Musician lends expertise to student composers

Music students at Solihull Sixth Form College had the benefit of expertise from a member of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) this week.

Mark Goodchild visited the Widney Manor Road College to work with A level Music students on their own compositions. He listened to their work and made suggestions for changes they could experiment with.

He also advised them on the structure of their pieces and on the accompanying stave notation to ensure their work could be read and performed by other musicians.

Composing comprises 30 per cent of the A level music course, with performing and appraising making up the other 70 per cent of the qualification. Students are asked to produce a free composition and a chorale harmonisation in the style of J.S. Bach as part of their studies.

Catherine Douglas, music teacher at Solihull Sixth Form College, said: "We are so grateful to Mark Goodchild for giving up his time to come in and give the students the benefit of his expert knowledge. The students really enjoyed his visit and found his recommendations and appraisal so beneficial."

Students recently performed their first public concert since the start of the pandemic, when the Christmas concert went ahead at the end of the Autumn Term.

They will be performing again on Tuesday 5 April at 7.00pm when the Easter concert takes place on campus.