Summer Concert 2016 - Information

Dear students and parents,

IMPORTANT SUMMER CONCERT INFORMATION

Our Summer Concerts will take place on Sunday 26th June at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre. There will be two performances at 2pm & 4.30pm and most students will only perform in one of these shows.

 This year, the students will have the opportunity to play as part of a ‘live’ band (complete with a drummer!), which is an important part of playing an instrument and a great deal of fun!

Most students will play in their class groups with teachers on stage to help and conduct. Each concert should last about 1hr 30mins each and we will have a variety of musical styles, with singers, guitarists, keyboardists and pianists combined to perform ensemble pieces including ‘Eye of the Tiger’, ‘One Day Like This’, ‘Kashmir’ and even some Justin Beiber!

 Tickets go on sale from Monday 9th May and will be priced at £8 adults, £4 Concessions (Senior Citizen/Under 16) plus a booking fee of 50p per ticket. Tickets can ONLY be purchased directly from the venue at the Box office or via the website www.staffordgatehousetheatre.co.uk.

All performers will be seated in the theatre in a designated section throughout the concerts and will not need to purchase a ticket. Performers under the age of 7 will be seated with parents throughout the concert and you will need to ask for a ‘performers free ticket’ at time of booking. Members of staff will escort students from the audience to the backstage area in preparation for their performance. The Gatehouse requires that a parent or legal guardian is present at the venue for any child under 16 who is performing.

As there are ‘Live band’ performances this year, there will be rehearsals for the students to attend prior to and on the day of the concert. Rehearsals will take place at the Music School on Sunday 15th May and Sunday 12th June. There will be allocated times for each performance. On the day of the concerts, there will be short rehearsals between 10.15am – 1.30pm at the Gatehouse Theatre, to enable sound checks and to give students the opportunity to play through the songs. It is very important that as many students as possible attend these rehearsals, so that they feel comfortable with the venue and we can ensure the best sound quality. 

If there are any parents who would like to help out either during the concert as an usher, or on the Sunday morning to help us move equipment to the theatre, please let us know.

As in previous years, we will film both concerts and produce a DVD of which you may reserve at reception. If you do not wish your child to be filmed, please let us know. We ask that there is no flash photography while the students are playing as it can disturb the performance. 

Important information regarding the concert will be posted on Facebook (search for Stafford Music School) and Twitter (@musicstafford), as well as our website www.staffordmusicschool.co.uk. So please keep an eye on these pages to keep up to date.

We hope you are looking forward to the concerts as much as we are and if you have any queries at all, please let us know.

Learn to Play Day - Sunday 13th March 2016

The charity 'Music for All' hold an annual event which gives everyone the opportunity to have a free lesson on a musical instrument. 

At Stafford Music School, we are offering free Keyboard and Piano lessons for all ages between 10am & 1pm on Sunday 13th March.

Each session lasts for around 30 minutes and must be booked in advance. 

So, if you, or someone in the family has always had a burning ambition to be the next Jamie Cullum or Jools Holland - give us a call 07940 228000 or email office@staffordmusicschool.co.uk and book your free lesson today!

Term Dates 2016

Happy New Year to all our students and their families!

We hope you have had a lovely break over Christmas and are looking forward to a new musical start for 2016. 

Below are the term dates for the year so far. We follow Staffordshire School term dates fairly closely but do guarantee 44 lessons per year so there will be some lessons taking place once schools have finished their term. Please note we do teach through half terms. 

Term 2

Tuesday 5th January - Thursday 24th March 2016

Term 3

Friday 8th April - Saturday 30th July 2016.

 

Christmas at Stafford Music School

We are really excited to be taking part in the Christmas Tree festival at St Mary's Church this year. A few of our piano students will have the opportunity to play on the Grand Piano, two of our guitarists will perform with teacher Ben as trio and our groups of vocalists will entertain us with some christmas songs. We are very much looking forward to this! 

Please come along on Saturday 5th December to view the many christmas trees on display and hear our students perform in a really stunning setting. Our students will perform between 10-10.30am. 

On Saturday 19th December between 12-1pm, our vocalists will perform in the Market Square as part of 'Carols around the Christmas Tree' in the Town centre.  We hope if you are in the town, you can come along and support us and we can leave you feeling festive!

Yamaha Music School Keyboard Shows for Key Stage 1!

After a busy day on Thursday 17th September entertaining Key Stage 2, it was the turn of Key Stage 1 on Monday 21st, with Yamaha's Superstar Keyboard presenter Nick Fisher.

We returned to brand new school Veritas Primary Academy to start the day and were greeted with some very musical children who really enjoyed Nick's performance of a number of chart hits including 'See you again,' 'Cheerleader' and of course... 'Do you want to build a snowman?' Next, It was the turn of the children to join in and some were given the opportunity to perform on the keyboards and play one of the first songs we teach on our Junior Play for Keeps course - 'Peacock'.

St John's CE Primary was next on our tour and the children sang along as Nick showed them how many wonderful sounds can be made on the keyboards and how easy it is to play! 

After lunch we made our way to Berkswich CE Primary and had a great half an hour pretending to be 'Peacocks' and inviting three children to play along on the keyboard. The Let's go the Zoo book which is the first book on our Junior Play for Keeps course, is so much fun, that even the staff were taking part in our performance!

Free lesson vouchers were given to all the children after the presentation, so that everyone has the chance to come along to the Music School and see how easy and how much fun it is to play the keyboard. Even better, with eight keyboards in our teaching studio, they can come along with their friends!

If you haven't yet booked your taster lesson for keyboard or guitar, please get in touch - spaces are limited and filling fast! 

Yamaha Music School Guitar shows in Stafford Primary Schools

It's been a busy few weeks here at Stafford Music School, we really have started the new term with a BANG!!!

On Thursday 17th September we had top Yamaha Guitarist Stuart Shields with us in Stafford and we had the pleasure of visiting four Primary schools  - all in one day! First stop was Veritas Primary Academy and we were thrilled to be hosting the first assembly in their brand new hall. Stuart entertained the children of Key Stage 2 with some classic rock numbers and even invited two children (who had never played before) to play along with him! 

Next stop was St Johns CE Primary in Weston Road who enjoyed every power packed minute of the presentation and all left for break time with a smile on their face singing 'Let it Go' - guitar style!

In the afternoon we made a speedy dash to Berkswich CE Primary who enjoyed the presentation so much, that some of the children had a chat with Stuart to express their enthusiasm to be 'as good as he is some day'! 

The day finished with a visit to St Anne's in Baswich, with more amazing guitar solos, some 'Frozen' and more children getting a chance to play along. 

At the end of the presentation, each child received a voucher to come along and experience a free guitar lesson at with us at Stafford Music School during September.

We cant wait to see you and show you how easy it is to learn to play! 

New term starts Thursday 3rd September!

We are looking forward to seeing all our students ready for a brand new term! There has been one or two cosmetic changes at the music school over the summer but the excellent standard of teaching remains!

New classes will begin in October on all courses for group lessons on keyboard and guitar. In October we will introduce brand new vocal sessions and we can also offer a limited number of one to one spaces on classical guitar and bass. 

Please contact us to arrange a free trial lesson on 07940 228000 or email office@staffordmusicschool.co.uk. 

Brand new vocal classes starting on Tuesdays from October!

We are very pleased to announce that we will be starting new vocal classes next term!

Spaces will be available for students with no previous vocal experience as well as those who would like to improve and enhance their skills. 

Whether you aspire to be the next big singing sensation or just have some fun singing along to your favourite songs, we can help!

Please get in touch for further information and register your interest. Email office@staffordmusicschool.co.uk or call us on 07940 228000. 

New classes starting October

New classes will begin in October for all courses and we can offer a free trial lesson throughout September. We will start new Keyboard Classes on Wednesdays and Thursdays after school and on Saturdays. For all those aspiring Guitarists we will have new classes available on Wednesdays and  Saturdays. Places are limited so please get in touch to book a free trial lesson for any of these classes.