ISSUE
#84
The International Music School founded by Yehudi Menuhin
Newsletter Summer 2023
Registered Charity 312010
Welcome As I look out of my window at the end of the Summer Term, the skies are blue and the school looks beautiful. It also looks, just as it always does, like a hive of activity and it’s a pleasure, just as it always is, to watch each member of the community going about their business and fitting into the complex whole – something like the mechanism of a watch – of a busy music school. Within these pages, you will see just how busy we have been over the last two terms; busy not just in the sense of a job of work, but in the sense of a host of activities that we hope has enriched our pupils’ lives and those of the people who have watched them or otherwise taken part. In March, our concert at Kings Place was a night of extremely varied and enjoyable music that was played by our pupils with their usual skill and enthusiasm. You can always tell, by the
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reaction of the audience, how much the playing of our pupils is appreciated and this was no exception. My congratulations to all involved. Elsewhere you will see how our sister school in Qingdao is making progress, and learn a little about my first trip there along with our Director of Music, Ashley Wass, and you will also hear about our new initiative: the Baby Menuhins. It’s been fascinating, as well as extremely enjoyable, to see how children of such a young age are able to access and appreciate the music that we share with them. There is, I’m pleased to see, plenty of singing and movement, and lots of extremely engaged children, all clapping and dancing along. There have, as usual, been our concerts out in the community at large and also our competition successes. There have been educational trips and there’s another initiative which we’re very proud: our first ever professionally recorded CD, which will be released early
Baby Menuhins
in 2024. It’s certainly a thrill to know that you will now be able to listen to our pupils on platforms as large and popular as Spotify. The school year came to a triumphant close with our Summer Festival, and I would like to thank all of you who supported our concerts. It was fantastic to see The Menuhin Hall sold out for our finale concert and we hope to see more of this in the concert seasons ahead. Take a look at what we have coming up in The Menuhin Hall section. It has been a remarkable end to the school year, as you will see within. It now only remains for me to wish all of you – staff, pupils, parents and friends alike – a happy and restorative summer and to thank you for all you do for the School. Ben Gudgeon Headmaster
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