Skip to content

Promoting excellent teaching & supporting children and their families in East Lothian

Home / Weblogs / Alan Coady / MGS Summer Concert

Left menu

Jump into exc-el

Exc-el yourself

External links

MGS Summer Concert

« 
Previous entry
|
Alan Coady
|
Next entry
 »

Alan Coady

Friday 23 June 2006

I’m normally a one post a day man, but I thought I’d include a few words about the summer concert while it is still fresh in my memory.

As Ronnie Summers’ (HT) closing words reminded us, concerts rely on a huge team effort to:

  • set up the hall
  • produce programmes and sell tickets
  • organise catering and front of house
  • set up and monitor sound

Against this backdrop, the pupils, instructors, teachers and audience can relax into the music.

There was an atmosphere of good cheer throughout this 20-item concert. Everybody played well, everyone looked like they wanted to be there and the audience was very responsive. The mix of solos, ensembles and orchestral items covered as many countries as it did centuries.

At one point, during the second guitar group item, I felt the pace was significantly faster than we normally play. It occurred to me to slow it down a little in the interest of avoiding disaster. However, I scanned the 24 faces in the group and no-one appeared to be the least bit stressed. For some reason the words, “just let them run, then” came into my mind. There are very few highs which do not contain some element of fear.

Apart from running the guitar group, my other function in MGS concerts is to play bass guitar with some orchestral and choral items. It’s a thing I’ve not thought about much before but part of this job entails playing music (some items for the first time) with your colleagues/pals. It’s during these moments, freed from speaking, writing, planning and thinking that you get straight to the heart of what this is all about. If I'm not regularly in touch with that experience then there's no way I can hope to pass it on.

Comments

Concert

Alan

Monday 26 June 2006

You're such a poet, Ann - and not solely of the ivories!

concerts

ann cruickshank

Monday 26 June 2006

Ann Cruickshank Monday 26 June
This is the first time I have had the confidence to write anything. I hope it all makes sense.

Glad to hear you enjoyed playing at the concert Alan.
You have the ability to imbue this pleasure. That is why you are a great teacher.
In reply to Brian…
Unfortunately, ‘pleasures are like poppies spread…’
Even if we did have permission to broadcast the whole performance for absent friends, family and colleagues, live music has so many ephemeral ingredients.
Those little faces that light up when they know their performance was good, the little boy in the audience who shared his experience with his huge teddy bear which he stood hugging throughout the first half.
It is not just a visual thing either… It is like trying to show the Grand Canyon on TV. A friend took her blind cousin to stand at the edge. Her description was not just about what she did not see but about the great space she felt.

Podcast

Alan

Saturday 24 June 2006

Believe me it has crossed my mind before. The trouble is that somebody who is not involved in playing/directing would have to record it. There is also
the issue of performing rights.

Concert

Brian Cunningham

Saturday 24 June 2006

How about a thinking about a podcast of the concert for the staff, pupils and parents that may have had the misfortune to miss it?

You are not allowed to create comments.

Skip to navigation