NEWSLETTER

 May 2024

Welcome to our May Newsletter

 

We are pleased to welcome you to the May edition of our monthly newsletter. We have our local concert recommendations, as well as three exciting weekend concerts in central London. Top Tips for Music Students is about how to listen to music and this edition’s Composer of the Month is about Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

 

We would also like to thank all students who participated in the Easter Students' Concert 2024 and all those who supported them in the audience. You gave wonderful performances all round. Congratulations!

 

Referral discounts

 

Orpington Music Studio is always delighted to welcome new students, be they experienced or at the start of their musical studies. We would be pleased to offer you a referral discount as a thank you for any parents and students you introduce to us from 1st May 2024. If you know anybody looking for music lessons, ask them to email info@orpingtonmusicstudio.co.uk mentioning your name. When they start lessons with an Orpington Music Studio teacher, we will apply a 10% discount per student to your next invoice.

Calling violinists and guitarists

 

Local musician Janet Maile is looking for music students to join the Danson Folk Dance Club in Bexley. They meet once a month on a Monday evening at 7.45pm. This is an excellent opportunity to learn to play folk music in a band to accompany dancers.

 

If you would like to learn more, email Janet at janetmaile@rocketmail.com or give her a ring on 01689 836407.

Opportunity for adult students

 

Janet Maile of the Danson Folk Dance Club is also welcoming adult students to join Orpington Musicmakers. Visit their website for more information.

LOCAL CONCERTS

 

New Sussex Opera - The Dragon of Wantley

 

Sunday 5th May, 4pm

 

Blackheath Halls

23 Lee Rd, Blackheath, London SE3 9RQ

 

Tickets: Adults: £30.00-£40.00
Concession: £15.00-20.00 

 
More information
 

St George’s Chamber Orchestra - Vivaldi Four Seasons

 

Sunday 12th May, 5pm

 

St George's Church

High St, Beckenham BR3 1AX

 

Tickets: Adults: £16.50
Concession: £5.50

 
More information
 

South East London Orchestra with Conductor David Smith

 

Saturday 25th May,

4pm

 

All Saints West Dulwich, London, SE21 8JY

 

Tickets: Adults: £15.00

Concession: £10

Children under 16: Free

 
More information and tickets

 CENTRAL LONDON CONCERT VENUES

 

St John's Smith Square -

Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra and

Juan Carlos Fernandez - Nieto - Piano

 

Saturday 4th May 7:30pm

 

St John’s Smith Square,
London, SW1P 3HA

 

 Tickets: Adults: £25.00-£15.00
Concession: £6.00

 

 

 
More information
 

 St Martin’s Chamber Ensemble -

 Moonlight Sonata by Candlelight

 

Satuday 11th May

7pm

 

Trafalgar Square

London, WC2N 4JJ

 

Tickets: Adults: £29.00-£16.00
Concession: £6.00

 

 
More information and tickets
 

St James's Piccadilly

London Octave and Lorraine McAslan -

Best of Bach, Mozart and Vivaldi 

 

Saturday 18th of May

7:30 pm

 

St James's Church
197 Piccadilly
London W1J 9LL

 

Tickets: Adults: £35.00-£15.00 + booking fee

 

 

 
More information and tickets

TOP TIPS FOR MUSIC STUDENTS

How to Listen to Music

 

Hearing vs. Listening

 

Music is everywhere. It falls from shop ceilings, jumps out of passing cars, and plays in the background of our favourite television programmes and films. We are never without music. When doing homework, chores, walking to school or sitting on the bus, we can reach into our pockets and hear almost any music which has ever been recorded. Never in history have humans been able to hear so much music! But how much music do you listen to?

 

Imagine you are at the beach with a friend. Is music like your friend whose every word you are listening to and understanding? Or is it like the ocean waves — a lovely sound you can hear far off in the background? All music — even music without words — has a story to tell us. Is it a thrilling action-packed story? Or is it very peaceful? Is it frightening, awesome, sad, mysterious, or a mix of things? We can only know by listening, not just hearing.

 

What to listen to

 

Always choose what to listen to. The streaming platforms where we get most of our music  — Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music etc. — make it easy to simply tap on a playlist without thinking about what is playing. What could you search for instead? Who is your favourite musician, band, singer or composer? Are there any albums or pieces by them you have not heard? What music do your friends like? Who wrote the epic soundtrack to the film you watched the other day? Be specific about what you want to hear.

 

Music students must not only listen to their favourites; you should endeavour to become familiar with as many different styles as possible. Start with the composers whose music you are learning in lessons. Say you are learning a piece by Beethoven. What else did Beethoven write? What other instruments did he write for? Look at the title of the piece you are learning. Does the piece come from a bigger piece of music? Look at the subtitle. Maybe it is one movement of a Sonata, or just one piece in a big collection. What do the other pieces sound like? Be curious and get know to music other than that which you are playing.

 

What to listen for

 

How can music tell us a story if there are no words? Notice the most basic things first: is it loud or soft? Fast or slow? Which instruments are playing? Then you might notice the texture of the music. Is there a melody in the foreground? Are there two melodies at the same time? Is there an accompaniment? Is there a combination of quick notes and slow notes? This is merely the surface; the greatest pieces of music contain an almost infinite number of amazing things to listen to. What else do you hear?

 

Once you have reached an intermediate standard (after grade 4), you should be able to broadly identify the main styles of music: Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century.

 

Listening to music is an essential part of learning to play music. Aim to listen to at least one short piece every day. Becoming familiar with lots of different styles will improve your own playing and help make sense of how to play a piece of music beyond simply getting the notes and rhythms right. This article has only considered listening to recorded music but the best way to listen is always live. Do keep an eye out on this newsletter to find out about concerts near where you live and central London. Orpington Music Studio also runs an Easter, Summer and Christmas concert every year where you can perform to your peers and listen to them play.

COMPOSER OF THE MONTH

Jean Sibelius

 

Jean Sibelius was born in 1865 in Hämeenlinna, Finland. From a young age, Sibelius was fascinated by Finnish mythology, and in particular the folk stories, Finnish ballads, lyrical songs, and incantations collected in the epic ‘Kalevala’ compiled by the Swedish-Finnish foklorist Elias Lönnrot in 1835. The title ‘Kalevala’ translates as ‘Land of heroes’ or the dwelling place of the poem’s main characters.

 

Sibelius attended piano and violin lessons from an early age. He continued his studies at the Helsinki Music Institute, later established as the Sibelius Academy where he began composing his first chamber music pieces. His friend Ferruccio Busoni encouraged him to pursue composition. He continued his studies later in Berlin and Vienna where he began writing his major orchestral works. In 1892 he completed his choral symphony ‘Kullervo’ based on episodes from the ‘Kalevala’. He then wrote his other major works - The Karelia Suite op.11, the tone poem Finlandia op. 26, Valse Triste op. 44, the Violin Concerto in D Minor op. 47 and seven symphonies. Sibelius also wrote songs, piano solo and chamber music pieces.

 

Sibelius influenced many young composers in the 1920s. English composers Vaughan-Williams, Arnold Bax and William Walton admired his symphonies. Recordings of his orchestral pieces can be heard conducted by world-renowned Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein and Anthony Colins. After his death in 1957, Sibelius gained recognition as one of the 20th century’s greatest composers.

Our website