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February 28, 2017

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Thrill of whole new range of music

ATTENDING Dulwich Festival of Music has always excited me since my first visit to DFM in Suzhou in 2014. It is a chance to meet up with friends from other Dulwich schools and play together as an ensemble. However, last year was particularly unique. Not only was it hosted at Dulwich College Shanghai, it was also the first festival with an emphasis on modern music rather than classical.

Over 140 members of staff and students gathered together from the Dulwich network of schools. The theme for this year’s Festival was “Living for the City” — a tribute to Stevie Wonder, an American musician and songwriter blinded shortly after his birth. With expert guidance from members of the Royal Northern College of Music, this festival emphasized our collective resilience as individuals learning music, as well as the collaboration with one another as musicians within an ensemble.

The highlight of the festival was learning the pieces themselves. As a cellist, my repertoire largely consists of classical/orchestral pieces. However, the theme and nature of this festival was completely different — not one piece of classical music was performed in the final performance. In most of the pieces, traditional orchestral instruments were completely re-purposed. Most of the sections mimicked the various textures available on a synthesizer! Whether it be wrestling with difficult 5/4 time signatures or laughing at the semiquaver passages on the scores of brass instruments, the festival was certainly one of a kind, exposing me to a whole new range of music.




 

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