Saffron Sounds in Harlow
The team at Saffron Hall has been delighted to work with the Jess Gillam Ensemble, Harlow Playhouse, and – amazingly – over 600 primary school pupils and their teachers to take Saffron Sounds to Harlow for the very first time. Saffron Sounds has been designed to support creative music-making in schools and provide extraordinary live-music experiences both in and out of school.
Members of the Jess Gillam Ensemble visited ten schools to deliver song-writing workshops and explore musical ideas including rhythm, pitch, and dynamics. The climax of the project came with Jess Gillam and her ensemble performing two extraordinary concerts in the Harlow Playhouse featuring music ranging from Telemann to David Bowie, with lots of singing and enthusiastic participation from everyone. Saffron Sounds also offers all schools free online resources for use in the classroom.
One teacher commented: ‘Saffron Sounds provided an invaluable session with expert musicians visiting our school and involving all of our excited, eager students directly, with their wonderfully creative composition workshop. This was different and the children’s feedback was unanimous in that they want to do something similar in the future… Our students were truly inspired by Jess Gillam and her band’s energetic performance at the Playhouse – and for many of them this was their first experience of a live concert.’
Saffron Sounds was supported by Essex County Council Arts and Cultural Fund and Essex Music Education Hub.
