Facts and pictures of activities in Immanuel Music School during the year 2013

Immanuel Music School has had 108 students during 2013. 39 of the children have been learning violin and piano through Immanuel Day Nursery (kindergarten). For the older students coming to lessons after school in the afternoons and evenings, 21 of them come from the area close to Home of Praise and 48 students got their first music lessons in Immanuel Church. 19 of the students learning music after school started to play violin in Immanuel Day Nursery.

Many of the 108 students in Immanuel Music School have been very eager to come to lessons, orchestra rehearsals and helping out teaching their friends and younger children:

Immanuel Day Nursery Orchestra

16 of the students have come between 92-201 times during 2013 (2-4 times a week).

29 of the students have come between 37-86 times during 2013 (1-2 times a week).

29 of the students have come between 20-33 times during 2013.

23 of the students have come between 10-19 times (too little to make much progress)

The ones coming to lessons less than 10 times (around 30 students) are not counted as members.

Solveig and violin students at HOP

Many of the students in Immanuel Music School seems to feel like home when they come to Immanuel Church or Home of Praise so they also join other activities there like English, computer and art lessons, BB (Boys brigade), camps and Sunday school. 23 of the students in Immanuel Music School are baptised.

Drums donated by Bangkok Patana School

The age of the students in Immanuel Music School range from 3-21 years old. At the end of 2013, 8 were grownups/students, 7 were High School students, 20 were Secondary School students, 42 were Primary School students and 31 were kindergarten students.

Music lesson in kindergarten

Immanuel Music School offer individual lessons in violin, viola, cello, guitar and piano. The students can also join several ensembles depending of their age and level of playing. We have Immanuel Chamber orchestra (8 musicians), Immanuel String Orchestra (20 musicians), Immanuel Junior Orchestra (10 musicians), Immanuel Suzuki Orchestra 13 musicians), Home of Praise Junior Orchestra (8 musicians), Home of Praise Suzuki Orchestra (7 musicians), Immanuel Day Nursery Orchestra (15 musicians) and Immauel band. In addition to this, the Day Nursery children 3-6 years old also get classroom lessons containing singing, sol-fa, music theory and fine motoric skills preparing the children to play an instrument. (The children only receiving these lessons and not yet playing an instrument are not included in the 108 members of the Music School.)

Immanuel International Choir

Thai Music in Home of Praise

As projects part of the year 2013, we also have had Immanuel International Choir with performances during Easter and Christmas time, Home of Praise Children Choir, Home of Praise Thai Music Course four days during summer holiday and Thai dance at special occasions.

Reehpaw Saenthawidet (Fiw)

Immanuel Music School has had one scholarship student during 2013, Reehpaw Saenthawidet (Fiw), learning, living and working in Immanuel/Home of Praise. He gets 1-2 piano lessons a week, joins different orchestras, choir and band, learns Thai Music once a week at LST (Luther Seminary of Thailand) and gets a little bit of money so he can live here in Bangkok. In return, he helps to teach piano and cello in the Music School and plays/accompanies the piano in Immanuel Church, at LST and in Day nursery. Beside the work and music studies, he also is about to complete his high school through the non-formal Education Department. Fiw comes from a small Lahu village in Chiang Rai. His family is very poor. Fiw really wanted to learn to play piano, but he did not have any possibility to do so before he came to us.

Varin Artvilai (Ton)

Solveig Meling Johannessen is the leader of Immanuel Music School. She is the one teaching most of the individual lessons and small groups. She also organizes and takes care of the economy.

Varin Artvilai (Ton) is the conductor of Immanuel String Orchestra and he teaches individual lessons for the violinists in the orchestra about two hours per week. Ton was earlier a student in Immanuel Music School, but is now last year student at Mahidol University (Bachelor performing violin).

Dag Johannessen is the choir conductor and orchestra conductor for special occasions. Dag is also working to establish local funding for the running of the music school.

Kiattisak Boonman (Man)

Kiattisak Boonman (Man) is a youth worker at the community centre Home of Praise. He teaches guitar and other band-instruments and was leading the Home of Praise Children Choir before Christmas.

Once a week until April we had a Korean volunteer violin teacher named Jiui Hong (Kru Lin). Ragnhild Danbolt Øygard taught for 4 weeks in October as part of her study internship and Asiratsit Wilalai (Pae) held a 4 days course in Thai music at Home of Praise in April 2013.

Even more important is the peer to peer teaching. Several of the students in Immanuel Music school help out by teaching friends and younger students.

String festival at Bangkok Patana School

For several years Immanuel Music School has cooperated with international schools in Bangkok, especially Bangkok Patana School which has also donated several instruments to the Immanuel Music School. In 2013 Immanuel Music School attended 2 orchestra-Festivals together with international School Orchestras, one at International School of Bangkok (ISB) and one at Bangkok Patana School.

Immanuel Chamber Orchestra

Immanuel Music School has arranged four concerts during the year 2013 in addition to participation in Sunday Services at Church, performances for groups visiting and other events. In April the orchestra had a rehearsal camp and performed at the Norwegian Seaman’s church in Pattaya.

Here are more pictures of activities in Immanuel Music School 2013: