Friday Centre

Rehearsals are during term time, 6:00 - 8:30pm at Oasis Academy Shirley Park

 

CMA Friday welcomes instrumentalists of Grade 4-5 standard or above, who will often have progressed from CMA Saturday Concert Band or String Orchestra. Friday centre groups are split into Youth Winds and Youth Strings for ensemble, chamber music, or sectional work. Students then mix into full orchestral ensembles: Croydon Youth Concert Orchestra or Croydon Youth Orchestra.

The focus of CMA Friday is the development of ensemble playing and performing skills, but young musicians are also involved in the artistic design, planning and presentation of the performances.

Each ensemble will rehearse and perform a wide range of repertoire, which is influenced equally by student members and external performance opportunities, which include collaborations with professional artists and organisations such as the London Mozart Players and the annual concert with Peter Stark.

Croydon Youth Concert Orchestra

CYCO performs music from a wide range of genres, from Baroque and Classical music to songs from musicals and film scores. Rehearsals focus on orchestral training and most students progress to the Youth Orchestra when appropriate. There is a fun and sociable atmosphere, especially at break times. New members will be welcomed immediately by staff and their peers.

 

Croydon Youth Orchestra

CYO is for more advanced players, usually Grade 6 standard to music college level. Where possible solo opportunities are offered to the older and most dedicated students. CYO performs classical repertoire, sometimes in collaboration with LMP musicians, including a performance of the entire Planets Suite by Holst in a side by side concert with the London Mozart Players. We also perform more contemporary music including film scores and works with partner organisations such as The Grand Union Orchestra and Shri Sriram from Croydon Composers.

 

Croydon Youth Winds and Strings

The ensemble structure is flexible depending on the requirements of upcoming concerts. Members of both orchestras usually rehearse with Croydon Youth Winds (woodwind, brass and percussion players) or Croydon Youth Strings for part of the evening.

 
 
 
 

The Schedule

Everyone attends rehearsals from 6pm - 8:30pm.

There is not a set timetable as the schedule depends on the term’s performance focus, but will include the following groups:

·       Brass Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, String Chamber, Wind Chamber

·       Croydon Youth Winds: all woodwind, brass and percussion players at the centre

·       Croydon Youth Strings: all string players at the centre

·       Croydon Youth Concert Orchestra: developing orchestral skills with a range of repertoire, which is likely to contain doubling parts so sections support each other.

·       Croydon Youth Orchestra: more advanced repertoire that is likely to contain individual parts and solos for wind players, and more independent parts for string sections.

To make sure everyone has a great time with us, we have a Code of Conduct for each of our CMA centres.

Click here to view the Friday Centre Code of Conduct

Image credits: 1, 2 Charlotte Wilson, 3 Chris Hoare