Pitching a harmonious note
Making music together: British School students and Music Project children. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
On a Friday in late January, one hundred children, armed with instrument cases of various shapes and sizes walked proudly into the British School in Colombo.
A few years ago, these children from Kurunegala and Mullaitivu would never have had the chance to meet, let alone play in the same orchestra as their peers in Colombo. All this has been made possible by the amazing work of the Music Project.
The Music Project which started four years ago aims to uplift rural children’s lives using music. The project opens up new perspectives by bringing western classical instruments into schools and running after-school clubs to train the children first to play the recorder and then a whole array of instruments from the violin and cello, to percussion and brass instruments such as the trombone and saxophone.
The British School in Colombo plays an important role, fostering this exchange of bringing children from rural areas to the capital to open their horizons and share their facilities with them.
It is all about exposing the children to each other’s worlds. After last year’s successful visit, the Music Project children returned at the tail-end of January for a fun-filled weekend of music.
Peer group learning was the theme of the weekend. That Friday, the one hundred Music Project children split into groups to teach the two hundred British School children a new tune on their recorders.
The Music Project children were very patient and helpful and it was wonderful to see the different groups interacting and overcoming the barrier of language through music.
The second workshop was “making an instrument”, and the Music Project children assisted the British School and together they had fun making homemade instruments such as the rain shaker, bottle cap drums and thumb pianos.
On Saturday the roles were reversed and it was the British School children’s turn to share their expertise through activities such as swimming and ICT.
Melanie Wardle, the Junior Deputy Head of the British School recognises that hosting the programme is beneficial for both parties.
Melanie explains that ‘these are two very different cultures within the same country’ and it is important to expose her pupils to children less fortunate than themselves and to share what the British School have with them.
So the programme is geared towards the children from the Music Project and the British School interacting and working together.
“I hope the British School and the Music Project learn from each other and make new friends in the process,” announced Melanie, in her welcome assembly on Friday morning.
But the highlight of the weekend was the fundraising concert on Friday evening where the two schools were able to celebrate their immense musical talent and display all their hard work.
The Music Project opened the show with a number of orchestral pieces ranging from the Half Minute Waltz to the Can-Can and Tequila.
It was hard to believe that only four years ago these children had never picked up a musical instrument yet now are more than profficient in a huge variety of classical pieces.
In fact they were so impressive you could see it all over the British School children’s faces that they were “wowed” by their peer group’s performance.
The concert combined a feast of music, song and dance with performances from the British School and the Music project.
There was a fantastic rendition of Emilie Sande’s “Read all about it” by the British School’s junior choir with truly remarkable soloists considering their ages.
And the audience were blown away by the technicality of the Music Project’s percussion group with their homemade plastic and metal drums.
The whole concert really brought out the fun of music and boosted the children’s confidence by performing in front of an enthusiastic audience. It was a real achievement and represented exactly what the Music Project aims to do.
The evening concluded with a joint performance of the popular tune “Nil Ahas Thale” where the Music Project accompanied the British School singers on their recorders -all 300 children enthusiastically performing in unison, illustrating well the power of music to transcend all differences.
Two British School children kicked off the evening with the words: “We are pleased and proud to be associated with the Music Project” and this summed up well the atmosphere of the entire weekend.
The collaboration between the British School and the Music Project is to remain an annual event and Melanie Wardle along with Saluka Kotagama and Shalini Wickramasinghe (Music Project coordinator and founder) are planning bigger and different things for next year.
Shalini recognises “It is now time for the British School to be hosted in Kurunegala to experience farming life so that we can feature traditional crafts, music and the lifestyle in the village – promises have been made so we look forward to welcoming the children of the British School to Kurunegala soon!” This seems to be an exciting next step for the special partnership between these two groups of children.