Happy New Year Everyone!

As 2018 rolls around, here’s a quick round up of upcoming plans, as we continue to push our classes and give our Music Box kids the best opportunities possible to learn and grow as musicians, singers and performers.

Just this past month, we received Funding that will benefit all our students.  We now have access to high quality voice recorders, and a camera that will allow us to record our work and improve our performance throughout the year.  It’s a great opportunity for us to improve our confidence levels, work on individual performance and see where we can improve, as well as record our group and solo work to share with everyone.  Our older students will also share in the organising of this and hopefully learn how to use the equipment.  I’ll be sending home sheets/asking you to pop in to sign a sheet before we begin – outlining permissions (recording/broadcasting of performances etc).

Guitarists (especially older classes) will have continued/expanded access to additional teachers, to further work like power & barre chords, theory, scales and chord variations, and we’ll really be drilling those scales etc to create more independent & creative musicians. Our beginners are a smart crew and they are moving fast so far so they will be well ready for a show in summer 2018.

Singers will work on more lots of great lively songs, but we’ll also work on more harmony, our posture, performances, singing exercises etc and continue to up our game and become more professional!  I’m hoping to be able to line up a special performance for each of our singing groups this year in addition to our regular summer shows, and of course the recording plans above will be a big part of their year too!

Boogie Bugs have grown so much, and I’m excited about the prospect of sharing more of what they learn through music, and their amazing input into the songs we sing together with our new recording equipment.  You’ll be surprised what they know, how they take part and hopefully once we get over the excitement/shyness of a camera being sometimes present, we’ll be able to share some great things with you! We also continue to add new instruments and props, which also travel with us to area preschools.

As we approach Summer, classes will continue as always till the end of June, with the help of some great additional teachers – many we’ve worked with before. I hope to work until the end of May myself, by which time all shows and plans will be in place.  I’m looking forward to our new baby co-operating timewise so I can at least attend the summer shows 🙂 :-).  With some of our Wee Glee original members graduating to Secondary School, it’s an important one for me, as they move on to their next big choirs and our hard working younger singers take the lead into a new year.

Of course we’ll still have our Music Box Summer School, with lots of music making and songwriting opportunities with myself and visiting tutors.  This summer school books out ever year and is a very unique opportunity for children to take part in meaningful and creative work at such young ages. We learn so much working together and those skills and the confidence to use them stay with us for life! I continue to learn also, taking part in songwriting workshops myself to see what new ideas I can bring to the children to simplify the process and make it accessible to everyone. I also hope to challenge many of our capable musicians to pick up a different instrument that week and try out something new.  I’ll have a selection on hand!!

Thanks so much for sticking with The Music Box, we’re getting better all the time, learning from each other, taking cues for our future from the children and what they need and want to learn and hopefully they are enjoying the work too! See you in the new year, it’s going to be a special one!!! ❤