On This, A Winter’s Night is a creative performance project for upper primary schools conceived as a celebration of song, verse, music and light to mark the turning of the year and the transformation of the autumn season into the magic of winter. With poetic and artistic responses to winter and its many varied festivals, it brings together songs from around the world from a rich mix of genres alongside original creative writing and beautiful handmade lanterns made by the participants which light up the stage of the end of project performance.
The number of singers and schools involved depends on the size of the venue for the final event. Following a CPD session with all teachers involved, Love Music delivers 4 or 5 singing workshops for each school class or choir to develop singing techniques, support teachers in the learning of the materials and provide an exciting and inspirational lift to all taking part. Class teachers and choir leaders continue the learning in between visits, and for the final workshop singers are joined by guest musicians who sing alongside the choirs in the performance event with a professional band.
Learning is supported with both written and audio resources, meaning that teachers don’t need to be able to accompany their groups, but instead can use the audio tracks provided.
The performance day is exciting, with all singers meeting each other and singing together in a massed choir for the first time. Each group has the opportunity to listen to and learn from the others as they rehearse their songs alongside the professional musicians. The rehearsal schedule is carefully organised so that each group has adequate breaks in the day and so the singers are ready to perform with enthusiasm and energy in the event!
We asked the teachers who have taken part in the project to tell us what they thought the long-term educational or personal impact of the project on their students would be, and they told us:
– Â Increased confidence
– Â Life-long memory
– Â Opportunity for children to understand and respect the needs of others
– Â Sense of pride, self-respect and achievement
– Â Deeper understanding of musical vocabulary
– Â Increased independence when singing and performing
– Â Improved awareness of the importance of diction
– Â Ability to sing in two parts – skill of listening but not listening!
On This, A Winter’s Night was developed in partnership with The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh.
Previous performances
2nd Dec 2019, The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
The participating primary schools were from: Castleview, Corstorphine, Oaklands, Pencaitland, St John Vianney RC, St Mark’s RC and The Royal High. The project was supported by The Cruden Foundation, Grant’s of Bathgate, Culture & Business Fund, Scotland, Dr David Summers Charitable Trust, The Ettrick Trust and Queen’s Hall Members and was presented by The Queen’s Hall in collaboration with Love Music. Guest musicians were Louis Abbott and Sarah Hayes from Admiral Fallow, performing alongside Dave Milligan (piano), Tom Lyne (bass), Richard Kass (percussion), directed by Stephen Deazley and with Elspeth Murray leading the creative writing part of the project. Lanterns designed by Hilary Matthews.
3rd Dec 2018, The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
The participating primary schools involved in the first project and event were from: Broughton, Buckstone, Granton, Oaklands, Taobh na Pà irce and Trinity. The project was supported by The Cruden Foundation & The JKLM Trust & The Queen’s Hall Members and presented by The Queen’s Hall in collaboration with Love Music. Guest musicians were The Jellyman’s Daughter, performing alongside Brian McAlpine (piano), Tom Lyne (bass), Richard Kass (percussion), directed by Stephen Deazley and with Martin Riley leading the creative writing part of the project and performance. Lanterns designed by Hilary Matthews.
Endorsements
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It was such an exciting experience – something we’ll never forget!
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A unique opportunity for our pupils to be part of something that is city-wide and does not separate additional needs from mainstream schools. Having non- and pre-verbal children welcomed into a choir is just wonderful.
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It was great to observe Stephen’s teaching methods and I have already begun to incorporate these into my own teaching.
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It was one of the highlights of my teaching career.
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Magical, beautiful, overwhelmingly emotional.
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Expertly managed and produced not only in corralling 200 children on the concert day but during the complex logistical exercise organising workshops for the schools over several months.
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It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
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It gives pupils an opportunity to perform and succeed… to work collaboratively with other schools and professional musicians.
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It was great to perform out of school at such a large event, in front of people we didn’t know.
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Some of my quieter class members really surprised me by how easy they found it to express themselves with such confidence.
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Everyone should get to feel as amazing as I did.