This weekend, our quartet of Coco, Darwin, Viviane and Caterina are excited to be supporting alumna Nicola Benedetti at the Southbank Centre this weekend in her new initiative, the Benedetti Sessions.
The sessions are a series of orchestra-based weekend workshops which aim to address the needs of young musicians and of teachers. Our quartet will feature in the Elgar Introduction and Allegro during the Advanced String Orchestra workshop this Sunday.
Each of the sessions will follow the same format and will cater for all playing abilities, with courses for Beginner String Orchestra (pre-grade 1 to grade 3); Intermediate String Orchestra (grades 4-6); and Advanced String Orchestra (grade 7+).
There will also be a General Musicianship morning for beginners; String Teachers Professional Development Weekend for instrumental string teachers; Primary Classroom Teachers Professional Development Workshop for non-specialist primary classroom teachers, and a Primary Schools Workshop Session introducing pupils to the fundamentals of music.
Nicola said: ‘There are no limits to our learning possibilities through music. We just have to be curious and open-minded enough to notice that this language is as rich as life itself, and this is what we aspire to expose young people to through the Benedetti Sessions.
‘In order to provide the highest possible standard of teaching, inspiration and guidance throughout the weekends, we have engaged the most phenomenal group of tutors. Each and every one of these musicians are not only extraordinary instrumentalists and teachers, but are also the most wonderful, uplifting, joyous yet serious individuals. We can’t wait to get started.’