Mrs McKinnell (Music Teacher)

On Friday 28th February, BGS held their first ever String Fest, an ambitious afternoon to celebrate string instruments and to showcase the talent of string players in the school. We wanted to get as many string players involved as possible, and on the day there over 40 girls participated in the event, across a wide range of abilities.

With only a few hours to rehearse their pieces ahead of performance at 4.30pm the girls prepared their arrangements and worked together to fine tune their performances, with many of them working with girls that they had not performed with before. After a few frenetic hours, the girls welcomed their parents before performing three pieces together (Radetsky March, Pizzicato Polka and Colours of the Wind);  the Junior and Senior girls then played their separately prepared arrangements of Don’t Stop me Now for the Seniors, and Au Claire de la Lune and My Grandfather’s Clock for the Juniors.  In addition, some of our co-curricular string ensembles also performed pieces they are currently working on.  

String Fest was an amazing afternoon of teamwork and risk-taking for the students. The girls reflected that it had been hugely beneficial, helping them understand how you make every minute count, as well as helping them learn how to manage nerves and building a supportive network of string players from across the school. It was fantastic to see such a large volume of our string players, from across the Junior and Senior Schools coming together to make music, along with our string teachers and we are already planning the 2021 Spring Fest!