A reminder to all who have not yet paid, fees for this term are now due and payment by Saturday 14 May is requested. This is a short half-term so prompt payment would be appreciated. Fees are £92.00 for Rockschool and £145.00 for Individual Tuition, payable to Towcester Rockschool Ltd. Any queries please contact Ros on 07738 974220 or rosmiles@rockschools.co.uk. There will be no Rockschools from Saturdays 28 May to 4 June.

We have lots of events planned for this term beginning with a day at Towcester Racecourse. Rockschools has been invited to play at the Racecourse at their Family Fun Day on Monday 30 May where they will be running a Rockschools Race. Bands taking part are:-

• Prestige
• Static
• The Uproar
• Epic Fail
• D-Fault
• Behind Closed Doors
• Fusion

Do come and give them your support. The event is for all ages with gates open at 12.00 and racing starting at 2.00pm. Entry is free for under 16s and we are being given free passes for 16-18 year old Rockschools students and their friends. All who would like passes need to order them from Ros on Saturday 14 May to collect on Saturday 21 May. Further details of the event can be found at www.towcester-racecourse.co.uk.

Tom Mitson will be with us again on Saturdays 14 and 21 May to PAT test any equipment students bring to use at Rockschool which has not yet been tested and does not have a passed sticker. Would all students with electric guitars, bass, keyboard or electric drums also remember to bring their own named extension lead which can be plugged into the extension lead with circuit breaker supplied by Rockschools so that each room can access one circuit breaker and Tom will then PAT test these too.

Another successful Rockschools band, Korrozion, have been entered in the Young Chamber Battle of the Bands with the opportunity of winning through to play at the O2 London finals. Please give them your support and vote for them online at www.youngchamber.com. Click on ‘Battle of the Bands 2011’, click on ‘view and vote for the bands’ and then listen to and vote for Korrozion which are the first band listed.

Thank you for your continuing support for Behind Closed Doors and Meningitis UK. The launch of their CD Gone Too Soon was a great success and it is on sale now in several music shops in our local areas. If you ordered a CD at the Easter Concert and have not yet received your copy please see Ros. There are also more copies available for any still wishing to purchase.

Other events our bands will be playing at include Midsummer Music on Friday 17 June, our end of year concert at The Stables for all bands on Saturday 16 July and the National Rock and Pop Festival on Monday 18 July. Tickets for The Stables concert will be available shortly.

Meanwhile we look forward to a very happy and productive Summer Term.

David Taylor
Director
Rockschools

Tickets are still on sale for our concert at The Stables on Saturday 17 July. There are just two weeks of Rockschool left now so do buy them this Saturday if you can. All bands will be playing at the concert which starts at 6.00pm and should finish at about 10.30pm. Students are expected to support all other bands during the concert and seating is provided for them.   Do let Ros know by this Saturday if any student cannot be there for the whole evening on 07738 974220 or rosmiles@rockschools.co.uk. Details of when bands need to arrive and the running order will then be given next week.

Two more big events this term are the National Festival of Music for Youth and the National Rock and Pop Festival.

Krieg have been invited to perform at the National Festival of Music for Youth on Wednesday 7 July at the 02 Academy in Birmingham. If you would like to come and support them there please ask Ros for details.

Four of our bands have been invited to perform at the National Rock and Pop Festival at the Birmingham Town Hall on Monday 19 July. We will be going to Birmingham by coach for the day and will be able to take part in workshops during the afternoon. Details will be available this Saturday and all Rockschool students are invited to come with us, dependant on availability of seats on the coach.

We look forward to a very busy few weeks at Rockschools!

During the last few weeks Rockschools bands have played at the Towcester MayDay Fayre on 3 May and at The Bell Plantation in Towcester in aid of Cancer Research. All bands were well received by a wide audience so many thanks to the various bands which took part and to parents for their support of these events. Thank you too to Ian Blunsdon and to Tom Mitson for providing such excellent sounds at these outdoor venues.

After half-term we will be supporting the Towcester Midsummer Music weekend on 18 and 19 June. On Friday 18 June Rockschool bands will be playing in Towcester Town Hall from 7.30 – 11.00pm and all are welcome to come and listen. Tickets will be available on the door at £3.00 for those who do not have programmes for all events on Saturday 19 June.

Also on Saturday 19 June the Rockhopper Recording Studio will be in Towcester in the car park of The Saracens Head as part of their Talent Tour. This is a competition open to anyone of any age, solo singer or bands and details can be found at www.thetalenttour.co.uk. Rockschools is supporting the Towcester leg of the Talent Tour and our Parents and Friends Assn. is offering to donate a prize of an entry into the Talent Tour for any Rockschools band in a free raffle. Ask at the Tuckshop on Saturday, where posters and flyers are available, of details of how to win a free recording session for your band!

One of our Rockschool bands, Krieg, have won through to the finals of Music for Youth Festival at the O2 Arena in Birmingham on Wednesday 7 July so many congratulations to them for having done so well. We also hope to take part in the National Rock and Pop Festival again this year on Monday 19 July. More details on both these events will be available after half-term.

Finally, we have another reminder for you, of our end of year concert at The Stables on Saturday 17 July at 6.00pm. We would like all Rockschool bands to take part and tickets will be on sale after half-term.

Meanwhile we hope you all enjoy your half-term holiday and look forward to seeing you in June.

David Taylor

Director

Rockschools

First of all we have a reminder for all students who bring any instrument or equipment that needs to be plugged in. For Health and Safety reasons we supply each room with a power breaker and one extension lead. All equipment must be run through this power breaker so each student must bring their own extension lead to attach to this. Each student’s extension lead should also be clearly named!

We also supply each band with a PA which includes 1 or 2 mics. We cannot however supply mic stands so we would ask singers to bring their own stands. Lead singers might like to bring their own mic too. We are able to offer a mic, complete with lead and stand in a carry case, for £30.00. If you would like to see a sample or place an order please see Ros any Saturday.

Thank you to all who supported our collection at Waitrose, we have now been given a cheque from them for £301.00 which we are putting towards the purchase of a lighting set which will be available for bands to use at the various gigs they are asked to take part in. Thanks too for the support given to RockVision which raised over £200.00 for the Mayor’s charities in Towcester.

The Rockschools Website’s update is now completed and there are lots more photos of all our bands for you to see there so do check it out www.rockschools.co.uk

We have again entered several bands for this year’s Music for Youth National Festival and will soon be videoing them so that their recorded entries can be submitted.

This term we have a new Piano and Keyboard teacher join us and we can therefore now offer more tuition in these instruments. There are also some places still available for tuition in Guitar, Bass, Drums and Singing. We can now offer more Singing lessons on Wednesday evenings in Towcester as well. If you are interested in booking lessons with any of our teachers please contact Ros on 07738 974220 or rosmiles@rockschools.co.uk. We still have some places for students who attend any of our Rockschools for individual tuition to join our bands in Rockschools where we cater for all ages and abilities. Please contact David Taylor at davidtaylor@rockschools.co.uk for further details.

Our guitar group for adults has started again on Wednesday evenings at Nicholas Hawksmoor School, Towcester and there are places available for any age over 18 and all abilities, contact Ros if you would like more details.

Our drum teacher, Warren Brunskill, is playing with his band, Identity Crisis, at The Red Lion in Brackley on Saturday 20 February. It would be great to see both parents and students (who are old enough to go to pubs!) there, all are welcome. For more information and details of his band go to www.identitycrisismusic.co.uk

Some further dates for your diaries are our Easter Concerts this term on Saturday 20 and Saturday 28 March at Nicholas Hawksmoor School, Towcester. If you are not available on one of those dates please let Ros know as soon as you can. The date of our Summer Concert has had to be changed due to the Grand Prix at Silverstone and the World Cup final now both being on Sunday 11 July and we now plan to hold it on Saturday 17 July at The Stables, Milton Keynes. We would like all band members to be available to play on that date. More details on all these events will be given in the next newsletter.

Meanwhile we look forward to another successful term of Rockschools.

David Taylor

Director

Rockschools