My Time at Purcell

During the recent Summer Holidays two young students from Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College were given the Opportunity to attend a special composer’s summer at the prestigious Purcell Music school.

Here Helen explains – the 6 day residential school allowed me to work with some top class Composers and Musicians. This was an absolute privilege and an experience I will never forget. I am very grateful for being given this opportunity as I was able to experience and explore aspects of music I have never been exposed to before and also develop my skills as a composer and musician.

During my time at Purcell, I was introduced to different areas of Classical, Jazz, Film and Vocal Music. I was taught how to compose for these different areas and at the end of the week, I had a complete composition specialising in one area. I chose Classical Music and had my piece performed and recorded in a concert by two professional musicians.

Whilst on this course, I did not only compose. We did various performance workshops where we were expected to improvise and simply have fun making music. I was also given time to interact with other the other 75 students that had been selected to attend and also our key composer’s and musicians. I found this very beneficial and learnt so much by simply talking and discussing music without actually being in a teaching environment. It was nice to find out other people’s interests and preferences in music as it helped us all develop ourselves and give us all extra ideas for our compositions. I found all Composers, musicians and students to be very helpful and dedicated to getting a good result by the end of the week.

After coming home and reflecting on my week at Purcell I would definitely jump at the opportunity if it came my way again! It was an overall fantastic experience and since going I have found a completely different love for music. I feel I have grown as a musician since the course and definitely as a composer. Not only has this course brought out a new confidence in my music but has also brought out a new confidence in me overall as a person. I can honestly say I enjoyed everything about the course and I recommend it to anyone! I did not want to come home at the end of the week. It was Brilliant!

(Note: Helen who plays 1st Clarinet and Lee who play 1st Trumpet in the Senior Concert Band of Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College were awarded a College Music Scholarship to attend the course. This is part of the College’s extended provision for outstanding musicians)