Welcome. Issue 5. Showstopper May Contributors. Layout. Mrs Petersen Ms Harmer Mr Freestone Mr Hughes Molly Sykes.

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1 May 2014 Issue 5 Performing Arts Newsletter Date Contributors Layout Mrs Petersen Ms Harmer Mr Freestone Mr Hughes Molly Sykes Chris Wells ROBERT SMYTH ACADEMY Burnmill Road Market Harborough Leicestershire LE16 7JG T: F: E: office@rsacademy.co.uk W: Welcome Welcome to the final edition of the Performing Arts Newsletter for this academic year. Lots of exciting events have taken place since January and we hope you will enjoy reading the reviews and updates in this newsletter. On our academy website you can also view video clips and additional photos from the majority of these events. Looking ahead there are still a few more events taking place this year for which you may wish to join us. On Friday 20th June we are staging a Community Concert with the Jazz Band, Big Band and Soul Band in the Main Hall which is a fund-raising concert for the bands tour to Italy in July. There will be seating around tables, a dance floor, a licensed bar and food platters available. Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday 3rd June from RSA Student Services and Parade Pharmacy in Fleckney and will be priced at 8 adults and 5 Under 19s. Food platters (which will serve 4) will be priced at 10 and tickets for these should also be purchased in advance. We recommend booking early to avoid disappointment. On Wednesday 25th June Chris Wells is staging a final comedy night of the year in The Max whilst Soul Patrol will be performing in a charity concert at De Montfort Hall on Saturday 13th September organised by Rotary in aid of various cancer charities. Showstopper 2014 The annual dance show was a huge success with students showcasing their work to an appreciative audience! The evening was filled with a variety of styles from Ballet, Contemporary and Urban, with students demonstrating their individual talents. All of the year 10 dancers performed a brilliant group piece as well as their own choreographed solos, duets and trios. The year 11 performers shared their exam work which gave them the opportunity to improve their performance skills before their practical exam. The RSA Dance Company performed two pieces; 2day which was performed at the Curve Leicester and a new piece, Showstopper. Both pieces offered variation in contrasting styles. A really fantastic evening celebrating all of the students hard work! Well done to all performers - you were brilliant!

2 Music for Youth Regional Festival Page 2 On Sunday, 22nd March three RSA ensembles totalling more than 50 students from years took part in the Music for Youth Regional Festival at Northampton School for Boys. We entered 5 groups and 3 were invited by Music for Youth to take part in the regional festival: Versatile Voices, Big Band and Soul Patrol. Music for Youth is the largest music festival in the UK. Over 60 regional festivals are held throughout the country during February and March each year featuring about 1600 groups and over 20,000 young people from primary school age to 21. Both instrumental and vocal ensembles of all sizes and musical styles can enter the festival. There are no winners but each group receives written and oral feedback on the day from two music mentors who are themselves professional musicians. Although it is not a competition as such, there is the chance to progress from the regional festival through to the next stage. From the 1600 groups that have performed in the regional festivals across the country about 330 will be chosen for the National Festival to be held in Birmingham in July and from there about 30 groups will be chosen for the Schools Prom at the Royal Albert Hall in November. We have just received confirmation that Soul Patrol has been selected to go through to the National Festival and will be performing in the Rock, Pop and Urban category at the Town Hall in Birmingham on Friday 11th July, the final day of term. This is the sixth consecutive year that Soul Patrol has made it through to the National Festival. Many congratulations to all the band members and in particularly well done to Year 13 students Sherry Trusler and Robbie Campbell who composed two original songs for the band for the regional festival, which undoubtedly helped the band reach the National round. Jazz at the Y Seven of us were picked to be part of the Miles Ahead Jazz Project, led by Dave O Higgins, a renowned jazz saxophonist. The plan was to have three workshop sessions after school teaching us about playing jazz, leading up to a paid concert at the Y theatre in Leicester on Wednesday 7th May. In the first session we learnt the basics of jazz improvisation using different chords with Dave O Higgins himself. He showed us how to improvise using these chords by playing to us. It s safe to say he made it look pretty easy! Marcus Joseph, a cool saxophonist himself, took over the rest of the workshops. He taught us additional improvisation techniques using all types of scales and arpeggios. Over the course of the sessions, we each got the chance to improvise and we began putting together the piece we were going to play at the concert: Autumn Leaves. At the final session, just as we had put the finishing touches to our performance, Marcus decided to teach us another song to play at the concert. No pressure then! The song, St Thomas, was very lively and upbeat and also included improvised solos by almost everyone. On 7th May after school we travelled to Leicester for the concert. We arrived at the venue, the Y theatre, which looked like a proper jazz club. We had a short rehearsal and grabbed a bite to eat before the gig began. Along with a group of students from Beauchamp College we were the warm-up acts for the Dave O Higgins quartet. Beauchamp kicked off the show and we followed with a rendition of Autumn Leaves including improvised solos by almost everyone in the group. We then did a group performance, along with Beauchamp, of St Thomas which also included improvisation. The crowd seemed to enjoy our performance almost as much as we did. Some of us didn t have much experience in improvisations but now we can t wait to perform again! - Molly Sykes GCSE Concert III Wednesday the 5th February saw the second GCSE music concert of the year take place in the Max. It was a sell-out show with an audience of parents and students who had come along to support their friends. The show featured two whole class performances from year 10. One of our AQA GCSE classes performed White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes in three-part harmony with instrumental accompaniment, and the other AQA class performed With a little help from my friends by the Beatles with harmonies and backing band. There were various vocal performances, a euphonium duet and a cello solo. Molly Sykes arranged five popular tunes into a piece for trumpet trio which was performed. Jake Bentley and Taylor Burton discussed their GCSE compositions before playing them to the crowd. The evening ended in style with the band Jonny 1 impressing everyone with a very tight performance of Happy by Pharrell Williams. The quality of the performances was very impressive and again shows how much musical talent there is in the area. We are looking forward to the next one already!

3 Student Success Upper 6 th Leavers Concert The annual Upper Sixth Leavers Concert was held on Wednesday 21st May in the Max. The evening featured a wide range of year 13 acts in a range of musical styles from classical to pop, rock and jazz. Jack Pilcher May performed the first movement of Mozart s Horn Concerto No.1 with a chamber orchestra consisting of RSA students and local players. Other acts included the A2 Music Class, an A2 drama group, the Folk Band, Soul Patrol, and the Big Band as well as many solo acts. The full programme together with photos and videos will soon be made available on the academy website. Page 3 The following year 11 students deserve a huge congratulation for gaining places in further education: Iquan Silcott has gained a place at Addict Dance to study a BTec in dance performance Alicia O Neill has gained a place at BOA in Birmingham to study Musical Theatre Grace Bonner has gained a place at BOA in Birmingham to study Musical Theatre Alana Brooks has gained a place at Northern Contemporary Dance Lucy Astbury has gained a place at Leicester College to study Musical Performance Maddison Wainwright has gained a place at Melton College to study Dance Mackenzie Griffey has gained a place at Leicester College to study Media and Theatrical Make-up Also many congratulations to vocalist Sherry Trusler in year 13 who has gained a place at Leeds College of Music from September following a competitive audition process. Scarecrow Weekend: 13 th -14 th September Lubenham run a very successful scarecrow weekend every year, with live performances from bands and singers throughout on the large green. If you are interested in performing, please contact Mark Buckmaster on or mark.buckmaster@apograph.com. Saturday afternoon is fairly open at the moment. Any questions, please see Ms Hunter. Soul Patrol at De Montfort Hall: Saturday 13 th September Robert Smyth Academy s Soul Band, Soul Patrol, will be performing at De Montfort Hall in Leicester on Saturday 13 th September at 7.30 pm in a charity concert entitled One Voice for Care in aid of LOROS Hospice, Hope Against Cancer and Rainbows Hospice. The concert will also involve several other groups from Leicestershire including a massed male voice choir, Loughborough Endowed Schools Big Band and soloist Kate Bale. The concert will be compered by BBC Radio Leicester presenters Dave Andrews and Monica Winfield. Tickets are now on sale from DMH Box Office

4 Page 4 Past students - Where are they now? Lucy Beech - left RSA in 2009 Lucy studied GCSE and A level music at RSA and played the bassoon in the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra and the clarinet in the RSA Jazz Band. She continued to study music at Leeds University and graduated in Following this she took up an intern placement in the education department of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and in the spring of 2013 she secured a job as Education and Ensemble Assistant for Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, which is one of the main professional orchestras in the UK. Lucy was recently promoted to the post of Participation Administrator at BSO which involves planning rehearsals, concerts and workshops for all the chamber and education ensembles and organising all the work the orchestra does for 0-18 year olds across the south west region of England. Poppy Shortland - left RSA in 2009 Poppy studied GCSE and A level music at RSA and had flute lessons with Kate Cartwright. She proceeded to study music at Manchester Metropolitan University and graduated last summer with a First Class honours degree. She is now studying for a PGCE in Primary Teaching with Music as a specialism. She recently went for her first teaching job interview and successfully got the job beating off competition from 200 other applicants. Her first teaching post is at Swallowdale Primary School in Melton Mowbray, which received outstanding by Ofsted last year. Soul Patrol at Primary Proms On Monday 3rd February Soul Patrol performed for 4000 primary school children at two Primary Proms concerts held at Symphony Hall in Birmingham. The concerts were organised by Music for Youth who stage a few Primary Proms in different cities each year to inspire primary school children to get involved in music and learn an instrument. This was the third time Soul Patrol had been invited by Music for Youth to take part in a Primary Prom having previously been selected in 2009 and 2011 to perform in Birmingham and Nottingham. In addition to Soul Patrol there was also a wind band, a choir and a string orchestra performing creating a very varied concert programme showcasing lots of different instruments and styles of music. Soul Patrol performed 3 contrasting songs: Superstition, sung by Rob Williams, Whatever It Takes, an original ballad written by Sherry Trusler, and We Are Family sung by Rebekah Azeez. We Are Family was the closing number in each concert and this proved a great finale involving lots of audience participation. Male vocalist Elliot Buchanan got all 4000 primary children (and their teachers!) up on their feet and taught them some dance moves before the song started. During the song Rob Williams and Elliot Buchanan split the audience into two groups and got the two sides to sing the chorus and compete against each other in volume. It was fantastic to see all of Symphony Hall clapping, moving and singing. On return to RSA, we received this from one of the primary school teachers: Dear Mr Dean, I accompanied my Year 2 primary school class to Symphony Hall Birmingham today, for the Music For Youth Primary Prom. We were delighted with the whole programme, but were particularly taken with the Sherry Trusler s performance of her own composition: Whatever It Takes. Ironically, the Britain s Got Talent auditions were taking place elsewhere in the ICC and surely couldn t have bettered your wonderful young students in Soul Patrol. I hope you will pass on our heartiest congratulations for their stage presence, quality of sound and interaction with the audience. Yours sincerely, Alison Talliss, Hawthorn Primary School, Birmingham

5 Page 5 Spring Concert 2014 Exactly 100 students from years performed in the annual RSA Spring Concert which took place on Thursday 20th March in the Main Hall. The concert featured 3 excellent 6th form soloists who are all studying A level Music: Emma Dove in year 13 performed the 2nd movement from Mozart s Clarinet Concerto, Anna Goodman in year 12 played the 2nd movement of a flute sonata by York Bowen whilst pianist Liam Hughes in year 12 performed Chopin s Nocturne Op.55, No.1. The concert also showcased all the academy ensembles, six of which are led by the peripatetic teachers who visit RSA each week: the String Ensemble led by Mike Shaw, Year 10/11 Flute Ensemble and Year 12/13 Flute Ensemble led by Kathryn Cartwright, Percussion Ensemble led by Darron Cleary-McHarg, Saxophone Ensemble led by Francine Warner, Versatile Voices Choir led by Debbie Smith, and Advanced Brass led by John Gornall. The other featured ensembles were the Folk Group, which is run by a group of 6th formers, and the Jazz Band, Big Band and Soul Patrol, all directed by Helle Petersen. In addition the staff/parent band Parental Guidance performed; this group includes Deputy Head Mr Pope as well as support staff Jamette Arthur and Tracy Cambridge. Additional photos and videos can be found on the academy website. Boys Singing Workshop In April our students were invited to attend a boys only singing workshop at Leicester Grammar School, along with students from other secondary schools in South Leicestershire. Over 100 boys attended the event, with Robert Smyth joining boys from Kibworth High, Leysland, Thomas Estley, Abington, Brockington, Lutterworth High and Lutterworth College. The event was a great success, with the group learning 3 contrasting songs, learning about canons, augmentation, ritardandos, and of course their developing voices and vocal harmonies. It was really interesting to hear the sounds of our voices merge together Ellis Barthorpe, Year 10 The event culminated in an informal recording session, in which the 3 pieces were polished and performed. They should be available on the academy website soon! Instrumental & Theory Grade Exams Congratulations to the following students who passed their grade exams last term. This information has been provided by peripatetic teachers, parents and students. Details of exam passes can be ed to hpetersen@rsacademy.co.uk for inclusion in future newsletters. Rebecca Iliffe Electronic Keyboard Grade 4 Distinction Laura Muggleton Grade 4 Distinction Music Theory Emilie Frost Grade 5 Distinction Natalie Crook Isabella Ward Greg Burns Tilly Boa Rebecca Appleton Anna Goodman Hannah Johnson Louisa Smith Andrew Martin Flute Grade 5 Merit Grade 5 Merit Grade 5 Merit Grade 8 Pass Grade 8 Pass Grade 5 Distinction Emma Dove Victoria Yarnold Robert Williams Clare Pooley Ashley Cook Lucy Astbury Josh English Clarinet Piano Grade 2 Distinction Voice Violin Grade 5 Distinction Grade 5 Merit Grade 8 Distinction Emily Newlyn Grade 7 Distinction Electric Guitar Dan Robinson Grade 6 Merit

6 Hat-trick for the RSA Jazz Band! On Sunday 2nd March the Robert Smyth Academy Jazz Band competed in the Rotary Young Musician Final for District 1070 which covers the East Midlands. With a score of 94/100 they beat the two other finalists, school jazz bands from Magdalen College School and Manor School, to win the senior instrumental group class as well as the overall group class. The Jazz Band has been in the final every year since they first entered in 2006 and has won 6 times out of 9: in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013 and This is the first time the band has won the shield 3 consecutive times. Page 6 Many congratulations to all the band members for their superb performance but in particular to the six students (marked with a *) who performed an improvised solo in one of the pieces. Flutes: Megan Barnes, Sophie Gray, Rebecca Hix, Alex Whitehouse, Tiffany Wilkinson Clarinets: Emma Cuttle, Liam Hughes, Rebecca Iliffe, Ellen Pollard Alto saxes: Alice Burleigh* (I), Niamh West (I), Harriet Barnett (II) Tenor saxes: Tilly Boa (I), Esme Butler-Davies (II) Baritone sax: Toska Wonfor* Trumpets: Tom Wilson* (I), Sophie Burleigh* (II), Molly Sykes (III), Alice Watson (IV) Trombone: Tom Jenkins Bass trombone: Nick Roberts Piano: Rebekah Weatherby, Jane Earland Guitar: Keelan Hassell* Bass Guitar: Jake Bentley Drum kit: Andrew Blackwell* Adjudicator Comments The adjudicator was Jim Norden. Chameleon by Herbie Hancock, arr. Victor Lopez A lively and precise account with firm rhythmic foundation and excellent balance of parts. Good attention to musical detail and mostly secure intonation. Solos mostly imaginative and well-managed. An impressive opener! One O Clock Jump by Count Basie, arr. Paul Cook This had a really compelling momentum throughout with excellent balance and projection. Secure sectional balance and with excellent attention to musical detail. A well contrasted and presented programme. A level Recitals Monday 7th April three of the 10 students studying A level Music students gave a public lunchtime recital at the Methodist Church in Northampton Road. The three performers were: Clare Pooley (soprano), Jack Pilcher May (French horn), and Chris Packwood (euphonium). Each student performed a varied minute programme which constituted the performance coursework element of their A2 Music course, which counts for 15% of the final A level grade. The performers have all passed Grade 8 so the standard was very high. The concert was very well attended by parents, friends, students, governors and a significant number of people from the general public. Programmes, additional photos and videos can be found on our website.

7 Performing Arts Clubs - Summer Term 2014 Page 7 Monday GCSE DANCE SURGERY The Max Ms Harmer STRING ENSEMBLE Music Block Mike Shaw GCSE MUSIC AQA LISTENING Music Block Mrs Petersen COMEDY CLUB Hammond Studio (or Room 48) Chris Wells Tuesday SAX ENSEMBLE Music Block Francine Warner ADVANCED BRASS Music Block John Gornall FOLK GROUP Music Block 6 th form student led EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC The Max Benjamin Freestone YOUTH THEATRE The Max Ms Bloom Wednesday PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE Music Block Darron McHarg ADVANCED FLUTES Music Block Kate Cartwright VERSATILE VOICES (choir) Music Block Debbie Smith AS/A2 MUSIC DROP IN Music Block Mrs Petersen Thursday FLUTE CHOIR (years 10 & 11) Music Block Kate Cartwright RSA DANCE COMPANY The Max Ms Harmer GCSE MUSIC DROP-IN Music Block Mr Hughes BIG BAND Music Block Mrs Petersen JAZZ BAND Music Block Mrs Petersen RSA DANCE COMPANY The Max Ms Harmer Friday GCSE DRAMA DROP-IN Music Block Ms Bloom ORCHESTRA Music Block Mrs Petersen SOUL PATROL Music Block Mrs Petersen COMEDY CLUB Hammond Studio Chris Wells Audition/selection is only for Soul Patrol, Big Band, Advanced Brass, and The Dance Company. To join any of the other groups simply turn up at the next rehearsal. VAT-Off Instruments Students who wish to purchase a new musical instrument for use with their musical studies in the academy can take advantage of the scheme offered where the cost of purchasing the instrument will not include VAT. Students have to purchase the instrument through the academy and a form must be completed and signed by authorised academy staff before purchasing the instrument. No VAT refunds can be given retrospectively. Further details and an application form can be downloaded from the academy website or contact Mrs Petersen for more details.

8 Performing Arts Events Calendar 2014 Friday 20 th June 7:30 pm Community Concert with Jazz Band, Big Band & Soul Patrol in aid of Italy Tour Main Hall, Robert Smyth Academy Wednesday 25 th June 6:30 pm Super Awesome Funny Night of Turbo Funnies hahaha Part XVII The Max, Robert Smyth Academy Monday 30 th June Sunday 6 th July Jazz Band, Big Band and Soul Patrol Italy Tour Venice, Italy ROBERT SMYTH ACADEMY Burnmill Road Market Harborough Leicestershire LE16 7JG T: F: E: office@rsacademy.co.uk W: Saturday 13 th September pm Soul Patrol in One Voice for Care Charity Concert (organised by Rotary) De Montfort Hall, Leicester Tickets now available from DMH Box Office Our Proud Sponsors Visit us online: