Celebrating musical youth (From Watford Observer)

Celebrating musical youth

8:17am Thursday 3rd July 2008 in

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Six primary schools were whisked away to countries near and far this week as students at the Purcell School treated them to a colourful, multicultural concert.

Composing, arranging, organising and conducting two, hour-long performances, Year 11 students at the Bushey music school put together every aspect of the concerts, weeks after finishing important exams.

The 23 musicians played and dressed up for a Xylophone piece from Bulgaria, percussive chant from Africa, animal themed piece from New Zealand, dances from Mexico and Poland, an ever-changing Singapore piece and a Chinese performance based around the sound of raindrops.

Even the group’s journey back to England was highly innovative, as 16 hands descended on two pianos.

Each piece was backed by a projection of animals, maps, flags and people from the country the music was based on.

The concerts, performed in front of clapping and cheering children from the Little Green, Highwood, Ashfield, Harvey Road, Nascot Wood and York Mead schools, followed the Purcell students’ trips to the primary schools to teach and play music to the children.

One of the students, Paulina Mikolajczyk said: “We had to put everything together in two weeks. This morning we had our first rehearsal. People kept losing their music. It was crazy.”

Everyone, however, agreed that it was a worthwhile experience, another student Katie Macdonald saying: “We all absolutely loved doing it and were delighted to perform for the schools.”

At the end of the concert the children were given goodie bags, also put together by the Purcell students. Each of the schools asked to be invited back for future events.