Arts

On Tuesday 8 December our Nexus musicians will begin the process of showcasing their performances for you. This term we are ensuring that the learners have the opportunity to perform 'live' on stage rather than virtually from home. Next Tuesday we will record over 70 musicians and then compile into our next recital videos for you.

Performing and the confidence to perform is an integral part of learning an instrument. Learning an instrument mirrors many elements of the IB learner profile and our Nexus Way; being a risk taker, being principled and communication are all an important pathway for learning as well as developing skills. Many hours of preparation from our young musicians are put in to each performance, rehearsals and practise at school or home with the support of our wonderful Instrumental tutors, music teachers and parents. I am very excited that we are able to utilise our performance space in our new Nexus and hope that in a few more weeks when we have completed the final edits you will be able to sit back as a family and enjoy the amazing journey of music displayed.

The past 2 weeks has brought a love of singing into our Nexus community. 'Everyone Can Sing' was embraced by so many Nexus families, bringing our families together through music.

Last week Mr Fordham, Ms Lambert and Ms Tash held a range of online singing rehearsals to learn our chosen song 'Like It's Christmas' by the Jonas Brothers. Each rehearsal entailed a few warm ups, the song being broken down into smaller pieces to learn and a final sing through. We received lots of positive feedback and support, as well as a few family selfies (see below!).

This week is all about now video and recording yourselves. If you didn't make last week's sing-alongs, it's not too late just click here and self-teach the song! Once you have done that, follow the instructions below on how to submit a video and audio recording.

Thank you to all our Nexus families for getting involved, supporting music and bringing singing back to our community!

As Ella Fitzgerald once quoted "Music is the Universal language... It brings people closer together.

You now have until Sunday 6 December to forward your video and audio to marketing@nexus.edu.sg

This term our music ensembles have been busy rehearsing for Christmas, with our usual Carols by Candlelight not being able to take place we are compiling our very own 'Nexus Holiday Tunes' for you. As well as some of our music ensembles there will also be performances from some of our year groups bringing a glimpse into the music classroom.

We are very excited to be able to showcase our musicians and hope that you will be able to lock a date in your calendar as a family to grab some mince pies, Christmas choccies and some drinks to enjoy an evening of carols... Date TBC.

Year 7s have been learning how to read tab notation for the ukulele so they can decode chords and simple melodies/riffs. The ukulele is a great instrument to access music and learn to play alongside others. After playing a range of popular songs and gaining an understanding of chord structures, they have all composed their own songs.

Firstly they recorded themselves playing their chosen chords into Garageband, editing the track and looping it. They then had the option to add other instruments such as drum kit, guitar, keyboard recording live, or learning how to use the smart instruments within the software. Finally all learners have begun to investigate lyrics and how verses and chorus are formed. They are using the theme 'Christmas or Holiday Time' as a stimuli.

Alongside this project, the Year 7s have also learnt 'Silent Night' and will be showcasing this as part of Nexus Holidays Tunes!

This morning's Lessons without Walls featured our Y10 IGCSE Music learners. As part of the IGCSE music exam, learners must prepare solo and ensemble pieces and this formulates 30% of their final grades. The Y10 class has some amazing musicians and the standard of performances this morning was high, I am confident that this inspired many of our younger pianists and young musicians on their into way to school.

Many thanks to Jiho, Anita, Cara, Nathanael and Shawn for participating this week and bringing music into our community. For a glimpse at their performances, click here.