Some projects are a long time in the making, but often all the more satisfying because of it. Earlier this week I was in Birmingham for the culmination of a glorious, ambitious, beautiful project, hosted by King Edward School and their music teacher/conductor Dr Martin Leigh, music teacher Keith Farr, and embracing seven other schools in the Birmingham area.
With the idea of using story and art in music as an aid to inspire primary school children to compose their own music, I helped develop a book for schools, “Exploring Music through Stories”, full of useful teaching notes. Meanwhile Martin and Keith were actively involved in working directly with schools and teachers to encourage the children to create something wonderful – and they did!
They should be named: Hallmoor (who presented – and charmingly acted – songs from Hansel and Gretel); Bourneville and Tiverton (who offered a fresh look at Peter and the Wolf); Brownmead (who conjured the witch Baba Yaga with a beautifully slavic sounding song); The Oval (I loved their midnight clock for Cinderella!); Elms Farm (Their “Snegurochka” song touched the heart in their version of The Snow Maiden) and Hillstone (who brilliantly used percussion and all kinds of unusual sounds to share the underwater world of Sadko – amazing!). Huge congratulations to them all – it was truly wonderful to witness! all the children, shining with pride and achievement!
Afterwards, in keeping with the Russian Fairy Tale theme, I narrated and illustrated the original version of Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev, plus a couple of extracts from Stravinsky’s Firebird, with the KES symphony orchestra, who played superbly.
But that wasn’t all – there then followed an evening performance of Peter and the Wolf and the full 1919 suite from The Firebird. A pretty full day! For me, the challenge was to learn the narration for Peter and the Wolf and many complicated cues, by heart. As I was illustrating the tale simultaneously, at my easel, it wasn’t possible to use a score, so it all had to be firmly embedded in my memory. Happily I survived both times without mishap, and the lovely warm Birmingham audience made me most welcome.
My thanks to and admiration for Keith and Martin are boundless. The way Martin thanked every single student in the orchestra, as they left the stage, was utterly heartwarming. Also thanks to Sarah Mullen of the brilliant Busy Parents Network, who so ably supported this glorious, unforgettable event. One of the best I’ve ever been involved in.
I’m now looking forward to returning to Birmingham for several Busy Parent Network events at their Bournville Book Fest in March, including another concert, with Birmingham opera singer Abigail Kelly, an event full of art and arias as I accompany her singing with painting! You can find out more here:
Peter & the Wolf and the Firebird
The Ruddock Hall
1800, Tuesday, 5 February 2019
There’s a very special event at King Edward’s next week. At 1800 on Tuesday, 5 February, KES/KEHS Symphony Orchestra will perform Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, followed by the 1919 suite from Stravinsky’s Firebird.
Both works are highly colourful, paint vivid pictures of characters, tell stories of the imagination. Capitalising on this, we have invited James Mayhew, author, illustrator, and artist, to perform with us. He will narrate Peter, and, at the same time, paint pictures of the stories live with the music. It’s hard to describe, but, once seen, it’s an extra-ordinary experience, quite impossible to forget.
The performance lasts only for an hour, and the early start means that it’s a perfect evening for children of all ages.
Tickets, priced £5, are available at:
If you would like to come straight from school to the Ruddock Hall, we offer a children’s picnic tea at 1715. The combined price for tea and concert is £8.50.
It’s going to be a really special evening.
Thursday, 6 December at 13.10
Ruddock Performing Arts Centre
String Quartet:
Samantha Burley, violin; Jenny Liu, violin;
Naina Reddy, viola; Beatrice Beardmore, ‘cello.
Wind Quintet:
Saffron Pougher, flute; Charlotte Chapman, oboe;
Ben Marrett, clarinet; Roshan Bahia, horn;
Nikita Jain, bassoon.
String Sextet:
Charlotte Howdle, violin; Bronagh Lee, violin;
Rosy Heneghan, viola; Naina Reddy, viola;
Beatrice Beardmore, ‘cello. Mark Li, ‘cello.
works by Mendelssohn, Ibert, Widmann
This recital is presented jointly with King Edward VI High School for Girls
Tuesday 13 November 2018 at 18.30
Ruddock Performing Arts Centre
Nikita Jain, bassoon
Shivanii Arun, piano
Ami Chen, cello
Michael Luo, piano
Zoe Yap, violin
PIANO QUINTET
Arjun Narendran, violin; Jonathan Nguyen, violin; Junias Wong, viola; Will Barron, cello; Yingqi Han, piano
SENIOR GUITAR ENSEMBLE
Emilia Smith; Ronav Jain; Nitin Rai; Nikita Saini; Joshua Bobin; Duy Ma; Henry Trevis; Sundeep Mudhar
This concert is presented jointly with King Edward VI High School for Girls
Tuesday, 9 October 2018 at 18.30
Ruddock Performing Arts Centre
Jessie Zhao, piano
Scarlett Brunning, voice
Christopher Churcher, piano
Naina Reddy, viola
Rohit Kale, cello
Sanjana Sudeshkumar, voice
Cathy Ge, piano
works by Chopin, Schubert, Purcell, Edwin Roxburgh, Vaughan Williams,
Saint-Saens, Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven.
This concert is presented jointly with King Edward VI High School for Girls
Tuesday, 2 October 2018 at 18.30
Ruddock Performing Arts Centre
Jennifer Liu, violin; YingQi Han, piano;
Nehemiah Kong, viola;Angie Qiao, piano;
Yash Suribhatla, piano; Priya Rajput, guitar;
Lucia Kirchhof, voice.
works by Pergolesi, Brahms, Schubert, Bruch, Kalliwag, Rachmaninov and Hindemith.
This concert is presented jointly with King Edward VI High School for Girls