Music students from Stratford-upon-Avon College brought their version of Glastonbury to college recently as they hosted Willowsfest.
A music festival inspired event running across three shows on one day, students performed gigs in the College’s Willows Theatre; which was transformed into a festival venue for the day.
In solos, duos and full bands, students across the department got to showcase their talent as they performed a wide variety of music genres including metal, grunge, folk, pop and rock, and got the audience dancing and headbanging one minute before transitioning to beautiful ballads the next.
Students receive regular opportunities to perform at the College and other venues which allows them to build on skills, build performance experience, plus the chance to watch and learn from their peers.
Music lecturer, Rob Hague, described why they chose a music festival theme: “Usually, each year group will do their performances on different days over the course of a few weeks. This is the first time that we have had all three-year groups perform in one day. We wanted to create a buzz about the day and for each year group to share their hard work and inspire each other. Plus, it is industry relevant to perform in a festival setting. Been given a timeslot and not have the luxury of having days of rehearsal time on the stage to prepare.”
He also detailed why having performance opportunities is a benefit for students: “It builds their confidence as performers. Alongside this, it is also about working to deadlines and constructing a setlist. Working as a team to put on a show. Dealing with problems and how they can be solved. Having these performance opportunities give the students a focus to work towards as they develop all of the above skills and more.”
Rob was extremely pleased with the event: “I was very proud of them. It was great to see how the students’ have grown both musically and professionally snice the start of the course.”
Check out some photos from the performances
Student Reuben Reading found the gig an incredibly beneficial experience. He commented: “It was a great opportunity. The number of different musicians we got to work with was wonderful and I got the chance to write and create my own song in a style that I hadn’t worked with before which was a very enjoyable experience. It was great to develop my creative skills and deliver what I created in performance.”
Rose Tiernan added: “It was a fantastic challenge! I got to have a go at a range of genres plus I got to showcase my upcoming EP.” Rose is excited for her first single to be released on streaming services on June 3rd, titled Comet.
She continued: “It was an opportunity to work with a range of different people, build my musicianship and continue to get performance experience. And importantly, we got to be inspired by our peer’s work; we helped and supported each other to create the work.”
For the Level 3 second years, this was also their final performance of their college experience. Rose commented: “I did a year of sixth form, and it wasn’t for me so I joined the course at college and found people like me! To have this final time on stage together was amazing; not only forming close friendships but potential industry links in the future.” Reuben added: “In my opinion these have been the best years of education I have had and this performance was a perfect way for them to come to a close.”
The students also were thankful to the Music staff for their help and support. Reuben commented: “Rob Hague has been amazing; he can play so many instruments and has so much knowledge for us to benefit from, just like lecturer Tom Haynes. We have a great bond with the teachers which makes gigs with them even more fun.”
Well done to all the musicians involved, what a way close the year!
