Two weeks gone, another two to go - Week 2 of Ingenium 2018 has begun! We are looking forward to all the memorable moments this week is going to bring, and will keep you updated daily with all our adventures.
We started our week with a whole school sing led by Adam Saunders, our choral director for the week, learning the song that will form the grand finale at our concert in London on Saturday. It was a great way to get everyone making music together right away, and we can already tell it's going to be a truly rousing finale! Then once we were fully warmed up and inspired, it was time for sessions to begin.
During morning sessions our young orchestral players met their new conductor for this week, Tom Hammond, and started work straight away on the repertoire that they will be focussing on this week. They started the morning with Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, followed by some Bach and ended the day with Malcom Arnold’s The Roots of Heaven Overture.
Meanwhile, the choir had their first session of rehearsals with Adam Saunders. In contrast to last week, our choir this week are learning the repertoire almost entirely by ear, without using scores or sheet music. For some students this was a new experience, and our singers found they had to listen to each other more and use different skills to stay together as an ensemble. Singing everything from John Rutter to the classic jazz song Accentuate The Positive, it's a really varied and fun programme and we can't wait to hear how the choir develop throughout the week.
The saxophones had individual lessons with Dom and then spent the day focussing on some new quartet pieces, including Songs for Tony by Michael Nyman, a statement piece in the sax quartet repertoire. They also worked on their listening skills by experimenting with playing in different parts of the room, without looking at each other - more challenging than you might expect!
Our pianists old and new started their day with a meeting to get to know each other and the piano staff, welcoming the new members of their faculty. Throughout the day they had individual piano lessons and sight-reading sessions. Some have formed ensembles with saxophones and singers, and spent time preparing surprise acts for Tuesday's Cabaret evening...
For our Musicianship session, we were joined by vocal specialist Sophie Grimmer (Trinity Laban, RADA, National Youth Choir, English National Opera) who led a really creative workshop on vocal improvisation with our singers. Meanwhile, our other students divided into groups for sessions on composition and song writing. Our instrumentalists learned how to write for each others' instruments, learning technical aspects of how unfamiliar instruments work; we also had groups writing programmatic music, developing a theme, and creating mood through music.
We ended the day with a fun series of team building games, including a scavenger hunt where our pastoral leaders became composers throughtout history. After a full day's rehearsal, it was a good way to blow off some steam, and have some relaxed fun to refresh and get ready for all the music making in the week ahead.
Tune in tomorrow for more Ingenium related updates, and check out our Facebook page where we'll be uploading photos soon!
Musician of the Day
Saxophone
Alejandro: for being a really strong leader and for a great individual lesson where he impressed Dom with his scales in 4ths.
Orchestral
Yannik: for making a really beautiful sound in orchestra, for conentrating all the time and never missing a cue.
Pianist
Anton: for his incredibly mature musicality and for being open to new ideas and for an great sight-reading session in which he was being veru supportive to his colleagues.
Singer
Clara: for a real breakthrough moment in her singing lesson and for impressing her singing teacher and the choir conductor with her dedication and commitment.
