Welcome to the Festival of Music Now a firm fixture on the Birkenhead School calendar, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the 2018 Festival of Music. Highlights this year include the chance to ‘Come and Sing’ one of the most iconic and well-loved pieces of choral music, and hear performances from our Senior String Ensemble, visiting music teachers and students. We will also be hosting another GCSE Study Day led by the renowned Beethoven expert, Dr Kris Worsley, as well as masterclasses and seminars on performance and music technology, and the week begins with a special Service of Remembrance in Chapel to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War. I think you will agree that there really is something for everyone, and I do hope that you will join us for what promises to be a wonderful week of music making! Philip Robinson Director of Music
Programme of Events Sunday 11th November A Service of Remembrance, 6.30pm, Chapel The festival begins with a reflective service of words and music in Chapel sung by the Chapel Choir, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. No tickets required - there will be a retiring collection in aid of School charities. Monday 12th November Performance Masterclass with Jennifer Johnston, mezzo-soprano, 9am, Rehearsal Studio We are delighted to welcome back mezzo-soprano, Jennifer Johnston, who will work with our GCSE and A Level Music students and help them to prepare for forthcoming recitals and coursework performances. Open to students only. Lunchtime Recital with Matt Glossop, violin, and students, 12.40pm, Chapel A chance to hear our visiting violin and viola teacher performing alongside some of his students. Free admission - no tickets required. Tuesday 13th November Lunchtime Recital with Melanie Dennerly, cello, and Suzanne Bell, piano, 12.40pm, Rehearsal Studio A chance to hear two of our visiting music teachers performing in a mixed programme of music for cello and piano. Free admission - no tickets required.
Wednesday 14th November Music Technology Workshop with Jack Pritchard OB, 9am, Recording Studio We welcome back Old Birkonian and aspiring DJ, Jack Pritchard, who has recently played at the Creamfields Festival, to work with students on their music technology skills. Open to students only. Lunchtime Recital with Rebecca Thomas and David Turner, clarinets, and Stephanie Howard, piano, 12.40pm, Rehearsal Studio A wonderful opportunity to hear our clarinet teacher and one of her students performing alongside one of our team of piano teachers. Free admission - no tickets required. Thursday 15th November Study Morning on Beethoven’s PathÊtique Sonata with Dr Kris Worsley, 9am, Bushell Hall Kris Worsley is a pianist and lecturer specialising in music of the 18th and 19th centuries. He has lectured widely on music history across Britain, Europe and North America and had his work published in books, scholarly journals, magazines and newspapers. As a pianist, he has performed his own realisations of unfinished works from Beethoven's sketchbooks alongside standard concert repertoire, and regularly gives lectures and lecture recitals at music festivals. He teaches at the Royal Northern College of Music, Leeds College of Music and Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Open to all local schools. Please email music@birkenheadschool.co.uk to register your interest in this event.
Lunchtime Recital with Neil Gaskell, guitar, 12.40pm, Rehearsal Studio A chance to hear our peripatetic guitar performing a mixed programme of music. Free admission - no tickets required. Friday 16th November Lunchtime Recital with Carla Souza and Simon Lawrence, flutes, 12.40pm, Chapel A selection of music for flute and piano featuring our flute teacher and one of her students. Free admission - no tickets required. Birkenhead School’s Got Talent, 6.00pm, Bushell Hall The annual Birkenhead School Talent Show, run entirely by the Student Council, featuring a vast array of talent from across the whole School. Tickets: £2 / Free for all students.
Sunday 18th November
Come and Sing Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’
Following our successful scratch one-day performances of Handel’s ‘Messiah’, ‘Come and Sing the Musicals’, and ‘Come and Sing the Showstoppers’, we are going to follow the same format, but this year tackle one of the most recognisable and well-loved choral works: Vivaldi’s Gloria! The wonderfully sunny nature of the work, with its distinctive melodies and rhythms, is characteristic of all of Vivaldi’s music, giving it an immediate and universal appeal. Alongside the Vivaldi, we will hear from some of our most advanced string players, performing music by two of Vivaldi’s contemporaries – Arcangelo Corelli, and the English composer (who worked as a spy in Venice!) William Corbett. Participation fee: £15 adults (including hot lunch and tea/coffee) / Free for all students Concert tickets: £5 / Free for all students Registration from 9.30am, performance at 7.30pm, Bushell Hall
Additional Events Sunday 4th November A Concert of Remembrance, 6.30pm, Christ Church, Higher Bebington A concert of music written a century ago, led by the Wirral Symphonic Wind Band, conducted by Philip Robinson, together with musicians from Birkenhead School, Brackenwood Infants School, Town Lane Infant School, and Trinity with Palm Grove, Birkenhead.
Tickets £8 (including refreshments), available from Christ Church Community Centre, Telephone: 0151 608 4429 Email: parishoffice@christchurchhigherbebington.org.uk. Office Hours: 9.00am-12.30pm Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday All proceeds in aid of the Royal British Legion. Friday 9th November Wilfred Owen – In Memoriam, 7pm, Christ Church, Birkenhead An evening of music and poetry remembering the life and work of Wilfred Owen and his comrades from Birkenhead. The music director is Martin Neary who has an outstanding record as a musician and choirmaster, and performers will include the Wilfred Owen Choir, members of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Company, Christ Church organist, Paul Broadhurst, and the Chapel Choir and other musicians from Birkenhead School. In addition, the concert includes three settings of Wilfred Owen poems, set to music by former Birkenhead School Director of Music, Graham Jordan Ellis, and performed by tenor soloist, Nick Hardy, and there will also be readings by Rt Hon Frank Field MP, Dame Patricia Routledge, and Mark Evans.
Tickets £5 - available at www.eventbrite.co.uk. Find out more at www.wilfredowencommemoration.com
Birkenhead School, 58 Beresford Road, Oxton, Wirral, CH43 2JD Tel: 0151 652 4014 Fax: 0151 651 3091 Email: enquire@birkenheadschool.co.uk
www.birkenheadschool.co.uk