Viva la LANDFILL HARMONIC ORCHESTRA. Music working at its best!!

Landfill Harmonic Teaser

Director of the Recycled Orchestra talks.....

Threat to Creativity in Schools and the Arts Industry

Nicola Benedetti lends her name to the campaign to keep the arts at the forefront of English education.

Leading figures in music, art and drama warn that the new English Baccalaureate, which does not include arts subjects, will devastate their teaching in schools and threaten Britain's thriving creative industries.

Supporters of the campaign  include, among others, the composer and theatre director, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Nicola Benedetti, Elaine Paige, singer and actress and the chief executive of the Royal Opera House.

They fear that the new English Baccalaureate, which only includes "academic" subjects, will sideline lessons in music, art, drama, dance and design and technology, leaving children ignorant about the creative arts.

Read the review

Nicola Benedetti will be holding workshops with school children at Wiltshire Music Centre this Friday 7th December. We are honoured to have such a prestigious musician work with our young musicians and give her time and expertise generously. What a great patron she is for music.

BUZZ .........Welcome, welcome to the beautiful and talented Nicola Benedetti

Tomorrow night we are honoured to have the world renowned violinist Nicola Benedetti and fellow Yehudi Menhuin School graduate Leonard Elschenbroich with the European Union Chamber Orchestra for a gala concert at Wiltshire Music Centre. A gorgeous programme of baroque concertos for Christmas. Champagne all round.

Presented in association with Orchestras Live

El Sistema and Gustavo Dudamel: Rescuing Children with Music

The Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra

We are very much inspired here by the El Sistema programme and it's success stories throughout the world. It has rescued many children from the grip of crime and brought music into their lives. Supporting youth in need through music and youth orchestras is deeply moving and needed. Looking forward to hearing how the programme develops in the UK under the guise of  In Harmony - sistema England. Maestro Abreu who is the visionary founder of the programme is respected by people all over the world.

" Music is not only the product of the talent and virtuosity of its creators; it is the reflection of the soul of the peoples... Music has to be recognised as an agent of social development, in the highest sense because it transmits the highest values - solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And it has the ability to unite an entire community, and to express sublime feelings" Maestro Jose Antonio Abreu

Gustavo Dudamel

 

Gustavo Dudamel - an awe inspiring conductor. A passionate advocate and former student of El Sistema, he is certainly a musician of our time Read more about this great conductor - Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Orchestra

BUZZ....... An Alumni returns home.......

Cordelia Williams and Friends perform live this Sunday 18th November at  Wiltshire Music Centre

Cordelia William

Piano winner of BBC Young Musician 2006, Cordelia Williams brings an exceptionally talented ensemble back to perform with her at her childhood concert hall, Wiltshire Music Centre. We welcome her back and her fellow Alumni player Emma Richards on the Viola.

Music of the evening will include Vaughan Williams' easy going yet superbly written Piano Quintet, full of late Romantic passion and luscious harmonies, and Schubert's famous Trout Quintet, much loved for its rich yet sparkling sonorities. 

Cordelia has built an international career as 'one of the outstanding pianists of her generation'. Solo performance highlights include a Wigmore Hall debut, as well as concerto appearances with orchestras including the CBSO, City of London Sinfonia and The Northern Sinfonia. The 2010-11 season brought her debut recitals at the Royal Festival Hall and the Barbican Hall in London, and Beijing Concert Hall, China.For more info on Cordelia visit www.cordeliawilliams.net

New Website for Wiltshire Music Alumni Underway

We are so excited about the creation of Wiltshire Music Alumni website. This will give people the chance to  see what all graduates are up to in their lives post youth orchestra days and get in contact with them.
Watch this space!!!

How does it feel to be an orchestral player?

An orchestral player is like being in a football team, (I said a bit). You work as a team, you are goal orientated and highly skilled. It is an adrenaline pumping, physical experience with the determination to get that goal, and when you do make that goal it is sheer exhilaration. You are on a high, on top of the world and totally present. - Let me know your thoughts.....

The Collective Experience 

To play in an orchestra, especially in your youth, means undertaking music as a collective experience but with individual expertise.It entails the pursuit of excellence and goal orientated perseverance to make dreams and the creative spirit become a reality. Most of all it is a FAMILY - united by the universal language of music that transcends all boundaries.

Value and Strength

A Youth Orchestra graduate leaves with a sense of endurance and confidence that gives them the capability to face the challenges in their lives as and when they meet them. Great mentors can be found as lead conductors and coaches. A deep sense of value and appreciation is derived from the youth orchestra experience. Graduates learn that excellence is in their own hands.

It is the above that inspires us here at Wiltshire Music Network to further the youth orchestra experience and make relevant in the lives of its graduates and anyone who has had music touch their lives.

Great times were had at our first WMA NETWORK EVENT, 5th October 2012. Alumni were invited for Friday night drinks at the Benugo Bar, British Film Institute, London. It was lovely to meet up and see old friends reunited. We hope to do a Christmas drinks night in December, to be posted shortly.
We were most delighted to have in our presence Mr Phillip Scott. His dedication to Wilthsire & Swindon Youth Orchestra both during his years as head of Wiltshire Music Services and musical adviser to WSYO has been tremendous, a real mentor to many WSYO Alumni.
There were fervent talks about Wiltshire Sinfonia, the WMA Alumni orchestra, and musical plans for the 2013 Reunion, 21-23 June. A huge array of talent present that evening, a real eye opener as to what Alumni are getting up to now!!!

Where are you now?

Hello and welcome to the official blog for Wiltshire Music Alumni. 

Join our friendly network of Alumni - tell us what you are up to. We would love to hear your experiences with Wiltshire & Swindon Youth Orchestra, Wiltshire Youth Jazz Orchestra and any other youth orchestra that performed at eh Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon.

Open to all students who have benefited from musical activities at Wiltshire Music Centre, and graduates of the talented youth orchestras that rehearse and perform at the Centre to large and appreciative audiences.

We want to bring people together to share in their musical heritage, to reconnect with their roots, and enjoy again the friendship and musical camaraderie gained from their youth orchestra experiences.

We will be launching this new scheme formally next year with an inaugural reunion party and orchestral bash on the weekend of 21^st – 23^rd June 2013 to celebrate.  In the meantime, we are calling on all Alumni to get in touch and share their memories of their days as a Wiltshire Young Musician.

Everyone who joins our Alumni scheme will receive regular Alumni newsletters, invitations to Alumni events and reunions, and the chance to play in the Wiltshire Sinfonia orchestra.

If you would like to join, please make contact by email: alumni@wiltshiremusic.org.uk, register via the Wiltshire Music Centre website www.wiltshiremusic.org.uk or call on 01225 860110.  Please do help us to spread the word by forwarding these details to others who might be interested. Get in touch. Network with us on @wiltsMA

We look forward to hearing from you and meeting you over the coming weeks, months and years.

Christina Ashby

 

WMA Alumni Administrator

Wiltshire Music Alumni

Wiltshire Music Centre

Ashley Road * Bradford on Avon * BA15 1DZ

Office * 01225 860110

Mobile * 07425 151 933

www.wiltshiremusic.org.uk