And the music plays on

Although the term has come to a close on an unusual and rather strange cadence, I reflect on how many wonderful things have taken place over the course of the term.

Sadly, not all of the hard work that we have put in has resulted in the performances that we had looked forward to, but that does not diminish the huge progress and achievements that our children have made.

As usual, our many and varied school ensembles have been learning a vast array of new repertoire covering everything from ‘All that Jazz’ to a song about a swamp! The Jazz Band is beginning to reap the rewards of last year's cohort of new brass players and is developing into an even more exciting and vibrant ensemble.

The Lower School Choir remains an extremely popular club and they had worked so hard in preparing three songs for the concert that should have taken place on Monday, March 23rd. Luckily, in their last rehearsal, we gave an impromptu performance to a delighted Active Club, who were enchanted by the lively performances given by some of our youngest children.

Fortunately for our Copthill School Choir, the Lincoln Music Festival, on March 12th, went ahead and I am thrilled to report that, after a moving and polished performance, our choir won their class. They sang a really beautiful rendition of ‘Send in the Clowns’, and ‘Cantate Domino’, a song that many of you will have heard them perform at our 2019 Christmas concerts.

We were very lucky that our ABRSM examinations were able to go ahead on Tuesday March 17th - a day later and that would not have happened, as the ABRSM closed its doors for the foreseeable future. However, the children, unaware of the drama unfolding, did us all proud and we have an excellent set of examination results, including a six-year-old child gaining a distinction pass for her Grade 1 Piano exam - no mean feat!

Over the last week, I have been busily preparing how our one-on-one lessons will be delivered over these next difficult weeks and, possibly, months. In doing this, I am reminded of how lucky I am to be surrounded by such a wonderful team of music staff.

They all are looking for ways to make sure that your children do not lose the opportunity to realise their potential and that this strange period in our lives should not be lost time. Having reeled from the initial impact that Covid19 would have on school life and indeed life in general, I began to realise that, as with life at all times, it is what you make it.

This could be a really golden opportunity for our children to make significant development on their instrument. After all, along with a good teacher, all that is really required to make huge progress on an instrument is time to practice. So often, our children, who have busy lives, feel that they do not have enough time to do as much practice as they need to.

Seize this moment - with any luck, it will never come again. A practice regime developed over the next few weeks could be the bedrock of all progress they continue to make on their instrument, or as a singer, well into the future.

Take care everyone - keep singing, keep playing and let music help you through!