Tuesday this week was a day of focused music making, followed by an evening of fun and laughter in the form of our annual Ingenium Talent Show.

 

 

Our orchestra started the day with an in-depth sectional rehearsal, with the strings led by visiting violist Dan Shilladay (Berkeley Ensemble, English Chamber Orchestra & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) and the wind and brass led by Ed Lockwood (KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemuth Symphony Orchestra). Our percussionists also had one-to-one lessons with visiting specialist Oliver Pooley (Philharmonia Orchestra, Liverpool Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra).

 

 

The choir spent the morning working on the repertoire they had started the day before, including The Lake Isle of Innisfree by Eleanor Dale and The Storm Is Passing Over. They also discussed how to look after your voice, and healthy vocal practice.

 

 

Our pianists had more individual lessons and sight-reading sessions, and welcomed Adam Saunders for jazz piano and harmony workshops. They also began a group research task, to discover more about female composers in history. 

 

Meanwhile our saxophones had individual lessons with Dom, and worked on their ensemble pieces including Debussy, Gershwin, Bach and a contemporary piece by Gary Tweed. They also worked on producing overtones, and breathing exercises including circular breathing.

 

 

During the afternoon's musicianship session, our students had the rare opportunity to take to the podium and try their hand at conducting. Our strings and some pianists formed a string orchestra and took turns conducting their fellow instrumentalists; meanwhile the vocalists and more pianists formed a larger choir, and took turns to practice leading their fellow singers in some John Rutter.

 

 

Our saxophones, wind and brass had a different challenge: they were led by visiting expert Helen Kearns in a fascinating session of Alexander Technique, where they discussed awareness of posture and how to have more physical control when playing.

 

 

After more rehearsals during the afternoon, it was time for our evening activity – Talent Show! Various acts had been rehearsing throughout the day, and at stroke of 8pm the lights dimmed and the entertainment began. The range of talent included everything from trombone antics and acoustic acts, to rap and One Direction.

 

Each of our boarding houses had also prepared a house act – and of course no Ingenium Talent Show is complete without a performance from the staff, this year singing a restyled ABBA medley with some original new lyrics…! The evening was full of hilarity and fun, and we returned to the boarding houses in high spirits looking forward to the rest of our last week together.

 

 

 

Musicians of the day

 

Orchestra

Aoife: for 'super-duper' high singing, for being committed, concentrating and having loads of energy. Well done!

 

Choir

The Clarinets and Violas - for excellent negotiating skills...!

 

Saxophone

Charlie: for sublime soprano saxophone playing, an awesome saxophone lesson and great improvement - for being 'on it' and making a great sound

 

Piano 

Georgiana: for having a good lesson with Hiro and trying really hard to make improvements to the Chopin étude, trying new techniques and developing your palette of sound.

 

 

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