Author: Susanna Cassam

We are delighted by the brilliant performance of 2 of our students Berniya (who won Junior Championship!) and Riya in the latest Springboard music competitions. Well done girls… Not forgetting their teacher, the lovely Emily, well done to you too! Below are all their classes and awards:

Here at SCMT we are pleased to announce Ackerman Music http://www.ackermanmusic.co.uk will be sponsoring our Youth Music Festival this summer!

We are also very happy to announce that this year we will be supporting ‘amaze’  a fantastic, Brighton based, charity working with parents of children with special needs, http://amazebrighton.org.uk.

Please see below for all information with regards to ourfestival, don’t forget the entry deadline is the 25th April…. we are very excited here at SCMT and look forward to seeing you all there!

SCMT Youth Music Festival

Here at SCMT we will be adding extensively to our Concerts and Competitions timetable this coming summer term and re-naming the run of events as the SCMT Youth Music Festival!

We will be holding our usual Summer Concerts.  We’ll also be repeating the Competitions… AND we’ll be adding some fun (and very useful) workshops and 1 on 1 sessions which will be held just before the Summer music exams season.

(Photos from last year’s summer competitions)

Classes are as follows:

Sunday 18th May:  Childrens’ Concerts, entry deadline 25th April.

Summer half term 1 on 1 sessions, competitions and workshops, entry deadline 25th April.

Tuesday 27th May.
1.30pm – 3.15pm. Mock exams. Grades 1 to 8. ABRSM and Trinity Syllabuses.
3.30pm to 5.30pm. Exam preparation (musicianship).

Weds 28th May.
2pm – 4.30pm Youth Music Competition category 1. Grades 0 – 2.
4.30pm – 5.30pm. Filmed Performances.

Thursday 29th May.
2pm – 4.30pm. Youth Music Competition category 2. Grades 3 – 4.
4.30pm – 5.30pm. Filmed Performances.

Friday 30th May.
2pm – 3.30pm: Intermediate – advanced workshop with Emily Macdonald.
3.30pm – 5.30pm. Music Theory boot-camp.

(For more information, class prices and entry forms please contact Susanna direct on on 07720 770153 or email [email protected]).

Sunday 8th June:  Adults and advanced students Concert, entry deadline 25th April.

The events will be raising money for ‘amaze’ a brighton based charity supporting parents with special needs and once again Ackerman Music will be sponsoring us! All class fees will be discounted for pupils of SCMT.

Please do feel free to let us know in advance if there are any classes you’d like to attend, or others that you think might benefit you or your child in particular…and don’t forget the entry deadline for all of the festival events is 25th April!

Sponsored by:                                                             Proudly supporting:

In our last Bach blog we discussed his life between age 23 and 38. It was during this time he wrote 2 of his most famous works. The 6 Brandenburg Concertos and The Well-Tempered Clavier. So what was it that made these 2 such iconic works….

The Brandenburg Concertos

This is a collection of 6 concertos, all for a different line up of instruments. A concerto is an instrumental work for one or more solo instruments accompanied by an orchestra. Throughout the 6 concertos Bach featured many solo instruments, including, trumpet, violin, recorder, harpsichord. All with difficult passages that required great technique. These concertos are so highly regarded due to the virtuoso style that is required, the different array of instruments, the use of solo and group texture and the emotion that can be felt in each movement….. they really were far ahead of their time!

The Well-Tempered Clavier

This is a book of 24 preludes and fugues, for keyboard instruments, in all the major and minor keys. Bach created this as an educational work, containing different styles and techniques to aid a students development. It is believed Mozart may even have studied from this book! It was a hugely influential work that is still used in piano lessons today…

We have a lot of students taking their ABRSM exams today and we just wanted to wish them the best of luck! We have our fingers crossed for you and look forward to hearing all about it. It won’t be long till we get the results in….

So in our last Bach history blog we had left Bach at 23, so what happened next….

Bach’s next post was a organist and chamber musician for Duke Wilhelm Erns, back in Weimar. He stayed here until 1716. He wrote a great many cantatas and he also began writing music for the harpsichord here. This is where most of his major organ works were created, including many preludes and fugues. Bach had become fascinated with the organ and over the years made lots of improvements to the organ that can still be seen today.

By this point Bach was a well payed musician, he had several promotions and was even referred to as “the famous organist from Weimar”. He was married (to Maria Barbara) and now had children too!

After many years at Weimar Bach was given the prestigious post as Capellmeister in Kothen. He stayed here from the age of 33 to 38. It was here he composed some of his most famous works. Including the 6 Brandenburg Concertos and the collection of harpsichord music known as the Well-Tempered Clavier, these will be the subject of our next Bach blog!

He really was a prolific composer…. how many Bach pieces have you played?

Souce: www.jsbach.org

Well our Jonathan certainly does get around! He is now playing bass for Kian from Westlife… you can catch him on today’s Blue Peter. He has also been on ITV’s This Morning and next week he will be on Loose Women. Way to go Jonathan, we are a proud bunch here at SCMT!

Jonathan currently has spaces for new students on a Friday so please contact Susanna direct on 07720 770153 or email [email protected] if you would like to have bass guitar or piano lessons with him!

In our last blog regarding this month’s featured composer we talked about Bach’s early life. It was the start of his composing career and most of the works he produced then were church cantatas and the early structure of the toccata and fugue. In this we will explore the those to forms of music…. don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz at the end!

Church Cantata:

First developed in Italy the cantata was in broad terms a composition for voice or voice and instruments. Originally a single movement (section of music) by the time Bach started to compose it usually contained several movements of different feel and tempo (speed). Bach wrote many different styles of Church Cantata, hymns for the congregation using text from the bible and more advanced chorale music for the musicians of the church.

Bach is often hailed as the greatest cantata composer of his time. He used more complex harmony and structure than many of the composers of the same period.

Toccata and fugue:

This was in fact 2 works of music put together. The toccata being a very virtuoso (for a player of high standard) piece with difficult technical passages rather than the development of a musical theme. Followed by the fugue, a work with many parts often played by one instrument such organ, harpsichord and piano. One or more musical themes played by two or more different parts moving independently from each other. If you think back to when you would sing the nursery rhyme London’s Burning in a round this is similar to how a fugue works.

Bach wrote many of these for organ, his most famous probably being Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

Sources:

www.jsbach.org

www.emmanuelmusic.org

www.oxfordwesternmusic.com

As you may know SCMT have picked JS Bach as March’s Composer/Musician of the month. So we thought we would give you a little history on this great composer.

Bach was born in Germany, 1685 into a very musical family. It was thought his father taught him to play violin and harpsichord and his older brother introduced him to the organ. At 15 he managed to get a place at a music school where he studied for 2 years.

Bach’s first job was straight after school as a violinist for the Duke of Weimar’s private chapel. But it was not long before he got his first job as an organist in Arnstadt. This is where he really started to flourish and where his earliest compositions were written. Most or his works at this point were church cantatas and the start of his work on the fugue. This was developed further in his next position as church organist in the town of Muhlhausen.

This takes us up to 1708 and Bach was only 23. In our next blog we will discover what church cantatas and fugues are all about…

Souce: www.jsbach.org

SCMT are incredibly pleased to introduce you to 2 new music teachers that have just joined us. We have Louis, a brilliant piano teacher and Adrian, a fantastic singing teacher. Below are their teachers profiles. Please contact Susanna direct on 07720 770153 or email [email protected] if you would like to have music lessons with either Louis or Adrian. Remember your first lesson is free with no obligation to book and we will provide you with all the start up materials you need!

Here at SCMT we are delighted to announce that we will be adding extensively to our Concerts and Competitions timetable this coming summer term and re-naming the run of events as the SCMT Youth Music Festival!

We will be holding our usual Summer Concerts.  We’ll also be repeating the Competitions… AND we’ll be adding some fun (and very useful) workshops and 1 on 1 sessions which will be held just before the Summer music exams season.

We’re hoping to cater for everyone, so here is a list of classes so far arranged:

Sunday 18^th May:  Childrens’ Concerts.

Summer half term 1 on 1 sessions, competitions and workshops.

Tuesday 27^th May.

Weds 28^th May.

Thursday 29^th May.

Friday 30^th May.

(to include competitions, Grade 5 Theory boot-camp, filmed recitals, mock exams for ABRSM and Trinity syllabuses, performance appraisals, aural training, intermediate/advanced Master-classes).

Sunday 8^th June:  Adults and advanced students Concert.

The events will of course be raising money for charity again (specifics to be confirmed next week) with fees discounted for pupils of SCMT.

Please do feel free to let us know in advance if there are any classes you’d like to attend, or others that you think might benefit you or your child in particular!

SCMT’s lovely singing teacher Keith has spaces for new students. He is a fantastic singing teacher, his teacher’s profile can be found below. Please contact Susanna direct on 07720 770153 or email [email protected] if you would like to have singing lessons with Keith. Remember your first lesson is free with no obligation to book and we will provide you with all the start up materials you need!

Profile – Keith P (Singing)

As a professional singer and singing coach Keith has years of experience in the music industry.   Beginning his training in the heart of Manchester at the age of 4 years old his voice work began in choirs, stage school and semi-professional theatre work. Keith later moved on to complete a BTEC in Performing Arts, followed by a degree in Creative Arts. With 12 years experience of teaching privately, as the music teacher at Stage Coach Theatre school, and running his own adult singing groups he prides himself on his commitment to draw out natural ability and nurturing talent whilst delivering the gift of confidence to his students.  With a huge passion for studying music in all its forms, theory, songwriting and performance, Keith enjoys using a variety of vocal techniques to enable his students to master and develop their individual style. By teaching all genres of music his students can master their voice by using healthy exercises to improve range, diction, tone and style whilst maintaining their own identity.  Whatever the current level you can expect a relaxed and enjoyable approach to improving your singing voice.

This Month’s Composer/Musician of the Month is Johann Sebastian Bach. March is Bach’s birthday month, he would have been 329 this year had he not died in 1750!

Bach was a German composer of the baroque era. He had a huge impact on western music, aiding the development of counterpoint, harmony, structure and form during this period. We will be looking at all of his compositional techniques over the coming month and taking a good look at some of the great works of this prolific composer.

SCMT’s February Composer/Musician of the Month is coming to a close, but just one more interesting fact before we move on. We already know that John Williams is a great film composer, composing some of the most memorable film scores in the last 50 years, but he is also a brilliant conductor. He can be seen conducting many of his film scores across youtube.

For 13 years he was principal conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra.  Today he can still be seen conducting the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at special events. 

Conducting is a great musical skill to have, so why not ask your tutor this week if you can learn how to conduct…..

We have just seen the end of this year’s Winter Olympics, but did you know that John Williams composed the theme music to four Olympic Games?

“Olympic Fanfare and Theme” – 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles

“The Olympic Spirit” – 1988 Summer Olympics, Seoul

“Summon the Heroes” –1996 Summer Olympics, Atlanta

“Call of the Champions” – 2002 Winter Olympics, Salt Lake City

Just another string to the talented man’s bow!

Did you know John Williams, this months featured composer/musician is award winning?!

He has won 5 Oscars, 4 Golden Globes, 7 BAFTAs and 21 Grammys.

His Oscar wins include Best Music, Original Score for Jaws, Star Wars and ET. Not only did he win 5 oscars but he was also nominated 48 times, this is second only to Walt Disney. He really is a talented film composer…..

Born – 8th Feb 1932….. and he’s still alive today!

Lives – Los Angeles

Education – Julliard School of Music – New York

Occupation – Film music composer

Most popular movie scores – Jaws, Star Wars, E.T, Superman, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter…. and many more!

Watch this space for more on our Composer/Musician of the Month! You can also find video, pictures and more information on our social media sites, just click the buttons on our homepage to find them!

Here at SCMT we are pleased to announce the launch of “Composer/Musician of the Month”. Each month we will feature a different composer or musician. This will include history, videos, photos and music across our website and social media sites.  We really appreciate any comments/shares/likes… so please join us and get involved!

This month we will be featuring John Williams, an American film music composer. He was born on the 8^th Feb 1932 so in homage to Williams we are launching our Composer/Musician of the Month on this day.

Watch this space for more on John Williams……

Susanna Cassam Music Tuition is now recruiting singing, violin, cello and saxophone teachers to teach one to one private lessons in and around Brighton and Hove.

Tutors must have grade 8 on their principle instrument, teaching experience, references, a CV available… and will be subject to a detailed vetting process.

Great rates of pay.

Must be able to teach from your own home and travel to students home.

Own transport preferable, if you do not have your own transport you must be willing to travel across Brighton and Hove for lessons.

Flexible hours, from 3-20 hours a week.

If you do not have CRB that can be obtained through us.

Please contact Susanna direct on 07720 770153 or email [email protected] for more information.