Covid-19 Update – Sadly we are not able to run our Easter session BUT we’re going to play some of the music online!
Head over now to our Online Orchestra page and follow the yellow brick road….
Author: J Hayes
Jazz pianist, composer, arranger and educator James Hayes has been an active member of the UK jazz scene for more than 10 years. James has appeared in many Jazz clubs, sharing the stage with many great musicians such as Art Themen, Nigel Hitchcock, Andy Panayi, TinaMay, Steve Fishwick and many more. In addition to teaching piano and woodwinds, James runs a weekly Jazz Workshops and choirs for children as well a music holiday camp. He has recorded two studio albums with his quintet, available on bandcamp on www.jhquintet.bandcamp.com
Christmas 2019 – Rockin’ around the Xmas tree
Ho ho ho! Guess who’s back in town?
Another splendid week of festive music is upon us with the usual carols and Jazz tunes plus some more extracts from the “Nutcracker” and at long last, the celebration of one of the most prolific composers in history! It starting to look like Christmas!
Christmas Oratorio
So it will have taken us 7 years to eventually feature one of the most famous composers, Johann Sebastian Bach! Thankfully, the occasion is more than appropriate as JS’s Oratorio is a wonderful piece of music and will complement perfectly the rest of our selection. However, for timekeeping issues, we will only practice one movement out of the possible 65, the stunning item #10, the “Sinfonia”, wonderfully executed below by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Not bad for a piece that is nearly 300 years old!
The Nutcracker
Some would agree that you can’t have Christmas music without the “Nutcracker”, such Tchaikovsky’s bestseller is now strongly associated with festive music. This week, we will revisit the “Flower Waltz” as well as two new pieces for the Academy: the “Dance of the reed pipes” and the “March”.
Let is snow / Winter Wonderland
Two fantastic Jazzy tunes in one medley! Believe it or not, those songs were respectively composed in 1945 and 1934! Good music doesn’t get old! Below are international vocal group Accent with the ruthless Gordon Goodwin big band and Snoop dog delivering their own takes on those two classic tunes.
Summer 2019 – French Touch
Aux armes, musiciens, le jour de gloire est arrivé!
Well, it’s only been 230 years since the French revolution and apart from “La Marseillaise”, our programme this Summer, Mesdames et Messieurs, will examine works by foreign composers who came to Paris for inspiration and add some “Je ne sais quoi” – that’s english for “French touch”, to some of their most famous works!
Let’s have a closer look, in chronological order…
Easter 2019 – For Your Eyes Only
Join us this Easter for a dazzling showcase of some Spies TV & movies theme tunes.
From James Bond to the Pink Panther, Mission Impossible to Johnny English, we will play a large variety of Classical pieces, theme tunes and Jazz tunes featured in 70 years of TV and Cinema of your favourite secret agents. Continue reading “Easter 2019 – For Your Eyes Only”
Christmas 2018 – Glory to the newborn King
Ho Ho Ho! Tis the season to be jolly again!
Join us in a flurry of famous pieces for our Christmas edition!
Our young musicians will play a collection of classic Carols, some well-known Jazz holiday tunes, the Corelli Christmas Concerto and excerpts from the Nutcraker. Check our videos below to get yourself familiar with the music.
PS: can you spot the 5 added characters to the poster? Continue reading “Christmas 2018 – Glory to the newborn King”
Summer 2018 – Battle of the Composers
1868 – The maestro of Overtures, Gioachino Rossini dies near Paris and Scott Joplin, king of ragtime is born in Texas. Some 50 years later in 1918, Impressionist composer Claude Debussy dies in Paris whilst Leonard Bernstein, acclaimed composer, pianist and conductor is born in Massachussetts.
To celebrate the anniversaries of these 4 great composers, we welcome you to our Heavyweight Showdown. Come and elect your champion! Continue reading “Summer 2018 – Battle of the Composers”
Easter 2018 – A Space Edition
50 years ago, a computer went rogue aboard a space station whilst apes were fighting next to a tall black monolith…
A decade later, a rookie pilot and a scoundrel were searching the galaxy in search of a young princess, flanked by two droids and a wookie!
This Easter, fasten your hyperspace seat belts as we will revisit the music of two iconic sci-fi movies: Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The latter famously used two pieces by Strauss and Strauss (not related to one another!) and became the first video clip for both tunes! Continue reading “Easter 2018 – A Space Edition”
Summer 2017 – Rise of the Soviets
Tovarich, the time has come to pay tribute to the Motherland and revisit some of the most famous pieces Russian composers have produced around the 1917 Revolution…and beyond. Continue reading “Summer 2017 – Rise of the Soviets”
Easter 2017 – East meets West
Echoes of far away lands are resonating in West London, strange harmonies and exotic scales have reached our shores, the time has come for a fusion of the senses and open our minds to new sounds!
Many composers over the years have used so called “Jewish” or “Arabic” scales to flavour the Western harmonies with Eastern sonorities. Our pieces this week will reflect the Orientalism of European music.
Summer 2016 – Going for Gold!
On your marks! 4 years after our first edition, the Olympic games are upon us. Add Wimbledon, the Euro championship, the English Open, Le Tour, Cricket test matches, Silverstone, you name it, this is the time to get sporty!
Through a very diverse selection of music, we will celebrate the spirit of the competition as well as the hosting country, Brazil.
