In March our Big Band students had the fantastic opportunity to perform at Dorchester Abbey as part of an inspirational partnership concert aimed at local primary school students from the surrounding villages.
The Introduction to Big Band event provided over 140 visiting students and staff with a fascinating walk-through tour of the structure, rhythms and instruments within a Big Band, accompanied by fantastic commentary and information from our Big Band leader, Mr Duncan McNaughton.
Big Band member Beth (Upper Sixth) said: “we played lots of tunes in different styles, ranging from the James Bond movie soundtracks to ‘Soul Bossa Nova’ and ‘Shut Up and Dance’ by Walk the Moon. We explained how the different instruments worked and did some demonstrations and sectional pieces. There were lots of smiles all-round and great audience participation, especially during our Q&A. It was a really fun event and a great opportunity to perform outside of school”.
Annabel, an audience member from Abbey Woods School, told us: “I really liked the educational purpose, like learning the history of the Big Band”
And, fellow student Alexia described the concert as “very intriguing and changed my thoughts and perspective on instruments.”
Our Big Band musicians really excelled themselves with flawless solo and group performances, and will hopefully have inspired many children to take up a new instrument.
