Awesome Flute Workshop

We were delighted to welcome internationally recognised flute soloist and chamber musician Lisa Nelsen to Bablake last week for a flute workshop open to young musicians from across the region. Outreach Coordinator and member of our Music department, Mrs Cathy Scott-Burt filed the following report:

"The afternoon began with a fantastic jazz flute piece, played solo by Lisa on her beautiful 14k gold Yamaha 900Series flute. Pupils from Bablake's Senior and Junior Schools, Blue Coat, Hastings High and Tile Hill enjoyed an intense two hours practising breathing, posture, scales, sound production and performance technique.

Aside from an international playing career, Lisa has extensive teaching experience. For the workshop she shared her 'routine' class that she teaches weekly at Wells Cathedral School, as well as working on making scales fun - news to some of our pupils - with lots of top tips on tone production and conquering nerves when performing.

She finished the afternoon by performing 'Fantaisie Pastorale Hongraise' by Doppler, a fantastic virtuoso piece that greatly impressed pupils and staff alike!

I have had the great pleasure of performing with Lisa on many occasions, but to see her working with our pupils was absolutely fascinating. As a string player, I know little about wind technique, so to hear the developing sound through the afternoon and to see our pupils grow in confidence, was really inspiring."

Mr Mark Woodward, Head of Careers, added: "Hearing about Lisa's journey from her parents' pig farm in Canada and the impressive musical pedigree of her siblings, as well as anecdotes from her impressive musical career so far, was fascinating. I am sure all the pupils present at the workshop will have returned home not only with a good number of ideas on how to improve their playing further, but also the resolve to ensure music continues to play a very big part in their lives."

Photograph shows some of the Bablake pupils who attended the workshop. We also thank Dr Scott-Burt who accompanied Lisa Nelsen and our pupils on the piano during the afternoon.