Virtual Christmas Concert
As Christmas time is fast approaching we at Melody Makers are turning our attention to our Virtual Christmas Concert. Like last year we have decided to make it a competition, there will be two categories, The Popular Vote and The Judging Panel.
The reason for the competition is to help the children develop their performance and recording skills. As we are all aware to develop as performers we need feedback. Speaking personally as a performer, it somehow becomes more meaningful if those comments come from people that you don’t know. This project is our way of creating that in a fun and safe environment.
The Christmas Concert Competition is really not demanding from you the families. The students will learn a festive song in their lesson and then with your permission, your teacher can film it and upload it to our secure Facebook group, or alternatively you can film it and upload it yourself. The project is free to take part, and everything will happen within your usual lessons so the only commitment we need is in terms of practice and encouragement. However, we will ask you parents to get involved, because your votes will count!
The video will be uploaded to the private Facebook group called Melody Makers Spotlight. It is the same group that we used previously for last year's Virtual Christmas Competition. This group is closed and secure, anyone joining will be asked which child they are supporting and Claire will be vetting all members. https://www.facebook.com/groups/869062580242324/.
Once you have joined the group (and shared it with your close friends and family). Now this is the important bit…. we ask all the adults to comment on a minimum of five different videos, even if they are not students you personally know, it’s about acknowledging the videos you like. Last time we had grandparents from South Africa, aunties from India and cousins from America, it made the group very exciting, especially for the voting stage.
The competition side will come in the form of points, each video will get points. One point for a like, two points for a comment and three points for each comment from the judging panel. That way each child will have lovely essential feedback which will help them develop as a performer.
I feel it’s important to say that this is not a social media exercise, Melody Makers has a very low social media profile (we prefer to work on personal recommendation), the videos will not go viral and only people in the group will be able to see them. The driving force behind all of this competition is that we teachers will be able to show our students their videos and all the positive comments which will give them valuable feedback to help them develop as performers.
Please allow me to stress that we will only film the students if we have your permission. So if you would like to take part please respond to this email as soon as possible.
Now for the exciting bit, the prizes….
1st place will win £40.00 of e-vouchers for Wimbledon Theatre
These will be valid for one year and can be redeemed in any of ATG’s many theatres
Here are the details of the shows at Wimbledon
2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place will win
Chocolate and Sweets
Please do let us know if you have any dietary issues, we will do our best to accommodate
Everyone else will get a lollipop for taking part.
We will welcome the videos being really creative, costumes, decorations and scenery, and video effects are all welcome. Parents are welcome to film and upload the videos themselves or just send to me and Claire (email, whatsapp, google share, WE transfer). We are looking forward to some inventive and creative ideas,
Recordings will take place from Monday 4th - Saturday 10th December, here in the studios we will provide some decorations, lights, tinsel etc but we would love you to add your own festive apparel (Silly jumpers, lights hats whatever!) and add to our festive atmosphere it will make your videos wonderful!
To summarise…
Please encourage your child to practise
Please respond to this email giving your permission for your child to participate. We respect your privacy too much to assume it's ok.
Please prepare your costume for 4th - 10th December,
We will send out a scheduled reminder email on the 3rd December.
Share the group with your friends and family- https://www.facebook.com/groups/869062580242324/.
Please note Claire will be vetting all member requests by asking the name of the child they are supporting, that way the environment is only populated by people with a vested interest.
All videos will need to be uploaded 11th December 12.00pm
All winners will be announced by 20.00 on the 17th December 2023
Please make sure you vote (like and or comment) on a minimum of 5 video
Good luck to everyone, it’s going to be a really fun event, Christmas is awesome!
Love and Music
Claire, Steve, Gosia, Emily and Tiago
