude Debussy. He began composing it around 1890, at the age of 28, but significantly revised it just before its 1905 publication. The popularity of the third movement, Clair de lune, has made it one of the composer’s most famous works for piano, as well as one of the most famous musical pieces of all time.

Thank you to those of you who came on the Pizza Express trip this week to see the Old Dirty Brasstards. We hope you enjoyed it!

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MusicFest

February’s MusicFest has changed date. It will now be on Thursday 27th February. More details to follow.

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Music Tour to Germany, April 2025

Don’t forget that all students going on this year’s tour need to be at choir every Monday lunchtime in CGD.

April 2025 tour songs:

Please log onto your school email and find the one from Miss Werry called this: Werry J Miss shared the folder “Tour songs 2025” with you (it was emailed to you on 11/1/25)

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Click on the images to read the articles

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And finally …

One for Henry 🙂

Elinor in year 10 has written a piece for the blog all about her experiences as part of this choir. Thank you, Elinor!

Westminster Abbey has been there for a thousand years but never had a girls’ choir–until last year, when the St Margaret’s Choristers came together. St Margaret’s is often called the parish church for the House of Commons, and is an old, little church between Parliament and Westminster Abbey. It’s a separate building, but it’s a chapel of the Abbey.
 
My uncle saw on Twitter that the Abbey was forming a girls’ choir, and I went along for an audition on a hot day in June 2023. Only four girls in each school year–years 7 to 12–got a place, and I got in as one of the year 9s!
 
The first rehearsal was in September 2023. I found that most of the girls went to private schools and had more experience of church music, so I was really nervous. Even though it was strange to begin with, once I got used to things like singing in Latin and chanting psalms, I started to enjoy the sound that we were making. It was hard trying to talk to the other girls at first, but it got easier and now I have lots of friends in the choir.
 
To begin with, we had three rehearsals a week–two of them after school–and only one service in St Margaret’s every month, often with professional adults singing harmony. Nowadays, we still have tons of rehearsals but a service in St Margaret’s every Sunday, plus we sing evensong in the Abbey once or twice a month. Singing in the Abbey for the first time was a pretty magical experience. The huge space that we’re in gives us a rich and echoey sound together as a choir. It is quite cool knowing that there are lots of people listening. Whether it’s family members or tourists or people nearby, the Abbey is always full. We have also sung in Parliament for various events, including a special service dedicated to the Suffragettes in the underground chapel there.
 
The choir is getting busier and busier, it is a big commitment and we are learning more music every rehearsal. My sight reading is improving, hopefully! We have free singing lessons which can be on your own or in a pair. It helps to have a one-on-one session for the singing teachers to help us with techniques for breathing or reaching high notes. We have concerts this year including the Vivaldi Gloria with a baroque orchestra and the Pergolesi Stabat Mater on Palm Sunday.
 
Singing in Westminster is now my everyday and I don’t often think of it as something really special. But I am proud to be in the Abbey’s first girls’ choir, improving as a singer, working with professional musicians, and I think I’m learning a lot. I am having lots of fun as well!

Elinor

Elinor with the St Margaret’s Choristers and Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons. The choir sang at the ceremony for lighting the Christmas tree in Parliament in December 2024.

It’d be great to have more contributions for the blog from students. Please get in touch with me if you’d like to write something. It could be about any musical experiences outside school. For example, you could write about the ensembles you perform with, gigs/concerts you’ve been to, song/album reviews, newly discovered music …

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Click here to read the article

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And finally …

The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts of the 1960s. Read more about them here

All music clubs will resume in the week beginning Monday 13th January.

Music Tour

There will be a meeting for all those going on the Music Tour this Friday at lunch. Please check Satchel One for more details.

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Coming up in the Spring and Summer term:

Plus our trips:

• Pizza Express Live in January
• Royal Albert Hall in March
• and hopefully Wicked The Musical in London in July

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Pizza Express trip – Tuesday 14th January 2025

If you are going on this trip, please check your Satchel One for all the info about where to meet, what to bring etc. Any questions, let me know.

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Click here to read the article

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See what Emma’s been up to with the NYO over the Christmas break:

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And finally …

Well done for another great concert. We’ve had lots of lovely comments from audience members.

All rehearsals will start up again after the Christmas break

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Coming up after Christmas

Plus our trips:

• Pizza Express Live in January
• Royal Albert Hall in March
• and hopefully Wicked The Musical in London in July

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Click here to read the article

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Christmas quiz

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And finally …

Click here for tickets

Here’s the rehearsal schedule for the day of the concert (Wednesday 18th December). Please make a note of when you are needed and make sure you have your instrument/music in school with you on that day.

Your teachers will know why you are absent from lessons that day, but it is your responsibility to find out what you missed and catch up.

Usual lunch rehearsals will take place up until the concert.

Here are some things you need to know about the concert itself:

• The concert is at 6.30pm in the Hall. It will be finished by 9pm.
• You need to wear all black. Not blue, not brown, not patterned, and no big logos. If you want to wear a bit of tinsel etc. on yourself or on your instrument, go for it.
• Tickets are £5 on the door for adults or pay via ParentPay. Under 18s and senior citizens are free.
• The music classrooms will be available for coats, instrument cases etc. Please arrive in enough time to warm up and get organised.
• Any questions, please ask.

When the concert is in progress, you must not hang out in the classrooms or corridors. You need to be at the back of the Hall being a supportive, considerate, appreciative member of the audience who shows awareness of performance etiquette which includes not moving around or talking.

All music clubs will start up again after the Christmas holiday.

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The MusicFest video is ready

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Festive music recommendations

Click here to read the article

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Gift ideas

Click here to read the article

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And finally …

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Click here for tickets

The Winter Concert is now under two weeks away. All music clubs are performing at this event so please make sure you are practising your part(s) at home.

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Seen the new Wicked film?

Click here to see the Easter Eggs

What is an Easter Egg?

Ever watched a film and spotted something you thought you recognised from a different movie?

Chances are, you just found an Easter egg.

While most of us know an Easter egg as a springtime chocolate treat, it’s also a term used for hidden secret references placed in films, games or books for die-hard fans to spot.

Read more here

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And finally …

The Mamas & the Papas was an American folk rock vocal group that recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, with a brief reunion in 1971. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. Formed in New York City, the group consisted of Americans John Phillips, Cass Elliot, Michelle Phillips, and Canadian Denny Doherty. Their sound was based on vocal harmonies arranged by John Phillips – the songwriter and leader of the group – who adapted folk to the new beat style of the early 1960s. Click here to find out more.

Thank you and well done to those of you who braved the weather and performed at the Hayes Christmas Lights event last weekend:

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Winter Concert tickets now available

Click here for tickets

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HUB performance at Pittsmead Grange

Thank you to HUB who are performed this afternoon for the residents of Pittsmead Grange Care Home. The residents really enjoy your performance and are looking forward to your next visit 🙂

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Music Department trip to Back to the Future: The Musical

Thank you to those of you who came on this trip. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did 🙂

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Music trip to the Royal Albert Hall – March 2025

The parents/guardians of all regular members of our music clubs should have received an email about our planned trip to the Royal Albert Hall in March 2025. The trip involves a guided tour of the hall and a film music concert by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. We did the same trip a couple of years ago and it was such a success that we have decided to go again.

Deadline to sign up and pay = Friday 6th December

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Something to watch

Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley – Netflix – age rating 15 years

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), known as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Known as the “King of Rock and Roll“, he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. 

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And finally …

This event involves JamSesh and HUB. Please check your Satchel One for all the details.

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Back To The Future trip – Monday 25th November

If you are coming on this trip you will have been set a Satchel One task that has the trip meeting powerpoint attached, as well as everything you need to know about where to meet, when, what to where, what to bring etc.

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Music trip to the Royal Albert Hall – March 2025

The parents/guardians of all regular members of our music clubs should have received an email about our planned trip to the Royal Albert Hall in March 2025. The trip involves a guided tour of the hall and a film music concert by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. We did the same trip a couple of years ago and it was such a success that we have decided to go again.

Deadline to sign up and pay = Monday 2nd December

Please contact me if you have any questions.

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Music by John Williams

His unforgettable scores are an essential part of some of the most beloved movies of our time, over a career that spans decades. See and hear maestro John Williams’ own story, with insights from filmmakers, musicians, and others he has inspired, complete with rare behind-the-scenes looks at the making of movie history.

Available to watch on Disney + now

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Beauty and the Beast’s Musical Influences

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And finally …