Our Magnificent Musical Community!

The past few weeks have shown how amazing our musical community is. Musicians, staff and families. It is unique, it is special, it is humbling, it is amazing. The images below, one from Saffron Hall, one from Ghent, are examples. In Ghent, thousands enjoyed and celebrated our music, your musicians.

When you are part of it, you put your heart in it.

How true.

Enjoy your summer and 'thank you for the music'.
Mark Taylor,
Director of Music

Saffron Hall 2023

Ā A unique, special moment in the history of our school that concluded with a standing ovation for Alison. Pictures will be added shortly and one is attached here.
250 musicians. 500 in the audience. A concertĀ hallĀ literallyĀ bouncing with the amazing music that our musicians - students at Simon Balle from Years 2 - 13, plus our adultĀ choir - created.

 

 

At Saffron Hall, I sang three songs with Chamber Choir, which I really enjoyed. Tides was my favourite song to sing; I loved how upbeat and positive it was, and the buzzing atmosphere at Saffron under the stage lights elevated theĀ piece even more. As a whole, I thought the Chamber Choir pieces went really well. Ave Maria was particularly tricky, but singing at Saffron made me feel more confident and excited to sing such fantastic pieces. The highlight of the evening for me has to be singing a solo in When I Grow Up with all the choirs and the Larch orchestra. Especially as I was so nervous, looking behind me to see such a wonderful group of performers made me feel confident and proud to be there. It was an incredibly specialĀ moment to sing in front of so many people as part of such an amazingĀ musical community.Ā 
Sophie, Year 12

Listen to Saffron here!

I enjoyed performing in both the Senior Choir and Strings Ensemble for the Simon Balle musical Summer Showcase at Saffron Hall.
The atmosphere was incredible and seeing the audience enjoy the performances really made the months of practice worth it.Ā 
Performing When I Grow Up was very special because I first sang this piece when I was in Year 2. It was one of the first times the choirs sang as an all-through. This time at Saffron Hall, I was able to perform as a secondary student alongside Larch.Ā 
I especially liked the end of the showcase when Mrs Saunders danced bare foot on the stage!
Everyone was up on their feet joining in.Ā 
I canā€™t wait to do it all again!
Summer, Year 7

8 Diplomas - University Level recitals

I am delighted and proud to announce that eight Year 12/13 musicians have achieved a diplomaĀ in music.

DipLCM - Gabriel and CiaraĀ  (piano), Sam Portas (drums), Ada (popular vocals), Patrick and Jacob (classical saxophone),Ā  - Daniil, (Jazz saxophone).

ALCM - Luke. Saxophone - the music of Charlie Parker. The hardest diplomaĀ we have ever had at Simon Balle. Weā€™ve had a few! Lukeā€™s level of musicianship was off the scale.

As part of theseĀ diplomas, our musicians have performed at the most challenging standard for their age. Charlie Parker, Bebop, Dave Weckl, Beethoven, Bach, Debussy, Philip Glass, french saxophone repertoire and much more. Eight Simon Balle musicians performing at an incredible professional standard. I can't state enough the level of achievement for these musicians. What I do know is that they could only have achieved this at Simon Balle - the distinct ethos, the time provided for us to get it right and the inspiration created throughout our work. This is something to shout from the rooftops.

Music Tour to Ghent

Our Concert Band, Saxidentals and Big Band have been away on Music Tour! They have performed in a variety of places. from Dunkirk to Ostend to Ghent's main stage!

This was our first return to Ghent since 2019, so it was brilliant to be back! Please enjoy the videos of our performances:

A Celebration of Alison Saunders

On Wednesday, staff gathered to celebrate Mrs Saunders' time at Simon Balle.

Big Band provided musical entertainment - please see the images >

It was a lovely way to finish the term and celebrate Alison.

Goodbye to our Year 13 Ambassadors!

It is time to say goodbye to our Year 13 Music Ambassadors; Jacob, Luke & Patrick.

Over the last couple of years, they have assisted many supervised practices, supported numerous Larch musicians in ensembles and set up for countless events.

They have played a crucial part in Team Music, and we couldn't have done it without them. We are very proud of them!

We wish them the best of luck in September!

A Reminder for Larch families!

Use this link to see our Teaching & Ensemble weeks for next year - https://www.simonballe.herts.sch.uk/music/in-the-larch/

Please keep a note of these dates. See you in September!

 

Thank you for your support this year, we will see you again in September!

Enjoy our Past Musical Events from this year below!

 

Past Musical Events

Keep an eye on our What's On page!

We will be updating this, ready for the new year!

What’s On