11 minute read
CREATIVE LEARNING ROUND UP
SCO WIND ACADEMY
In partnership with St Mary’s Music School
Following the success of the SCO String Academy in 2019, we were delighted to launch SCO Wind Academy in partnership with St Mary’s Music School in early 2020.
The inaugural SCO Wind Academy offered a new, free opportunity for school-aged wind players to work with top professionals over a series of three Sunday afternoon sessions in the centre of Edinburgh. Devised and led by oboist and educator Fraser Kelman and
SCO Wind Academy Parent
tutored by SCO musicians, the SCO Wind Academy was open to flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and French horn players who had reached at least Grade 6. The project was attended by 30 young wind players from twelve local authorities, with over half the attendees living outside Edinburgh and in some cases travelling to join us from as far afield as Argyll & Bute and Dumfries & Galloway. The project benefitted from the support of peer mentors from St Mary’s Music School who assisted with practicalities and helped participants to get to know each other during breaks.
Repertoire included music by Bizet,
Mozart, Szymanowski and Arnold,
some familiar and some not so well
known. An informal concert on the last
afternoon showcased some top-quality
ensemble playing from the young
people and we are therefore very
excited to announce our new
youth orchestra, SCO Youth
Academy, in partnership with St
Mary’s Music School. The first project is due to take place in
November 2020, with String
and Wind Academy projects
continuing in early 2021. ––––––
More details can be found
www.sco.org.uk/academy
––––––Youth Academy is kindly supported by The Marigold Whittome Memorial Trust ––––––
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra has been performing in St Andrews as part of its main concert season for many years and since 2009 has been Orchestra in Residence at the University of St Andrews. Developed in partnership with the University Music Centre, the Residency aims to integrate the SCO into the cultural life of St Andrews and the surrounding areas of Fife through an annual programme of orchestral and chamber concerts, social events, workshops, masterclasses and community orchestra activities.
YOUNG AUDIENCES Big Ears, Little Ears Gordon Bragg, Siún Milne, Jessica Beeston and Eric de Wit presented an engaging programme of music, storytelling and musical games. The audience consisted of families and two large groups of children from local nurseries and the ABC Lab (University of St Andrews School of Neuroscience Baby and Child Lab) provided creative play activities for children and families before the concert. As part of the ABC clinic is
dedicated to researching the impact of music on toddlers, this provided an opportunity for researchers to chat to parents and to interact with the children. This is the second year that we have worked with ABC Lab and we plan to continue the partnership with Big Ears, Little Ears events at the Laidlaw Music Centre next year.
Storytelling for Primary Schools Sheila Kinninmoth (Storyteller) and Aisling O’Dea (SCO Violin) devised and led storytelling workshops linked to the SCO’s concert featuring Janáček’s The Fiddler’s Child. The story took its inspiration from the tale on which Janáček’s composition is based. Drawing upon themes in the music, the workshops were designed to engage children with the music and its meaning. Aisling coloured the storytelling with musical interludes, extracts and improvisatory accompaniment based upon key motifs in Janáček’s music.
Workshops took place at three local primary schools and the children were captivated by the story and the music. Teachers reported that this was an extremely positive opportunity for their pupils to take part in a high-quality musical event within the school environment, and we will return with another series of workshops linked to SCO repertoire next academic year.
Nikita Naumov with student musicians at the University of St Andrews
LUNCHTIME CHAMBER CONCERTS Our annual programme of lunchtime chamber concerts in St Andrews enables SCO musicians to curate their own programmes and allows audiences to get to know the musicians and enjoy wonderful chamber music in an intimate environment. We also now include a ‘sideby-side’ opportunity for students to perform alongside SCO musicians each year.
Strung Out Aisling O’Dea (SCO Violin) was joined by Tom Hunter (Vibraphone) and composer Jeremy Thurlow (Electronics) for a fascinating programme of contemporary works by Philip Glass and Jeremy Thurlow, performed with atmospheric lighting effects.
All About the Bass Nikita Naumov performed Vasks’ solo Bass Trip and was joined by the University of St Andrews Music Centre Cedric Thorpe Davie String Quartet and a Double Bass Scholarship holder to perform works by Dvořák and Bottesini. 127 members of the public attended this concert, the largest audience ever recorded for the Music Centre’s Wednesday series!
COACHING Masterclasses and Workshops Peter Franks (SCO Principal Trumpet) gave a trumpet masterclass in October 2019 and, in February 2020, Nikita Naumov led an orchestral playing workshop for cellists and double bassists.
Music Centre Youth Orchestra The Music Centre Youth Orchestra, launched in 2016, meets weekly to rehearse a variety of music to perform at StAFCO Winter and Spring concerts. The group is conducted by Gillian Craig and supported by three University of St Andrews students who play alongside and coach the children. In February, Nikita Naumov joined the Youth Orchestra at one of their rehearsals.
All About the Bass: Nikita Naumov performs with students from the University of St Andrews
St Andrews and Fife Community Orchestra (StAFCO) This orchestra meets on a weekly basis to make music and have fun. There are no auditions and everyone is welcome, from adult learners to advanced musicians and people who have not played in years. There are two informal concerts each year to showcase the work of the orchestra. StAFCO also benefits from coaching sessions from SCO musicians and the opportunity to perform with SCO players at the annual Spring concert. Nikita Naumov (SCO Principal Double Bass) attended a StAFCO rehearsal in February to provide coaching, guidance and new ideas. StAFCO really enjoy working with Nikita, having performed Bottesini’s Double Bass Concerto No 2 with him at their Spring Concert in 2019. This state-of-the-art building will serve
The Laidlaw Music Centre In January 2020, the new Laidlaw Music Centre in St Andrews officially opened its doors to students and the local community.
as a flexible rehearsal space, a high
tech recording facility and an intimate
performance venue. The SCO’s first
event in the new Centre took the form
of a workshop for cello and double bass
scholarship students led by Nikita Naumov.
The building is set for full completion
by summer 2020, and we look forward
to welcoming people from across the
university and wider communities to SCO
events such as masterclasses, lunchtime
concerts and Big Ears, Little Ears in this
wonderful new space! ––––––
More details can be found at
www.sco.org.uk/academy ––––––Kindly supported by Kinburn (St Andrews) Charitable Trust, New Park Educational Trust, Mrs M A Lascelles Charitable Trust and DC Thomson Charitable Trust
SOUNDMOVES ––––––We’re over the moon that SCO Soundmoves has won a Scottish New Music Award!
Soundmoves is a unique music and movement project for primary schools, produced as part of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s Wester Hailes Residency, in which professional musicians and pupils cocreate all content – generating a real sense of collective ownership and shared pride. The wonderful films from the Soundmoves
project in 2019 are a testament to the creativity and artistry of everyone who took part, and you can watch them by following the link below. ––––––www.sco.org.uk/soundmoves-movies www.newmusicscotland.co.uk/ awards2020-community-education/
SCO VIBE | WHEC ––––––Another Wester Hailes Residency project, SCO VIBE | WHEC, brings together pupils
from pupils of all ages at Wester Hailes Education Centre to create and perform with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The SCO has been working in the school since 2017 to support the regeneration of the music department and promote the benefits of creativity within the school by running regular music workshops which enable pupils to make music together, explore their creativity and grow in confidence. In October 2019, the SCO team spent three days writing new music with seventeen pupils and were invited back in December to perform in the school’s first Christmas concert with its three feeder primary schools. ––––––You can watch the short video featuring one of SCO VIBE | WHEC’s greatest hits “We need peace!” at www.sco.org.uk/whr
A BUSY START TO 2020 ––––––The Creative Learning programme is always particularly busy during January and February, and this year was no exception. Weekly SCO ReConnect workshops took place on a dementia assessment ward at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital and Dots & Lines workshops for nursery children continued in Wester Hailes. We piloted a new SCO Wind Academy in partnership with St Mary’s Music School and ran the second NEW VIBE project in partnership with NHS Lothian’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), with exceptionally positive results. You can find out more at www.sco. org.uk/nvarticle
As part of the joint initiative between SCO, RSNO, BBC SSO and Horsecross Arts to develop Creative Learning activities
Stan and Mabel and the Race for Space concert
around the Perth Concert Series, kindly supported by The Gannochy Trust, SCO musicians took part in a Come and Play event at which 70 local young musicians and adult amateurs worked with musicians from all three orchestras for a day of orchestral music-making at Perth Concert Hall. And as part of the SCO’s celebration of Beethoven’s 250 anniversary we hosted Explore Beethoven, a morning of talks and performances at St Cecilia’s Hall, Edinburgh. Paul Whittaker OBE talked about his own and Beethoven’s experiences as deaf musicians, and Gordon Bragg (SCO Violin) gave an illustrated talk exploring Beethoven’s impact on string quartet writing, followed by a performance of Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge by Kana Kawashima, Gordon Bragg, Jessica Beeston and Eric de Wit.
primary school teachers, and children’s
hospital and hospice workshops. We also
worked with several of our school and
charity partners to provide free tickets
for community groups to attend the main
Family Festival events at Edinburgh’s
Our linked outreach programme consisted of schools’ performances in Wester Hailes, online resources and training sessions for
SCO FAMILY FESTIVALS ––––––SCO Family Festivals, proudly sponsored by Baillie Gifford, are an important event in the SCO calendar, allowing us to introduce young families to the whole orchestra every February. This year, thanks to the generous support of The Gannochy Trust, we were able for the first time to welcome over a thousand primary school pupils and teachers to a free schools’ version of this year’s Stan and Mabel and the Race for Space concert at Perth Concert Hall. ––––––Tickets are now on sale for next year’s Festival here: www.sco.org.uk/ffsm
Assembly Rooms and Glasgow City Halls. ––––––Our Wester Hailes Residency is kindly supported by The Castansa Trust, The Robertson Trust, Paul and Clare Rooney, The Christina Mary Hendrie Trust, Mrs Rowena Goffin’s Charitable Trust, Cruden Foundation, The Stevenston Charitable Trust, The Nancie Massey Charitable Trust, Geraldine Kirkpatrick Charitable Trust and Anonymous ––––––Our ReConnect programme is kindly supported by the Morton Charitable Trust
250 SOCIETY Just £5 a month as a member of the 250 Society gives you the chance to scoop £250 in our monthly draw at the same time as knowing that you are contributing towards the SCO’s Creative Learning programme. WIN £250 ––––––
Please join us in congratulating recent winners of our 250 Society:
February – Katherine M Howe March – Dr Pamela J Harper April – Alistair Horn
To learn more about the 250 Society or to join now, contact Laura Hickey on 0131 478 8344.
CEO Gavin Reid with Patrons Gordon Kirk and Jack Bogle
HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SCO
One of the best parts of my role as Development Officer is getting to know SCO Patrons, whether that is in person at concerts and events or simply by chatting on the telephone. It has undoubtedly been challenging for us adapting to working from home, but the lovely conversations we have been able to have, as well as the messages of support we have received from across the country, have given me and my colleagues a great deal of pleasure and gratitude. It is truly uplifting to know how much love there is for our special SCO.
SCO Patrons help to fund the work of the Orchestra through their annual or monthly donations, and this combined financial contribution makes a huge difference to our ability to plan for the year ahead with more confidence. If you would like to play your part in helping the SCO continue to be the vibrant organisation we all know and love, then please do join our family of SCO Patrons. ––––––To find out more about supporting our work, simply get in touch with me at laura.hickey@sco.org.uk or 0131 478 8344. I would love to hear from you!
