Autumn / Winter 2025 Music

[northerngoldilocks]

Time for a new thread in time for the new school term!

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.

I was thinking about performing artists in general so instrumentalists, singers, actors and dancers.

My DD is a dancer as well as an instrumentalist.

Definitely agree the best way to fight AI music is to go to live concerts. Funnily enough we were just discussing this at tea. Our local music society has regular concerts which feel pretty expensive at £20 a ticket but this is just the type of gig DD will hopefully be getting in not too many years so they need a younger audience as it's usually just 70+ year olds at them. Think they might just have introduced a family ticket though to encourage a younger audience, so maybe we will go this week.

I had been going to concerts at least twice a week before covid, some London halls looked depressing even then, especially classical concerts. One of the most embarrassing experiences was a concert of rarely performed works of one of the greatest living composers, where he was also present - it was in a small and nearly empty hall, the audience was mostly very old with a couple of conservatoire students. His music is extraordinary in its complexity and beauty but not being promoted at all for some reason, only his operatic works are more or less known.

In contrast, for Einaudi the Barbican was full and the audience was mostly in their 30s and was raving about this incredibly dull and empty musak, he received a standing ovation for his extensively promoted white noise.

Totally.

In more encouraging news, I went to a concert last week of Tallis and Byrd, performed by an unknown ragbag collection of singers, which concentrated on pronunciation in their rarer works.

It was packed out!

Just got notification that both my kids are going on the school music tour in the summer. Whilst this is obviously great for them, I’m also far too excited about the fact they they’ll both be away together and already wondering which amazing restaurants DH and I can go to and make the most of being child free! Even more exciting is that there is possibly another overlapping residential week in the summer as long as DS gets back into LYWB!

Lol northern! And how amazing to have a music tour with school in the first place.

It really is fantastic - though the amount of music involved is generally minimal. My DS went to the same place last year with LYWB but said it will be nice to see more of it this time

@lovinglife2025 welcome and congratulations to your DS on the music scholarship. My DD is also a music scholar at a boarding school where she has normal lessons on Saturday mornings and matches in the afternoons - everyone is in teams or practise. There are some people at JDs but not that many, so they are allowed. However, her school is lucky to have some amazing teachers - so ones that also play/ sing in LSO/ BBC orchestra/ ROH etc, so less need to go externally. There is also a huge focus on chamber music as well as a variety of orchestras/ ensembles/ choirs aimed at all levels. They have children in NCO, NYC, NYJO, NYO etc so the school is definitely able to provide stretch. DD has ummed and ahhed about JD but can’t bear the thought of missing out on summer matches! So it very much depends on what the school can provide and what gap you are looking for a JD to fill.

Evening all. Bit of nice news here- my kid (final year conservatoire) has picked up a regular Saturday job assisting at a JD. As well as a bit of money it’s good CV wise and I think he’ll enjoy it too.

That’s great news @Siriusmuggle- so nice to get a role where he can use his skills and great experience for teaching in future too

Thank you so much for the comments on my questions above and also for all of the congratulations. It is so nice to be so open about his achievements which I would not express in person. I have been thinking a lot about the comments over the last week or so. We are very flattered that we can even think about applying to a JD, and astonished by such music schools - they are so impressive. Both parents, in particular grandparents have come from humble backgrounds that this is really outside our comfort zones.

I have taken on board all the views and the day school has a very impressive music department, he is part of the wind and symphony orchestra. He took the bold step of putting himself forward for chamber choir this week which he was successful at achieving - He will practise 3 times a week. So we think he has many musical opportunities to explore at school and stick with school sports matches on Saturdays.

The school would financially contribute to the JD and take lessons there rather than at school, but it is such a time commitment. We may change our view over time, or even by the deadline next year, and his love for music may surpass sports. We will see how it all unfolds and he is loving school so much. He still has the NCO outside of school.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, it has really made us take the bold step of auditioning for chamber choir this week.

@Siriusmuggle that's great news. At our JD, I think being a program assistant might lead on to musicianship teacher etc once graduated, and potentially stepping into other roles on an as needed basis if a teacher is off, so a great foot in the door.

@lovinglife2025 sounds like a good decision for just now, and things don't have to stay the same throughout school. I think sports is important as well where possible.

Great news @Siriusmuggle , congrats to your DS!

It would be really great if it led to anything at all. Even just carrying on the Saturdays after graduation would be helpful.

Sounds like a good job.

ds is learning the life of a freelance means he sometimes has to turn down prestigious work because he’s already contracted to something else!

That’s great @Siriusmuggle - congrats to him!

Brilliant news @Siriusmuggle - sounds like a fab stepping stone!

Well done mini-muggle!

Something that’s struck me this week is how ad-hoc music can be. Not sure if it’s generally like this or just us. Dd was singing in a remembrance service yesterday. On the Tuesday she was asked to do a solo. Fine. She had one rehearsal on the Friday when she was also told she’d be swapping to the other side of the choir which meant a different part to the ones she’d been doing in rehearsal. As of the Sunday morning, apart from the piece in which she had her solo she still wasn’t entirely sure which of the choir’s repertoire they’d be singing - she said that was fine and she’d find out when she got to the church for rehearsal! It all seemed very uncertain to some but dd was unfazed and said that was pretty normal! Is it?

She has a vocal concert this week - she’s singing “Think of me” from phantom so fingers crossed for the unaccompanied top C!

@QueenMabby - pretty normal tbh. I've done a bit of "bumping" over the years and as a mezzo I can turn up expecting to be Sop 2 and then get asked to sing alto 1 instead. I've got some scores in the cupboard where all 4 upper parts have been marked.........

Think once you get to a certain level, ad-hockery is part of the deal! Especially with singing, you are expected to be able to pretty much sightread anything on the hoof.

With my church choir, which is a pretty high standard, we turn up at 9.30, rehearse an introit, a mass, an anthem and a psalm, at least one of which will be new to some/most. Service is at 10.30, and we sightread the hymns!

Not that I'm saying I'm a 'proper singer', but I think changing parts when singing is easier than an instrument that might take more practice.

I think flexibility is the name of the game and definitely stands them in good stead for a future career or just life in general. DD is playing in a student concert with one rehearsal this weekend. Thankfully she knows the main piece already.

Glad it’s not just our choir director being a bit flakey then! Dd is normally Sop2 but has been moved (much to her chagrin!) to Sop1 - she’s hoping it’s temporary.

Rehearsals have now started for Legally Blonde and again dd is singing everything from the top to the bottom female lines in the ensemble numbers. It’s presumably because she’s comfortable switching between them and the director can be sure that she’ll stick to her notes whatever’s going on around her but her script is starting to look very colourful with all the mark ups.

Cello is going less well. She’s having real difficulty with arpeggios at the moment. She seems to have one (not musical myself so I’m not totally sure) that is all harmonics and it sounds awful! In tune but thin and scratchy. “Rage playing” them when she keeps getting them wrong isn’t helping either! 🤣

I'm not a cellist but a bass player and I don't really do scales or arpeggios but harmonics are great because they are always in tune ( physics!) but have a very different quality to normal notes, more floaty so she might be doing them right. Also being cross probably won't help as you need light pressure to get them to sound. Probably not what she wants to hear! No other tips for arpeggios though. I expect others more expert can comment.