Key Moments – The Power of Music

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“Music gives a heartbeat to life at St Peter’s School.”

(Jeremy Walker)

Music is an important part of life at St Peter’s School and lockdown highlighted the extraordinary power of music and its ability to connect people, inspire emotion and bring joy into our lives.

Pupils and staff remained virtually connected through music during lockdown as part of a wider virtual cultural programme, which included drama performances, literature festivals, creative writing, art exhibitions and much more. Almost 200 pupils continued to practise their music skills at home, with over 1,900 music lessons delivered online over the summer term. The school hosted 21 virtual concerts, involving over 160 performers aged 5-18, and children continued to compose, with schemes adapted to ensure that they were accessible to all; Year 7, for instance, composed using brooms and Year 5 responded to music about the sea with compositions using water.

The youngest pupils, aged 2-8, enjoyed regular Zoom singalongs to their favourite songs, with one per week for Nursery and Reception, another for Years 2 and 3 and a singalong for all year groups every Friday. In addition to music lessons, pupils participated in Young Voices at Home and 30 children aged 5-8 performed in three live Zoom concerts, with many children performing for the first time. Pupils from 8-13 also held a guitar masterclass for pupils aged 2-8, teaching them new skills and playing together virtually.

At St Peter’s 8-13, a Virtualosity concert series was launched, with 14 live Zoom concerts hosted during lockdown. All children were encouraged to take part, and children who had not performed in a school concert before participated enthusiastically. The concerts featured 97 different performers (whilst 10 members of staff gave the 10th concert) and 164 live performances in total, including family ensembles which crossed between 8-13 and 13-18. The concerts have continued weekly during term time and the school has now hosted 30 Virtualosity concerts. Pupils at St Peter’s 13-18 participated in three virtual 6-2-7 concerts during the summer term, which were broadcast on YouTube on Tuesday evenings. The 6-2-7 concerts featured 50 pupils aged 13-18, with

performances recorded during lockdown. The summer term culminated with a virtual ‘Cabaret’ concert and Commemoration Service, featuring solo and ensemble performances from the pupils. One video of the Chapel Choir featured 35 singers and organ with the audio multi-tracked and video editing done by the full-time music staff. Other digital performances came from the Swing Band, Boys’ and Girls’ Barbershop Groups and solo performances from Upper Sixth pupils. At St Peter’s School we strongly believe that every child is a musician, and whilst lockdown had an adverse impact on music provision in many schools, the appetite for music at St Peter’s has not abated. The commitment to remote music provision from staff and pupils ensured that the children were in the best possible position to contribute towards the musical life of the school when they returned to school in September 2020.