NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2013 YOUNG MUSICIANS TO WOW SHERBORNE IN 2014 A bold project involving 60 young musicians from 11 EU towns is scheduled to happen in Sherborne in July 2014. This is the culmination of several years of hard work and discussions between Sherborne Douzelage and Sherborne schools music groups. It Max from Chojna should bring a wonderful opportunity for young musicians from across Europe to learn from each other, cre- ate a masterly performance and find the best young orchestral musician. higher; thereby assuring a high quality pro- This will be preceded in March 2014 gramme of music and learning. by a local competition to find the best young musicians in woodwind, The international programme will include strings, brass and piano in Sher- master classes, solo displays, competitions borne area to represent us in the & a concert. The Young People will discuss international event. music from their different perspectives as well as learning about each other’s cultures. The project will explore Europe through its musical heritage and The Sherborne competition will be on th th musicians, but with a broad basis of 14 - 16 March 2014. cultural and social elements to The international programme will be th th broaden the experience, extend from 13 – 20 July 2014. learning and help develop the inter- national understanding of young peo- The Music Director will be – Jamie Hender- ple. son (Sherborne School). Music Advisers – Paul Cosh & Val Mizen. The programme will involve 5 young musicians from each town, aged 13 – Funding is a challenge and the programme 19 years, who are at music grade 6 or Cont page 2 PAGE 2 SHERBORNE DOUZELAGE SEPTEMBER 2013 YOUNG MUSICIANS TO WOW SHERBORNE IN 2014 can only proceed if we get EU grant If you know interested young musi- funding, and in addition raise about cians living within 16 miles of Sher- £16,000 from UK sources. If you know a borne, then please ask them to contact potential funding source then please their school music head or our contact our chairman, Kevin Waterfall. secretary, Mary Clothier, to take part. If sufficient funding can be found then we can proceed. Michael Morrell CELEBRATING THE CARNAVAL IN GRANVILLE Having been to France on numer- at the mention of the Carnaval and the ous occasions, it has to be said that prospect of days of celebration- and the it was a brilliant experience to rep- Monday off school. resent the town of Sherborne at the Granville Carnaval, 2013. The entire trip was enjoyed thoroughly by Our hosts were fabulous and their all- the ferry crossing at 7am was not so generosity knew no bounds. Faye much fun, but everybody got on really and Jean-Claude are wonderful well and it was excellent to share the ex- people and a French breakfast each perience with others and meet new peo- morning really was a treat to wake ple. The beaches at Arromanches were a up to. remarkable sight to behold- an artificial The carnival itself was a marvel- lous display of French culture and Our happy group celebration and was a brilliant spectacle. To be a part of it was an absolute privilege and we thor- oughly enjoyed dancing through the streets of Granville dressed as Incas. The entire town was dressed up in costumes and everywhere you looked was colourful. When speaking with some of the local college kids, it was clear to see what the Carnaval meant to them and to the town. Their eyes lit up PAGE 3 SHERBORNE DOUZELAGE SEPTEMBER 2013 CELEBRATING THE CARNAVAL IN GRANVILLE harbour built rapidly for the Allies to take the Normandy beaches. Incas from Dorset This place of interest was a bril- liant way to end the trip and proved the trip to both be a cul- tural and educational visit to France. Overall, the Granville trip was an excellent opportunity to learn more about French tradition and expand our knowledge of other places in Europe. It was a thor- oughly enjoyable trip and everyone had a brilliant time experiencing the chance to practise their French and embrace new cultural experi- ences. Daniel Peace JAKE PERROT’S VIEW On 7th February, six Year 12 stu- dents went to Granville in France, mercifully smooth, and we arrived there with the Douzelage, an organisation at about 3pm. The next bit was Kevin’s which promotes friendship between fatal mistake – asking Jake and Dan to the European member towns. Luckily navigate. Still, we only went round the for us, Sherborne is the UK’s repre- same roundabout three times… sentative – so we were fortunate enough to have the chance to go! Among our very busy four days there, we visited Mont St Michel on a beauti- After waking us up ridiculously ful sunny day (yes, sunny days do exist early, Kevin Waterfall (the organiser, in France!), visited Granville centre for on the left in the photo) braved the some shopping and, on the way home, cold drive down to Portsmouth docks saw the beaches where soldiers landed – and when we say cold, we mean in the Second World War. COLD! The crossing to Caen was Cont. Page 9 PAGE 4 SHERBORNE DOUZELAGE SEPTEMBER 2013 ADVENTUROUS 13 SAIL THE HIGH SEAS On 19th August seven confident young people from Sherborne together with youngsters from Granville and from Weymouth joined the Tall Ship Peli- can. After learning the ropes they sailed to Granville for the “Festival des Voiles”, before the ship returned to its home port with the seven replaced by six others. The Mayors of Sherborne, Cllr Dominic Elliott and Weymouth & Portland, Cllr Ray Banham, were there to bid them a safe journey. Our Mayor said how won- derful it was to speak with such moti- Handing over in Granville vated and enthusiastic young people. The ship made a stopover at Sark for youngsters to explore the island before extremely pleased that they had had sailing on to Granville. Their French this experience and many said that they host made them very welcome at a fam- would to go back again, as volunteers ily BBQ and they explored the town or in some other capacity. well into the night, though I doubt if The Douzelage supports young people anyone made a profit at the casino. in this way, because of the value gained Sea watches of 4 hours work and 8 by the youngsters from these experi- hours off resulted in some significant ences. They can develop their skills, loss of sleep for some of them and they capacities and capabilities to enable found that a seaman’s life on a tall ship them to participate in society as mature involved working with some heavy and responsible individuals. The young ropes, climbing the masts and rigging, people all paid a contribution towards which also proved tiring. the trip, but Sherborne Douzelage also On 28th August the ship returned to its sponsored the trip with £2,000. home port to be welcomed by the Dep- uty Mayor of Weymouth and represen- The Pelican, operated by the Adventure tatives of Sherborne Douzelage, Magna under Sail organisation, gives many Housing and Sherborne Rotary. The people excellent sailing experiences. ship was given a 3 gun salute as it Sherborne Douzelage is particularly passed the Nothe Fort and rousing grateful to Sherborne Girls School for cheers from the gunners. As William the use of their minibus to collect their Dores of Sherborne said, “It was awe- students and others from Granville. some, an adventure not to be missed.”The youngsters were all Kevin Waterfall PAGE 5 SHERBORNE DOUZELAGE SEPTEMBER 2013 BELLAGIO 38TH GENERAL MEETING EVERYTHING WE COULD HAVE HOPED FOR When I was offered the opportunity Joe and Rich to travel to Italy for the 38th Gen- eral Meeting and participate in the Douzelage “Europe sings its history” workshop I jumped at the chance. To be able to sample the Italian culture was not something I have the chance to do often so I wasn't going to turn down the ex- perience. It proved to be everything I could have hoped for. I've gained so much in so many different ways through My trip started out by meeting this Douzelage experience. I have Rich, England's culinary workshop candi- found friends across Europe, musi- date, It didn't take us long to become 'amici', cal lessons, social confidence and so throughout the journey to Stansted we much more. bonded over football and the miracle that was little old Yeovil Town reaching the Going Aloft on the Pelican League One playoff final. We spent our first night in a hotel in Stan- sted, but we didn't sleep as we were two ex- cited about the journey we were soon to be embarking on. Instead we learnt as many Italian words as we could using the iPad. The flight offered us the most incredible views as we cruised over the snow tipped Alps. With anticipation mounting we touched down at Milan airport, and as we stepped out of the plane we felt hot air for the first time in a while. Waiting for us was a taxi to take us to our final destination, the whole way I was in a trance whilst looking at the beauty of Lake Como, surrounded by rolling mountains and idyllic towns. Cont. page 6 PAGE 6 SHERBORNE DOUZELAGE SEPTEMBER 2013 EVERYTHING WE COULD HAVE HOPED FOR We arrived at the Hotel du Lac at the Rich and I spent the rest of the after- heart of Bellagio overlooking the noon in bars. Lake; our room was ideal with a bal- cony directly above a bustling back That evening we met the rest of the street.