Why youngsters will benefit from this course.

There are various attributes that we all need in order to succeed in life, whatever career or path we choose to take.

Things like self discipline, team working, confidence and an ability to  communicate and ‘put on a show’ are some of the tools that every successful person has at his or her fingertips.

The question, therefore, is how to give these ‘tools of the future’ to young people (or older people, for that matter)  in a manner that is fun, infectious and memorable.

How can these skills be taught?

Music offers the solution. It is a fact that a young person who has achieved in music is very favourably looked upon by universities.

When learning an instrument or giving a performance we have to demonstrate high levels of self discipline. We have to have learnt the necessary techniques; we have to have persevered when things just won’t go right; we have to have learned how to listen intently to ourselves and we have to be self critical in a constructive and mature manner so that we are able to put the tiny little things right.

Then we have to know how to play with others; this means preparing things together which, in turn means helping others and understanding their moods, their capabilities and their potential. We have to know how the end result needs to sound and be able to work out how to reach that point.

Then we have to conquer our nerves and our reaction to ‘hide in a corner’ and perform to the best of our ability, not by wanting to show off, but in wanting to share our hard work and the steep learning curve up which we will have travelled with our friends and family as we would a very special gift.

And the question is ‘how does that make us feel after we’ve given this performance?’ Anyone who has performed will tell you of the pride, the sense of achievement and the ‘buzz’ that a successful concert or presentation will give, and this isn’t something that fades with time. The nerves will lessen but  even the oldest performers will tell you that they continue because they still feel the passion and the thrill.

Who are the organisers and teachers?

The concept of these courses has been devised by the family and friends of Nic Branston, a  wonderful young musician whose life was tragically cut  short through a car accident.

He always demonstrated the passion for music, the attention to detail and the fun that music brings to the soul. It is his friends, who are all professional players, either soloists or in orchestras, who will be demonstrating the joy that music has given them, the opportunities that have been made possible through music making and the friendships that have been forged.

Before becoming professionals in their own rights, they all graduated from the Royal College of Music and have therefore had the world’s top players as their professors and mentors for many years.  You can read more about the individuals here.

Nic’s mother will be co-ordinating the course. Rachel has well over thirty years of teaching experience and knows how to make music live for youngsters and how to make a spark grow into an inferno.

There will be other pastoral staff who are experienced teachers and caring individuals who all feel passionately that the participants should have a totally exhilarating educational experience.

Who are we aiming our course at?

Anyone of whatever age who believes that they can love music. There will be an orchestra that caters for people of all standards with cleverly arranged parts. There will be a choir, led by people who have starred on the West End stages, looking at different styles of singing along with some basic movement, but this is not a stage school type course. Lastly, there will be a saxophone choir playing classical through to jazz and the concert will be a cacophony of wondrous sounds, styles and celebration.