Trinity College London Webinar

Our Founding Director Netty Rhodes was recently a guest on Trinity College London’s lunchtime webinar. She discussed SWeet!’s work and how we have adapted our provision in socially distanced times. Please click on the link below to watch. The SWeet! webinar is about half way down the page, but there are plenty of other topics to enjoy too!

https://blog.trinitycollege.co.uk/trinity-music-lunchtime-chats

Music & Drama Access Fund – Trinity College London

SWeet! is delighted to announce that Trinity College London has awarded us a grant from their newly-established Music & Drama Access Fund. This award will pay for examination fees, accompanist’s fees and a series of nine lessons for ten SWeet! students in 2020 or early 2021.

We would like to express our gratitude to Trinity College London for this very welcome support at what is a difficult time for everyone. It means that even in lockdown, SWeet! can continue to provide access to instrumental tuition for vulnerable children. Knowing they have the opportunity of taking a national examination gives students something to work towards, bringing real hope for the future.

We may not be able to meet for a while but…

…we are still practising hard!

SWeet! would like to thank our wonderful supporters at this most difficult of times. Life is different – but we are still making music!

SWeet! students are taking skills lessons via the Zoom app. Everyone is learning ensemble parts individually, and when they are ready, students will have fun playing along to a backing track in their own homes!

We miss each other and our audience very much. We are all looking forward to being together in rehearsal when it is safe again. We hope to be back on a concert platform before too long.

HELP US WIN £1000!

NOMINATE NOW!

https://www.ecclesiastical.com/movement-for-good/12-days

This only takes a minute of your time, and if we get enough nominations over the Christmas period, SWeet! could win £1000 from Ecclesiastical Insurance 12 Days of Giving.
The money would support the musical learning and activities of talented young people who otherwise could not afford to play an instrument.

Click on the link, tick “registration exempt”, cut and paste “SWeet! Recorder Consort CIC 10768189” for the charity name, and fill in your details. It’s so simple and would mean the world to our super young musicians.

THANK YOU!

SWeet! Students Sweep The Board!

On Sunday 10th November SWeet! competed in the recorder classes of the Beckenham Festival. Our consorts won The Martin Butler Cup and The Consort Cup, and two of our students jointly won the Sheila Richards Cup for solo performance. The adjudicator especially noted our students’ sensitive playing and super articulation. Everyone achieved an Honours score which is 85/100 and above!

We are super proud of each and every one of our talented and hard-working students who gave of their best to put on this amazing show. Many thanks to the adjudicator Rosanna Whitfield, accompanist Phoebe Yu and organiser Krista Partridge and her wonderful team.

Beckenham Festival Here We Come!

We are very excited because next weekend SWeet! will compete in the Beckenham Festival and preparations are in full swing!
Here are video clips of two students rehearsing solo performances with their amazing accompanist Phoebe Yu. Our Steppingstones (beginner) student plays Turn The Glasses Over (Traditional, arr. Robin Hagues), and our Senior Superstars (advanced) student plays Burlesca alla Rumba (Gordon Jacob)

If you would like to hear more, please come along to support us!
Sunday 10th November 2019 at 9.45am
Marian Vian Primary School,
Shirley Crescent,
Beckenham
BR3 4AZ
£4 entry fee
We look forward to seeing you there!

Medieval & Renaissance Dance Workshop

On Tuesday 1st October 2019 we put on our dancing shoes as Tim Walker, a Medieval and Renaissance dance expert, taught us dances from Orchesography by Thoinot Arbeau 1520-1595.  We learned several Branles or Bransles (pronounced, we learned, “Braun” if using the French).  In Branle Des Cheveaux – English Horses’ Brawl – on one step we pawed at the ground like a horse.  In Bransle les Lavandieres – English Washerwoman’s Brawl – we waggled our fingers at our partners before doing the washing together.  In Branle des Pois – English Peas Brawl – the boys and girls took it in turns to jump and shout “POP”, like a lot of peas popping in the summer sun.
 
A huge SWeet! THANK YOU to the wonderful Tim, also known as The Dancing Mister, for a thoroughly enjoyable and very informative evening.  Next time we play any dance music from this period on recorders we will understand exactly how we should perform it, especially when choosing an appropriate tempo.
 
Follow Tim on Facebook and find him soon at a festival near you!
https://www.facebook.com/medievaldanceteacher