On Tuesday night, we took part in a workshop which was led by Laura Bowler where we viewed some of her work. I felt like she was a very charismatic person and taught us to think about music in a new way – through movement. She started off with teaching us all a group warm […]
On Monday, a special guest visited, Judith Weir. Seeing her music visually and listening to some of her compositions live was inspirational for me. I really enjoyed the jail folk inspired compositions played by the cello. This was because it explored many extended techniques of the instrument, something that I am very interested in. I […]
I thought the event was very inspiring. It made me think about using extended techniques in my own compositions. I very much enjoyed the King Harald Saga, it was very compelling. It told a short story of Harald Hadrada, but the message behind the piece was the futility of war. I didn’t really like the […]
Register Your Interest For Next Year’s Summer School! If this year was your first time attending the Summer School, you can now register your interest for next years programme ahead of the application period! Please do not feel discouraged to register or apply if you have already been once, for students are allowed to attend […]
To close the Summer School, the audience of parents, students and tutors witnessed performances from the World Music group. Having waited patiently all week, it was finally time for the largest group of the Summer School to unveil their cross-cultural compositions! The concert began in a similar fashion to the Vocal Music group; the students […]
“ The Judith Weir workshop session was very informative! I enjoyed listening to the pieces, and it was a great opportunity to take inspiration for future compositions of my own. Judith not only talked about her history as a composer, but also had some of her pieces played by one of the tutoring musicians at […]
Laura’s Bronze Arts Award Review As part of my Bronze Arts Award, I chose to review a workshop put on by Laura Bowler, a professional composer, musician and theatre director, for an hour and a half. The event took place within the Purcell school of music main hall on 01.08.2017. I recorded my thoughts about […]
Olivia’s Thoughts on the Week The Sound and music Summer School has been amazing. The amount of talent I’ve seen during the course of the week is phenomenal, everybody was as talented as each other and everyone was their own individual. I can’t thank enough the amazing tutors and musicians that were there throughout the […]
As part of the Jazz composition group, I have composed a small jazz piece for a sextet which I managed to finish today. I have never composed for jazz before so it was an amazing experience as I have learnt so much from the tutor group sessions and the tutorials such as different modes, chord […]
Incredible. The second group to perform on the final day were the Instrumental Group, lead by David Horne and accompanied by musicians Richard Harwood (Cello), Tom Kemp (Violin), Hannah Grayson (Flute) and Anna Hashimoto (Clarinet). The compositions presented by the students were jaw-dropping. I found myself (much like the audience) completely stunned by the intricacy […]
I’m reviewing Orphy Robinson workshop/session at the SaM summer school, which took place on Sunday 31st July 2017. I thought that the workshop was very interesting, engaging and fun as he showed us a new way of expressing our ideas and making music called conduction. I particularly enjoyed the active side of the session as […]
As part of the Jazz group, it was really nice to have a refreshing overview of the theory involved at the start of the week, such as multiple different modes, chord symbols, chord functions, and so on! This helps greatly as I had a slightly rusty understanding of it all before, but having completed the […]
The composition for screen taster session was a really useful insight into writing for short film clips under pressure. I thought that having hit points in the film notated in a part really helps with linking the music and the film, which is the most essential part of writing film music.
I’m having a great time at the SaM composition Summer School 2017 so far! I just finished writing and recording a score for a short film for solo cello. Corinna is an amazing player to just be able to pick up all of these random compositions and record them within a very short amount of […]
This is my first year at the Sound and Music Summer School and I love it! Everyone is very friendly and all the sessions are really interesting, despite sometimes being quite challenging! I am most certainly learning something new every day! My only criticism is that the taster sessions are really short, and I would […]
In the Film Music taster session, we had 30 mins to write a short piece that would accompany a film clip. This was the first time I’d participated in such an activity, and in doing so I got to experience what it might be like to be a film composer! Aidan Goetzee, the film taster […]
Let me set the scene – the jazz sextet were intimately set up in a corner of the room, candlelit tables seated the students on the main floor and the stage had been converted into a raised seating area. The lights were low and the atmosphere thick, and everyone was treated to Friday night gig, […]
