Kit Marsden // Musician

Tag: el sistema

  • Sistema Fiesta: Ten Years Of Sistema In Norwich

    Sistema Fiesta: Ten Years Of Sistema In Norwich

    Kit Marsden

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    In September 2011, I wrote about how proud I was to have joined an El Sistema-inspired music education programme in my home city of Norwich, working with students in inner-city schools teaching orchestral percussion an general musicianship. The project — then called In Harmony Norwich — was one of three trial nucleos setup by the UK government in different cities, and was just entering the third of its three years of funding when I came on board as one of the percussion tutors.

    A lot of change has happened in the years since I joined the programme back in 2011 — including a rebrand as Sistema In Norwich. But the one thing which has always remained the same is the steadfast determination of the programme directors and the team of tutors to bring music education to children who might not otherwise have had those kinds of opportunities available to them.

    This coming Friday 11th October, a performance by Sistema In Norwich students and tutors at the University Of East Anglia In Norwich will celebrate ten years of Sistema’s presence in the city. I feel extremely honoured to have been involved with Sistema In Norwich — in its various guises — for eight of those ten years, and it will be a privilege to walk onstage on Friday evening with my colleagues and students from the Sistema programme to celebrate this landmark anniversary.

    Sistema Fiesta will take a look back over the last ten years, including highlights from the Performance Project (for which the concert is also a finale) and it will look forwards, with new repertoire that will include nods to Venezuela, our carnival work, East Anglia and a big piece from the classical canon.  The concert will feature the Colegate Nucleo Orchestra, alongside children from across the programme, tutors and some special guests.  
     
    The evening will conclude with music from the Sistema in Norwich tutor band, guests and friends. Join in the Sistema party and help us celebrate a programme that is changing lives, as we look forward to another 10 years of making a difference.

    From the NORCA & Sistema In Norwich website

    Please do come down and support this event, and the Sistema In Norwich project. Tickets for the performance are available from the UEA Box Office website, or directly from NORCA & Sistema In Norwich.

  • SEYO And Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar At Teatro Alla Scala

    SEYO And Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar At Teatro Alla Scala

    Kit Marsden

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    At La Scala with SEYO and Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar (photo by Jana Svobodová)
    At La Scala With SEYO And Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar · Jana Svobodová
  • Teaching On SEYO 2015 In Milan

    Teaching On SEYO 2015 In Milan

    Kit Marsden

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    Working with SEYO percussionists in rehearsal (photo by Jana Svobodová)
    Working With SEYO Percussionists In Rehearsal · Jana Svobodová
  • SEYO Summer Camp Side-By-Side Concert At La Scala With Sinfónica Juvenil De Caracas

    SEYO Summer Camp Side-By-Side Concert At La Scala With Sinfónica Juvenil De Caracas

    Kit Marsden

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    A video (and Spanish language interview!) of the Side-By-Side concert, featuring players from the Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra alongside El Sistema’s Sinfónica Juvenil de Caracas (and me) playing Ritmos Ciganos at Milan’s famous La Scala.

  • SEYO Photos

    SEYO Photos

    Kit Marsden

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    My photos (edited on the plane home!) from an absolutely amazing time in Milan working with with the Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra.

    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    Alessandro Cadario Conducting SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    SEYO 2015
    Final SEYO Performance
    Final SEYO Performance
  • SEYO Day 3: Tutti Rehearsals

    SEYO Day 3: Tutti Rehearsals

    Kit Marsden

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    We’ve now been in Milan at the SEYO Summer Camp for three full days (and when I say ‘full’, I really do mean that – they have been three long, intense, full-on, exhausting days!), and it really is a fascinating experience.

    A few things have mainly struck me so far…  The standard of the students participating is very high – in the advanced orchestra, where I am working with the percussion section, we have been able to focus on little details, points of technique, performance advice, and other minutiae, almost right from the start.  The students are all excellent players already, and this makes for very interesting, dynamic sectional rehearsals with a lot of ideas being thrown around and a real rehearsal process being very much in evidence!

    The incredible passion and enthusiasm of all the teaching staff is also plain to see.  Given the number of different countries participating, and the fact that as a team of tutors, many of us had never met each other before and we have just been thrown together from different Sistema-inspired projects across all of Europe (each with their own, slightly different, customs and ways of doing things!), I think we have gelled pretty well.  From my point-of-view, I feel privileged to be working alongside a fantastic percussion tutor in sectionals, and under conductors in full rehearsals who really know what they want from a piece of music and have a vision for the performance.  I think this mix of nationalities and backgrounds is perfect for an experience like this, and means that we (the tutors) end up learning lots too.

    The full Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra playing together for the first time in Teatro degli Arcimboldi
    The full Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra playing together for the first time in Teatro degli Arcimboldi

    Finally, it is abundantly clear what an amazing opportunity this is for all the students who have come on the course!  The chance to learn from some top professionals from all over Europe, and to play big, exciting orchestral music, is enormous.  As is the chance to be inspired by the National Children’s Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (part of the El Sistema programme, with some children as young as six), performing in the breath-taking setting of La Scala.

    Thanks to the hectic schedule here, this is the first time I’ve been able to post any updates – bar uploading a few iPhone pictures ‘on the fly’! – and I don’t know when I’ll be able to write anything properly about it again.  I shall try to post more details when I get an opportunity, though.  So after another very long day of rehearsals, and with another early start tomorrow morning…  Goodnight!

  • Sistema In Norwich

    Sistema In Norwich

    Kit Marsden

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    Thanks to a restructuring, and a change in the funding system for In Harmony Sistema, the continued existence of the project in Norwich was in some doubt, towards the end of last year. When its DfE Grant was cut, In Harmony Norwich was discontinued.

    I found the decision to cut the funding to In Harmony Norwich unfathomable. It was a short-sighted and stupid choice, and one which I suspect was motivated more by money and “image” than by a genuine concern for musical education.

    On a personal note, I was disappointed not to get to be involved with In Harmony any more – I had spent a whole year working on this exciting and ground-breaking project, and had seen first-hand what a positive effect it was having on the children and the schools involved. I had enjoyed my time on the project, and I felt that I also developed and grew a lot as a person during the course of that year.

    But I feared that the much more damaging implications of axing In Harmony Norwich would be what happened to the children involved, when the rug was pulled from under them – in a music education sense. I couldn’t stand the idea that talented and motivated children, who had spent several years learning an instrument, playing in orchestras, and benefitting from all the wonderful experiences that ensemble music can provide, would suddenly – almost overnight – be left with nothing to show for that.

    That is why I am delighted that the project in Norwich is continuing. Although not technically called “In Harmony Norwich” any more (as the project is no longer under the In Harmony England umbrella), the Sistema in Norwich project builds on four years of excellent work and development from In Harmony Norwich, and looks to grow and progress in the future, with more and more opportunities to get local schoolchildren playing and enjoying music together, and reaping all the rewards which those rich musical experiences have to offer.

    I am currently working as the percussion tutor in Catton Grove Primary School with Sistema in Norwich. It is great to be back, and to know that the excellent work started by In Harmony Norwich is being allowed to continue – I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Sistema in Norwich, and I am proud to be involved in the next step of this exciting journey.

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  • In Harmony Sistema

    In Harmony Sistema

    Kit Marsden

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    In Harmony is a project working to bring musical education to primary school children in some of the most deprived parts of the country. Inspired by, and partly modelled on, the famous Venezuelan “El Sistema”, In Harmony Sistema currently works in three areas in England – Lambeth, Liverpool, and Norwich.

    I am very excited to be working with the Norwich branch of In Harmony Sistema, which is run by the Norwich and Norfolk Community Arts organisation, as a percussion teacher, and I am looking forward to being able to bring music to chidren who, otherwise, might not have the opportunities to learn.

    Having seen the work that In Harmony Sistema do in local primary schools, I feel sure that this initiative is having a huge positive impact on the lives of many local children, and I am delighted to be involved, and to be a part of that process.

    If you want to know more about In Harmony Sistema, click here to go to their website, and learn about the work they do, and their achievements to date. For more on this story, check out the list of related links at the right-hand-side of this page.

    Related Links

Kit Marsden // Musician