Spring /Summer 25 - Music thread

[northerngoldilocks]

Time for a new thread for spring!

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.

Glad she enjoyed Wells - Mr Tong is the loveliest guy. The group class sounds like the performance classes DD has at RCM where they play and everyone critiques so good experience if she is thinking of conservatoire.

On a different note did anyone see the NYO Prom on Saturday? I thought they were amazing (as were Farnham Youth Choir). However I was sad to see that other than the female principal cellist every single outside player along the front of the stage was a guy - from back desk of violins all the way across to the back desk of the basses. So not a good look - even professional orchestras try to avoid this these days.

No, we missed it. Saw the socials. Going to catch it on iplayer. One of the harpists is at our rival comp so it’s good for the kids to see a state school kid up there. She’s amazing.

@Londonmummy66 i did notice that on the clips i've seen and also on a lot of the socials where they show the orchestra rather than the clips where they seem to be more conscious of balancing it.

Just so not a good look and a few other friends have noted it too.

@northerngoldilocks so glad to hear she loved Wells.

We were at the NYO prom - was amazing- well done to those with kids in that. What a sound! hadn't noticed the boy heavy leads, but then we're not very good at noticing things in orchestras.

On a less glam note, DD2 absolutely loving the Army Music course - bizarrely. Hadn't had high hopes, just wanted her to go and do something different and learn about a different facet of UK music making.

But she seems to be having a really nice time... had taken both flute and bassoon as she couldn't imagine marching with a bassoon. But yet again obviously they have too many flutes so they are providing her with a 'marching bassoon' (different, who knew?) for the course.

Musically it's really quite easy I think, but fun music, lots of activities and friendly people. I'm surprised! There really isn't a lot of free residential music for teens out there so would recommend to anyone who has wind/brass/percussion over grade 6 and time on their hands (it wasn't full).

Sounds like lots of fun courses going on! We loved the NYO prom, so proud of the kids. I'm usually really sensitive to seeing female representation but I think I was too focused on the wind to look as closely at the strings. It will be on TV on the 24 th of August I think.

NYO had loads of girls up front the past few years and it happens to be more boy heavy this year. As a parent of both a girl and a boy going through it, it's important to them that it feels fair and based on merit, not just on how it looks.

Sounds like lots of exciting stuff going on for many DC. My DS has just had an excellent week taking part in a residency with the National Youth Wind Orchestra. It’s had a hiatus for a few years, but is back and was excellent both socially and musically.

They had some Royal Marine musicians supporting each instrument and providing career workshops, as well as instrument tutors and welfare/social staff.

DS had a brilliant time - we weren’t at all sure what to expect but I’d definitely recommend it to anyone whose DC plays a wind instrument (or percussion).

@chocolateisnecessary what is the harp residential please?

https://glasburyarts.co.uk/harp-summer-school-2024/{mention:MyBlueSloth}

Hope all those getting results today are happy, and if not happy, can see a way forward. It can be hard balancing studies and practice. The next chapter beckons for lots of our young people. I saw a cheesy quote about moving from being the director to a member of the audience in their lives. Hopefully music still plays a part for those leaving school and not directly studying music. Even after I stopped studying music after second year at uni, music was a massive part of uni life.

Hello lovely and wise parents,
We’ve just moved to London, and I’m hoping to get some advice from this wonderful community. My 12-year-old daughter has completed ABRSM Grade 8 piano and has been singing in a children’s choir for the past seven years. I’m now looking for a singing class for her, with the aim of preparing for the ABRSM Singing or SFMT exams.
We’re based in the East, but we’re happy to travel to other areas if needed. As we’re completely new to London, any recommendations or guidance from you would be so appreciated. Thank you so much in advance!

@ThisAgileDeep welcome to London. One of mine did Stagecraft at CYM and loved it - it is basically all musical theatre. She was able to combine it with instrumental lessons and more classical choral singing. CYM usually have a few post grade 8 pianists around.

Other than that a number of the theatre schools run classes (eg Sylvia Young and Conti) and a couple of the JDs - GUildhall and RAM offer MT.

I was also going to suggest CYM. The application period has closed but probably worth getting in touch in any event to see whether any potential spaces could open up.

Otherwise singing lessons in school for a year whilst you look at options and find more of a 'class' based approach. CYM lets you do both Musical Theatre and classical lessons at the same venue so if she wanted to continue piano it might be an option. The piano department is generally quite over subscribed though and opportunities outside lessons for younger pupils are limited in terms of chamber groups (its why i didn't move my daughter there when she was in year 5).

My daughter's Sat school does singing lessons for musical theatre and ABRSM singing as well as running choirs so I'm sure that there will be options nearby for you. We are south east london though so unlikely to be so helpful from East London!

Thank you very much for your precious advice. I’m sorry to ask one more thing—how can I find a Saturday music school near my place? And how can I make sure to get a good teacher at that school for my child? Sory for the silly question!

Thank you very much for your advice. I had her to audit at Sylvia Young Theatre school, and she got admission to full time course there. But after reading the SYT thread on this forum, I decided to reject their offer, and just put her into mainstream school, and look for music classes for her. I'll study the names you suggested here.

To be honest with Grade 8 piano at 12 Junior Guildhall and Junior Trinity might well be worth a chat - although they are technically closed for applications for 25/26 they do take a flexible approach. We had this when DDs piano and cello teachers both stopped private teaching at the end of the summer term when she was 13. JG said that they run an autumn term audition session (that they don't publicise) as things happen - and moving was one of their examples. The piano department is excellent and she should be able to take voice as a second study.

Again, although the piano department at CYM is busy I would be very surprised if the head of piano wouldn't want to hear her and ditto the head of voice. THe office may well be closed at the moment but if you want to follow this up DM me and I will tell you who to contact to explain the situation. My DD was the same age as yours when she got her Grade 8 and did a year at CYM before going to Guildhall and had a ball and did a piano trio with some Year 13 string players so there are opportunities for advanced Juniors.

Another option might be to look at London Youth Choir which does a wide range of music and then ask the tutors if they have any additional suggestions.

Hmmm - music provision in the boroughs is so inconsistent so it really does depend where you are. We are lucky as one of the local independent schools has a Saturday music offering so we use that - its really well run and they also run the holiday youth orchestra.

Some local authorities have better music options too - eg Southwarks is pretty limited and rubbish (sure its fine if you actually get it but its pretty inadequate at a borough wide level and then seems to do odd tie ups with certain schools in an arbitrary way). Lambeth seems to have more, and places like Bromley and parts of Kent have brilliant centres.

Depending on how far into East London you are - you could look at central options as discussed but also maybe Islington or surrounding areas. The teacher question is another issue where you are sometimes lucky, but also where it helps to have at least a trial lesson to ensure that theyr'e a good fit and to ask about experience / teaching style / exams prepared for etc. Also if there are any local groups on Facebook or local forums you could ask on there for recommendations?

Thank you very much for sharing with me. My DD is going to year 7 this Sep, and when we arrived here we realized that we are late for all kinds of school admission. We come from Singapore where academic is tough, and because of her birth fell on 4th Sep, now she sits one year lower than her grade in Singapore, so, I thought of using this one year to enrich her on music. Although she got her grade 8 1 year ago (merit, 1 mark short to distinction), but she is not into piano, her forte seems to be composing, she has a collection of her own songs (about 20 songs), and now she wants to learn musical theatre/ acting. I'm quite lost at where to get start for her. The worst is we are non music background family, she is the only one in the family learn music.

You are right, for teacher, it depends much on luck. We were very lucky to have a very good piano teacher who made her love piano. Sometimes, a very good teacher may kill their passion. We are at Canary Wharf now, and I feel it is very difficult to look for a class near us.

There isn’t much at Canary Wharf as it’s only more recently become somewhere people actually live rather than stay for work- though it does have great transport options so should be easy to get anywhere from with the jubilee / Elizabeth and dlr options!

also- depending on where your DD will go to school then they might have some good tuition?

You are right, I'm quite lost when searching for something near home. I guess Saturday School somewhere she can take a lot of different music classes on one go shall work for us. So thank you very much for giving me the names. I'll contact them and try out for her.
We are applying for in year at public schools and waiting for the allocation.

@ThisAgileDeep I'll third (?) CYM - my dd2 loved the stagecraft classes there and was able to combine her love of musical theatre in the afternoon with her passion for classical music in the mornings as a wind player. She's now at specialist music school, but CYM remains a real happy place for her and she does the summer courses. Good luck with finding the right thing

It's been A-Level results day for us (no music involved) - traumatic in terms of missed grades but both DD1 and my foster daughter are into their firm offers anyhow. Am hoping DD1 will take her viola to Swansea at least, but nursing is a busy course.

Musically though, we picked DD2 up from the summer army music academy yesterday where she has had an absolute ball. It's somewhat odd to see any organisation actively recruiting musicians, but she has had a really fun time and made a whole new set of music friends.

Her caveat would be that there isn't enough orchestral repertoire for her in the army and too much 'fitness', but she's seriously considering auditioning for the reserves. Which is quite a turnaround.

She's come back to an acceptance from the English Schools Orchestra (ESO) course for October. Suspect they didn't even bother with a reference. Has anyone else's child done this and did they enjoy?

@achangeofnameisasgoodasarest DS has been accepted on to ESO too!

Tho I am sweating a bit over the cost. Is it worth it?

Army music academy sounds amazing. DS has expressed interest in joining the army just for the music, but wouldn't be allowed on medical grounds I suspect - he's blind in one eye.

@ThisAgileDeep I used to live in East London, but it was before DS got heavily into music, and I never explored the opportunities. No idea even what CYM is!

Your daughter sounds amazing! By 'public schools', do you mean fee-paying or state? The term is so ambiguous!

@achangeofnameisasgoodasarest - delighted that the girls both got their first choices - hope they have a ball at uni. Very jealous that your DD is going to Swansea - I grew up on the Gower and have fond memories of fish and chips overlooking the Mumbles lighthouse. Nursing is busy but at least the beach is right by the campus!

@ThisAgileDeep - sounds like CYM would be a good fit for your DD then as the stagecraft is great fun and the head of voice is an excellent teacher. (My younger daughter had her for lessons as she is voice focused rather than instrumental) She could also take piano and composition classes - maybe even explore a bit of jazz piano. My suggestion re piano there is that it would probably get you in as a late applicant as her standard is so high even if it won't be her main focus. Happy to put you in touch for a chat if that is helpful - they are a bit less uptight than the JDs at RAM and RCM so have more flexibility on late applications especially when people are moving from abroad. Also she can always try it for a year and then go somewhere else if it isn't a good fit.