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'This tour was a triumph of persistence, cooperation and positive thinking'

September 21, 2021

A music director from Buckinghamshire who took 80 musicians away to Jersey for their first post pandmeic music tour talks about why this tour was so important to him and his young ensembles.

“This tour was a triumph of persistence, cooperation and positive thinking in the face of many challenges, both before and during the tour. However, the benefits to these young people were more than worth it, from a musical, social and well-being point of view.

“At a time when our young musicians had been deprived of ensemble playing for so long and just as importantly, spent so little time together socially, this tour seemed even more important to us and them and a real gesture of the power of music and of human resilience in the face of crisis.

“Once we’d overcome the initial issues of airport PCR testing and the outcomes of that and dealing with the understandable levels of anxiety and uncertainty amongst the young musicians, we settled into what then felt like a normal tour with wonderful outdoor concerts, beach visits and watersports.

“It was that normality and the joy of playing together properly again that felt genuinely uplifting. I don’t think there were any of us who didn’t feel the swell of emotion at our final concert under lights at the Howard Davis Park bandstand as all three groups gave their all to the performance.

“Club Europe were equally determined to help us to make things happen, even when we were confronted with last minute changes to entry requirements due to Covid-19. The commitment of their team to work with us to find solutions and the wonderful support of the Jersey Academy of Music team helped tremendously in making the impossible happen.

“Most of us who work in the Music Education business can remember our own county group days and the huge importance of those touring, residential and performance occasions that remain significant factors in our development as both musicians and people. It makes us proud that this cohort of young musicians didn’t miss out on this in a year when they’ve missed out on so much.”

Director of Music, Paul Guenault.