Friday Afternoons – Education Outreach at Presteigne
Friday 18th November at 3pm and 4.15pm
St Andrew’s Church, Presteigne
Our 2016 cross-border education initiative sees the Presteigne Festival working in partnership with Aldeburgh Music for the first time, bringing their Friday Afternoons singing project to the Welsh Marches.
Something of an innovation, Friday Afternoons began in 2013, originally to celebrate the centenary of British composer, Benjamin Britten. The programme aims to engage primary schoolchildren with contemporary music – Aldeburgh Music is committed to commissioning songs (for children’s voices and piano accompaniment) on an annual basis, creating a song bank of repertoire, complementing Britten’s own group of songs completed in 1935. Sheet music and teaching resources are made available for download, free of charge, for school use.
Pictured above, English composer Jonathan Dove’s commission for 2016 is a twelve-movement song cycle entitled Seasons and Charms.
The Presteigne Festival will extend and expand Aldeburgh Music’s resource by employing Fiona Evans, a specialist vocal animateur, to work in local primary schools; the resultant performances (accompanied by Susie Allan) take place on 18 November with approximately 160 children from five local primary schools taking part.
Admission is free, but please arrive early, as we expect a high demand for places.