Hello from Vicky

Hello everyone!

I am a new addition to the team of fantastic musicians already working here at Big Noise in Raploch. I have loved my first couple of months here and I was lucky enough to be part of this year’s summer school. This gave me the opportunity to get to know a lot of the string pupils, and since the new school year has started I think I have now met all of the children.

This week, the new team of woodwind, brass and percussion musicians have been working with primary 6 and 7 for the very first time in school. Some of these children will already play a string instrument, although the majority will not have been involved in Big Noise so far.

As you may already know, the instruments I will be teaching are the trumpet and the French horn.  The other brass teachers are Andy and JP, who will be teaching trombone, tuba and euphonium.  We have been working our new students exceptionally hard this week and trying to get them into good shape for joining the new sections of the orchestra. This week alone we have covered a lot of basic training including standing to attention, marching exactly together and our Big Noise military tune (hopefully all whilst having fun too!)

I am very excited about going on my first trip with Big Noise, when this week we are going to see the Simon Bolivar Quartet. They are going to perform a special concert just for us in Edinburgh. There will be four coaches departing full of Big Noise children, parents, musicians and volunteers, let’s just hope the adults know how to behave themselves, especially those string musicians!

Josip's Blog

Hi everyone,

I am one of the new teachers at Big Noise in Raploch. As Guido mentions below, we started our jobs with a one-week trip to Venezuela at the beginning of July. Since he already told you a little bit about Venezuela, I will talk about my impressions of Big Noise and our work in Raploch.

We are coming to the end of an intensive summer school, which has lasted for almost the whole school summer holiday. I have been travelling to Raploch every day, working with the kids in the morning and with my new colleagues in the afternoons (and playing a bit of football at lunchtime!). It has been really interesting to see the way in which the programme encourages children to enjoy music and work together, as well as to think about all the possibilities for the future as they master their instruments more. I like to think that we are encouraging greater enjoyment of music, not only among the kids, but among their families too. The 'take a musician home for tea' scheme, whereby a few of us at a time go to play in the homes of our children's families, is a great idea to make sure it's not just about the occasional concert, but a regular feature in the community.

For me, coming from Croatia, this has also been a summer school in Scottish accents! I moved here last September, and although I have been speaking English on a daily basis for almost 10 years now (I used to live in the USA), I have to admit it was a bit of a struggle! Spending so much time with
the kids in Raploch, as well as on the commute to and from Glasgow with the other teachers, has been an excellent crash course, although I still have a long way to go before I can keep up with the banter!

So, that's all from me for now. I hope you can join us at the concert on Friday!

Guido's First Blog

Hello to you all, I am one of the new Musicians to join the Big Noise team – I play and teach the viola and violin. I have been involved now for only two weeks, and so much has happened already. Of course, that involved a week in Venezuela – what a way to start a new job.

Of the new wave of Musicians, there are three of us that join the string teachers already here. But this year there is a whole lot more for Big Noise: we have new woodwind, brass and percussion Musicians to complete the orchestral program – and all the staff are very excited to see the full symphony orchestra develop.

Venezuela was of course a great experience, mainly because of what there was to learn from El Sistema. We witnessed an enormous variety of performances by the children in and around Caracas. We were given a committed afternoon of concerts by children with disabilities and we saw another 300 or so children rehearse some Mahler with Sir Simon Rattle. Then we visited a Nucleo where they were teaching young people in the program how to build and repair string instruments, and we listened to the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra rehearse with Gustavo Dudamel.

We spent a lot of time during the week watching the children practise in their typically very structured and disciplined manner – they work very hard, but they also have plenty of fun. Their approach to music and expression is very direct and positive, confidence seems to glow from the children, and above all, they seem to love what they do. I was so inspired – I felt utterly privileged to be there.

And then we got back to business – to our nest egg in Raploch. Those of us that are new have had a huge amount to learn, and we are doing our best to integrate into the way of this wonderful concept that is Sistema Scotland. We have met most of the children, and now that there are a lot more men on the scene, the children are enjoying plenty of football at playtime!

Aimee's Blog

A big birthday hello from Big Noise!  We celebrated our much awaited second birthday concert on Sunday - featuring our  Yellow Orchestra, the Purple Orchestra and members of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.  We had a full house of excited parents and friends as well as lots of guests and members of the community. 

 The concert was action packed and filled with special treats - highlights including a sparkling rendition of 'Mission Mars' performed by all three orchestras as well as a show- stopping performance of Big Joy - featuring the voices of Stirling City Choir.   The Yellow Orchestra were on top form in their performance of 'Happy Birthday' , playing so well that a sparkling full size birthday cake appeared in the second verse.  The audience were brought to their feet for a bit of a boogie as the Purple Orchestra set the scene for 'Move Your Body' - a jazzy number with walking bass and lots of grooving!  And as if that wasnt enough excitement, the concert finished with a bang - as confetti canons showered performers and audience with a colourful downpour!

 So what's next?!  Well our primary one musicians are now preparing for their celebration concert on June 17th - where they will perform on both their newly acquired real instruments as well as their paper models.  They will also be presented with a special certificate and a letter welcoming them to attend summer school at the end of June.