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MUSIC NewSletter 1FeBrUArY 2013 music@gordons.surrey.sch.uk

In the classroom...

NEWSLETTER Feb 2013

The following trips are being held in the forthcoming term:

Weds 6th February Pipes and Drums to attend a

concert starring Carlos Nunez at the Basingstoke Anvil.

Tues 26th February Music trip to Showcase Concert

at the Menuhin School, Cobham.Tues 5th March

Steve Reich Concert - Royal Festival Hall – 11am-3pm Year

10-13 Music students.Please contact the music centre

if you would like more details.

Letters will be sent out shortly.

Exam Congratulations!

Concerts & Trips

Logo Competition

Jack Frost was definitely nipping round the toes of those members of the Pipes and Drums selected to play at Wentworth Golf Club on Saturday 1st December last year...

The event was a charity dinner hosted by Gordon

Parris for the Children with Special Needs Foundation. Mr. Parris has become a good friend of the Pipes and Drums, and his great niece and nephew were both heavily involved with music before they moved back to Scotland a few years ago. The charity attracts a large number of high profile patrons, and as you can imagine, the

venue was very classy indeed. Once the pupils had got over their initial awe at the venue, Mr. McCready got them down to rigging and rehearsing. The Band were due to play as the pre-dinner entertainment and with Mr. Moss as one of the guests, nerves were running high. As usual, however, every-thing went swimmingly well. The UV lighting provided great atmosphere and Ellen

Robinson’s rendition of Henry’s Sweet Farewell, with Eloise Young on violin, Darcy Arnold-Jones on flute, Molly Rourke on piano and Tom Hawkins Jones and Tom Miller on guitars, received a standing ovation. Thanks should go to Pipers Gareth Bevan, Alastair Grieves and Matthew Wickes who drew the short straw and had to stand outside on a freezing cold evening to pipe in all the guests.

Key Stage 3 classes have been working on a variety of projects this term. Year 7 have been establishing the basics of pitch and rhythm, developing their skills using music software and their recognition of orchestral instruments. Year 8 have been brushing up their keyboard skills and latterly have been creating variations based on a theme

called ‘Zombie Nation’. Year 9 started the year looking at the concept of a repeating bass pattern and writing their own music over the top. Groups of pupils within each class tackled extension work using Sibelius software to prepare them for GCSE. Since half-term, pupils have been involved with a Musical Futures project, working in small groups to prepare a performance of ‘I’m Yours’ by Jason M’raz.

Logo by Sammy Parmenter. Full article inside...

wentworth Charity Dinner

A big well done to the following pupils who passed their practical

music exams at the end of last term:

Olivia Sharma - Grade 2 - Vocals

Hugo Hughes - Grade 5 - Piano

Teresa Stander - Grade 5 - Recorder

Theo Hughes - Grade 7 - Piano

Megan Papworth - Grade 8 - Flute

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music@gordons.surrey.sch.uk FeBrUArY 2013

Concert Band restarts

2 MUSIC NewSletter

Following a focus on vocal music during the Autumn

term, we will be shifting our attention to the Concert

Band during the Spring term in preparation for our

showcase concert in the Summer term. Concert

Band is open to all wind, brass and string players

and those pupils having lessons in school are

expected to attend the rehearsals which will be held

on Thursday lunchtimes in the Rec. Pieces for this

term’s repertoire will include ‘Skyfall’ from the new

Bond film, Coldplay’s Viva la Vida and ‘Hey Jude’ by

Lennon and McCartney.

As reported in our last newsletter, the Music department has been working with the Art department to run a logo competition. We were hoping to find an eye catching design that could be used in all Music department publicity and possibly, in the future, on a performance ‘uniform’.

We were inundated with many designs, but as a department we narrowed it down to 8 designs which received a ‘Highly Commended’:

Maddie GordonSaffie Ahmad

Sammy ParmenterRosie Materek

Rory TaylorChloe DunneAlice Russell

Amy Beet

We then showed these 8 designs to a graphic designer, who helped us to pick the one design that he felt was the most inspirational, and that design was by Sammy Parmenter.

Sammy was presented with a prize in assembly and he will spend an hour with graphic designer David Weber (www.webermann.co.uk/) working on his design and making it ready for publication.

Chamber Music Day for String Players

Gordon’s Music logo Competition

A selection of our gifted string players have been invited to a Chamber Music Day at the prestigious Menuhin School in Cobham. For over forty years the Yehudi Menuhin School has been providing a very special education for exceptionally gifted young string players and pianists. During that time the School has grown and developed into the world class institution it is today. We are delighted that our pupils will be able to benefit from the expert tuition from staff at the Menuhin School and hope that this will raise their ambitions for their own playing.

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FeBrUArY 2013 music@gordons.surrey.sch.uk MUSIC NewSletter 3

Mrs Brazendale spent a long weekend in Liverpool last November joining a group of like minded music and art teachers discussing cur-rent topics for the creative arts. The PTI believe that young people’s opportuni-ties in life are maximised by having inspiring teach-ers, who are knowledgeable and passionate about their subjects. They allow teach-ers to rediscover their love of their subject through various activities and, by bringing passionate teach-ers together, they encour-age school departments to make rigorous curriculum choices, promote teaching beyond the test, and enable schools to forge links with other like-minded schools and academic institutions.Professional development opportunities included ‘An audience with Jools Hol-land’ and an evening at the

woking Music Festival

Prince’s teaching Institute residential

Congratulations Oliver and Pricilla!

The Woking Music Festival is held in November and this year Gordon’s took the opportunity to enter a variety of classes. The festival offers pupils an opportunity to get out into the local community and perform in a competitive setting. The festival aims to be an educational setting, as the adjudicators offer constructive criticism (imagine X factor, but less emotional!) and often give short masterclasses in improving performances.

Participant and class entered:Ollie Joseph - Under 19s Solo Art

Song,Under 19s Musical Theatre, Under 19s Folk Song, Under 19s English

Song, Under 19s Oratorio.Zoe Taylor, Victoria Howard, Katy

Russell and Mary Crew - Under 16s Musical Theatre.

Nour Mansour and Katy Russell - Pop and Jazz Vocals.

Priscilla Ho - Chopin Piano Class.Under 13 Choir - Two part singing.

Pipes and Drums - Group Music Making.

Drummers - Percussion Class.

Congratulations go to Oliver Joseph who won the cup for the Under 19s Vocal Solo, Under 19s Musical Theatre and Under 19s Oratorio Class. Our Drummers won the Percussion Class with Drummers’ Beating, and it was quite clear that the adjudicator hadn’t seen anything quite like it before! Priscilla Ho won the Under 19s Piano Sonata Class and Katy Russell who came third in the Pop and Jazz Vocals class.

Camberley Christmas lights Parade...

On Thursday 22nd November 2012, the Pipes and Drums were delighted to be invited to attend the switching on of the Camberley Christmas lights and to lead the Parade through the town. Drum major Gemma Barclay was her usual unflappable self as she steered the Band through some unusual obstacles including benches, rubbish bins, and pedestrians. The Band members, as always, were great ambassadors for the school. Thanks to Mr McCready and Mrs Long who transported pupils to the event. A YouTube clip of the event can be seen on the school website.

Royal Liverpool Philhar-monic hearing Tasmin Lit-tle play Delius’ Violin Con-certo. It wasn’t all fun and games though, as we spent six one hour workshops debating the hows, whats and whys of music teach-ing, culminating in writing a paper that was delivered to a panel of eminent edu-cationists including several Chief OFSTED Inspectors

and a representative from the Department of Edu-cation. The main areas of concern for music teach-ers was was the decline in pupils taking instrumental lessons, being able to en-gage with practical music in a meaningful way and creative arts in general being elbowed out of the curriculum. Indeed in these times of recession,

the entertainment indus-try provides a healthy percentage of total jobs in the UK. Pleasingly, the creative arts are alive and well at Gordon’s and we are seeking more opportu-nities beyond the curricu-lum to educate and extend our young people so that we can hopefully provide them with their first ‘hook’ into music.

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music@gordons.surrey.sch.uk FeBrUArY 20134 MUSIC NewSletter

The 24th October last year was indeed a day to remem-ber in the musical calendar at Gordon’s. Once again the nine boarding houses came together to do battle with their musical performances. This competition allowed houses to present a per-formance in any musical style, and the onus is on the pupils to arrange, organise and direct the performance. This year’s competition was notable for two reasons: firstly, the fact that pupils new to Gordon’s, whether that be in Year 7 or the Sixth Form or in other years

were throwing themselves in and often playing a pivotal role in the performance. Secondly more houses used pupils as directors of the performance, whether that be in a conducting

role or direct-ing whilst playing. All houses had taken on the constructive criticism from last year and

the focus on confidence and communication was evident. The winning house was Bal-moral, with their rendition of the Nina Simone classic ‘Feeling Good’. The performance was characterised by two very fine

vocal performances, and some balanced and subtle instrumen-tal work. Our judges for the event were Cecil McCready (Bandmas-ter), Danielle Heathcote (vocal coach and singing teacher) and Mr Mike Wadey who took time out from his retirement to de-liver words of wisdom, much to the delight of the pupils. Our thanks go out to all of them. Congratulations to the houses placed in the top three:

3rd place - Augusta 2nd place - Gravesend

1st place - Balmoral

Videos which can now be viewed on the school website.

Inter-house Music Competition

Valentine’s Day Concert

What could be more romantic than sitting next to your loved one on the slightly uncomfortable Chapel pews, listening to some wonderful playing and singing by some of our wonderful musicians. And even better, it didn’t cost a penny so it was a cheap date too! Highlights included Sophie Guida making her performance debut singing ‘Whistle Down the Wind’ and Rhaea Lee giving a captivating performance of ‘Hurricane’ by 30 Seconds to Mars.

Charters School VisitOur Sixth Form music students took part in a recital performance with the Sixth Form Musicians from Charters School in Sunningdale. Both schools enter pupils for the Edexcel exam board so it was a useful opportunity to hear other performers and use the ‘mark scheme’ to mark perfor-mances we have never heard before. In particular we were treated to some impressive cello playing and a memorable musical theatre perfor-mance from the Charters students. Our players held their own, with Matthew Wickes (AS) giving a styl-ish performance of Saxsequential on the alto saxophone and Caroline Gower (A2) singing Silent Noon by Vaughan Williams.Gordon’s Music Department will be hosting the Charters students in March when we do some peer as-sessment on AS and A2 composi-tions, and we hope to run a join revi-sion session in May. Our thanks go to Mr M McKenna, Head of Music at Charters for accommodating us.

Our Sixth Form music students took part in a recital performance with the Sixth Form Musicians from Charters School in Sun-ningdale. Both schools enter pupils for the Edexcel exam board so it was a useful op-portunity to hear other performers and use the mark scheme to mark performances we have never heard before.

In particular we were treated to some im-pressive cello playing and a memorable mu-sical theatre performance from the Char-ters students. Our players held their own, with Matthew Wickes (AS) giving a stylish performance of Saxsequential on the alto

saxophone and Caroline Gower (A2) singing Silent Noon by Vaughan Williams. Gordon’s Music Department will be hosting the Charters students in March when we do some peer assess-ment on AS and A2 com-positions, and we hope to run a join revision session in May. Our thanks go to Mr M McKenna, Head of Music at Charters for ac-commodating us.

Sixth Form Visit to Charter’s School

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music@gordons.surrey.sch.uk FeBrUArY 20135 MUSIC NewSletter

Pipes and Drums star at Nunez Concert

As a thank you for their hard work over the previous year, a selected number of the Pipes and Drums were treated to an evening out at the Basing-stoke Anvil to watch inter-nationally renowned piper Carlos Nunez. Whilst slightly uncertain at first, pupils were quickly entranced by Nunez’s exuberance as a performer. An additional treat was the presence of the Musicians of the Globe Theatre and early music specialist Philip Pickett. The Globe musicians bought to life some early English mu-sic, played in a very vivid style, while Nunez and his entourage reacted with folk style music

from around his home region of Northern Spain. We were also treated to some virtuos-ic bagpipe playing, as Nunez demonstrated his expertise on the gaita or Galician bagpipesMr McCready had been in touch with Carlos Nunez before the concert, and on hearing that our Pipe Band was so close to the concert ven-ue, he invited pupils to take their instru-ments and join him for an encore. And so it was that on

the fourth encore, to a stand-ing ovation, our musicians joined the virtuoso on stage in front of a completely surprised and delighted audience to play a old French melody.

“I had the pleasure of

hearing your Pipes and Drums

Band perform last week at the Anvil

with Carlos Nunez and the Musicians

of the Globe. Please thank your pupils

and their bandmaster for turning a very

enjoyable concert into one that was

truly magical!”

Email from a member of public.

In February this year we will be hosting another in our concert series of Informal Concerts. There will be an evening Informal Concert for parents and friends on Wednesday 27th February 2013. Please let the music department know if you would like your child to perform.

Informal ConcertsProvisional Exam Dates

The Spring term will be a very busy time for external music

exams. Two weeks before Easter, we will be taking pupils

to London College of Music Exams in Frimley. Mainly for

singers, these exams will constitute Musical Theatre and

Classical singing exams. Two weeks after half-term, we

will have ABRSM exams for all instruments, which will be

hosted at Gordon’s. Good luck to all those taking part!

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music@gordons.surrey.sch.uk FeBrUArY 2013 6 MUSIC NewSletter

Gordon Singers Jubilee Concert - 26th October

The Gordon Singers gave a Concert in the School Chapel on Friday 26th October with a Diamond Jubilee theme. An audience of 150 people enjoyed a variety of music ranging from Handel’s Coronation anthem ’Zadok the Priest’, to a medley of James Bond theme tunes, playing on the Queen’s starring role at the opening of the Olympics, and the fact that the Bond brand is celebrating 50 years in 2012. The concert raised a total of

£935.00 for the Bisley Church Extension Fund.

A bright and crisp morning made for a very pleasant start to Remembrance Sunday. As usual the crowds were very large and our wind and brass players in the Arches Band supported the hymn singing with great gusto. Playing in such cold conditions, and keeping your instrument in tune is always a difficulty, particularly for the inexperienced players and they coped very well. A particular mention goes to trumpeter Max Roffey

who played his first ‘Last Post’ very well indeed. Max has only recently started playing the Bugle Call on Parade, so to step up to such a big occasion so soon is a credit to him. Also a commendation for the Pipes who played the Lament, which is always a moving moment in the Service. In the afternoon, as is now tradition, a reduced number of Pipes and Drums and a trumpeter made their way to Chobham to lead the Chobham British Legion

Parade. We were joined there by representatives of Chobham St Lawrence School, cadets from the Armed Forces, Scouts and Guides and many members of the congregation.

Chobham Remembrance ParadeCarol Services

Most departments were

slowly winding down

towards the holiday but

for the Music depart-

ment we spent the last

weeks of term gearing

up to one of the spe-

cial musical moments

of the year. The Carol

Services are a tradition

at Gordon’s School and

this year, as with every

year I can remember

the Chapel was packed

to the rafters with staff,

parents and pupils.

It’s a great opportu-

nity to stop and reflect

amongst the hustle and

bustle of preparations

for Christmas in a busy

school.

We have been particu-

larly lucky this year with

a really good cohort of

new singers entering

the school at Year 7 level

and I hope these pupils

enjoyed their first Gor-

don’s Christmas.

Special mention should

go to our sixth form so-

loists, Helen Thomas,

Oliver Joseph and Caro-

line Gower. Our thanks

also to Mrs Leonce who

prepared the readers

who guided us through

the Christmas story so

eloquently.