Cranford Review 2015

GCSE Music
Showcase
2015
NOfA
Summer
Concert
2015
Cranford Community College’s Music
Department held its final GCSE Music
Showcase of this academic year on 1st
July 2015 in the Concert Hall. The showcase has
been running successfully for the past 2 years
and this event was once a again a celebration of
the talented musicians at Cranford.
This year we decided to include students from
years 8 and 9 who will be studying the RSL Level
1 course (GCSE equivalent) from September
2015, to showcase some of the music they have
been working on. The repertoire was chosen by
the students and gave them a chance to perform
and as ever, it was very diverse, challenging
and exciting. For some of the students, it
was the first time they’d performed live to an
audience and they took up the challenge with
great enthusiasm.
Mr Seijas (teacher of Spanish) said: “It was
fantastic to see the students perform to such a
high standard. They really looked like they were
enjoying themselves. I certainly did”.
Mr Fraser (Assistant Headteacher) said: “It’s
really refreshing to see such talented and
dedicated students performing with confidence”.
The students involved were: year 10 GCSE,
Tatyana Baiden, Mercedes Blake, Ahmed
Fadhluddin, Amir Hashemi, Raul Plahe, Zohaib
Salam, year 9 RSL, Teodor Jevtic, Shubdeep
Sethi, Jaiman Bhalsod, year 8 RSL, Shariq
Ahmed, Daniella Bic, Onkar Riyat and Nathan
Thongkom.
The Music Department would like to thank
everyone that came along and look forward to
holding more events like this next year.
Mo Wasiq (Head of Music)
On Wednesday
8th July
2015, musicians from
years 7-11 celebrated
their incredible year
at Cranford with a
packed out concert in
the Memorial Garden.
Despite rain clouds
earlier in the day, the sun
was shining as students
showcased their work in bands, as soloists, with featured
performances from our Chinese visitors from our partner
school in Shanghai, the South Dong Chang Middle School,
the Year 7 Choir and the school NOfA ensemble, who played
music by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev.
The National Orchestra for All (NOfA) is an organisation that
aims to provide any enthusiastic student, regardless of ability,
with opportunities to participate in ensemble music making.
We have been working closely with the organisation for two
years as part of its Conductors for Change (CFC) project
which supports schools in expanding these opportunities and
performing music together. Students spoke at the event, about
the impact this opportunity has had on them both musically
and personally, helping them develop confidence and team
working skills.
Earlier in the term, our students had met with other young
musicians from across the country to rehearse and perform at
the Alexandra Palace at an event organised by NOfA. They
worked with professionalism and dedication, on music we had
learnt here at Cranford, and music they saw for the first time
on the trip and the results were amazing. The students on the
trip, and those taking part in the concert really were a credit
to the school.
Our concert was the perfect opportunity to showcase the
hard work from this trip, as well as the hard work of many
other young musicians at Cranford. In the past two years,
the Cranford music department has really taken on board the
NOfA spirit, and students, particularly in the lower school
have grown hugely in both confidence and skill. I’m sure
those parents and staff who have been at concerts for the past
two years will agree that the students have been going from
strength to strength.
The school’s NOfA ensemble will continue to rehearse and are
looking forward to another year of brilliant trips, activities
and concerts. For more information please contact Mr Wasiq,
Head of Music.
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Leah Mirsky (Music Department/NOfA)