SWALEDALE FESTIVAL BRINGS WORLD-LEADING MUSICIANS TO SCHOOL

A group of GCSE and A-level Music students were privileged to be entertained by world-leading musicians. As part of the award-winning Swaledale Festival’s Community and Education Programme, the school welcomed Michael Messer’s Mitra, a unique collaboration between an innovative and legendary British blues guitarist and singer and two fine Indian musicians – a Hindustani slide guitar maestro from India, and a London-based tabla master.

Michael Messer sang and played slide and lap steel guitar, with Gurdain Singh Ravatt on tabla and Manish Pingle playing Indian slide guitar (mohan veena). The musicians had performed in the Swaledale Festival and were delighted to be invited to school where they played a varied programme and also had time for a Q and A. Their music was an exciting and highly accessible fusion of blues and Indian classical music, which took the students on a fascinating musical journey running from the banks of the Mississippi, via London and Mumbai, to the Ganges delta!

We were also pleased that a group of Year 3, 4 and 5 students from Trinity Academy Richmond were able to join the event.

Malcolm Creese, Artistic Director of the Swaledale Festival, said: “We had a very warm welcome and it was great to see the pupils being so interested and inquisitive – they were fascinated by the combination of Indian classical musicians and a western blues guitarist. Our community and education work aims to introduce people to professional musicians and less familiar cultures and genres, and this morning did exactly that.”

Stephen Boyd, Lead Teacher for Music at Richmond School and Sixth Form College, added: “Michael brought a completely new sound to our students this morning. The fusion of blues and Indian Classical music seems too far to bridge, however the band’s incredible musicality and dexterity made for seamless transitions between the two genres, creating a truly unique experience for our students.”