Facts and activities in Immanuel Music School during 2014

Immanuel Music School had 124 members during 2014. To be a member you have to come to rehearsals at least 10 times.

 50 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, 23 of them come from the area close to Home of Praise and 50 students got their lessons in Immanuel Church. 20 of the students learning music after school started to play violin in Immanuel Day Nursery. In addition to offer free music lessons to children and youths in the shabby and decaying areas surrounding Immanuel Church and Home of Praise community center, Immanuel Music School also wish to expend the work to other poor areas and churches in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand. During 2014 we have had 4 violin students from Ruampraporn Church and some students from Luther Seminary Thailand (coming from different parts of the country) joined the choir.

Immanuel Music School also has one full time scholarship student. Reehpaw Saenthawidet (Fiw) comes from a small Lahoo tribe village in Chiang Rai, and has been in Immanuel Music School for two years now to learn to play piano so he can be able to pass an audition to study music at a university. While staying here he has also learned to play violin, cello, several Thai instruments and different band instruments. Now he can help out by playing in weddings and worships and help with the teaching. Once a week he travels out to Samrong Church to teach a student there.

Many of the 124 students in Immanuel Music School have been very eager to come to lessons, orchestra rehearsals and helping out teaching their friends and younger children:

15 of the students have come between 90-178 times during 2014 (2-4 times a week).

34 of the students have come between 35-83 times during 2014 (1-2 times a week).

41 of the students have come between 20-34 times during 2014.

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

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. 30 of the members in Immanuel Music School in 2014 are baptized.

 

The age of the members of Immanuel Music School in 2014 range from 3 to 46, 7 were grownups (25 and older), most of them also working as leaders in the music school, 13 were students (19-24 years old), 3 were High School students, 18 were Secondary School students, 43 were Primary School students and 40 were kindergarten students.

Immanuel Music School offers individual lessons in violin, viola, cello, guitar and piano. The students can also join several orchestras, choirs and music theory lessons depending of their age and level of playing. 

This year Immanuel Music School has arranged two big concerts, one summer

concert and one Christmas concert, and several small performances for different groups
visiting including a short concert for the Norwegian ambassador and a couple of his staff. We have also this year joined two String festivals arranged by international schools here in Bangkok, one for high school students arranged by ISB, and one for Key Stage 3 children (age 12-14) arranged by BPS.
Immanuel Music School was also invited to play at BB (Boys Brigade)’s 20 years anniversary event and ISB’s winter concert. In May we performed at a concert at Munjai Café. The younger children performed at the graduation
ceremony in Immanuel Day nursery, and also at the Christmas celebrations both there, in Home of Praise and in Immanuel Church. During the year the orchestra, and sometimes only different small groups of the music school has contributed by playing in quite a few services, mostly in Immanuel Church, but also at LST and in the Norwegian Church in Pattaya. For the first time students in the music school have been responsible for making their own string arrangements for hymns, and Fiw has also made his first compositions for choir and string orchestra. 

New in 2014 is a beginning of cooperation between Immanuel Music School and Bangkok Opera Foundation. One result of this is an opportunity for two of our best students to be trainees at Siam Sinfonietta, Bangkok Opera Foundation’s well known and high quality youth orchestra. We have also received free tickets to symphony concerts and latest Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute”.

Leaders and teachers in Immanuel Music School 2014:

Varin Artvilai (Ton), 22 is the conductor of Immanuel String Orchestra and he also has lead sessions for the violinists in the

orchestra and some few individual lessons. Ton just finished a bachelor in performing violin at Mahidol University in April 2014 and the orchestra has developed so much last year under his leading. He started to play violin in Immanuel Music School at Home of Praise when he was a kid.

Solveig Meling Johannessen is the founder of Immanuel Music School together with her husband, Dag. She is still the one teaching most individual and small groups lessons, especially for the small kids, and she also organizes and takes care of the economy.

Dag Johannessen works more in the background. He likes to look at the big picture to find a way to develop and expand the music school and is working on searching ways to get local funding for the running of the music school.

Kiattisak Boonman (Man) is the youth worker at the community center Home of Praise. He teaches

guitar, and sometimes other band-instruments and Thai music. He also leads the Home of Praise Children Choir.

Stephen Maniam, composer, music teacher and double bassist from Scotland, was a volunteer in Immanuel Music School the first half year of 2014. He both gave lessons in double bass, music theory, arranging, composition and writing music using a computer. Especially our scholarship student Fiw learned very much from him, and Stephen was the person helping and encouraging the students begin to arrange hymns and making compositions. Stephen also helped playing double bass in the orchestra.

Jonathan Mann, famous conductor from Wales, has joined several

orchestra rehearsals during the year and also both the big concerts we have had in 2014. He is especially helping and encouraging Ton, our conductor, to develop his conductor skills, but in some occasions Jonathan also has been conducting himself. This happened at Immanuel Music School’s Asia premiere of Stephen Maniam’s Suite for strings at the summer concerts, and he was the conductor of the 5 combined choir and orchestra pieces for the Christmas concert. It was a very inspirational and encouraging experience, most of all for all the choir members who got the feeling of singing in a real, good choir for the first time.

Nathapon Po-Ngam (Pol), violinist and friend of Ton from Mahidol University, joined the orchestra camp in April as a leader, and also helped out playing violin, both solo and in the orchestra at our summer concert.

A couple of the students in Immanuel Music School have also helped teaching their friends and younger students. In 2014 especially Reehpaw Saenthawidet (Fiw), 20, and Sinsupa Pantawong (Fai), 19, has helped a lot. They both want to study music to be professional musicians.

Pranee Saiyotha has helped making concert programs, flowers and many other things regarding organizing events together with the women group in Immanuel Church. She has also been leading and Phonpiya Kaewsasen (Aom), 12, been responsible for the Thai dance performances of the children during 2014.

trained the children in Immanuel Music School to lead, behave well and sing in front of the congregation in Immanuel Church, and together with

Chanda Saiyotha (A. Ant), the pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church, has led the worship team and band during the year 2014. With very good support and encouragement through daily problems and big events from him, the Immanuel congregation leadership committee, Immanuel Women group and all people mentioned here, Immuel Music School has managed to develop to where we are today. Thanks to God who has blessed us, and given us strengths and his love every day.

 

Support, donations and economy:

Immanuel Music School has had expenses totally of 218,929 Bath in 2014:

Salaries, also including costs of apprentice and 5 external cello lessons: 82,403 Bath

Sheet music, including copies: 12,294 Bath

Instruments, including repairing, shoulder rests, strings, bows and rosins: 51,706 Bath

Rehearsal Camp: 37,828 Bath

Inventory, including rewards: 7,692 Bath

Travelling: 2,780 Bath

Concerts: 24,226 Bath

Immanuel Music School has no fixed income and is totally dependent of generous donations, support and volunteers giving out of their time helping to teach or/and play for free or at a low price during the year.

During 2014 Immanuel Music School has got some really good help.

All together Immanuel Music School had an income of 230,775 Bath in 2014 including support of repairing instruments, our own member’s contributions and 15,000 in support of the rehearsal camp from a NMS supported project.

*Thank you very much, Stephen Maniam, who gave a big part of your half year as volunteer to us.

*Thank you very much also to Jonathan Mann, who gave us a lot of Sunday afternoons (and in December even a lot more than that), to help us, for free.

*Thank you both ISB and BPS, for inviting us to join your string festivals for free also in 2014.

*Thank you Somtow Sucharitkul and Bangkok Opera Foundation, for giving us free tickets at several concerts, and for making it possible for two of our students to join the youth orchestra Siam Sinfonietta as trainees. Thank you also for helping to get needed musicians for our Christmas Concert.

*Thank you  to musicians, Pattama Soodjai (Pat), oboe, and Ken, violin, to give of your time playing  with us both at the summer

concert and Christmas concert. Thank you to Nathapon Po-ngam (pol), violin, for joining to play and help both at rehearsal camp and at the summer concert. Thank you Phumjai Ponpeth, flute, Apiwat Suriyot, trumpet, timpani player (Sorry, I don’t know your name), Thanya Anansuksawath, bassoon, and singers joining the choir, for helping out playing and singing at the Christmas Concert.

*Thank you to Thapanin Choroensuk (Soi), cello teacher from Mahidol University who gave some free cello lessons to Fiw.  Since we still have no professional cellist in our music school this was to very much use. Fiw used what what he had learned teaching the younger children in Immanuel Music School.

*Thank you to Franke Violin, for letting Ton borrowing a very good violin and bow,  for giving us a lot of used, but good violin strings and for repairing instruments to a reduced price.

*Thank you Primary Music Department at Bangkok Patana School for choosing Immanuel Music School as your charity project also in 2014, and through this helped us restore an old violin and getting new bows to many children.

*Thank you Ben and family for giving us your violin and electric piano.

* Thank you ISB for the donation of a computer.

*Thank you for 5 new bows and two shoulder-rests from Vats Church in occasion of visit in March.

* Thanks also to Anne’s family at ISB, Egil Eide and his visiting groups, the Norwegian Church in Pattaya and all other supporters, family and friends for your generous donations. Strawberry sale and 70 years celebration gift have also been a very good help for Immanuel Music School in 2014.

*Last, but not least, a big thank you to Norwegian Mission Society (NMS) and all people supporting the organization who have made it possible for both Solveig and Dag johannessen to stay and work in Thailand for so many years. Without NMS there would have been no Music School in Immanuel.

What 2015 will bring, we do still not know. Hopefully Immanuel Music School will develop further and expand, but it all depends of what support we get. If you who is reading this, or anyone else you know want to help in any way, you are very welcome.