SHIRBURNIAN SENIOR SCHOOL
PERFORMING ARTS MUSIC There is a reason music is found in every known culture. Music moves us on so many levels. When listening to music that you enjoy, dopamine, the ‘feel good’ chemical and serotonin, the ‘happy’ chemical are released into your brain giving you a sense of pleasure and boosting your mood. With the pandemic never far from our minds, music has proven to be another way to alleviate stress and anxiety. We are delighted that at Sherborne Qatar, our pupils have managed to continue their musical development and education, even when faced with the challenge of blended learning. It has not only been used as a welcome distraction from daily routines, some pupils have excelled in shaping their performance and composition skills by exploring new, innovative platforms in which to be creative with. In Year 7, pupils have been developing their understanding of the elements of music and families of instruments. Through listening and analysis they have applied their learning to compose music which tells a story and have been performing percussion pieces in the style of ‘Stomp!’. Year 8 and 9 have engaged in a variety of exciting topics in which they became composers for the movies as well as learning about different rhythms from around the world. The pupils had the opportunity to explore the music and traditions from a country that is personally significant to them, sharing their work with others and broadening their understanding of different cultures that are important to their classmates. We saw some excellent, insightful presentations and all learnt something new! Our GCSE pupils have persevered with their creative journey throughout this year and there has been an increase focus on the use of music technology to produce some excellent original compositions and performances. We are proud of the progress that they have made and the committment they have shown despite the challenging circumstances. We have continued to hold concerts and recitals, albeit virtually, with pupils performing from home and socially distanced in our auditorium. Some of our pupils even went to a recording studio to get their best quality performance! We have showcased compositions, original songs, exam performances and performances simply for pleasure from both experienced and novice musicians alike. We love the watching our pupils grow and flourish in this unique part of the curriculum and hope that they will develop a life-long interest in Music.
92
