La Rubrique des lycéens

Voici un résumé de l'expérience des lycéens au Saveurs Jazz, au sein de la rédac' de Toque & Notes... et en anglais s'il vous plaît !

An insight into the Saveurs Jazz Festival: sharing an experience…

A group of 5 pupils, all attending Blaise Pascal high school in Segré, took part for the first time in the festival. They were integrated to the Toque & Notes writing committee for a few days, and were in charge of covering the balades held every morning in different places of the region. Their job consisted in taking some pictures, making a few notes on the concert and sometimes interviewing artists and festival-goers. When back to the writing room, they had to do the article and choose the right picture(s), to be published in the next edition of the Toque & Notes magazine.

You can have an overview of what they have produced here:
http://toque-notes.blogspot.fr/2016/07/la-rubrique-des-lyceens_9.html

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They also had the chance to meet Alex Stuart, a guitar player from Australia, just before his concert in Segré. A few mails had been exchanged between the class and the musician, before the real meeting on Friday*. The group assisted to the sound checks and then, Alex Stuart, very nicely, took a few minutes of his time to talk with the pupils. The whole interview was conducted in English. Here is a short report written by Emma and Lisa right after the interview.

Alex Stuart is a multi-ethnic musician; he was born from a Vietnamese mother and an Australian father. He lives now in Paris because he loves the city and it is the place to be if you want to make a living out of music! He explained that he started playing the piano at the age of 6, so he began playing music at an early age. He played for the first time in a pub when 14: at the time, he was part of a little group, and they were not very famous, but today Alex is known by any real jazz lover.

Today, he is on stage for the Saveurs Jazz Festival. By the end of the day, he will fly to Great-Britain for another concert. It is a really busy job, but he loves it! He doesn’t have much time to read, but when he has free time, he enjoys a good book like On the road by Jack Kerouac.

He is a big fan of Jeff Buckley and Radiohead. He would love to play with them… Who knows, maybe one day?

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On that same day, the group was offered a backstage tour, an occasion for the pupils to go behind the scene! 

Here what they think of the visit:

“We found it very interesting; it was brilliant to get an occasion to visit the place! We had no idea so many people were involved in the organization”

“We came to realize that a music festival is no just about music and musicians. It is a whole world living here for a few days! In fact there are more than 50 people who work for the festival: from cooks to journalists, cameramen, and managers… Not to mention the whole team of volunteers!”

“Everything is impressive here!”

A special thanks to Claire, our guide during the visit. Thanks a lot Claire for taking some time to give us some very precious details on the way a festival is set!

Lisa, Emma, Angéline, Juliette, Thomas and Ms Bouteiller

*The exchanges can be read on the school website: http://pascal.paysdelaloire.e-lyco.fr/ (Section Européenne) or on Alex Stuart Facebook page.