Drums Assembly, Friday 19th July
Completing our fantastic summer music concerts, eight of our talented drummers performed for us this afternoon. Charlie, George, Alex, Freddie, Chris, Dylan, Thomas and Luke all played with brilliant timing and accuracy and hugely impressed their audience. Each of these boys has worked very hard at home and in their lessons and have made excellent progress this year with their teacher, Mr Chivers.
Violin and Viola Assembly, Wednesday 17th July
Continuing our brilliant end of term music concerts, our violinists and viola player took to the stage this morning. Imogen, Alyssia, Christopher, Alexander, Raphy, Sienna, Maya and Daryl all performed superbly, showcasing their hard work throughout the year with their teacher, Miss Gardner. They each played with confidence and accurate tuning and should be very proud of themselves.
Piano Assembly, Monday 15th July
We were treated to yet another musical extravaganza this morning with twelve incredible pianists performing for us in assembly. Hugh, Zak, Maya, Charlie, Sophie, Emilia, Jersey, Brody, Liliana, Jeremy, Jack and Maximos have all been learning the piano with Mrs Kropman (Miss Kropman's mum!) this year, with many having recently taken graded exams. They all played with confidence and musicality this morning and the audience very much enjoyed hearing their pieces!
Cello Assembly, Tuesday 9th July
We began our Sports Day with another fantastic music assembly this morning, with nine talented cellists performing for us. Rebecca, Maeve, Saoirse, Oliver, Emily J, Juliet, Reuben, Sami and Emily P have all been learning with Mrs Lines this year and played a range of duets and solo pieces, which were all of a very impressive standard. If you are interested in learning the cello in September, please see Miss Kropman.
Guitar Assembly, Monday 8th July
We were treated to some beautiful acoustic guitar playing this afternoon, as Mr Nicola and five of his exceptionally talented pupils took to the stage! Well done to Daniel, Jake, Noam, Rebecca and Dasha, who wowed us all with their brilliant performances. If you are interested in learning the guitar in September, please see Miss Kropman.
Orchestra's final performance of the term, Tuesday 26th June
Miss Kropman was very proud of the orchestra children who performed to friends and family this afternoon at the end of their last rehearsal of the term. This orchestra was only formed in September, and their talent, effort and progress has been incredible throughout the year. In addition to the three pieces we performed at Village Day, we also showcased 'C Jam Blues', which featured brilliant solo improvisations from Dasha, Sami, Maximos, Raphy and Maya W. I would like to thank all of the children for their commitment to music making this year and also to Mrs Price, who has conducted the orchestra for us. She is sadly not going to continue next year, but I look forward to welcoming back the current Year 3, 4 and 5 members (plus any keen newbies) in September on Thursday mornings before school, when orchestra will be led by myself and Mrs Lines (our cello teacher).
Double Bass Assembly with Miss Price, Monday 17th June
We were treated to a special assembly this morning as Miss Price, who will be offering Double Bass lessons at school in September, came to talk to us about what she believes to be the greatest instrument ever invented! In addition to playing for us, Miss Price taught us the range of the instrument and how to both bow and pluck the strings. Juliet and Maximos even got to have a go! If you are interested in learning in September, please speak to Miss Kropman.
Samba Drumming Workshop - Friday 17th May
Years 5 and 6 were treated to an amazing workshop this morning arranged by Miss Kropman and led by Caz Wolfson from Potters Bar Music Centre. We learnt many different rhythms and got to try a variety of instruments, including the surdo and tamborim drums, the agogo (metal bells) and ganzas (metal shakers). Caz was incredibly impressed with Year 5 and 6's musicality and couldn't believe that all three groups were already sounding like a samba band after just one hour! We would all like to thank Caz for such a great morning and look forward to welcoming her back for Village Day.
Potters Bar and District Primary Schools Music Association
On Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd April, fifteen Brookmans Park orchestra members and thirty-two choir members performed in Miss Kropman's inaugural POTSMA festival at The Wyllyotts. With Space as our theme, the orchestra combined with children from four other schools to perform a mash-up of 'Mars' from Holst's The Planets and David Bowie's 'Life on Mars', followed by the theme from Star Wars. The choir, meanwhile, performed a wide repertoire of ten Space songs, with two of our favourites featuring in the films below (thank you to Mrs Neate for these clips!). With nine different schools forming POTSMA, I was exceptionally proud to lead out my own choir and orchestra as part of this and could not have been happier with their enthusiasm and musicianship. Choir and orchestra - you are incredible performers and role-models, and I would like to thank all of you for inspiring me to organise this event. Miss Kropman x https://www.whtimes.co.uk/news/education/potters-bar-schools-in-music-partnership-1-5980041
Choir singing at The O2 - Young Voices, Wednesday 30th January
Brookmans Park choir were a part of history on Wednesday evening as they helped to break the world record for the largest massed school choir concert! In a packed arena of 20,000 people, our talented singers performed brilliantly across a wide range of genres, including swing, folk, pop and musicals. They were incredible ambassadors for the school and Miss Kropman could not have been prouder of them. Thank you also to Mrs Luck and Mrs Kropman, who spent the day with us.
Drums Assembly - Monday 17th December
Congratulations to the brilliant drummers who performed in today's assembly! Each of the boys that played did so with confidence and excellent timing and it was fantastic to see the progress that they have made this term. Thank you to their teacher, Mr Chivers, for all his hard work in their weekly Friday lessons.
Violin and Viola Assembly - Wednesday 12th December
Well done to the fantastic violin and viola players who performed for us in assembly today! We were treated to a variety of festive pieces and classics such as Pachelbel's Canon, with everyone displaying excellent musicianship. Thank you to their teacher, Miss Gardner, for preparing them so well.
Orchestra's Christmas Concert - Tuesday 11th December
Well done to the orchestra members who were superb in both of today's performances - firstly to the school, and later to their family and friends. They have worked incredibly hard this term both in Tuesday afternoon rehearsals and when practising at home and should be so proud of their achievements. Miss Kropman would love to hear from anyone who is interested in joining the orchestra next term - look what an amazing group you could be a part of!
Cello Assembly - Tuesday 11th December
Well done to the eight talented cellists for a wonderful festive assembly today! Accompanied by their teacher, Mrs Lines, each performer demonstrated their hard work from this term's weekly lessons. We particularly enjoyed the group performances of Jingle Bells and We Wish You A Merry Christmas!
Piano Assembly - Monday 10th December
Well done to the eleven brilliant pianists who performed in this morning's assembly! They each have a weekly lesson with Mrs Kropman (Miss Kropman's mum) and have been working hard this term, with some of them taking an exam last week (we eagerly await the results!). We were particularly proud of those children who have only been learning for three months, who were also brave enough to play in front of a large audience today.
Guitar Assembly - Thursday 6th December
Well done to the fantastic guitarists who played in this afternoon's assembly! These children have been having weekly lessons with Mr Nicola and have all made brilliant progress this term. Miss Kropman was particularly impressed with the fantastic quality, timing and sound that you all made.
Brookmans Park School Orchestra's first concert, Tuesday 23rd October
This afternoon saw the very exciting premiere of the school orchestra! Playing to a packed hall, our talented orchestra members performed both 'Autumn Days' and 'Harvest Samba' with superb musicianship. Miss Kropman is exceptionally proud of this group of children, who have only been playing together for five weeks. Thank you to Mrs Price, our brilliant conductor, and to Ms Meik (Freddie's mum) for her excellent support for the wind section. We look forward to sharing more music with you next half term!
Harvest Festival, Monday 1st October
We welcomed Reverend Roger Taylor from Brookmans Park URC into assembly on Monday to lead our harvest festival. He spoke to us about feeling grateful and asked us what we were thankful for in our lives, which led to some really thoughtful responses. We ended our festival in style with our favourite harvest songs - 'Autumn Days' and 'Harvest Samba'!
Year 6 Sing Out Day at Lochinver House!
On Friday 21st September, Year 6 attended a singing festival at Lochinver House in Potters Bar, along with pupils from Lochinver, Stormont and Little Heath. We spent the morning rehearsing various warm up songs and teaching each other singing techniques, before learning some new collaborative pieces. In the afternoon, each school performed one song to each other, before family and friends had the opportunity to hear both these and our joint pieces in a spectacular concert. We performed 'Believe' by Lin Marsh absolutely brilliantly and Miss Kropman was welling up whilst conducting due to the effort, focus and beautiful sound being made! Thank you very much to Mrs Hobbs for filming us performing. Well done, Year 6 - Miss Kropman, Miss Melchionno and Mrs Oakley were very proud of you today!
Orchestra
Our first ever full orchestra rehearsal took place today (Tuesday 18th September) with twenty talented children from across Years 3-6, led by Miss Kropman and Hertfordshire conductor Marie Price. Our string, percussion and woodwind sections sight-read brilliantly and created a wonderful sound as they played together for the first time. Places are still available this term for anyone in KS2 who has passed their Grade 1/been playing their instrument for at least a year - please come and see Miss Kropman if you would like to join!