Education

Each year we endeavour to get the local children enthusiastic about the music and the performers through our growing educational programme.

We are very fortunate to have artists willing to get involved; every year before the main concert performances a special ‘mini’ concert is given for pupils of local Primary Schools.

The new stage, funded in part by Bledington School Association, had its first use by the Pavão Quartet. They played a variety of music illustrating various emotions which could be expressed in music. A seven year old pupil played part of Pachabel’s Canon, its final bars accompanied by Bryony James on the cello.

On Wednesday morning Dewi Ellis Jones talked and played to a Year 6 group at Stow on the Wold. He played marimba and vibraphone and also illustrated various sound effects as used in film soundtracks.

Bledington School had a similar experience in the afternoon. Both school sessions started with a demonstration of the jamba, a drum of African origin made from hollowed tree trunk with animal skin stretched across one end – goblet shaped it can make two notes on the centre and rim of the skin. He demonstrated how the snare drum also can generate a variety of sounds. Short compositions for both drums were played. The children were shown and allowed to try to hold the mallets correctly for playing the marimba and vibraphone. However the climax for both school concerts was the huge crescendo generated by the tam tam.

On Thursday, Bledington School walked to St Leonard’s Church to listen to an organ and trumpet demonstration by two of the greatest exponents of their craft. Thomas Trotter and Crispian Steele-Perkins explained the workings of their respective instruments. Thomas showed the children some organ pipes and talked about the materials used to make them, Crispian told the children something of the development of the trumpet from a simple animal horn to the modern valved trumpet. One of the staff, a trumpet player, had been able to prime her charges with the right answers to some of his questions! After playing a variety of music, the artists received a standing ovation.

All three school concerts demonstrated the aims of Bledington Music Festival, to bring live music to a wider audience and to enthuse and inspire children to take an interest in playing an instrument and listen to a wider variety of music.
The head teacher and staff of Bledington School value the opportunity of this annual three day extravaganza of music. Read more...

12th June 2009
Dear Rodney,

I would like to thank you for organising and inviting the school to the Bledington Music Festival. It was lovely to see the children enjoying themselves and having the opportunity to experience music in such a fun way. We hope these opportunities will continue in the future and perhaps inspire children to become musicians as well as offering them a variety of educational experiences.

Kind regards,
Phil Croke - Headteacher, Bledington School