On Saturday 5th December I hosted my third student concert at St Mary with St Alban Church in Teddington.

Esme, 5, plays Jingle Bells

Once again, the concert was well attended by families and friends of the 22 students, aged between 3 and 13, who performed.   There was a bit of a Christmas theme with various versions of Jingle Bells and Silent Night including glissandos, chromatic scales, rhythmic chords and some real bells being rung!

Me with all the performers

In addition to this, six of the students performed their own compositions including brothers Luca, 10  and Ethan, 7, who wrote a dramatic piece called ‘The Fearsome War’ and Iris, 5, who wrote her own piece ‘I Saw Birds’ after only 2 months of learning.

All students introduced themselves and their pieces clearly and concluded their performances by taking a bow.

Ruby, 12, plays Refections

It was lovely to see how those students who had performed before had really grown in confidence since their first performances and also to see how those students performing for the first time overcame any nerves and were clearly pleased with themselves for what they had achieved.  This positive impact on students’ confidence is just one of the many reasons that I am such a big believer in student concerts and I write about these further here.   But ultimately the concert was a fantastic opportunity to share music and to celebrate the students’ hard work.

Click here for a video of Luca and Ethan playing The Fearsome War

Click here for a video of Keiva, 5, playing Rainbow Swing and Soaring at Sunrise.

Did somebody say biscuits?

Handing out personalised biscuits handmade by Antonia, mother to 4 of the performers

Charlie, 11, plays her own composition ‘Whirlpool’

Izzy, 7, and I play Butterfly

Oliver, 10, plays Not So Silent Night

Thea, 9, plays Over the Rainbow with her mother Antonia