Day 3 in the Summer School house (notably more classy than it’s Big Brother equivalent on Channel 4), and there’s a real sense of community now building. With everyone living together, eating together and, most importantly creating together, you get the impression of a big family built around composing.

Tuesday is a rather pleasant affair, sitting just after two days of manic introductions but before the real hard work starts. In this spirit, we began the day with two more taster sessions, providing further opportunity for students to explore composing in another style. By working with musicians or technology outside of their key tutor group, our composers get to experiment creatively and tread new avenues to influence their final pieces.

They then got straight back to work in their original tutor groups. The students and tutors are working side by side and currently sketching out initial ideas, experimenting with the professional musicians here to really get the most out of each student’s work. Be sure to check out our Summer School Instagram Highlights Reel for an inside look at the students’ ideas coming to life today!

We were also delighted to have esteemed visitors throughout the day. Behind the scenes, Rachel from the English Folk, Dance & Song Society came for a quick look at what we do here, as well as Arts Council England‘s Marion Friend. We love showing people round the Summer School; having a fresh pair of eyes and ears really helps us appreciate what an amazing group of young composers we have here.

Of course, we had one other esteemed, unforgettable visitor arrive at the Summer School today. All the way from the twin island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, steelpan musician, composer and arranger Khan Cordice will be working with composers in the Cross Cultural Group throughout this week, bringing both his vast knowledge of the instrument’s history and impressive technical ability.

However, it’s not just the Cross Cultural Group who got a taste of his playing today! As tonight’s guest speaker, Khan walked us through the rich history of the steelpan in Antigua, and demonstrated the instruments’ diverse capabilities in terms of genre and timbre. It’s fair to say our audience of young composers were enamoured by this presentation and performance, which spanned everything from trad jazz to Tom and Jerry.

In all, a glorious third day at Summer School, with music to match the sunshine.

If you want to see even more behind the scenes, head on over to our Instagram, check out our Day 3 pictures here, or sign up to our newsletter to hear about all of our Education work.

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