Workshops

05/02/15  Shostakovich15 Secondary Workshops 

This year we are working with around 90 GCSE and A level students at Balcarras, Newent and Rednock schools in Gloucestershire, focusing on Shostakovich’s 8th Quartet. Quartet No 8 is on the current A level syllabus, along with Haydn’s ‘Joke’ Quartet.
We're visiting each school twice between February and May 2015 for workshops bringing both the Shostakovich and Haydn works to life, putting them into historical context and demonstrating how both composers were pushing the boundaries of the medium. The workshops will also include score reading, a brief history of the string quartet, a demonstration of string techniques, and rhythm work.
We're really looking forward to sharing our enthusiasm for this great work with the students, and also hope that some of them will join us at the Carducci Festival at Highnam on 30th May, to hear our performance of the 5th and 13th Quartets.
The Shostakovich15 Secondary Project is funded by Make Music Gloucestershire, the Gloucestershire Music Education Hub; the Coln Trust; and the Carducci Music Trust.