An afternoon at the opera

One cold afternoon in November, 45 of us went to see Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, performed by the Glyndebourne company at the Regent Theatre. There's a kind of Y9 pupil who will ask, not believing it possible, "do you actually like/listen to this kind of music?" and the answer of course is yes, I love it! Having asked everyone what they thought about the opera I was surprised to find that everyone enjoyed it. This surprised me because:

• not everyone likes the operatic style of singing
• it was sung in Italian, meaning that we all had to look up to read the surtitles
• there are long passages of recitative (look it up if you can't remember!)
• the plot is rather convoluted, reminding me of a Shakespeare comedy, when I prefer the simplicity of a tragedy

The school subsidised this event completely because it was felt that such cultural enrichment was vital to pupils. And the event proved to be so popular that it has been decided to this at least once a term, ideally once a half term. So please let me know if there are any events you'd like to see, or venues you'd like to visit in the future.

I allocated tickets to students who:

• study music
• play a musical instrument
• have shown an interest in such events
• have taken part in performances in school
• I thought would benefit from or even be inspired by such an event

If you feel that you were missed out, please let me know and you won't be next time.

The silliest question I was asked was "will SuBo be in it?" (you know who you are). The best was "will they be playing on A or Bb clarinets?" (Lizzie). I'm still waiting for our ace Y9 reporter to produce a full review of the opera but I'll put here some of the comments students gave me:

• the singing and orchestral playing were superb
• the conductor had great hair and facial expressions
• the sets were amazing
• some of the directing meant that there was a bit too much "stand there and sing"
• the costumes seemed to be a mixture of traditional and modern - confusing
• the bits of popular dance seemed added on in an unconvincing way, although the macarena was fun
• the man doing the explaining at the beginning was very, very good
• there was some unnecessary groping of female cast members

If you want to remind yourselves of the production, try this link: http://glyndebourne.com/figarotour2012

So a great time was had by all, what opera would you like to see next?

Thanks and Happy Christmas!

I'd like to say a huge thank you and Happy Christmas to all the musicians who have taken part in this term's events - Talent Show, We Will Rock You, Carol Service, Sainsbury's, Awards Evening - I'm so lucky to be surrounded by so many talented and helpful people.

It's so good to have a decent sized orchestra again - such nice people and we sound wonderful too! Let's not let that fall apart in the new year - I've got so many new pieces to try

The choir was also full of wonderful people. We didn't really start singing out properly until Sainsburys but then it was such good fun and sounded so good - make sure you keep coming after Christmas!

I hope you all have a peaceful and relaxing Christmas - I will be in Canterbury (ooh, Chaucer and Prog Rock) for a few days and then dividing my time between the Moor and Sneyd Green.

Once you start getting bored with relaxing on holiday, don't forget to keep checking on here for work that I've set

See you soon!

Mr. W

We Will Rock You - photos please!

I'm still buzzing about how wonderful this show was. There were so many things I could pick out to mention:

• the astonishingly professional performances of Bethan Marshall, Daniel Jackson, Ed Mellor, Teri-Marie Yoxall, Jenni McMahon, Adam Simpson and Amy Bould. All of them would grace any West End stage. 
• Rob's fun dancing in Another One Bites The Dust 
• the glorious singing of Beth Fallows, Becky Mellor and Kirsty Chadwick
• the emergence of new talents, especially amongst Y9 (can't wait for the next show!) 

And the band, what a band! James Shufflebotham's glorious solo work, providing power, equalling Brian May's melodic gift. Joe Garvey's fluid and highly skilled bass playing. Tom Jones' drumming, powerful or sensitive, always perfect. For the first time in many years I was able to leave some of the keyboard work to another player - marvellous work from William Davenport. The band also had the superb support of Beth Eardley, Tom Hardwick, Jordan Picken and Ben Lockett. It was a great feeling to start the show with Innuendo, all the power of that opening beat made me feel like I was driving an expensive, but always reliable, luxury car.

Anyway, you'll notice that this post has no photos. Neither has a noticeboard in my classroom. So please bring in any photos you have and I'll put them up here or there!

Thanks for a wonderful show!

Rehearsals for the rest of the term

Monday 10th December - orchestra 3.15-4.15
Thursday 13th December - choir 3.15-4.15
Monday 17th December - orchestra 3.15-4.15
Tuesday 18th December - everyone at St. Lawrence Church 9.00-12.00

Tuesday 18th December - Carol Concert - St. Lawrence Church 6.30-8.00pm

Wednesday 19th December - Sainsbury's - 9.30-11.00

Wednesday 19th December - 6.30-7.30 - performance of "Hammer to Fall"

All done for the first term - collapse in satisfied heap!

Happy Christmas

Come and join the choir for Christmas!

Dear student!

I would like you to join the choir and take part in the Christmas Concert, which will take place on Tuesday, 18^th December at 6.30pm, at St. Lawrence church. If you agree, your commitment will be to attend 3 after school rehearsals:

Thursday 29^th November

Thursday 6^th December

Thursday 13^th December

These will take place in the music room (130) from 3.15 till 4.15.

There will also be a rehearsal during the school day on Tuesday 18^th December: you should go straight to St. Lawrence church at 9.00am. I am also arranging a performance at Sainsbury’s, which will again take place during the school day.

The concert will last about an hour and a half. As well as singing some traditional carols we will be singing “The Power of Love” (as in the John Lewis advert), “Goodnight” by the Beatles and anything else people suggest!

I hope you will consider joining the choir. It has the following advantages:

·         Gaining confidence in singing and in general

·         Learning more about singing techniques and reading music

·         Enjoyment through the “buzz” that live performance can give

·         Feeling that you are taking part in school life and promoting the school in a positive way

You won’t have to audition, it doesn’t matter how good or bad you are at singing. You won’t have to sing a solo (unless you want to). It’s non-stop fun so I hope to see you soon!

Orchestra Rehearsals

Rehearsals for the Christmas Concert are as follows:

Monday 26^th November

Monday 3^rd December

Monday 10^th December

Monday 17^th December                               

All these rehearsals will be from 3.15 to 4.15 in the music room

Tuesday 18^th December from 9.00 till 12.00 – go directly to St. Lawrence church

The performance will be on Tuesday 18^th December at St. Lawrence church, from 6.30 till 7.30

We may be asked to do other Christmas performances – Horton Lodge, Sainsburys etc – I will let you know when I know!

If you would like to do a solo item (or duet/small group) for the Christmas concert, please let me know.

Thank you in advance for your help

We Will Rock You

Good luck to everyone performing in We Will Rock You - it's going to be great! Tickets are still available for Wednesday and Thursday

Ukulele Christmas book

We will be starting with songs from here:

Ukulele Orchestra

Once We Will Rock You is over I need to get a Ukulele orchestra up and running, ready to perform in the Carol Service. It will run on Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes. Don't worry if you can't make every rehearsal because of sporting events etc, just get a copy of the music and practise at home

We Will Rock You

Tickets are now on sale for this great show. The dates are 21st - 23rd November at 7.00pm. The last time we did this show it was astounding. This time it promises to be even better - the standards achieved by those playing principal roles, the quality of the chorus singing, the dancing, the band - all are amazing. You'd be mad to miss it! so don't!

Me playing Prokofiev: Sonata no. 3

Prokofiev: Sonata no. 3

Composer of the month: Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

I’m fascinated by all things Russian – its language, literature, music and history. Shostakovich is a composer who represents the very soul of the Russian people and all they go through during the 20^th century: joy, fear, revolution, war, famine, purges – it can all be heard in his works. Shostakovich added some 20^th century modern touches to a Romanticism which came from Tchaikovsky, and a sense of irony from Mahler.

Try the following:

·         Symphony no. 2 – influenced by the events of the Russian Revolution, including many touches he hoped would go down well in a workers’ paradise: factory whistles, the choir chanting Leninist verses 

·         Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk Region – an opera which Stalin found to be too vulgar and depressing. It is but it isn’t!

·         Symphony no. 5 – Shostakovich’s answer to Stalin’s criticism: an uplifting work which begins with war and terror and then moves to grief, followed by joy 

·         Piano Concerto no. 1 – the slow, second movement is incredibly beautiful and tender

Want something to read while you listen? Try:

·         The Life Of An Unknown Man by Andrei Makine

·         One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsyn

·         Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky

·         Stalin: Life at the Court of the Red Tsar by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Intermediate - Me, in a band, 1981, tragic!

Intermediate

Y9: booklet for week 1, including homework

Introduction: What Is Music?

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Y9 presentation for week 1: Introduction

Music at biddulph high school 2010

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Y9 booklet unit 10 version 2

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Art Exhibition

The annual Art Exhibition, which is in the main hall on the 4th July from 6-8pm will also be a showcase for Y9 musicians. Great art, great music, what more could you possibly want? How about free admission?

Music from 26 Beers

Music from 26 Beers

An improvisation to a short, silent film made by Othniel Smith http://www.blakeson.blogspot.co.uk/. You should be able to find the film with the music on YouTube