Students from British International School Phuket enjoy Study, Stress and Music.
Workshops for students
Learning Music: Practice and Performance
Podcast: (6.5mb, 16 minutes)
Swing it Simple: Jazz improvisation for beginners
In the Pocket: Polishing the jazz band
Simply Stunning! Getting that Choir Sound
How are You Smart? (Celebrate the diversity of human intelligence)
How did he do it? The Secret of Beethoven's Success.
Michael Griffin playing Beethoven Symphony No.5, Ist MM on piano
Testimonials:
Michael Griffin was extremely well prepared, responsive to the size and nature of the individual boys, and made his points relevant and interesting (rather than sounding nagging about doing more practice). It was an excellent session and the boys still comment about various things that were mentioned. Several parents also attended and it was also valid and suitable for their ears. I would thoroughly recommend him.
The Hall School, London England
This talk was perfectly suited to our IGCSE and A Level music students. The information was presented clearly in an engaging, relaxed manner. The demonstrations on the piano, combined with the power point presentation, use of humour and the involvement of the audience meant that everyone was thoroughly attentive and focused throughout. However, the real test of the success of this talk lies in the legacy it leaves behind. I was delighted by the number of music students who approached me in the days and weeks following Michael's visit to tell me about how they are using his methods in their practice. It has also helped me as a teacher, when helping students to overcome a particular problem with their playing, I only need to give a gentle prompt and they quickly recall the steps they need to take and are able to go much further in solving their own problems. This talk gave a real boost to our music students and has given them the confidence to take more responsibility for their own progress.
Garden international School, KL Malaysia
It has been a wonderful experience having you here this morning with us. Your message was very clear and I am sure children will start using their full brain! Maybe some will start learning music instead of being passive listeners. I am optimistic our children will now look at music differently. Looking forward to having more such sessions in future.
Qatar and India newspaper reports of Michael Griffin workshops:
http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=168051
http://www.qatar-tribune.com/data/20100208/pdf/nation.pdf (Page No.7)
A K Shrivastava Principal Birla Public School, Qatar
The kids really enjoyed your workshops, and some are quoting you in their level 3 topic essays! Thanks for the inspiration.
Long Bay College, Auckland New Zealand
I can’t thank you enough for the presentations you made at our school today. You know things have gone well when you catch the students talking about it after school.
MYP Coordinator, Greenfields Dubai UAE
It was a very good, engaging talk. The students loved hearing from someone who is out there doing it. I think of greatest value was perhaps the particular aspects of how to approach performance, ways of handling performance nerves, etc. Your comment of staying in the present moment and handling errors was very valuable; I saw a few kids jump for their pens when they heard this. Your comments on the brain/brain research and music were extremely interesting. Please come back next year.
St Michael’s College, Australia
It was great to be able to have an intelligent discussion with someone as knowledgeable, experienced and passionate about things as Michael Griffin is. It’s terrific for the students, but also refreshing for teachers.
St Mary's College, Australia
Just a quick note to say how Interesting your multiple intelligences 'How are You Smart?' workshop was. It is a perfect beginning of the year activity to help the students realise their potential and to understand that everyone does not fit into a neat little 'box'. I hope we will see you back at Chisnallwood Int. again.
Chisnallwood, New Zealand
The students found your talk very inspirational as well as amusing. We are talking about your ideas in our group rehearsals, so the learning is becoming experiential. Hope you had a good return trip. We would like to have you again, maybe next year.
Glendowie College, Auckland New Zealand
I am absolutely astonished at how much my students recall of your seminar.A ball park estimate would be something in the range of 90% of the information that you gave has been absorbed and redescribed in essay form along with personal reactions to the information. Every student has stated that they found your presentation really interesting, and it has helped not just their music learning but also that the knowledge is beneficial for their study in other subjects as well as good "life" learning. On behalf of the students, tutors and myself, thank you so much and I hope your travels are going well!
Upper Hutt College, Wellington New Zealand
It was great meeting you, and staff and students alike very much enjoyed your workshops. They were inspiring, perceptive, and entertaining. It was great that you could engage the students quickly and enthuse them to want to participate and understand more - both in the jazz improvisation, harmony workshops and also in the choral workshop with our I See Red choir. We have enjoyed following up on your workshops using your resources. Please let us know when you are over this way again and we will have you back for more workshops!
Ella Buchanan Hanify, Chilton Saint James School Wellington New Zealand