Very many congratulations to all those who took part in the end of term concert on Saturday 28 November. It really was a wonderful evening with lots of super playing and singing from the many and varied EJMS ensembles. A memorable event - very well done to everybody.
Performance Platform will be held every Saturday at 12.30 pm in the Performance Centre (Main Hall). Join us if you can.
Accompaniment and Aural Lessons
If you are taking a practical exam this term then please sign down for lessons with our pianists as soon as possible. You may chose a time to suit for the first three weeks but please remember that the times for the remaining lessons of the term will be arranged only once we have all the entries and your time may be altered from that first chosen.
School Parking Important Notice
Please note that there is no longer car parking by the Café and no route to the car park through the gate on Twyford Crescent.
All cars must now enter the Twyford site through the Uxbridge Road entrance (by the Sports Hall). There is to be very limited Parking Space from this term on and so if you can park on the surrounding streets or come to EJMS by any other means then please do so.
Congratulations to Cello teacher Andreas Manoras who in January 2010 will celebrate 25 years of teaching at EJMS.
Deadline for Examination Entries this term are as follows:
Associated Board Theory and Practical Saturday 16 January
Trinity Guildhall (non Percussion) Saturday 16 January
Trinity Guildhall Percussion Saturday 6 February
Anticipated dates for Practical Associated Board examinations this term will be 20th and 27th March. Theory exams will take place on Thursday 4th March at 5 pm.
The Percussion exams take place at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama on 17th & 18th April.
Your son/daughter’s teacher will have the necessary form to enter for the examinations (they are no longer kept at the desk). They will complete the form and then you should hand it in to the desk with the fee.
I have prepared a guidance sheet for pupils taking practical exams. You will be given this when you hand in your entry at the desk. I hope it will be useful, especially if it is your son/daughter’s first exam.
Accompaniment and Aural Lessons
If you are taking a practical exam this term then please sign down for lessons with our pianists as soon as possible. You may chose a time to suit for the first three weeks but please remember that the times for the remaining lessons of the term will be arranged only once we have all the entries and your time may be altered from that first chosen.
Course Fee Increases April 2010
Advance notice that course fees will have to go up in April 2010 to cover increased operating costs. Our school rental agreement allows for an annual inflation-based increase. We also need to increase the teachers’ pay rates to ensure we keep the quality of teacher EJMS needs. We try to limit any increase in fees to once a year, but we do have to cover our costs as EJMS does not receive any grants from Ealing Council or from the government. We are broadly looking at an inflation-based increase which will add only £1.50 per week (£15 per term) to the cost of the full course fee; other fees will go up by £5 or £10 per term; but there will not be any increase for the Adult Chorale-only fees, as parents are already paying for their children. Discounts will continue to be offered where two or more children in a family each attend the full course at EJMS. (Discounts do not apply to other courses.)
EJMS continues to offer exceptional value for money. Even after the April 2010 rise, the EJMS full course fee will be only £270. Fees for the Junior Courses at the Central London Music Colleges are nearly three times this amount. For this £270, your child gets not only a half-hour individual instrumental lesson, but also, at no extra cost, ensemble and orchestral membership, choir membership, theory lessons, aural training and piano accompaniment for your exams.
We are at the same time revising our instrument hire and insurance fees. Previously we have had a complicated system of charging termly hire fees and annual insurance fees. From April 2010, there will be a combined termly hire and insurance fee. We have also reviewed the hire charges. Previously we have charged one standard fee for every instrument, but this does not reflect the cost of buying and servicing the more expensive instruments such as bassoons. So from April 2010, there will be three scale rates. The cheapest hire/insurance rate will actually be less per annum than we are currently charging, but there will be small increases for the more expensive instruments. Even after these increases, these hire/insurance fees will be considerably less than commercial music shops charge.
Finally, a Health & Safety warning. If your child plays a brass or woodwind instrument, please impress on him/her that he/she must not under any circumstances whatsoever blow that instrument in someone’s ear. Serious hearing damage could be caused by such action.
Absence
If you know you will be absent on any Saturday, please telephone 020 8930 0579 well in advance so we can tell your teacher.
If you are unavoidably absent or late at short notice on a Saturday morning, please phone EJMS on 07939 550 497 to let us know.