The Music Workshop Company Blog

Each month the Music Workshop Company publishes two blogs. One blog, written by the MWC team addresses a key issue in Music Education or gives information about a particular genre or period of music. The other blog is written by a guest writer, highlighting good practice or key events in Music Education. We hope you enjoy reading the blogs.

To contribute as a guest writer please email Maria@music-workshop.co.uk

Nicole Wilson on the joy of music courses

Posted on 30th November 2023 at 18:03

Photograph of Nicole Wilson holding a violin

This month Nicole Wilson, Artistic Director of Virtuoso International Music Academy, tells of the life-changing music courses she attended as a teen, and how she tries to recreate the experience for the next generation.

Nicole, who is also violin professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London, a freelance leader and Chair of European String Teachers Association (UK) reflects on the value of the arts for young people.

To learn more about the Virtuoso International Music Academy’s next course, visit https://www.virtuosointernationalmusicacademy.com/

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Fanny Mendelssohn Piano Trio Op. 11

Posted on 14th November 2023 at 09:24

Fanny Mendelssohn’s music is now reaching a wider public, having been overshadowed by her more famous brother, Felix Mendelssohn both during her lifetime and in subsequent years. Despite periods of her life where she was unable to compose, Mendelssohn established herself as a composer, conductor and performer in a largely male-dominated environment. Her life highlights some of the challenges female composers have faced throughout history.

We explore her Piano Trio in D minor, Opus 11, which is suggested in the Model Music Curriculum as a piece suitable for Year 5, and offer some activities to help you study the composition.

"Fanny-mendelssohn-9ba7472d-18ca-43cc-9f62-85362217db2-resize-750" by Wikiludiki is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=openverse.

Stuart Hancock: my musical journey as a composer

Posted on 30th October 2023 at 10:48

From hobbyist to professional: my musical journey as a composer

This month on the blog, composer Stuart Hancock tells us how he first began playing and composing music, and the light-bulb moment that led to his career. Stuart also gives us a sneak preview into what promises to be a special event this November: a series of family performances of the classic Oscar-winning film Peter and the Wolf, complete with live orchestra.

MWC is pleased to be able to offer our blog readers a discount on tickets for the 18th November Peter and the Wolf performance - see the end of the post for details.

Saint-Saëns Danse Macabre

Posted on 14th October 2023 at 14:30

This month, in preparation for Halloween – our blog explores the spooky Danse Macabre by Saint-Saëns.

The composition is familiar to listeners all over the world, thanks to its use on film and TV soundtracks, where it has frequently been employed to instil a sense of the uncanny.

With its inventive instrumentation, cleverly arranged to evoke a scene of the dancing dead, the work is suggested as a piece suitable for Year 3 and above in the Music Model Curriculum.

We suggest activities linked to the piece.

Songlines for Parkinson's: how can music help people with Parkinson's?

Posted on 29th September 2023 at 12:34

This month, music psychologist Dr Dawn Rose tells us about Songlines for Parkinson’s, an innovative project she and her research team have been working on with The Music Workshop Company’s Artistic Director, Maria Thomas.

Dawn explains how the course offers a new way of using music to help people with Parkinson’s to manage some of their symptoms.

Holst Mars from The Planets

Posted on 17th September 2023 at 16:40

The Planets is probably Gustav Holst’s most famous work. It captures the essence of each Planet brilliantly; the musical themes are well known and have influenced later works. The piece has been described as an “orchestral suite” but it includes a wordless female chorus alongside the large orchestra. Holst is sometimes described as an underappreciated composer, but The Planets is a piece that’s still very popular – with Jupiter reaching number 7 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame in 2023. It’s a piece that is recommended in England’s Model Music Curriculum.

Image: By Herbert Lambert (1881–1936) - National Portrait Gallery - Portrait NPG Ax7745; Gustav Theodore Holst, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7667183