Three Friary School students – Milly Bennett, Mae Bennett and Katie Edwards – shone in the recent Lichfield Blues and Jazz Festival as members of Staffordshire Youth Orchestra East, led by Jenny Mawdsley and Paul Bennett (our in-house brass instrumental teacher).
The band were invited to participate in the Lichfield Blues and Jazz Festival 2019 which was back again for it’s fifth year in the city. The festival offered blues and jazz fans a varied programme of top class national musicians as well as the excellence of Staffordshire regional bands.
The jazz band played an exciting concert at the Lichfield Guildhall on Sunday lunchtime. The set included classic Big Band sounds, such as Big Spender, as well as hits from Stevie Wonder and Maroon 5. It was a stellar performance; played with dexterity, understanding, verve and the enthusiasm of youth, and featured some solo sections played by Katie Edwards and Milly Bennett.
The band will be looking for new musicians from September 2019 as the older cohort move onto futures at university or in employment. If you are an instrumentalist, particularly alto-sax, playing at grade 4 to 5 standard then you will be very welcome to come along. Details from Mr Hood (Head of Music) at school.
Matt Allman, Headteacher, said: “There are so many fantastic events which take place in our city and county that it is difficult to keep up but we are delighted to hear our students attracting the plaudits for their musical prowess once more.”
