Event: Quaver Concert No.1 Feat. The Paul Edwards Trio
Location: Boston Tea Party, 30 Harborne Road, Edgbaston, B15 3AA
Time and Date: 10:30am on Friday 6th July. Due to be on a monthly basis.
Price: £5 per adult, Children FREE
On Friday we headed along to The Boston Tea Party for The String Clubs, Quaver Concert No. 1 held in the beautiful orangery room. This is definitely the room you would want to use to hire out for a small birthday gathering or baby shower.
Behind BTP is a reasonably priced pay and display car park (£2 for 2 hours) with a beautiful lavender section that Jemima and myself really liked.
We headed on in to the venue and ordered ourselves some drinks. Boston Tea Party is lovely but you don’t get much change from £10 when you purchase two drinks and a slice of cake. I had a raspberry and mango smoothie and Jemima had a breakfast smoothie. Actually, scrap that, Jemima had both, as usual, whatever I was drinking, she wanted.
We had a slice of lemon drizzle cake to share which was slightly dry and a little disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, it was still nice, I just think it needed a bit more moisture to it.
We walked into the orangery and met the lovely lady Amy Cunningham who runs The Strings Club. I’d not been asked to come and review this session (I’d booked on like everyone else, hence the poor quality photos as I just used my phone instead of my professional camera), so I had to introduce myself and ask if I was able to take photos to put on here.
Amy set The Strings Club up in 2012 and it has gone from strength to strength since then. They now run Holiday Camps, Discovery Days, Term Time Classes, Parties and the new Quaver Concerts. It is the latter option that we had come along to, the very first Quaver Concert at Boston Tea Party.
What do the Quaver Concerts entail?
The Quaver Concerts are set out as themed concerts run by professionally trained musicians who will present a range of musical repertoire. Giving parents and children both the chance to experience, explore and engage with live music.
During this session we were greeted by The Paul Edwards Trio; Consisting of Paul, his wife and his friend. In the centre of the room in front of the musicians, an alphabet foam mat was on the floor for Children to play with and sit on.
Paul introduced himself and his band and they played for approximately 55 minutes.
There were tunes from childhood films like Toy Storys, ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’, Nursery Rhymes ‘Wheels on the Bus’ and other childhood classics from when the parents were younger such as ‘A sailor went to sea sea sea to see what he could see see see’ and then there were some of Paul’s own songs.
The music could not be faulted. It was fantastic and I would and could quite happily sit and listen to him playing whilst I enjoy a cake and a drink, minus children.
However, I had a Jemima with me (I reckon it would be weird if I turned up to a toddler group without her. Ha). And although Paul engaged her very well with the childhood songs that she knew and could sing along to (Paul was great at getting the whole room involved), Jemima needed a bit more to do when it was songs she didn’t know. And spent a bit of time testing my patience by hanging by the orangery bi-fold doors, running in and out of them. With this I couldn’t relax like I wanted at certain times, instead keeping a firm eye on Jemima.
However, it was the very first session and Amy tells me that the next session there will be instruments for the little ones to play (Jemima will absolutely love this) and possibly some colouring paper and crayons too (this will be another firm favourite for Jemima). I doubt the orangery bi-fold doors will even be noticed by Jemima next time.
So I reckon the next session will be fantastic and well worth the £5 per adult to attend (Children are free).
I might pop along again and review the next one as I’m sure with the added extras of the instruments and colouring paper, I’ll be able to sit back, relax and enjoy the delights of the next set of trained musicians.
Do check out The String Clubs website for details about the summer holiday award winning camps as I think these will be perfect for your school aged children. Rumour has it you can hire an instrument to take home for free too! As an ex violin player, I definitely recommend picking that. Or if you’re under 10, you can’t beat the Ukelele.