“There were scores of kids up dancing”. Who would have thought that Mozart, Vivaldi, Shostakovich and Holst interspersed with themes from films, TV shows and games would have had the students who participated in the Martinborough Music Festival (MMF) classical music outreach programme dancing in the aisles?
The Martinborough Music Festival Trust has run a classical music appreciation outreach programme for the past 5 years. Ed Allen, chair of the Trust Board, organises the programme.
It was no mean feat co-ordinating students and graduates of the NZ School of Music (a brass quintet and a string quartet), and the teaching staff from eleven schools, to find suitable dates to present the programmes.
Approximately 700 students from 7 primary schools: Martinborough, Kahutara, Pirinoa, St Theresa’s, South Featherston, Greytown, South End (Carterton) and Carterton, and 3 secondary colleges, Kuranui, Wairarapa and Makoura, took the opportunity to learn more about classical music from these young musicians. Five of the schools had presentations from the brass while the remaining six had the strings.
The musicians explained that music was about telling stories. When listening to music, what did it make them think of? What story did they think it was telling? Was it happy or sad? The workings of their instruments were explained and the versatility of each was demonstrated.
An accessory which was described by one of the trumpet players as “looking like a toilet plunger” was, in fact, a mute. The audience were fascinated as they heard how this amusing-looking piece of equipment could transform the more familiar trumpet sound they know to one commonly used in jazz ensembles. Playing a Gershwin classic showed this muted difference.
The French Horn player declared that her instrument was the “best of the brass”. She said that it was the French Horn which was often given the best of the tunes in film scores, demonstrating with excerpts from Star Wars in which a minimum of 8 French Horns played the theme. The two trombone players then gave a rousing rendition of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries. Could the drama of that composition be captured by French Horns?
The outreach programme is also a learning experience for the musicians who present the sessions. They provide an opportunity to gauge how well they can connect with their young audiences. The lead presenter for the string quartet, violist Hayden Nickel, had his audience in the palm of his hand. It was Hayden who had the students dancing in the aisles and keen to come up on stage and rap to the beat. His cheerful banter elicited lots of enthusiastic responses to questions. Having said that, all the quartet musicians moved among the students, constantly maintaining contact with them.
Teaching staff from the schools were very enthusiastic about the outreach programme and are keen to be involved in future; one principal said “these guys are 10/10. We’d have them back again”.
It was an enjoyable and satisfying opportunity for MMF to inspire a new generation of musicians and music lovers, with the support and enthusiasm shown by the schools.
A parallel programme for the wider community is run by MMF in collaboration with the Martinborough Business Association and Medici Café via the Medici Lectures. Charlotte Harding organised the 2022 lecture schedule. “How to listen to Classical Music” was presented by Radio NZ Concert producer, David Houston. His interesting talk was much more than the title suggested. It was well attended.
