Beaumont School Music Department

It was an absolute pleasure to head down into St Pancras International yesterday to listen to Emily Almond, Emma Doherty and Hannah Perryman sing in the Youth Music Voices Cultural Olympiad Choir as part of The Station Sessions festival . The group of 80 singers were selected from workshops and auditions across the country, and yesterday's performance was the result of their first three-day residential. The sounds was impressive and it was great to see our girls well involved in the performances. Below is a cheeky recording of their version of Michael Jackson's Man in the Mirror : Youth Music Voices (mp3)

If you are at a loose end this Friday (29th July), the Youth Music Voices Cultural Olympiad Choir will be performing under the Olympic rings in St Pancras International from 6pm-7pm. The Station Sessions Festival is a six week long celebration of the UK's emerging musical talent. Click here to learn more about the festival. Emily Almond, Emma Doherty and Hannah Perryman will be singing in the 80-strong choir, so do go and support if you are around. Rumour has it that the Vocal Ensemble's beloved Sure on this shining night will be performed too... To find out more about the Youth Music Voices Choir, click here .

We are delighted that Beaumont singers continue to contribute to music-making on a national level. Following on from the success of our students who gained places in the Cultural Olympiad Choir, Emily Almond will be singing in the choir in tomorrow's BBC Radio 3 Evensong broadcast from Eton College Chapel. Click here for more details and here for the music list. Former student Wil Pate will be performing (in the National Youth Choir) at the BBC Proms on Friday 5 th August : Mahler’s 2 nd Symphony conducted by the legendary Gustavo Dudamel and his Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra. There will be a live broadcast on Radio 3 at 7.30pm and the concert will be on BBC2 on Saturday 6 th August. I hope you all tune in for both events - the music might not be your favourite style, but the singing will be heavenly.

Here is a link to some Jacques Loussier jazzing up some Bach. Enjoy!

Congratulations to everyone on such a superb concert. The odds were against us, given study leave and plenty of disruptions (not all negative!) to our rehearsal schedule. So despite at least a week off rehearsals (for some, two weeks), Mr Guinane and I were really proud of the way you focussed in rehearsals and your performances in the evening were musical and sensitive - well done. We will post some tracks on our SoundCloud account at some point and blog them (of course). In the meantime, please could you return any outstanding music so we can sort it out and put it away - please return by Tuesday. Have a good summer holiday - rest and work hard (if necessary!). We may post the odd thing here and tweet occasionally, but apart from that, it will generally by over and out for August! Thank you again to all of you - your commitment always impresses and moves us. As Matt Harrold said in his speech, we do love you very much! Miss Doan & Mr Guinane

Following on from last week's collaboration with Rufus Wainwright, this week Guy Chambers worked with Mark Ronson and up-and-coming singer/songwriter Tawiah to see if they could come up with a "breakthrough single". Like last week, the process was fascinating, with them actually focussing on finding a hook or riff. There was a fair bit of jamming around basic ideas and rhythms before Tawiah joined the process as lyrics. Unlike "classical" music, where you tend to focus on the melody before harmony, it really did feel like the opposite when it came to this pop song. You can watch the programme for the next seven days by clicking here (unfortunately I can't find the song on YouTube).

Here is the rehearsal schedule. It's been a while, so please arrive promptly for rehearsals. Concert Band and Music Captains, please come in the middle of break to set up for a prompt start to lesson 4. Lesson 4: Concert Band Lesson 5: Orchestra Lunchtime: Vocal Ensemble and Year 8 Girls' Group Lesson 6: Big Band & Year 8 Boys' Band Lesson 7: Choir & Year 10 Choir 1800: Soloists to rehearse with Alex 1830: Please meet in the Music Block 1900: Concert. Dress is SMART. *All black or black and white, black shoes, or summer uniform. *Girls, please wear skirts of an appropriate length or trousers; NO skinny jeans or leggings. See Mr Guinane or Miss Doan for details. Tickets are available on the door for £4/£2. The concert should last about 1 1/2 hours.

You may know that Hertfordshire County Council plans to close the Central Resources Library Hatfield, with much of the collection (including sheet music) being transferred to warehouses and therefore no longer available to the public. In its place will go an incinerator. We will be losing access to some valuable collections of music, playscripts, fiction and non-fiction. Please sign the petition here against the Council's plans. In the words of the Manic Street Preachers in their song A Design for Life (1996): "Libraries gave us power".

This # BeaumontBedtimeListening is for the Vocal Ensemble. Please watch and take note in preparation for Wednesday's Concert!

Between 9pm and 10.30pm, I will do my best to tweet a one or two Spotify/Youtube links to some suggested listening before bed. It won't always be "classical" but it will always be worth a listen. Don't worry, I will choose music from the sublime to the ridiculous. Even if you don't have Twitter, you will be able to track it on our Twitter Feed on the left hand side of this blog. This is the perfect way for you to broaden your listening without making too much effort yourselves, and is aimed at everybody, young and old, not just music students. If you miss any tweets, then using the hashtag # BeaumontBedtimeListening will bring up all our suggestions.

Don't forget to complete your applications for Music Captain, whether you are doing A level Music or not! We are looking for students who will act as excellent role models for our upcoming young musicians in the department, in any capacity. Mr Guinane and I would like to see captains attached to our extra-curricular groups, getting involved in the running of sectionals etc. We would, however, like to hear your ideas too. You know what it's like to grow up in our Music Department and you may want to introduce new groups or suggest changes to the existing ones. Whatever your thoughts, we are prepared to listen and are really excited about working alongside you too. So fill in that form, get it to Mr DeKort before the deadline (11th July) and make yourself stand out. For want of a better expression...GET INVOLVED!

I was having a really wild Saturday night in when I came across this documentary on BBC 2: the first of a 3 part-series called Secrets of the Pop Song . In this first episode, Guy Chambers (song-writer of many popular songs, including Robbie Williams' Angels ) and Rufus Wainwright collaborate and write a pop song in two days. The process is fascinating and the programme is worth watching. Click here to catch it on iPlayer for the next 6 days. GCSE and A level students, this is essential viewing! Here is the result of their collaboration:

Thank you to everybody who auditioned for the Songs for a New World . The standard was very high indeed. Below is a cast list. You will form an 16-strong ensemble and solo songs will be distributed to individuals before the end of term. Please can we have a meeting on Tuesday 12 th July 2011 at 12.50pm in Room 30 for about half an hour? Please let Miss Doan or Miss Shepherd know if you are unable to attend. For more information about the show, please click here . Chris Allen Emily Almond Emma Doherty Anna Fordham Rosie Goymer Belle Haswell Amy Hazlehurst Tulsi Khanna Michael Loizou Chloe Pattenden Niamh Quinn Anastasia Raymond Nev Stojkov Alex Wells Ben Williams Beth Wilson