The evening of day six and the morning of day seven were dedicated entirely to concerts of the final pieces which people had produced. This started with the ‘Film’ group, and then the ‘Jazz’ group. I particularly enjoyed the Jazz concert, as it was done in such a way that it mimicked a dimly lit bar in New York, where an evening of cool jazz was taking place – it was great! I was blown away by the music I heard. This was followed by a party – the first opportunity of the week for everyone to just have fun with their new friends with nothing to worry about. I really enjoyed spending time with some of the new people I had met, and I realised how sad I would be to see them leave the next day. As a result, I went to bed with a twinge of sadness, but mostly I was just exhausted.

The next day, the last day, comprised of three more concerts, of the remaining musicians. First there was the ‘Instrumental’ group, then the ‘Vocal’ group and then, finally, us. My parents had turned up for the concert (travelling three hours by car) and so I felt a certain pressure for my piece to be good. But I was proud of it, so I was confident.

To my surprise, I found that I was the very last performance of the whole day – it dawned on me that this meant I had been given the responsibility of ending the whole week for everyone, that I would be the last music heard on the course. The pressure mounted even further, as I didn’t think I could possibly provide an appropriate ending for what had been such a wonderful week.

The performance of my piece went brilliantly – albeit with a few minor mistakes – and I was thrilled. I couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome. However, it was then time to say goodbye to everyone. I could feel the tears brewing as I hugged all of my peers, sad that I had to part ways with some of the best friends I had ever made. We all assured each other that we would stay in contact, and we parted ways. And then that was it. The course was over. Time to go home.