One of our newest staff members, Camille shares her first experiences of a Learning & Participation workshop!
Having only very recently joined the Spitalfields Music family, I am honoured to write my first blurb for the blog!
This week I visited a singing and composition workshop at a primary school, with students between 6 and 10 years old. I saw the kids of St. Anne’s School and Thomas Buxton School as they met for the first time and merged two pieces of music they helped to write and compose. During the next few months, there will be a lot more alliances, as schools, community singers and professional musicians work towards their unified big performance at the Summer Festival, titled We are Shadows.
As part of the Development team, the workshops mainly live on our computer screens. We read and write about the projects, but no words come close to experiencing the real thing. I was tremendously impressed by the skills, enthusiasm and dedication of the kids. They sang beautifully and at the top of their voices. They remembered details about the story and the people they are working with, paying attention from start to finish. With every question, fingers were shooting in the air. And at the end of it, I got a big smile and a warm “Byyeee!” from one of the kids.
“We read and write about the projects, but no words come close to experiencing the real thing”.
We also have to give great credit to the workshop leaders, who engage with the kids and make this all happen. After five minutes in there, you know that they are fabulous.
So really, it was smiles all around, from the kids, the teachers, the workshop leaders, the Spitalfields Music colleagues, and me!
I can’t wait for the Summer Festival. I highly recommend that you come and experience the real thing with us, I assure you it’s even better than what you are reading on this screen now!
Camille de Groote
Development Administrator
Image: Thomas Buxton School credit Alys Tomlinson
