So it’s the first Friday in June and it’s been interesting start to the month hasn’t it!
This week has seen an incredible uptake in our BISS unplugged recitals soloist recitals. Coincidentally I was listening to one of my podcasts this morning on my walk to school and the Head of the British School of the Netherlands was speaking about how the school community was brought together through music. The interviewer is a bassoonist and ex-music teacher and he agreed with the power of music. When he referred to OFSTED reports both from back in 2011 and ones more recently which talked about the lack of music in schools, it really made me think about how lucky we are and how fortunate our children are that we have so many opportunities outside the formal academic curriculum, especially in the performing arts and in PE. This week we had 80 students perform and we had everything from reception children playing drums to duets, a self-composed piano piece, to dancers. The fact that we have our younger students participating alongside our oldest primary students is absolutely incredible and a real celebration of stage not age. One of the things that Stephen Davies and I have been talking about during our meetings is the idea of musicianship as well as students actually experiencing music and being musicians being performers and artists. Music is about having an experience and the more that we can encourage our children to experience music in different ways, their brains will develop in a different way that they just cannot do if all you are doing is more formal academic work.
As a child, I sang in the church choir. I don’t call myself a singer but I was a chorister and I was from the age of six to eighteen. I had some incredible experiences from singing in choral festivals in Birmingham and Salisbury Cathedrals singing not only alongside choristers from my own choir but also with choristers from around the entire city of Birmingham to being on Songs of Praise! (A reference familiar to those of you who are both old enough and familiar with UK Sunday afternoon television!) I miss those times. As I say, I was not the strongest singer, although I was awarded Royal School of Church music ribbons and I did pretty well however that was through sheer hard work and I just loved singing and the camaraderie that I felt at the time and still feel when in a choir is incredible.
It is well over 30 years since I joined that choir and many young people came and went as their lives took them in different directions. Sadly many of the adults with whom I sang have since passed away, some in their old-age and others unfortunately taken early through cancer. Returning to the choir was always one of the highlights of my visits home in the summer and being able to greet everyone and they were always so pleased to see me, and expressed a collective pride in what I have achieved. Little Beth from Saint Hilda‘s is in Shanghai! I know the choir hasn’t been able to meet so regularly because of the vulnerability of many of the members. My mother, however, has a list of people she calls each week so that she and my dad are able to keep in contact with other people. I feel like I keep coming back to the same word and that is connection. Connection and the importance of keeping connection with others whether they are family, friends or loved ones wherever they may be and however they can.
I’m not actually listening to any music at the moment because I’m in the car on my way to the Y11 graduation dinner. I was, however, listening to some good old Alanis Morrissette earlier. I was in the mood for a bit of ‘let it all out’ shouty singing.
Happy Friday everyone! Not so many more to go!
コメント