Musical creativity is thriving online at Wellington

Music is best enjoyed when performed together by several people in the same space. Distance learning, however, has made this impossible. Since mid-March, we have had to turn away from the usual beautifully noisy ensemble performances. Nevertheless, over the past few months, I have seen so many talented singers and instrumentalists overcome this obstacle, relentlessly recording themselves for virtual choir, orchestra and band projects.

I have been really impressed by the curiosity and inventiveness of our youngest pupils in Early Years and Pre- and Lower Prep. They explored the many different sounds around them — chopsticks, spoons, buckets, pots and pans, to name just a few — turning them into home percussion instruments.

Living rooms became recording studios. Megaphones and birds chirping provided samples for soundscape compositions. Pupils with access to instruments at home proudly presented their rhythms and melodies in our music lessons. Some even put on solo performances for their classmates.

Isolated from their friends, many of our older pupils have turned to music as a profound medium of expression over the past few months. During our songwriting project, our year 9 pupils discovered that they can convey their feelings through lyrics and melody. The songs turned out truly brilliant, many bluntly reflecting on the difficulties our teenagers have been facing in lockdown.

Those interested in film music researched and presented information about their favourite movie composers through some very creative posters. Music pupils in the IGCSE and IB years also enjoyed having the time and space for musical creativity. 

Equipped with notation software and digital audio workstations on their computers, they skillfully crafted several compositions. Many of them can be heard in our Virtual Exhibition/Performance Space (To visit, click here). They range from minuets, rondos, theme and variations to music for poetry, music for artwork and electronic music. Each performance is a unique display of the ample talent we have here at Wellington!

Of course, there is no substitute for live performance. But distance learning has provided our pupils with a valuable learning experience. They have learned resilience, adaptivity and out-of-the-box thinking, three skills that our pupils will surely build upon as we plan next year's curriculum!