Musicians make the grade

3 children from the In Harmony Newcastle Gateshead programme took part in a challenge to improve their musicianship and gain coveted passes in the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music Grade 1 and Grade 2 exams.  The children from Hawthorn Primary were tutored by members of Royal Northern Sinfonia and the tricks and techniques they picked up from their mentors resulted in success. In Harmony Newcastle Gateshead, run by Sage Gateshead and based in Hawthorn Primary School in Elswick, provides the children with a chance to learn and play an orchestral instrument.  The school has built a close relationship with players from Royal Northern Sinfonia who regularly visit the pupils and teachers to provide training and inspiration. Six members of Royal Northern Sinfonia have also recently achieved success in ABRSM exams when they agreed to learn to play and be examined in an instrument they had never played before in aid of Sage Gateshead’s 10^th Birthday Appeal.  Orchestra Leader and Principal Violin, Bradley Creswick, took on the bassoon. Other Royal Northern Sinfonia members who took part in the Grade-1-athon were violinists Jenny Chang, Jane Nossek and Iona Brown who learned the French horn, flute and clarinet respectively, flautist Eilidh Gillespie learned the viola and oboist Steve Hudson tackled the cello.  The players took their officially adjudicated ABRSM Grade 1 exams on Friday 12th December 2014 and all RNS members passed with Distinction! Sage Gateshead’s 10th Birthday Appeal was launched in June 2012 by Arts Council England who set Sage Gateshead the target of raising £4 million by July 2015 in order to claim an additional £2 million in match funding to help secure the future of their work. Sage Gateshead is very proud of the children from In Harmony Newcastle Gateshead and appreciates the efforts of Royal Northern Sinfonia tutors and the Grade-1-athon participants. For more information on In Harmony, Sage Gateshead’s 10^th Birthday Appeal and forthcoming 10^th Birthday events go to: www.sagegateshead.com