Week of Junior School Music
Recently the Music Department invited children from our feeder Prep and Primary schools to a Come and Play the Organ event. This was part of the Royal College of Organists’ Play the Organ Year 2025 initiative, and as an RCO accredited school, we wanted to support the scheme.
In all, 75 children attended and had the opportunity to play the organs in the Great Hall, Recital Hall, and Chapel. The afternoon was led by Mrs Stubbs, who was joined by Mr Hobson (former Director of Music) and Alexander Hamilton OMT (Organist elect, HM Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace).
The afternoon began with Alexander demonstrating the organ in the Great Hall by playing Bach’s famous Toccata in D minor; this was then followed by a brief explanation of how the organ works, given by Mr Hobson, before dividing into three groups, split across the Great Hall, the Recital Hall and the Chapel. Nearly all the participants wanted to - and were able to - play an organ, and some, who had prior keyboard experience, were able to play impressively despite their lack of experience on the instrument. Gathering together at the end of the afternoon, there was a short performance playing music by Karg-Elert by Dominic D. (L6ths) and much to everyone's delight, Alex concluded the event by playing the theme from Star Wars. Before the group dispersed, all attendees were given a bag of goodies by which to remember the afternoon. We hope to hold another event later this year.
On Friday 2nd May we opened our doors once again and welcomed over eighty children from seven prep schools to Merchant Taylors' for an afternoon of orchestral workshops, culminating in a concert in the evening. Separate performances from brass, string, and woodwind ensembles were led by our visiting music teachers and gave the opportunity for the children to perform in a much larger group than they might do at their current schools. The afternoon is always an opportunity to renew acquaintance with prep schools, but it was especially good this year to welcome children from two schools who have not attended this event before: Aldenham Prep, and Belmont, Mill Hill.
