The last few days at Ingenium 2016 have been really busy with our first concert, excursions and new arrivals - here's your chance to catch up on everything we've been doing!
Friday was our first public performance this year, so morning rehearsals had an atmosphere of anticipation and focus. We also welcomed Jess Mogridge back for oboe lessons, as well as Peter Sparks for clarinet lessons (London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Sinfonietta) and Tom Redmond (Hallé, National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain) as our french horn tutor.
During the afternoon we had the opportunity to benefit from a workshop on performance anxiety from Jess Mogridge, and also enjoyed an informative session on Alexander Technique from leading expert Judith Kleinman.
Fully focussed and prepared for our concert, we were delighted to welcome friends and family of many of our students to join us in the audience. It was a brilliant programme and a real joy to see the fruits of everybody's hard work during the first week.
On Friday evening, a barbecue was a great way to unwind and celebrate a successful concert. There were sports, games, delicious food, and best of all the chance for students to "show their appreciation" to the staff - in the form of water balloons!
We enjoyed a well-earned lie-in and slightly later breakfast on Saturday before heading to a new venue in central Winchester. Here we spent a relaxed day exploring the city on a historical walking tour, taking in its ancient cathedral and medieval Great Hall - including some fun with medieval costumes! Our conductors also had time to workshop some new repertoire with the orchestra and choir, receiving feedback from them in a 'Q&A' session. There were some really constructive comments made, and it was fantastic to see how a week's immersive music-making has engaged everybody's overall musicianship.
After a long, hot day in town, what better way to relax than with Silly Olympics! Coordinated by our pastoral team, students from the two boarding houses competed in a tournament of games ranging from tug-of-war to wheelbarrow-racing. The evening ended with an awards ceremony where we presented some students with their certificates and pastoral awards, as sadly they were to leave us on Sunday.
Yesterday was arrivals and departures day, and although we were sorry to say goodbye to some of our musicians we were delighted to welcome lots of new arrivals for the last two weeks!
During Sunday there were activities held back at Winchester College, and the free time also gave students an opportunity to relax and catch up on some individual practice. Our welcome teams were once again at the airports and stations to meet everyone, before heading back to Winchester for some hilarious team-building games.
We're really excited to see what everyone will achieve this week, making music together in such an inspiring environment. Stay tuned.
Musicians of the day
Friday
Conducting
Jonja for his constant positive attitude and energy, and Zach for making really big steps of progress.
Pianos
Aitana for her amazing solo in the concert and for always being a positive and enthusiastic person in the department.
Choir
Yuthika for being positive, energetic and a huge asset to the choir.
Orchestra
Simon Parker for fantastic playing all week and an "on-the-spot" sight read transposition of his Hebrides solo.
Saxophones
Maria Maddalena for her brilliant solo in amazing grace - she played it the best she'd done all week.
