Spring /Summer 24 - Music thread

I enjoyed the NYO prom very much (on TV). Well done to those offspring taking part! Something very special to be part of.

Keeping an interested eye on Inspire for future. We've known a couple of people do it and they speak very highly of it. DD isn't in need of extra at the moment with local y.o. and NCO, but when she's too old or if she didn't get back into NCO she's going to have a big gap.

Thanks all! DD has a long sleeve knee length, tie belt dress which could be suitable. I'd better keep an eye open for longer length and trouser based options too though. I think she would love the silk shirt with wide leg trousers.

DD has just received her confirmation for Inspire and is looking forward to it. We’re watching the NYO prom later today. I’m always on the lookout for concert clothes as DD just keeps getting taller!

Ooh well watch that. My daughter:s hoping for inspire this year.

Weve just had the regional orchestra tour announced and it's £1000. We plain can't do that and I was gutted telling her. I've emailed and asked if they know of any funds we can apply for but as we came off benefits after covid were not eligible enough for quite a few we applied for and so caught having" too much" money but not enough!

Anyone wanting to watch the NYO Prom, it's on catch up.
it was an amazing night and one of the highlights was the piece that combined the main orchestra with the Inspire musicians - a real feat of logistics and incredible conducting by Tess Jackson, as the Inspire kids were dotted all around the auditorium, including having to walk down the aisles in the stalls.

Well done all NYOers - DD2 has been watching all the insta coverage with much excitement - though she's gutted to have missed the inspire residential. It all looked just amazing.

re concert wear @mustardrarebit DD2 favourites are one long dress with cap sleeves from Pull & Bear - and a black silk shirt/kookai evening trousers ensemble that I think is much cooler. From charity shops in the main. They all seem to borrow each others anyway.

Mine usually wear jumpsuits. Sometimes orchestras specify a skirt or sleeve length.

Any as long as it’s not low cut, sleeveless, strappy or backless.

On the subject of concert wear...
My dd has only ever performed piano solos, so she has just dressed smartly (she likes tailored style jumpsuits and has one very Bridgerton style white and gold dress for exams). What are they typically expected to wear? Longbor short dress/trousers/shirt with long or short sleeves etc? We've been told she will need concert wear for Chetham's, but not being a musical person I'm clueless. DH is... a bloke. Indifferent and oblivious to what female pianists wear in ensembles.

Wasn't it amazing @horseymum? DS thoroughly exhausted, he woke up to eat and then back to sleep! The Dani Howard with NYO Inspire was very effective I thought

We are still enjoying the memories of last night's NYO prom. Congratulations to all those playing in it. Back to reality now heading home.

Yes, I can imagine the extra complication of a harness.

@Comefromaway it is wonderful to see your Ds's career opening up before him. DD2 is learning on the blacks - she is always losing bits of concert wear and definitely has to have different ones that work with a harness, work with a contra, are only suitable if she's not playing solo as her balance isn't the same in heels etc - but she is loving playing around with having lots of different concert wear.

@QueenMabby lovely that she's got more orchestra. DD2 is playing in Rach 2 with one of the youth orchestras locally which is great as she can be at home for once. I notice there is so much youth music going on this holiday that there aren't enough bassoons to go round - frantic emails about finding bassoonists for orchestras I've never heard of! Guess that's the joy of a rarer instrument.

DD2 is also planning on recording a Grade 3 piano exam this holiday. Sounds ridiculous, given the pianists at her school are insanely good, but she's never had a lesson on it or admitted to anyone at school that she's been teaching herself.

I guess that at least if she passes it it gives her something to work from - she sounds pretty good to my untutored ear but what would I know?! She just knows the keyboard skills will be useful one day.

yes, a set of underwear for the just in case bag

@Comefromaway 's advice reminded me of the time DD1 grabbed said blacks bag and chucked in a swimming costume and some casual clothes for a trip to a competition. Our first shopping trip in Amsterdam was to H&M to buy socks, knickers and PJs as she had forgotten that you also need to pack those. 😳The blacks bag now contains underwear socks and a pair of black ballet shoes just in case......

That sounds fantastic @Comefromaway - what wonderful opportunities your ds is getting!

Not much music happening here at the moment. Dd still on a high from her school music tour which sounds like it went wonderfully. She has five days' worth of orchestra this month (not all in one go) which she's looking forward to. She was eager to get back to her practice after our holiday and has the prospect of graded exams and a piano competition to prepare for over the next 12 months.

Hope everyone is having a good summer. It's been a bit crazy for ds & he seems to have been travelling the length of the country several times. He got last minute call from the theatre company he worked with a few weeks ago asking him to go to London ASAP for opening night of the show there. He got the call around lunchtime, got on an train at 1.45pm, arrived at 4.30pm and the show started at 7.30pm! He then had to go to Manchester for a festival rehearsal, travelled to the festival, back to Manchester on a coach overnight then finally came home to us to get on another train back down to London for a planned family theatre trip (where he bumped into lots of people he knew).

A few things he has learnt useful for any gigging musician to know.

Keep a back of basic blacks packed for last minute shows). He had to make an emergency trip to Primark. Also have an overnight toiletry bag ready to go.

Get a credit card if possible for last minute travel/hotel expenses (he had to borrow £200 from us to cover his hotel in London that the company booked for him but he has to claim back on his invoice).

Try and get ahead of the game with uni work.assignments/resits so you have the freedom to take on last minute stuff without missing deadlines (he has a resit assignment due in next week)

Don't be afraid to talk to people about what you do/message them on social media. He met someone last week in London who has just graduated from RAM & has just started working in the industry. This week he has messaged ds to ask for some examples of his work.

It's definitely a big commitment, my Dd has missed parties, outings etc although her friends are pretty good at arranging things for other times although she frequently gets off the bus straight to something with friends and hopefully they've saved some food!

@horseymum I think we’ve reached the decision that it just wouldn’t work for us as a family. DS was quite keen initially until he realised just how much of a time commitment it would be every Saturday. He’s progressing really well with his teacher locally so I think we’ll explore music residentials etc during holidays as term time is already quite full for him musically.

Thanks so much Kitty! Great to hear it's been good for him. It's the cross-genre opportunities that especially appeal, as does the chance to meet like-minded peers.

@Barlaboo 👋 I have a SWMS student at home, he's just back from the older Core residential. It's been good on the whole although workshops can be a bit hit & miss. It definitely teaches them to be well rounded because of the cross genre aspect. It's also stretched my son beyond what he could have got locally and it's great from them to be around other musical kids.

I know children travel huge distances when getting to the JD my child is at. We live super close - whilst not in the city, our journey is shorter than many who even live in the city. When I really notice it is concerts- at the end of term it's rammed and I always think about those having to do those really long journeys after an evening concert when we are home in 30 minutes. Also the impact on the rest of the family. I never stayed as my child was old enough, but staying all day would be quite draining.
As regards exam years, my children have always managed to get some personal practice time during school which helps balance the time.
JD suits one child but the other doesn't want to give up Saturdays although loves going on residential courses.

Is it possible to do that journey by train as then he'd at least be able to use the time for homework? DD didn't have a long journey to JG (20 minutes or so) which helped but did have an hour's commute to school so had to learn to work on that one. Is there a JD at Birmingham or Manchester that might be easier than London? DD is away this week but would be very happy to have a chat with your DS about JD/music and GCSEs.

@londonmummy1966 thank you for sharing your DD’s experiences. It does sound like a very full on day even before factoring in the travel - from where we live, we’d likely have to get up at 0530 and probably wouldn’t get home until 2000 or later. I’ve heard that some pupils at junior RCM travel from as far as Nottingham (as did the Kanneh Masons to junior RAM) each week. I’m sorry your DD had such a hard time from school. We’ve already had comments from DS’s head of year and head of house this year begrudging the fact he has only done music for the house and not participated in any house sporting events 🙄 He literally has no spare time to do anything else. It doesn’t help that the music department, although very supportive, aren’t very vocal about individual music successes throughout the year so much of what DS has achieved has totally flown under the radar of his academic teachers. Much to think about - I think DS likes the idea of the prestige but I worry that the weekly grind of travelling to London would rapidly wear thin.

@amr78 - my DD was at Junior Guildhall through the GCSE years. Her Saturday programme was rammed from 9am to 6pm with 2 20 minute breaks. She absolutely thrived on it and used to come home buzzing. She was also a music scholar with a lot of commitments at school although she did manage to negotiate a pass for some orchestra and choir rehearsals. Guildhall was quite a good set up for her as they did a lot of GCSE support - took them through the set pieces and gave them a weekly composition lesson which meant that the school music lessons were basically down time for her.

It obviously meant that school was tough (she was constantly bullied by the teachers trying to get her to give her music up) and she had to be very organised about using every scrap of time she had to study and practice. She is someone who thinks any thing that is not music is not worth her time though so she would not have gone anywhere else on a Saturday. Most of her contempories had lighter programmes so you'd find teenage bodies all over the place studying in their breaks where ever they found a quiet spot.

She went to specialist for 6th form which made her life a lot easier so I can't comment on beyond year 11.