Blog 4: Go Team (P)igmore
A couple of days late - please forgive us! It's because it has been non-stop here at Magnard Towers - lots and lots of exciting developments!
Wednesday and Thursday last week saw the culmination of our project with Manorfield Primary School! Three weeks of hard work led up to two triumphant concerts - one at the school in front of family, friends and staff, and then followed by the Grand Finale at the Wigmore Hall the following morning, in front of an invited group of guests. There was a heck of a lot to do - we had to teach the members of the Magnard Ensemble the music the kids had composed, then rehearse it, decide how the children would be sat, how each group would get on and off stage, how we would synchronise the music with Kenny's narration, how long this would all take, the list went on and on! Luckily Team Magnard were on top of their game (and, true to form for us, had planned everything down to the last minute), and the children and their accompanying staff made it so easy for us to get the job done and produce an amazing result - all the while making it fun! Also shadowing us was were reps and a cameraman from the City Music Foundation, who documented all the proceedings ready to be made into a short promotional film, which we can't wait for all of you to see.
The two-day extravaganza went off without a hitch, and that is a testament to how well we work together as a team, as well as all the people who supported and made it possible. The invited group of guests at Wigmore included nearly 60 children from a local school, parents, friends, as well as representatives of various organisations within the music industry who are interested in seeing how our Revolting Rhymes and Marvellous Music Project can work. The event had a real buzz, and and the two Roald Dahl inspired masterpieces, The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks got a wonderful reception.
After a ver
y busy afternoon, the quintet reunited on their own (for what seemed like the first time in weeks) to rehearse for various concerts in the first couple of months of 2016. Much coffee and chocolate biscuits were consumed, inappropriate jokes made... and some work got done. Just about. Milhaud has never sounded so sprightly. Paul kindly gave us the use of his living room for the rehearsal, so after we battled the Northern Line at rush hour (ARGH) we reunited with his cats Smurf and Garage (!) and all was right with the world.
And to cap off this week's instalment, below is a picture of the wonderful #TeamPig, with Will Green from Manorfield Primary School, backstage at the Wigmore Hall after the big finale!
Maggerz love and oinks as always,
