Bethan Spragg, has written about her musical  journey from walking the dog, to performing on the Trumpet with the Essex Youth Brass,  the Essex Junior Jazz, the Essex Youth Orchestra, various Brass Bands, the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain and now the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain.

Since writing the story below, Bethan has won Musician of the Year at The Hertfordshire & Essex High School, 2020.

Read Bethan’s inspirational and entertaining story in full:

Whilst helping my Dad walk our Golden Retriever, we often met a lady walking her Black Retriever. Whilst chatting we discovered she taught piano and although she thought I was a little young (age 4) she agreed to give me a trial lesson. Having shown my ability to concentrate for more than 5 minutes she agreed to weekly lessons and I loved it!

Takeley Primary school were keen to encourage pupils to learn to play a musical instrument, and, having tried blowing mum’s clarinet and dad’s trombone, I opted for brass (sorry mum!) and the school loaned me my first trumpet.

I made rapid progress and got my own trumpet – then dad took me along to Bocking Concert Brass and playing with a group of other learners was a great help.

Having been invited to Essex Youth Brass Ensemble I found their conductor Steve Drury who dad persuaded to give me a masterclass, and then Steve agreed to become my regular trumpet tutor.

With Steve’s help and the fantastic support of Essex Music Services I was playing trumpet regularly with Essex Youth Brass Ensemble and Essex Junior Jazz by age 8, and playing in concerts, at fetes and other events on cornet with Bocking Concert Brass.

In 2015 I enjoyed two residential courses with Brass Academy and won their soloist competition, then auditioned successfully for National Children’s Orchestra (NCO) and thoroughly enjoyed their residential course in Dorset.

Mum had kittens whilst I had a fantastic week in Holland with Essex Youth Symphonic Wind Orchestra at age 10, and I went on to enjoy 5 years with NCO where I have made a number of life-long friends, and performed in concerts at fantastic venues including The Anvil, Basingstoke; Bridgewater Hall, Manchester; Colston Hall, Bristol, and Birmingham Symphony Hall.

Age 10,  I moved from Bocking Concert Brass to Essex Police Band with whom I continue to play regularly, including each July at the Sandringham Royal Flower Show in front of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Throughout I have continued my piano lessons and regularly taken ABRSM exams on both piano and trumpet, achieving Grade 8 Trumpet at age 11 and Grade 8 piano at age 13.

Having played for 2 years in East of England Co-op Band I now play solo cornet for Championship section Redbridge Brass; trumpet with Essex Youth Jazz Orchestra, Essex Youth Jazz Sextet and Essex Youth Orchestra.

Along the way I won the Saffron Walden Music Festival in 2016 and 2019, and the Herts & Essex School Junior Young Musician of the Year three consecutive years.

I am looking forward to competing at Saffron Walden Music Festival again very soon and I am through to the regional finals of the Rotary Young Musician of the Year competition in which I will be competing in Cambridge in March.

I’m now in my third year at Junior Guildhall, and, being too old for National Children’s Orchestra, last year I successfully auditioned for the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain with whom I enjoyed two great courses in 2019 and I’m really looking forward to performing with them again in Cardiff this Easter.

I had a great time in Germany last year with Essex Youth Orchestra and Essex Youth Jazz Orchestra and would like to say a huge thank you to Essex Music Services for their support and the fantastic opportunities their hard work has provided – and to mum & dad for taxi services too!

Charles Campbell Peek has written about his  journey from Rugby player to performing on the Double Bass with the Essex Young  Persons Orchestra, the Essex Youth Orchestra, alongside musicians of the London Symphony Orchestra, National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain and now the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

Read Charles’ inspirational and entertaining story in full: 

“It all really started because of rugby. There was this boy that played for the same club as me whose house I would sometimes go round after training or matches. He had a piano and I always enjoyed watching him play and trying to convince myself I was playing with him whenever I touched the keys.

Months later, I started having piano lessons with the same teacher as him and the following year I started having violin lessons with my piano teachers husband which was very convenient. As both of my teachers lived on a boat after a year or two, I had to start looking elsewhere for lessons and that’s when we found Havering Music Services (HMS) who have had a vital part in my progress that I have made as a musician.

In the summer before I joined HMS, my father was watching a documentary in which a man had this huge instrument and after a few seconds he spun it and I was left in awe. In the September we asked HMS if they had any of these huge instruments that I could start to learn. The instrument I used wasn’t as big as the one on TV as I was only 7 and it was a 1/16 size. I immediately fell in love with it and in the Summer of the year that I had first started the Double Bass, I played Nimrod from Elgar’s Enigma Variations alongside LSO musicians in the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in front of a full Olympic stadium 80,000 strong. The following year I was awarded a Scholarship.

I kept on doing LSO schemes and with the influence of my amazing teacher Mike Speed I travelled to the South Bank Centre and auditioned for the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain. It was quite odd as there were two people sitting there as well as a huge camera lens pointed straight at me, but I was successful with my audition and led the Bass Section there from 2013-2017.

In my first year of NCO I heard about this older orchestra called NYO and discovered from other 9 year olds that it was very hard to get into even for people that had done their grade 8 which at the time came around a lot sooner than I would ever have anticipated thanks to Mr Speed.

In my final year of NCO I had to once again start to look for other places to play. I already played in every ensemble I could at Havering Music  School and had recently started studying at Junior Guildhall. Through school, we heard about Essex Youth Orchestra and Essex Young Persons Orchestra. So we decided to audition, a process that I was soon getting used to.

In the Winter of 2017 I participated in my first EYO and thoroughly enjoyed it desperate for Spring to come around so I could do another course and in the summer after the tour, I auditioned for NYO.

 This sort of audition was different form any other audition I had done before. I had to prepare excerpts before the audition and play them there and then. I still had to play two contrasting pieces and there was still a time limit. After waiting an hour and a bit, I rejoined the session with 4 other bassists who were auditioning and took part in a mini sectional which was very competitive, but I was lucky to fit in a few suggestions and extra bowings. I did all three residencies and even two play the schools and the inspire course in Liverpool. One of my highlights of the year was definitely playing on the 12th night of the BBC Proms and going on tour to Germany with both NYO and EYO.

The 2019-2020 season sees my second season with the NYO after another successful
audition along with Edward Frazer-Brown.”

Edward Frazer-Brown, Tuba player, is the latest young musician from Essex  Music Services to join the NYO of Great Britain

Aged 16 Edward Frazer-Brown has just been invited to join the prestigious National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain –  the world’s greatest orchestra of teenagers, as a Tuba player.

Over the last two years, Edward has performed with many of our County’s flagship music groups. He currently plays with the Essex Youth Orchestra, Essex Youth Jazz Orchestra and Sextet plus Essex Youth Wind Orchestra on Tuba, Euphonium or Trombone.

Edward started playing the Tuba aged 10 at a local community music centre and has recently passed his Grade 8 Tuba exam with Distinction. He is also a self-taught Trombone player. In addition to playing with many of the County’s Music Groups he also plays with a local Championship Brass Band and a Big Band.

Edward is home educated and aged 15 started his ‘A’ level music with Trinity Laban. He hopes to further his studies at The Royal Northern Conservatoire next year.

Jenni Thomson, Essex Music Services “Edward has performed in concert all around the county as a member of many music groups, Last summer he performed with both the Essex Youth Orchestra and Essex Youth Jazz Orchestra in a tour of the Hartz region of Germany.

He is a huge asset to our County Groups and is dedicated to help achieve the highest standard in concert. All at Essex Music Services are very proud of his recent success and believe it is well deserved!

 Edward’s younger sister, Saffina who also plays trombone and is another emerging talent in many of our music groups, and like her brother has been involved in as many groups, concerts and tours. I am sure she will have the same success as her older brother.”

For more information on joining any of our music groups, please contact:-   Jenni Thomson,  Music Ensembles Co-ordinator, Essex Music Services. Telephone: 0333 0139362 |  Mobile: 07786 125700 jenni.thomson@essex.gov.uk