IN FOCUS 2021
Music 2020-21
By Mr Robinson Director of Music
Music has felt the full force of the Covid-19 pandemic perhaps more keenly than many other areas of School life, given that the vast majority of our co-curricular activity relies on students from different year groups being able to mix with each other. The imposition of year group bubbles therefore has had a pretty devastating effect on what had been able to take place... in person, at least. However, as they say, the show must go on... and whilst it has certainly not been a ‘normal’ musical year, there have been numerous amazing achievements and some unexpected surprises here and there! One of the most important areas of departmental life is our programme of instrumental and vocal tuition, and our thanks go to the entire team for the amazing way in which they adapted to the restrictions put in place during the periods of lockdown with lessons being delivered via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Apple FaceTime to hundreds of our students.
We say goodbye and thank you to our cover flute teacher, Miss Jenna Thackray who has been with us since January, and a poignant farewell to singing teacher, Mrs Evgenia Petrenko, who moves to London with her family as her husband, Vasily, takes up the position of Music Director with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra after fifteen highly successful years as Chief Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. We also send our best wishes and thanks to Mrs Carla Sousa and Mr David Price as they move away from the area. We welcome to the team a new addition to the percussion staff, Mr Charlie Ashby, who covered a period of drum teaching last year, as well as new singing teacher, Mr Jon Christos. Mr Christos teaches at Trinity College, London, and is an extremely experienced and versatile performer and teacher, and Mr Ashby is an amazing drummer who has performed at the highest level all over the world and has a particular love of Samba music. Watch this space...!
Junior Royal Northern College of Music (JRNCM) We have a long history of our most able musicians spending their Saturdays studying at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester but never before have we had three at the same time. Grace Harvey (cello and voice), Mary Cotton (voice) and Nat Ford (voice) have all been members of the junior conservatoire this past year, both in person and via Zoom, and you can read the thoughts of Grace and Nat below: “I have spent most Saturdays of term time over the past two years at JRNCM in Manchester, where I study Cello and Voice. I leave this year, to go to university, but I have loved my time there and have made countless invaluable friendships with musicians old and young from all over the country. I would recommend auditioning for Junior Conservatoire to all aspiring musicians as there really is a whole world out there which it is easy to miss in traditional education. My only regret is not starting earlier there, so please if you are curious, take a leap of faith.” Grace (Upper Sixth). “I have thoroughly enjoyed singing from the first lessons I took back in Year 5, and so I was delighted to receive a place at the Junior Royal School of Music in Manchester. Although Covid has had serious impacts on how we were able to practise and perform music this year, I have still been able to improve myself as a musician. Recently, as term has come to a close, I have recorded several songs with two vocal ensembles that I have been practising in throughout the year. JRNCM on a Saturday has been an uplifting event week in week out and has allowed me to flourish as a musician.” Nat (Year 10).
Above and Beyond – Student Successes
In addition to the wide range of musical experiences offered in School, a growing number of our students are taking advantage of some of the amazing opportunities on offer, both regionally and nationally.
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