In October, we were delighted to welcome Kate Read, a professional viola player who lives in Newfoundland, to work with Treloar School students over the course of two days.
Kate studied viola at the Royal College of Music and is currently principal violist in the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra as well as working with a number of other musicians in quartets, such as the Atlantic String Quarter, and groups such as Dark by Five.
Kate created workshops for Treloar's students based on the painting Fire down on the Labrador by David Lloyd Blackwood. Each section of the painting, the whale, sea, boat, icebergs and stars, had to be expressed through music with students choosing an instrument to represent the different aspects. Students had a wonderful time exploring the different timbres and textures of instruments and hearing the effects that Kate used with her viola and pedals, before coming together with their peers and Kate to perform.
Kate also entertained us with some fabulous performances of Elgar and Hungarian dances in lessons and performed in the Treloar's reception for everyone to hear as they passed through.
"It was a genuinely beautiful experience when Kate played in the Jowett Centre at lunchtime. Alex (one of Treloar's students) was responding to the music and asking to dance." - Assistant Head Teacher
It was truly amazing experience for all the students to hear such quality live music and they loved being able to create their own music.