165 children make music and produce a concert in one day

 Last Tuesday, 15 Ashford Prep School children, as well as some Y7 and 8 Senior School pupils (aged 8-13), took part in a day of Orchestral music making hosted by Benenden School, for the IAPS Orchestral Challenge Day.

There needed to be much organisation to bring off such an event and thanks go to the team of IAPS Directors of Music who all worked tirelessly for months to do so – deciding on repertoire, arranging the music into parts, the sheer logistics and much more.

The day saw 165 children from across the IAPS district come together for one day to make music and produce a concert by the end. The children tackled two works – Gallop from Stravinsky’s Suite no 4 and David Shire’s groovy Manhatten Skyline. David Shire, currently in his eighties and living in Upstate New York, sent the Orchestra a message of congratulations and joy that his piece was being performed not only by the youngest but also by the biggest orchestra. The performance was recorded and shared with David afterwards.

Parts had been allocated and distributed in advance for the children but still on the day there was a lot of work to be done. It was wonderful to see – eight percussionists, eight trumpeters, several oboes, trombones and French horns, as well as 2 bassoons, two double basses and two violas; we even had a harp, guitars and a pianist too, not to mention a huge violin and cello section.

The Centenary Hall at Benenden School was filled. Fortunately, Benenden’s music department is big enough to accommodate all the sectional rehearsals too. Parents were treated to a feast of afternoon tea treats by Benenden and then were able to hear the fruits of all the hard work in the concert at the end.

Considering none of the children knew each other beforehand, it was a pleasure to see children from so many different schools collaborating and playing in harmony with eachother and enjoying making new friends and building new connections. All those that took part were buzzing and thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the enrichment.

Special mentions to Ashford Prep’s drummer – George, who jumped onto the drumkit and led the orchestra in Manhatten Skyline like a professional and Charles (Ashford Senior School), in the trumpet section, who was complimented by several for his leadership, confidence and support of the younger players.