Langley Preparatory School at Taverham HallDirector of Music
Sep. 2015 - Aug. 2018Norwich, England, United KingdomI loved building upon the strong foundation of my predecessor, introducing new ensembles and helping the children to grow in their passion for Music. I saw a large increase in one-to-one instrumental uptake over my time, which I would attribute to the growth in prominence and reputation of music in the school. I was the Musical Director for a number of Musicals, including Oliver!, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and a new musical, the Green Daydream Machine, which I wrote and scored. For each of these musicals, I also pre-recorded the music so that the children could rehearse more freely and we also used these recordings for the performances. I added many ensembles, from the 8 I inherited, to 15 in total, putting on over 60 concerts or performances in my final year. I introduced a number of concerts, including the Six Soirees Series (safe and friendly concerts in which all our children could perform), the Carols Around the Yew Tree (an evening of Christmas Carols, sung outdoors by lantern light), SummerFest (an outdoor festival style concert with picnics and various ensembles and bands performing), Hall Rock Cafe (a termly cabaret style evening for Jazz, Funk, Pop and Rock bands) and the Lunchtime Series (a series of Lunchtime Concerts for our chamber ensembles, streamed live on the internet for parents to watch). I founded an Orchestra in my time at Taverham Hall also, which had it's debut performance at my final Summer Concert at the school. I had also planned ahead for the longevity of the orchestra and music life at the school by establishing a string scheme where all children in Year 2 learned the violin or cello.