is made up of mostly year 13 stu-
dents from across Devon, and are
handpicked from the larger DYJO
ensemble. They are experienced in
performing and giving workshops,
and treated our students to an hour
of classic jazz standards with a high
level of musicianship and a great
deal of inspirational improvisation.
Nevertheless, they were impressed
with the SaMM and KEVICC bands'
level of improvisation, particularly as
some of the SaMMs students are still
at primary school. The ending to the
concert included all performers, who
had worked on it before the concert,
and it brought a fitting end to a great
evening.
Even at this very busy time of year,
we raised over £260 but, as well as
the fundraising, it was a chance to get
all these young jazz players together
for the evening to play jazz and hear
each other.
Lewis Riley
subjects > performing arts
Page 13
In May, I organised a fund-raising
concert for SaMM (Saturday Morning
Music). SaMM has been going for
well over 13 years now, with a wide
range of musical activity for 5 to 18
year olds (
.
This includes two jazz groups, and
this concert was a great opportunity
for them to play longer sets than the
regular concerts allow. Junior Jazz
opened the show and the more senior
Jazz Band followed; then both bands
played together. with most band
members taking an improvised solo.
Then our guest band, DYJO (Devon
Youth Jazz Orchestra) Ambassadors
took the stage. This 9 piece band
Jazz with SaMM and DYJO
dents wake up the children at 5am
and this is the time for chores like
making beds, cleaning, laundry and
then they do some physical exercises
andmusic practice before breakfast at
7.30am. They clear up all their dishes
before changing into school uniform
and doing any last homework before
the 9am assembly. The school day
continues until 3.30pm. Then the
students change out of their uniforms
and go either to their singing, tabla
or string lessons with visiting teach-
ers. More music practice, chores etc
before the evening meal at 7.30pm;
then homework before bed at 9pm.
Busy days - we taught for two weeks
and loved every minute. No free
periods, just class after class. What a
joy for us both! We were working with
students who were desperate to learn
and really appreciated us being there.
Both of us were impressed with their
capacity and commitment to hard
work and the need to practice either
their schoolwork or their music.
Steve Jones, former Principal of
KEVICC, tells us of his recent time
spent teaching with his wife, Hilary,
in the Mathieson School.
I first came to Mathieson with Kicoula
Ross in April 2006 and, since then,
we have been friends of the school
and I am delighted that both Kevicc
staff and students have spent time at
the school. You all still have an open
invitation to this very special place on
the edge of Kolkata and all those who
have visited have been touched by its
magic.
There are only about 60 students with
the youngest being just 4 years old,
going up to 17 and 18 years old. They
live here during term time and spend
most of their time within the school
compound that is not much bigger
than a football pitch. Every single
child loves the place and the sense of
their happiness, safety and security
pervades the school and it feels like
one big family.
The day is a long one. The older stu-
Mathieson Music School in Kolkata
County Show
We were proud to send 30 members
of KPAC, our KEVICC Performing Arts
Company, to represent us at the
Devon County Show in May. They
performed on the Devon Music Ed-
ucation Hub Stand and were a real
credit to the College. They treated us
to two songs from
Matilda
with a real
sense of excitement at performing in
such a professional environment. As
the younger members of the group
– with the older ones on study leave
– they were determined to prove how
brilliant a performance they could
give. Which they did, with boundless
energy and enthusiasm. They also
appeared on
Spotlight
taking part in
snail-racing!
Leonie Luff
Wewere delighted
to welcome Anup
Biswas, Founder
of the Mathieson
School, to KEVICC
this term to lead
an Indian Music
workshop
with
some of our GCSE
Music and Arts
Award students.
