School pupils visit for series of musical workshops and masterclasses

This month, pupils from Hereford Sixth Form College, Newport High School and Coleg Gwent attended a series of workshops and classes at the School of Music to assist with their studies.

Sixty students visited the School for workshops in composition and studio techniques, classes on film and musical theatre genres, as well as exploring the facilities on offer at the School.

Current MA students Iestyn Griffiths and Matt Lush helped organise and host the workshops with support from Dr Daniel Bickerton, our Director of Undergraduate Studies. The postgraduate students organised the sessions inspired by their Music Leadership and Public Engagement module, which aims to enable performers and composers to develop and deliver effective and imaginative presentations of musical ideas to the next generation of talented young musicians.

During the sessions, the students learned special orchestration techniques; techniques for analysing and writing about music; how to use Logic Pro X to compose film music; how to compose a song; and effective structuring for new compositions.

Students also enjoyed an informative Q&A session with Matt Lush on pursuing Music in Higher Education, and the challenges of composing ‘original’ music in 2017.

Pupil Ben Southwick from Hereford Sixth Form College said: “I really enjoyed my experience at the School of Music as it allowed me to see what university life in Cardiff is like. It has helped to give me a clearer idea of what I want to do with my education after sixth form.”

The Director of Music at Hereford Sixth Form College, Aryan O. Arji said: “I can’t thank you enough for all the time and effort you put into making the event so well-tailored to our students. They were really inspired and I know many will be making applications to Cardiff.”

Finally, Dr Bickerton added: “Matt, Iestyn and I had the opportunity to work with some really interesting and talented pupils; it’s so important that young musicians have the opportunity to engage with the discipline in this way and we are thrilled to read such positive feedback about the engagement experiences we offer at the School of Music.”