Spring /Summer 24 - Music thread

[northerngoldilocks]

The old thread was filling up, so here's a new one to talk about music activities. Come and talk about music lessons, choosing instruments, exams, auditions, specialist schools, orchestras or whatever other music activities are going on. Everyone is welcome, from those with total beginners to those whose children are studying music at advanced levels. Ask for advice or share successes or struggles. There's loads of experience across a wide variety of instruments too(though bassoon's are weirdly popular on here - you'd think that every second child plays one!).

We were only talking about Warsaw Concerto the other week because he was giving an analysis of why Solitaire by the Carpenters is such a good song & I was telling him he should listen to Richard Carpenter playing Warsaw Concerto.

Its for a potential MA in Musical Direction (Musical Theatre)

@Comefromaway you are thinking in advance! DD2 is on her final orchestra of the summer. She is EXHAUSTED. They're doing Rachmaninov's second symphony in four days and weren't given the music first and I think she's found the limit of what she can achieve in that time. Faster pace even than school symphony I think (plus she's usually contra on that where there's less to play).

She's sleeping well, at least! Her dad suggested they watch a movie at 9pm last night and she opted for going to bed instead.

That sounds incredibly tough. Not given the music in advance, wow!

thanks @Comefromaway I think she feels she should be able to cope with it cos 'everyone else is' and she's now at specialist music school. It's a very high level orchestra though, and I suspect 'everyone else' may not have only been playing their instrument for under five years.

I also suspect 'everyone else' might be talking a good game about how well they are coping.

@minisnowballs I bet a lot of them have either played it before, or are just talking a good game. A lot of paddling will be going on under the surface!

@comefromaway hopefully he's got a few ideas of pieces to listen to and decide which he can stand to listen to for so long! He seems very organised though, he will nail it!

We haven't heard back from inspire yet. Does that mean she didn't get in?

And if you do get in - do you hear about all the events you got in for or just the first one and they take it from there to choose?

Thankyou. So appreciate you all!

I think they do it in batches. They only tell you about the first event, other events are allocated later and vary according to instrument and ability. Some things will be for those who auditioned for the main orchestra and didn't get in. Might just be one or could be more. It seems a bit fluid during the year as sometimes people are unavailable so next person on the list gets asked.

Thanks. Have they put the date of the October one. I sort of want to be ready in case she has got in. She so wants to know!

Ooh she's in! I didn't realise there were several dates in October (makes sense!)

Oh lovely, hope she enjoys it.

Really appreciate you all experienced music people on this thread.

We wouldn't have applied or really been confident enough to know what it was (and therefore too scary for an autistic child) without all your answers and experiences. Thankyou 😊.

Delurking here to introduce myself and also add thanks.

I am in no way musical but 15yo ds2 recently announced that he wants to study A-level music, and then do a music degree in some form. I’ve been on a steep learning curve since!

He’s also been accepted onto Inspire this year and has been offered the October Barnsley day. I wouldn’t even have known about NYO inspire without reading about it here so thank you very much everyone who has mentioned it.

We haven't been told which day yet but looking at distance it could be London, isle of Wight or lewes!

Wow! They seem a fair way apart! It’s just over an hour to Barnsley for us, so it’s not too bad.

Welcome @ViolaMa - I assume he plays viola given your username!

We know the date of DS's session for inspire and that it's in London, but clicking on 'details' doesn't bring anything further up - so not sure when we will find out the venue details. We had trouble accepting it online, so could be a particular issue with his account though. Does anyone else with a London session know the venue yet please?

Both DD and DS have just finished our local youth orchestra holiday course and was fantastic as ever. DD was in the strings group but has been 'promoted' this time so will have the amazing result of them both being in the same orchestra for the Winter course! Now just need to get them authorised leave as it overlaps with their school term dates. Should be fine as they granted it last year for DS, so hoping no issues!

Well done @northerngoldilocks . DD has been in the top orchestra for 4 years now but I do remember the delight every time she got promoted.

Thanks @se22mother it is exciting. She's been in 2 minds re this one as really enjoys the strings only group and has been a bit worried about the step up, but now it's actually happened she seems pretty happy. Her friends are moving up with her which definitely helps. I think they're both likely to spend quite a while in 2 as they're still 11 and 13 and even once DS does gr 8 flute the places are like hens teeth! He's happy where he is anyway as not remotely serious or competitive.

I'm pleased because it means that the week finishes on a Thursday rather than a Friday so have booked a Fri- Fri holiday cottage for the summer (obviously I'm pleased she's progressing too, it's not just about holiday booking!)

@northerngoldilocks great to have them both in the same orchestra - well done to her! I managed that for ONE glorious year before dd1 decided that this particular family of orchestras 'gave her ulcers'. DD2 greatly enjoyed the top orchestra for her second course this time @se22mother though for her a symphony in four days is a huge step up and apparently her bassoon is slightly broken.

She's just realising that she needs to get ready for 'back to school' and for her that means a lot of music practice, apparently. Particularly for flute which has taken quite the back seat this holiday, which will not please the teacher.

I'm more concerned by need for new school shoes and quite a lot of clothes as her suitcase was stolen while we were on holiday and we've not replaced it all yet.

@minisnowballs yes it was a huge feat to pull off in so short a timeframe.
I'm guessing you will have an emergency Howarth visit ... we had a mad dash there on Saturday

I don't know what the rules are with repairing the blessed thing @se22mother . It belongs to DD's school and I've never even signed a hire repair agreement. So I probably need to email before we do anything. But then yes, sadly it's probably Howarths.

Hi, new here and very impressed by all the activities of the musical offspring. I was wondering whether any of you have advice on the best place / way to sell second hand instruments? All my children have needed new instruments this year so I have an apprentice flute, a single F horn and a Yamaha 650 clarinet that all need new homes. Apart from EBay, which seems very hit and miss (and not much of a market for youth French horns!), can't find a good route to selling them because, perhaps with the exception of the clarinet, none of them are valuable enough to make them worth selling through dealers. Thanks so much for any suggestions!

@MockCroc you could try Woodhead's for the horn. They sold my son's Paxman Academy for me.

Thanks @Siriusmuggle. I might drop them an email. It was in that frustrating price bracket where it cost enough to buy that I would like to sell it and get something back (£350) but wasn't expensive enough for dealers to be interested. She only used it for a year before she was asked to upgrade (to a Paxman Academy funnily enough!). I suspect I just need to let them linger on Ebay and stick a poster in the music centre when they go back in September.

@MockCroc we bought the Academy when he was 10, and ready to move up to a double. We were told that it’d be more than sufficient for his needs unless he decides to become a pro horn player, much hilarity. 6 years later we had to trade it in for a Paxman 20 professional level horn ready for him to go to music school and subsequently conservatoire, he’s aiming to become a pro.
I’ve told him any further horns are his job, not mine.

@Siriusmuggle - your last sentence really made me chuckle!

Yes, we were asked to buy my daughter an Academy earlier this year (at 9 1/2 but a bit big for her, she's settling with it now - a new teacher who I think just couldn't bear teaching her on her single F!). We were warned it would probably only take us to age 16. Trying not to think about that 🙈🙉because your recent outlay must have been incredibly painful! But worth it for your son to make his career out of it. It's such a beautiful instrument.