October half term at Wandsworth Music!
Music and Mud
Students from WMA kicked off their half term with a trip Surrey for a weekend of Music and Mud! Our groups enjoyed a weekend of singing, dancing, tackling some high and low rope challenges, toasting marshmallows (and popping popcorn!) on a campfire and showcasing their talents and party tricks at our yearly talent show. On Sunday evening, our students came together to perform the music they’d be learning over the weekend to their families – an incredible performance of 4 pieces (complete with choreography!) after two mornings of rehearsal. A weekend of absolute fun!!
You can check out more from our weekend on our social media pages! #clockit
Wandsworth Philharmonic Orchestra (WPO) and Wandsworth Concert Orchestra (WCO) Half Term Course. Thursday 30th October – Saturday 1st November.
From Thursday to Saturday, in half term, members of the WPO and WCO were at Burntwood school for the half term course. They will both be performing at the Winter Sounds concerts in December at Fairfield Halls. The course was an opportunity for some intense rehearsals on the repertoire for the Winter Sounds concerts. On Thursday and Friday the Orchestra’s alternated between playing in sectional rehearsals, and playing in the full orchestra. All the rehearsals were lead by members of the Wandsworth Music team. On Saturday morning the Orchestra’s prepared for a short concert in the afternoon.
Before the concert the Youth council had organised a bake sale to raise money for the Wandsworth Music bursaries. It was lovely to see the new youth council members involved. They have recently expanded to include students in year 5-7. The new council are called the Wandsworth Music (Yo)useful council! Some excellent home baking had been done and lots of parents and orchestra members purchased cakes. And they raised £130! Wandsworth Music are open for donations for the Auction and people can donate online using this link Wandsworth Music – Donate now
Parents were invited to a informal concert on Saturday afternoon. WPO performed first playing some excerpts from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. A lot of the music was very challenging and intricate, and the Orchestra played beautifully. WCO played a selection from Polar Express and Dvorak Slavonic Dance No. 7. It was amazing to hear how far the Orchestra’s had come in two and half days of rehearsal. We hope to see you all at the Winter Sounds concerts.
Wandsworth Concert Orchestra will perform on the 10th December at Fairfield Halls. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.fairfield.co.uk/events/wandsworth-winter-sounds-1-2025. Wandsworth Philharmonic Orchestra will perform on the 11th December at Fairfield Halls. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.fairfield.co.uk/events/wandsworth-winter-sounds-2-2025
Ben Goldscheider Horn Masterclass at St Luke’s – Saturday 1st November
On Saturday 1st November, three of our senior horn students were invited to participate in a masterclass with French horn soloist, Ben Goldscheider. As winner of the BBC Young Musician 2016 Brass Category Final and international soloist, Ben provided some fascinating insights for our students, and we thank St Luke’s Music Society for this opportunity. Playing on the day we had Jonas Huirong Xie who played Franz Strauss’ Nocturno, Gaston Kirk who performed Fauré – Après un rêve and Jonathan Tombleson who performed excerpts from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. With many budding brass players in attendance, Ben provided some pearls of wisdom from his inventory, speaking about the importance good breathing technique on the horn, good preparation before playing and the importance of singing your music to be able to hear the starting note in your head. It was a fantastic opportunity for our students, and we look forward to our future masterclass with Jess Gilliam in the new year.
#makingmusicmatter