Twenty-one Portsmouth Schools join The Big Ceilidh

Over 550 children gathered at venues across Portsmouth this week for three days of live music and dancing. Called ‘The Big Ceilidh’, the events saw children from 21 Portsmouth schools come together to learn English folk dances under the expert guidance of Hampshire step dancer and teacher Jo Harmer.

Big Ceilidh Week is the culmination of six weeks’ dancing and music making in the schools. For the third consecutive year, the events have been run by FolkActive, a locally based company whose aim is support schools who want to raise awareness of our traditional culture in active and creative ways.

For the first time this year, teachers in six schools prepared young musicians to play alongside the professional folk musicians. 

Different music groups played at each of the six Big Ceilidhs, including:

• beginner ukuleles, Highbury Primary and Newbridge Junior schools
• recorder group, Northern Parade Junior School
• young violinists, Craneswater Junior School
• a 25-strong Primary School orchestra from St Swithuns
• and a music group from St Edmund's Secondary School.

Popular local band Jigfoot supported the musicians from the schools who played for their classmates to dance. The young musicians performed like true professionals, and the rest of the children had a great time dancing with children from other schools and getting to know their new partners.

So that the children could practise in advance, the schools were sent instructions for the dances; these were selected to be suitable for older KS1 and KS2 classes to learn within a limited time.

The Big Ceilidhs are generously funded by the Portsmouth Music Hub, and are free to participating schools. Some of the schools have also benefited from in-school workshops provided by the Hub’s ‘Live Music Portsmouth’ initiative, which are led by folk dancers and musicians.

World Song Festival

Priory School hosted the city's first World Song Festival on Thursday 12 October. The festival involved approximately 120 pupils from Cliffdale Primary Academy, College Park Infant, Cottage Grove Primary and St. John's Cathedral Catholic Primary joining together to celebrate cultural diversity.

Led by vocal specialist Emily Barden, the morning began with pupils learning an African welcome song before each school performed a song of their choice. Cliffdale sang 'Umbuntu', an African song about unity, accompanied by djembes. Cottage Grove pupils sang 'South Australia' and St. John's performed the gospel song 'Jericho', before College Park brought us home again by performing 'It's Portsmouth' by one of the Music Hub's award winning composers, Patrick Nicholls.

Emily then taught them two new songs celebrating the world and the part that we all play in shaping its future - 'Sunshine' and 'Be the Change', focusing on harmony and singing in parts. Elizabeth McAndrew from Cliffdale showed everybody how to accompany their singing with sign language, and some pupils dressed up in colourful costumes from around the world. 

Zach, a Year 1 pupil, said "It was brilliant singing with so many people and I really enjoyed learning the new songs".

INDIAN DRUMMING FOR PORTSMOUTH SCHOOLS

The entrancing sound of Indian drumming could be heard in Portsmouth schools this week as Portsmouth Music Hub celebrated the start of a new partnership with Keda Music.

With a mission to make learning and playing Indian drums accessible and enjoyable for as many members of the community as possible, Portsmouth Music Hub and Keda Music are working collaboratively to provide hands-on learning for students and teachers across the city. This week students at Priory School and Newbridge Junior School have learned the basics of playing Indian tabla drums whilst also teaching about Indian culture. Students were able to share their personal cultural experiences and one student performed on his own dhol drum enabling his friends to have a go as well - a great example of peer to peer learning.

Kuljit Bhamra MBE, who led workshops at Priory School and Newbridge Junior School, said "The students were really attentive and eager to learn about Indian drumming and Indian culture. They worked very hard and learnt lots of special techniques for playing the tabla."

Workshops were held for both students and staff in order to kick start a new tradition of Indian drumming in the city.

William Glasspole, aged 8, said "The drumming was amazing to watch and it was brilliant fun to join in. I loved it!"

Young Performers Take to the Stage

On Thursday 13 July, at the Church of the Resurrection in Portsmouth, children and young people from Portsmouth Music Hub's Ensembles came together to perform an end of term evening of music and entertainment; celebrating another academic year of music-making with Portsmouth Music Hub.

Proud parents and members of the public filled the Church to enjoy a wide range of music from Ghostbusters, Pirates of the Caribbean, Adele, Paul Simon and Hayden!

It was an opportunity for everyone to see how far the children had come during the past year of rehearsals and performances, and the audience enjoyed performances from the Little Voices Choir, The Channel, Coastal and Ocean Wind Bands and Portsmouth Plays Wind Band.

With an exciting programme of music and confident performances from all the young musicians the night came to a spectacular end with the Ocean Wind Band performing the unforgettable sound of Ravel's Bolero.

Portsmouth Music Hub's Ensembles will return in September 2017.

ROCKING THE ROOMS

On 5 July, young musicians from Portsmouth Music Hub's Rock Bands along with bands from local schools and colleges took to the stage and definitely rocked the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth.

'Rock the Rooms' was a gig to mark the end of the school year showcasing the progress the bands have made. It was also an opportunity for the musicians to perform at a professional music venue in front of a packed auditorium.

The gig brought together enthusiastic musicians aged from between 8 to 18 years of age, and there was a fantastic mix of music on offer, including hits like "I love Rock and Roll" and "Feeling Good" along with original songs written by talented members of the Bands.

Sue Beckett, CEO of Portsmouth Music Hub said: "It was an amazing night and a gig the musicians will never forget. It was a particularly poignant gig for the Hub's Warrior Band with many of them leaving this year as they reach the end of college. Denzel Dela Pena has been singing with the Music Hub since the age of 8 and seeing the transformation of his voice over the years and his passion for performing is a real priviledge."

The Bands' enthusiasm and commitment to performing last night was inspirational and their director, Stu Brewer leads by example putting a huge amount of time and effort into their training and performances.

Portsmouth Music Hub runs Rock Bands, from beginners to more advanced young performers, each week during term time. To find out more call 023 9237 5655 or visit www.portsmouthmusichub.org.uk.

CARNIVAL PARADE

Hundreds of children descended on Guildhall Square on Wednesday 5 July bringing a flavour of the Latin American Carnival to Portsmouth.  8 schools came dressed in carnival costumes, with masks, flags, drums, streamers and whistles for a cultural celebration of music and dance.

The carnival atmosphere was buzzing with the Pompey Pluckers ukulele band, a pianist and maypole dancers entertaining the children as they arrived. The children started the carnival with a rousing performance of the 'The Carnival Song' which had been composed especially for the event by one of the Music Hub's composers.

Proud parents and enthusiastic passers-by were treated to singing, African drumming and Japanese Taiko drumming. The Carnival procession took all the children around the Guildhall Square and into Victoria Park. There was plenty of enthusiastic dancing, chanting, singing and flag waving as the children paraded around the park and back into Guildhall Square for a surprise massed dance led by Carnival Queen Becki Short from the Music Hub.

Heidi Smith aged 7, from Cottage Grove Primary School, said; "It was great fun and I really loved the Carnival. We drummed all round the park and all the way back to school!"

Portsmouth Music Hub produced the event bringing together artists and musicians to celebrate the cultural diversity and creativity in the city.

Sue Beckett, CEO of Portsmouth Music Hub, said after the event: "It was a fantastic carnival with so many children celebrating cultural diversity in our city. The enthusiastic smiles, colourful costumes and fantastic singing and dancing made this an event to be remembered."

Rocking Recorders!

Almost 100 children from Portsmouth schools came together for a Recorder Festival held at Northern Parade Infant School. The primary-aged children rehearsed all morning and at the end of the morning they performed a concert for parents, with pieces including 'Samba', 'Caribbean Carnival' and the children's favourite 'Let's Rock'.

The children performed as a massed recorder ensemble with different parts played by the more advanced players. They also had the opportunity to hear six different sized recorders played, from the tiny garklein flautlein to the large bass recorder.

Sue Beckett, CEO of Portsmouth Music Hub said: "Festivals like this enable children to experience playing in a large instrumental group and is the foundation for them joining a band orchestra later on in their musical journey. The children's enthusiasm was infectious and the audience were very pleasantly surprised at the quality of sound and the standard of playing in the concert."

At the end of the Recorder Festival Matthew Roons, aged 8, said: "Today has been exciting and fun, and I loved seeing all the different sizes of recorder. The best song was 'Recorder Rock' - it was very cool and I loved it!"

WORLD PREMIERE PERFORMANCE FOR YOUNG SINGERS

The New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth came to life with a stage full of excited young singers telling the story of Bombay the cat's adventures in Portsmouth in a brand new musical for the city.

On Friday 30 June, in front of proud parents, the public and the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, over 200 children aged between 6 and 8 sang their hearts out in a world premiere performance.

In keeping with the show's story, all the children came dressed as cats - from house cats to tigers and even a pink panther and the Cheshire cat, the singers performed in a feline frenzy of songs and music.

Bombay's Big Adventure, a show produced by Portsmouth Music Hub, showcased a range of songs written by the Music Hub's composers, which included 'Spinnaker Salsa, 'Cool Cat' and a firm favourite with the audience 'Bombay Rock'. The songs were linked to iconic venues around the city including the Guildhall, Kings Theatre and the Wedgewood Rooms.

The highlight of the show for the young performers was a surprise appearance on stage by the star of the show, Bombay the cat who took his starring role in his stride, purring and sporting a very classy bow tie!

Charlie Oatley, aged 8, from Milton Park Primary School said: "I loved singing songs about the city where I live and I really loved meeting Bombay. I'm still buzzing with excitement!"

Sue Beckett, CEO of Portsmouth Music Hub, said: "Bombay's Big Adventure was an uplifting celebration of the sights and sounds of Portsmouth especially written for young singers, musicians, dancers and a marching band. Concerts like this are full of talent and enthusiasm and they are absolutely unforgettable, not only for the audience, but for all the young performers who took to the stage."