Saturday Music Centre

The Henley Saturday Music Centre is run by the Eureka! Foundation. It is held between 9.30am - 12.30pm at the Christchurch Centre, Reading, Road, Henley. It is open to all ages, including adults.

There are also Eureka! Early Years Music classes at Trinty Pre-School on Tuesdays from 3.45 - 5.30pm and on Wednesday mornings. The classes cater for ages 0 - 10.

Groups and lessons do have a charge, but part of the ethos of the centre is to provide subsidies for lessons and, those belonging to qualifying groups, get a cheque back every July towards the cost of lessons. There are no requirements for joining the groups, but the groups are structured by standard and players join the one that most suits them.

What the Foundation does:

Areas of Activity:

• Supporting music tuition at all levels
  
• Supporting concerts and musical events
  
• Promoting activities to raise money for community groups
  

How this is done:

• By running music centres
  
• By initiating and providing support for a wide range of musical events
  
• By providing a unique framework with advantages for pupils and teachers
  

Current Projects:

Concert at Norden Farm Arts Centre
Maidenhead. Nov 13th

Concert at The Christchurch Centre
Henley-on-Thames. Dec 17th

Concert at the Colleton School
Twyford in Lent Term

Ensembles

Some members of ‘Vivaldi Superstrings’

There are a number of ensembles within the Centre. The photo above is of some players from the string ensemble ‘Vivaldi Superstrings’. This is open to those string players seeking early exposure to group music-making. As a group it has performed many times, recently in Reading Town Hall Concert Hall as part of the University of Reading ‘Music Teaching in Professional practice’ International Summer School.

The Centre is also home to Henley Youth Chamber Orchestra. The orchestra has been invited to perform at Norden Farm Arts Centre, Maidenhead in November.

There are flourishing guitar groups and a wide variety of chamber ensembles on offer. In addition, despite the Centre’s name, we have ‘Eureka! Early Years Music’ sessions available on Tuesday afternoons at Trinity Pre school and on Wednesday mornings. These are wonderful opportunity to give young children the basic musical skills which complement study of instruments and singing. There are classes for ages 0 – 10.

The Music Centre is run by Paul Cox, Head of Strings at the University of Southampton and Tutor for the ‘Music Teaching in Professional Practice’ course at the University of Reading. Besides making recordings (as ‘cellist) he gives many concerts as conductor and ‘cellist – notably as soloist in the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the St Petersburg Philharmonic orchestra.

Julia Deats who runs the Eureka! Early Years Music classes gained her music degree at University of Southampton before gaining wide experience as a school teacher and giving many concerts both as flautist and classical keyboard specialist.

The other members of staff are highly qualified musicians with, at the very least, a first degree in music and an impressive breadth of teaching and coaching experience