Berlin British School News

On Friday 26th February, pupils from five International schools within Berlin came together to practise for our concert which will be held at BBIS on 13th June.
It was a great way to share music and learn how to play as group. It is an opportunity to play an instrument and have so many people to support you. It is also a way to show many of one’s greatest talents. We personally experienced many fun times on the day, performing with so many others.
We met at BBS at 9am. Everybody had to introduce himself so that we got to know each other. Then we were split up into two groups: Woodwind and Strings (including the French Horn). Miss Neuse taught the string players and Miss Higgins worked with the woodwind group.
We practised in our separate groups for a while and at the end we put it together. It sounded amazing to listen and play together with so many instruments.
Therefore we think it is a fabulous way to learn how to make music together.
By Ciara O’Brien and Kathleen Caulfield

On Friday February 26th the Berlin British School's orchestra joined up with five other school orchestras to form one big orchestra to rehearse for an upcoming concert on June 13th. Everyone who was in the BBS orchestra started their day at Middle School. Then, at about 9 am, all of the other schools came. We introduced ourselves to each other, and wore stickers with our names on so other pupils could recognize us. We all had to stand up, say our name and what instrument(s) we played, then we split up into two groups: Strings and Woodwinds. Ms Neuse took the strings into the hall to practice, and Ms Higgins stayed in the music room with the woodwinds. The piece we were practising was called Hedwig's Theme from the film Harry Potter written by John Williams. Even though we had split up into two groups, both rehearsals had loads of pupils, so it must have been quite hard for the teachers! Hedwig's Theme is not an easy piece to play, but we managed perfectly. One by one all of the different string instruments put their parts together until it sounded very good. Then, after a well earned break, we carried on. We played the piece through a couple of times before the woodwinds came in. Altogether it sounded great, though we didn't keep in time the whole time. But considering it was our first proper rehearsal, I think it sounded great, and we had only just met each other. Everyone worked together really well. Now all we have to do is practise very hard until our next rehearsal! Personally I think this is a brilliant idea, and i think it'll work out very well.
By Elly Rosenberg 7C Berlin British School

Further information about the International Schools Orchestra Project can be found on www.bimp2010.wordpress.com