WORKSHOPS
MUSICAL ENRICHMENTS WORKSHOPS (3 - 6 YEAR OLDS)
Drawing on her experience as Directrice of Music at the Montessori Bilingual School of Paris, Bonnie Brown proposes courses designed for children between the ages of 3 and 6, opening the minds and ears of all young musicians who participate.
The programme includes:
- the discovery of world’s greatest and most celebrated composers, through listening and music appreciation
- basic note recognition (solfège / music theory for the young beginner)
- the opportunity to gain experience making music in small ensembles.
- movement and dance activities
By working intensively for 5 days in small groups, a stimulating, enriching and supportive environment is provided to all students. They will be guided and closely monitored by an experienced professional, while learning, discovering and interacting with other children of their own age.
The skill of critical listening is absolutely fundamental to the art of performance and music learning, and is generally not guided nor explained to children. Children are also not often exposed to the vast variety of musical instruments, genres and combinations that exist. The ensemble work that will be undertaken will allow students to discover the sheer joy of music making in groups from 2 to 10.
These courses are specifically designed to either compliment individual private lessons in music, or, for the younger students, to prepare pre-school aged children for future musical tuition. Children are left with a deepened understanding of music, and a fresh and enthusiastic approach to their own regular musical work.
Most importantly, through cementing a solid understanding of the basic essentials of music, and through opening their minds to the infinite possibilities of music making, children will be inspired to continue working with and discovering music in their everyday lives.
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Music Enrichment workshops are held in Paris, 3ème during school holiday periods, for 3 hours each morning during a 5 day period. For the next Workshop dates, please use the contact form here.
DUET / PIANO 4-HANDS WORKSHOPS
Several times per school year weekend intensive workshops are proposed to students with the objective of discovering the joy of making music with others. Young piano students often experience feelings of musical isolation and these workshops aim to combat this right from the earliest stage of piano tuition by studying, rehearsing and ultimately performing with others. The culminating performance on the Sunday afternoon is either for family and friends or, more recently, to an external public (before the Covid19 crisis we were delighted to visit retirement homes as our performance venue). The best duets from these workshops are also ultimately selected for the larger Annual Concert. When students are not rehearsing duets, they are discovering the great performers and composers of musical history as well as working on sight-reading and theory. Workshops encourage a wonderful sense of community, complicity and support amongst the students - the struggles, and the victories, are shared experiences.
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These workshops are open both to existing students and pupils from other teachers. They are bilingual French-English and held in Paris, 3ème. For dates and information about the next workshop, please use the contact form here.
THEORY WORKSHOPS
Organised twice per year directly before the external theory exams, students come together for a weekend intensive in music theory exam preparation. A convivial and amusing way to solidify their knowledge prior to the exams and one that ultimately encourages a feeling of musical community and a supportive environment amongst the students.
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Students undertake practice exams under exam conditions and learn valuable exam techniques in order to be throughly prepared. Many students remark that this experience is vitally useful in not only preparing for their theory exams, but more globally when preparing for exams later at school.
