Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Visit

The visit of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC) LEAP Ensemble on Monday and Tuesday this week promised to be a real highlight of the Music Department's year - and so it proved.  The LEAP Ensemble are all advanced students from the RBC and they wowed hundreds of people with their playing over the two days.
 
After leaving Birmingham very early on Monday morning the LEAP Ensembles first challenge was to play and record a number of Churchill Academy ear 12 & 13 A level Music students' compositions.  It was such a privilege for our students to hear their compositions played live and to get feedback from staff from RBC.  In turn the response from RBC staff and students was how impressed they were with the standard of our students compositions.

After a quick lunch stop the LEAP Ensemble travelled to All Saints Church, Wrington with students from the Academy to rehearse for the evening concert.  The concert was a very impressive mix of classical (Bach, Beethoven and Arnold), folk, contemporary and popular music and included the world premiere performances of Dan Robinson and Molly Sprouting's (both Year 13) compositions.  The audience came away thoroughly impressed with the standard of musicianship and the variety of music presented.  It truly was a fantastic evening and inspired many of the Churchill students who performed and/or attended to aim higher with their own music making.  

 
An early start on Tuesday morning allowed for the last Year 12 & 13 compositions to be recorded and feedback given before setting up in the Hall ready to perform to over 300 primary school pupils.  And what a performance!  The audible sigh of disappointment when the concert came to an end summed up how much everyone had enjoyed the it.  It was a wonderful mix of styles and genres played with pupils thinking about which instrument to start learning to play.
 

Our thanks must go to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire LEAP Ensemble for making their visit so effective and relevant, rich and rewarding, fun and inspiring.  They have made a heavy investment in time, money and energy for which we are very grateful.  Thanks also go to our valuable partners Churchill Music! who also helped fund this incredibly valuable visit - their funding of the annual primary schools concert has made in a high point in the Cluster's calendar of arts events.