Blog

The Black Cat Music sales team was delighted to welcome Wenger International’s Lori Barwick to the company’s South East England based HQ, this week.

Black Cat Music’s Managing Director, Alice Dagger reporting on the visit, commented: "We particularly enjoyed taking Lori, our counterpart from the Wenger international sales team, with us to the MMA Ensemble 100 Reception - a celebration of over 100 years of music education, which brought together highly influential figures in the world of music education in the UK.  There were beautiful musical performances from Apollo5, James Way, Woodcroft Primary School Choir & Alexander Bone".

MMA’s Ensemble magazine (celebrating 100 editions) is described as ‘a premium termly publication reflecting the most inspiring commentary and most useful resources relevant for those working in the UK and international schools worldwide’. The MMA is the National Association of Music Teaching Professionals – the largest and longest established association of music teachers in the UK, supporting all who work in a school music department.

Alice Dagger continued, "It was great to have the chance to meet Lori Barwick with us and to learn about Wenger's exciting new product developments, including the Transform motorised acoustic banners, which transform the acoustics of a performance venue in seconds; and the Transcend Active Acoustic System, which gives facility managers the ability to enhance acoustic environments in virtually any space. It was a great visit, and we look forward to seeing Lori and her colleagues at Wenger again soon.”

Black Cat Music is Master Distributor for Wenger in the UK, Europe and Russia.  Wenger music equipment is world-renowned for its quality and longevity, and all Wenger products come with a minimum 5-year guarantee.  

For the month of November, Black Cat is offering 10 per cent discount on the Roughneck music stand as a special promotion.

  This generous discount can bring the price down to as little as £45.40 per stand, depending on the amount ordered, making it the perfect opportunity for schools and colleges to invest in top quality stands for their music department.

The all-metal music stand is designed for general practice and performance. With its welded base, the Roughneck music stand always stands straight, won't lean or wobble and will never need tightening. Extremely robust, the height adjusting trigger lock will easily hold 30lbs without releasing. 

For more information on the Roughneck music stand and full details on the November offer please go to the   Black Cat Music web site.  

 

It’s amazing how good quality equipment helps induce a professional pride in their music. Recently Black Cat Music made the short journey to Tonbridge Grammar School in Kent for a behind the scenes look at how the school stores and cares for the instruments and music equipment that has been built up in recent years.  

With Simon Hayward, Head of Music at Tonbridge Grammar School, Black Cat Music’s guide for the visit, we have produced a video of the tour of the music facilities. Students at the school take music up to Key Stage 3, then can go on to take GCSE in music. Senior students can go further and take a baccalaureate. Teaching music at the school for the last 11 years, Simon Hayward shows how the investment in music storage equipment not only keeps instruments safe and protected from damage, but allows equipment to always be on hand when it is time to practise. What’s more everything is kept tidy, so no clutter to trip over at the start and finish of lessons, or risk of damage to delicate instruments. Simon is impressed by the quality of the equipment and is confident that the robust and lockable storage racks will go on and on for many years.

 When it comes to Wenger music stands, which he explains are virtually unbreakable, we see members of the choir in a slick, well practised maneouvre, collapse the stands, load them on to a move and store cart and wheel them away for the next group to use. Tonbridge Grammar School has a good tradition in choral singing. Examples from the Motet Choir’s repertoire accompany the video narration. Over the years a big library of choral music has been built up and now benefits from its own storage and indexing facilities. Naturally members of the choir have their own Choral Folders. It all adds up to acting and looking professional as well as looking and sounding good in performance.

When Sevenoaks based music teacher, Amanda Rupp set up Aeolian Music, her teaching work was to take place at her home. Amanda was anxious to ensure that her private music room met the current reverberation time guidelines for music teaching within schools.

It was time to call in Black Cat Acoustics to evaluate the acoustic environment and recommend a suitable solution.  After the installation work was completed a delighted Amanda said, “I am delighted with my Black Cat acoustic panels which have greatly improved the sound attenuation in the music room. By ensuring that my private music room meets the current reverberation time guidelines for music teaching within schools, I have optimised conditions for myself and my pupils.

With correct seated posture a vital consideration for musicians, the current discounted price on offer from Black Cat Music makes June a great time to buy the Encore Chair designed specially for musicians.

The result of considerable research and development, the Encore Chair offers both comfort and posture support for seated musicians. Thanks to the curved ‘waterfall’ leading seat edge, musicians are able to sit comfortably in a more upright and poised position, while the slender back gives plenty of room for arm movements when playing. The seat and back panel are fitted to a sturdy tubular frame and can be supplied in other fabric colours as an alternative to the standard black. Seats can be ordered for either 470 mm or 490 mm height above floor, with an option for alternative heights available to special order.

For full details of the Encore Chair and to take advantage of this special offer visit  our   Black Cat Music web site.