The importance of Music
Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high-quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon. [National Curriculum 2014)
Essential Characteristics of musicians
- A rapidly widening repertoire which they use to create original, imaginative, fluent and distinctive composing and performance work.
- A musical understanding underpinned by high levels of aural perception, internalisation and knowledge of music, including high or rapidly developing levels of technical expertise.
- Very good awareness and appreciation of different musical traditions and genres.
- An excellent understanding of how musical provenance – the historical, social and cultural origins of music – contributes to the diversity of musical styles.
- The ability to give precise written and verbal explanations, using musical terminology effectively, accurately and appropriately.
- A passion for and commitment to a diverse range of musical activities.
©Chris Quigley Education Ltd
Instrumentalists’ Concert 2024
Cellists.m4a
Pianists Group 1.m4a
Pianists Group 2.m4a
Pianists Group 3.m4a
Guitarists.m4a
Orchestra Pieces.m4a
Woodwind.m4a
Violin Performances.m4a
Midsummer Concert - 2023
1 - Welcome Song (Orchestra and Choir)
2 - Toe Tapper (Orchestra)
3 - March (Orchestra)
4 - Tag Along (Orchestra)
5 - Pastime with Good Company (Orchestra)
6 - Orchestra (Choir)
7 - Bella Mama (Choir)
8 - Annie - Tomorrow and It’s a Hard-Knock Life (Choir)
9 - All I Want is a Proper Cup of Coffee (Choir)
10 - Matilda - When I Grow up (Choir)
11 - Folk Song Medley (Choir)
12 - Scooby Doo (Choir)
13 - No Wars Will Stop Us Singing (Choir)
14 - Tzena (Choir)
15 - Star Trekking (Choir)
Phoenix Network Concert - West Road Concert Hall 2019
On Friday 14th June, Y5 and Y6 members of the choir were invited to take part in a concert made up of 9 schools, led by Phoenix Network.
The pupils performed a stunning array of songs together as one large choir, as well as one piece that was solely Shelford Choir.
You can listen to each song, below:
Zadok the Priest
O Re Mi Je Ka Jo
Sink Cuckoo (including audience!)
How Can I Keep from Singing
Shelford - Rhythm of Life
Forget Your Troubles
Young Pianists and Instrumentalists Concerts 2019
On Wednesday 27th March 2019, our instrumentalists, including our Year 5 and Year 6 pianists, performed some stunning pieces - as solos, duets and ensembles. We were stunned by the quality of these. A selection of some of the performances can be found below.
The guitar ensemble (below) started with Thomas W playing his guitar behind his head (hence the round of applause mid piece)!
Daniel W - Holiday in Paris by William Gillock
Flute Group
Guitar Ensemble
Julia S and Rachel B - Üsküdar (Violin duet)
Rachel B - If I Were a Rich Man (Flute)
Samuel C - Dusty Blues
Sticky Rock - Clarinet Group
On Tuesday 26th March 2019, our pianists in Years 2-4 held a concert for parents, families and our Year 1 and Year 2 classes. We were very impressed with the performances and enjoyed the variety of pieces performed.
Sing for your School!
As part of Cambridgeshire Music's Sing for your School competition, our Year 6 pupils wrote and performed a song unique to our local open spaces. We hope you enjoy listening to it (below)!
School Orchestra
School Choir
Our choir meets every Friday morning before school. The beautiful singing which can be heard throughout the school, is a great start to the day.
Travelling by Tuba Assembly March 2018
This week, we were lucky enough to be visited by Travelling by Tuba who talked to us all about the upcoming 21st Commonwealth Games. They took us on a journey through the instruments of the Commonwealth countries. It was incredible to see so many weird and wonderful instruments and even try to play some of them. We were absolutely jumping for joy throughout this assembly and especially enjoyed how many people they invited up to the front to take part!
Opera Quest Assembly December 2017
As always, we love a visit from the Opera Quest team. They taught us all about the different parts of an opera before helping us to perform our own "Pocket Opera". This year we learnt all about adventure stories and performed Greek myths.
Rocksteady Assembly November 2017
On Thursday 9th November, Shelford School was lucky enough to be visited by Sam from Rocksteady in a morning assembly. It was a very exciting start to the day for all of the children in school as Sam taught us about some of the instruments commonly used to create a band. We learnt about: the electric guitar, electric drums, keyboard and voice. Sam also taught us the difference between acoustic and electric instruments. Teachers had a tough act to follow that morning, after a sing along to some of our favourite pop and rock songs, but were all very impressed with how children settled well when they returned to class.
Britten Sinfonia 29th March 'Custard the Dragon'
The children loved exploring the poem with the chamber quintet from Britten Sinfonia. The narrative was interwoven and brought to life with pieces of classical music, songs and actions.
Nativity Play December 2016