ACS Cobham students ‘stand up and speak out’ at jazz day

As part of a day to celebrate jazz music, students aged ten to fourteen at ACS Cobham International School joined together to share the school’s anti-bullying message at a whole-school concert.

Composer and educator, Katie Teage, was invited to ‘ACS Jazz Day’ to teach students her new composition, commissioned by ACS and entitled ‘Stand Up and Speak Out’.

The piece was inspired by ACS Cobham’s new ‘Courage’ programme, an anti-bullying initiative that teaches students to recognise the signs of bullying and how to intervene practically in a situation they may see and feel uncomfortable with.

In addition to the performance of ‘Stand Up and Speak Out’, Katie Teague taught the lower, middle and high school choirs various other musical pieces to perform at the concert, which celebrated jazz music and its influential role in musical and social history. 

The Ridouts, a family of professional musicians, also joined ‘jazz day’, helping students from the middle and high school orchestras perfect their orchestral pieces before the big performance.

The family consists of father Mark Ridout, a renowned jazz guitarist, mother Leigh, a saxophonist and music teacher, and their three children – one of which, Alexandra, won BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year 2016.

Simon Cook, teacher of music at ACS Cobham Middle School, commented:

ACS Jazz Day is a wonderful event which engages students with a style of music they may not listen to regularly and rarely perform. Everyone at ACS is very grateful to Katie Teague and The Ridouts who spent the day exciting students about jazz and perfecting their performances for the concert that rounded off the day.