For Secondary School students
This creative project will explore the possibilities of digital working and co-creation of new music. Young people aged from Year 7 upwards are invited to form a virtual ensemble. Players of any instrument or voice including acoustic, electronic and digital instruments and any genre are welcome.

How it works:
• 5 sessions to create and explore new music with musicians from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and composer James Redwood,
who will arrange the piece. The sessions will take place via Zoom and hosted by the RPO
• 2 additional sessions with local music leaders
• 4 rehearsals to learn your part so you can record it for the performance video
• Grand Virtual Finale with other Share Sound ensembles from across the UK in July
• Live performance in Carlisle, July 2021 (to be confirmed)

Find out more at: https://cumbriamusichub.com/share-sound/

Hello everyone, and a very belated HNY to everyone. Life has changed dramatically and the ‘new norm’, without rehearsals or concerts, has led me to get rather behind in communicating with you all.

Obviously, online teaching has resulted in many changes to the way in which we are all working and living, but you should all have had communication from our instrumental teachers about online music lessons, and these should be running smoothly – if this has not happened and you want lessons, please get in touch with me as soon as possible (rbu@uvhs.uk).

I will be sending out several more posts straight after this with links to existing and new musical initiatives being provided through the Cumbria Music Hub – if you would like your child to get involved in any then please contact the relevant people/organisations on each post. I really would recommend that students consider this – as and when we are allowed rehearsals again in school it will be a huge ‘shock to the system’, so any involvement in online music-making and learning will be positive.

As said, please read each of the posts and consider getting involved.

Many thanks to those who have already sent me photos of students playing The Last Post/Reveille this morning – if there are any more please email them to me asap so I can put a montage together by Wednesday. Many thanks.

Hello everyone – sorry for the lack of posts, but as we are unable to hold any rehearsals or concerts, there are no messages to get out!! However …

As Lockdown has prevented Remembrance events and services to take place, there is a request from the government that the people of the nation hold a 2 minute silence from their doorsteps. Alongside this, there is a request for musicians to play the Last Post at 11am followed by Reveille at 11.02am from their doorstep. Please could students do this if at all possible? Also, please take a photo of them playing and email it to me ( rbu@uvhs.uk ) so that I can put a photo collage on the website – it would be great if students were either in school or band uniform.

Many thanks – scroll down the posts to get the music.

We are missing some instruments!!!! If you have left UVHS or are still a students but have finished lessons, please return your instrument (especially a tuba and bari sax!). Likewise, any member of the Swing Band who has left must return their uniform shirt, as it is owned by our charity, Friends of UVHS Music

Also – music lessons are starting tomorrow with brass, and then guitars on Friday. Everyone should have received an email with their times. All other lessons begin on Monday and times will be emailed out over the next few days – they are also posted on the Music noticeboard.

A reminder that we cannot now send a runner to students who have forgotten to attend their lesson – please make your child aware of their time each week.

Hello everyone and a belated Happy September – welcome to the ‘new normal’!

This is a plea to last year’s yr11 and yr13 students who have left UVHS – if you have a school instrument at home please return it to me as soon as possible. We seem to have a shortage in school and are trying to get instrumental lessons up and running again.

For everyone else (in yrs 8-13), you should have received an email from me earlier this week. We are hoping to re-commence lessons next Thursday (if possible). Your instrumental teacher will email out the rotas each week – rotas will also be posted on the noticeboard as usual.

As far as ensembles are concerned – we are not currently able to start up the extra-curricular timetable, but as soon as we are able to get small groups playing again we will let you know. Obviously there will be no band tour this summer, but we are hoping that the global situation will change over time and allow us to plan a European tour in July 2022 – I know it seems a long way off, but it does give us a target to work to and real objective from a personal practice and rehearsal point of view.

Hello everyone – hope you are all ok and managing to enjoy the weather when it has been good?

This Saturday is VJ Day, and just as with VE Day, there has been a national call for it to be marked wherever possible – in particular, there is another request from the British Legion and armed forces charities for musicians throughout the country to play The Last Post at 11am & Reveille at 11.02am; however this time they would also like Sunset to be played at 8.20pm.

It would be great if as many of our musicians as possible could do this – if possible, please wear a band shirt and send a photo to me of either the morning or evening bugle call being played – rbu@uvhs.uk . I will forward photos on to Gill Benjamin at Ulverston Town Band so that both school and the town can compile another record of who took part. Parts are below:

OK then – this week’s challenge is a lot more tuneful then the technical exercises of the last 2 weeks, but it does pull together some of the skills that you have (hopefully) been developing. As usual, watch the video (apologies for the mistakes), print off the music and give it a go.

On another point, I am looking for ways in which we can deliver instrumental tuition to some if not all students in September whilst keeping both staff and students as safe as possible – obviously, there can be no rehearsals of any type under current restrictions, which is such a shame considering how well all the groups had been developing.

Anyway – enjoy playing!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M9yj4aGqds5sjlC7eZb5laA_g5M7scZ-/view?usp=sharing

Hello everyone – Happy July (although you’d never think it looking out of the window!). Hope you all enjoyed practising Mixed Intervals and that there weren’t too may outbreaks of anger and frustration.

So – Challenge #4 is here, and it’s getting a little trickier: still looking at intervals and dexterity but now also looking at clean articulation whilst moving around your instrument/voice. These exercises can be done on all instruments/voice – if you’re a bass clef instrument simply take off 3 sharps/add 3 flats to the key signature and read as if in bass clef. Watch the video and then practise throughout the week…. ENJOY!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gpfK2hBtF4bJvAmAx6yen-1RLgOJ0al3/view?usp=sharing

Hello all – I was just going through the school video library and found this; John Williams’ ‘Olympic Fanfare’ that we recorded back in October after a couple of rehearsals (I guess you can spot that from the odd note going astray and the fact that it’s on the slow side. We were going to open our concert with the Marines in March with this, and it was sounding amazing on March 9th – no wrong notes and fast!!!!!!!

Hope you enjoy it – feel free to share…

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bWeBim7yukzAK573M3Wx-S-yWCBfbPG-/view?usp=sharing