Hear and see what happened at our live music groups in the Summer half-term holiday.
Last week, 17 socially distanced rehearsals took place with 180 young people playing in Rock Bands, Brass Groups, Strings Groups, Wind Bands, Drumming and more! It was great to finally have young musicians playing music together again across Essex in half term.
As Beverley Heard, Ensembles Officer said: “It was so uplifting to see the players enjoying the sound world that can only come from playing music together in harmony. After 14 months of ensembles silence, it was great to see so many old faces and lots of new faces too, enjoying group music for the first time!”
Feedback from Young People: 
- “I missed how fun it was.”
- “Nice to be with others.”
- “Awesome.”
- “Very interesting and fun.”
- “Really enjoyed it, felt strange to be back but good! Kind of forgotten how to play loudly! Really good fun”
- “I look forward to more rehearsals and concert performances. I would really like to join the residential training during the school holidays”
The groups played a range of great music including movie themes by John Williams, Jurassic Park, Jazz Standards and tunes by ACDC! Players soon got used to playing inside their plex-screened “pods” making music COVID safe for all.
Summer Holiday Courses, 2021
We look forward to an exciting programme of group music for the summer holidays. Young people can sign up for a variety of workshops spread across the county including Try an instrument for 7-11 year olds, Vocal Workshops, Combi Bands for grade 2-5, Song-writing and African Drumming. There will also be an opportunity to do longer courses and gain an Arts Award such as Discover Ukulele or Explore Bands!
In the final week of August, there will be the chance for young people who have grade 5 or above on an orchestral instrument to take part in a 3-day course in Film Music. Learning to play full score versions of music by composers such as John Williams and Howard Shore. This will culminate with a performance for family and friends.
