“I see music as fluid architecture.”
Joni Mitchell
In 2019 the UK Parliament noted that there were more than a thousand music festivals per year and that the benefit to the economy was some 6.6 billion pounds. The first edition of the Glastonbury Festival was held in 1970 on Worthy farm and entrance cost a pound, good value considering the entry fee also meant you could enjoy free milk and camping. How things have changed. What started as a counter cultural folk and blues festival is now an event that attracts the world’s biggest music stars and thousands of people (if they are fortunate enough to buy a ticket). Rather like the Proms or the Edinburgh Festival, the Glastonbury Festival has become a highlight of the British annual calendar. The Fete de la Musique here in France began earlier than many people believe but it was formalised in 1982 and has been a much-loved national institution falling on 21st June, the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice. It is a colossal event with an estimated 18,000 concerts being given by approximately 5 million amateur musicians or singers, bringing together nearly 10 million spectators. We here at the BSP have been a little late to the party with our Fete de la Musique enjoying its second year.
Yesterday also saw our Junior School musicians (which really means everyone) take part in a Summer Concert (following on from last week’s delightful EYFS and Key Stage 1 Sing Along) and our Senior School cohort enjoyed their own festival atmosphere in the afternoon as bands, groups, an orchestra and choirs took to the various stages dotted around the school campus. Both great occasions, both demonstrating the enormous depth of talent that exists in our school community. The standard of performance was high, and the levels of enjoyment were probably even higher! Such events do not come about without the often-unseen work of our music staff who rehearse, reassure, and inspire our musicians to perform. In the light of the economic benefits of music festivals, our business studies GCSE students did a roaring trade in refreshments, and we will be interested to hear which team won.
I’ve written in the past about the importance of performance in building confidence and determination. Playing out of doors or in front of a large audience provides its own particular challenges and having done so our young people can reflect with confidence on their capacity, and I would hope that this will lead to growing confidence in other areas of their life. This is a generation that for a variety of reasons can be plagued with anxiety. Having the opportunity to play music in a supportive environment can be a way of confronting these feelings as well as providing well known benefits for more general health and wellbeing.
So, in the words of Agnetha, Benny, Björn and Anni-Frid “Thank you for the music…”
Nicholas Hammond
Headmaster