Bright Sparks, 2nd Blog Update

After Josh’s update last week, we asked another member of the Bright Sparks Apprentices to tell us about their experiences on this project for young musicians in Brentwood, Essex. Nathan, who has been putting his skills to good use in the project’s brass section, shared his thoughts with us:

“Over the last few months I have been working with Tim Steiner and members off the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It has been enjoyable from the word go, as we have made loads of music and learnt so many different skills. Tim has been inspiring, yet completely down to earth with every child on the course.

For the sessions last weekend, we split up into four groups – lower strings (Viola, Cello and Bass), upper strings (Violins), wind (Brass and Woodwind) and percussion. The two string groups rehearsed together as did the wind and percussion and during this rehearsal I was allowed to take charge of the wind and percussion!

I decided to set the musicians in a Jazz/Big Band formation and we came up with a composition that I think challenged the ability of the players. As the ensemble started to feel the groove, I stood up to conduct. When we had finished the piece Tim commented on how well it had been played. He said that “with the string players this piece will sound a dream!”.

We’re looking forward to the Sparks Will Fly concert on the 1st July where we will be able to show everything that we have learnt so far and hopefully really impress everyone!”

The Bright Sparks final performance will be at Brentwood’s Gone Global on Sun 1st July at The Brentwood Centre. You can see the Sparks Will Fly website for further details.

Sparks Will Fly - http://www.sparkswillfly.org.uk/ Orchestras Live – http://www.orchestraslive.org.uk Brentwood Orchestra’s for Young Musicians  - http://www.boym.org.uk/ Essex County Council - http://www.essex.gov.uk/Pages/Default.aspx Brentwood Borough Council - http://www.brentwood.gov.uk/