♫ Musician of the Month ♫

As pupils come in and out of collective worship at Bosbury, they have the opportunity to listen to a variety of different pieces of music.

Through this, the children will learn about different composers and musicians, focusing on one artist or band per month with the piece of music changing every week.

Pupils will therefore listen to four pieces of music by the same composer or musician, enabling them to listen closely to the similarities and differences in a variety of pieces from the same artist. We hope that children (and parents!) find out something new, as well as enjoying and discovering some new and different styles of music.

Our Musician of the Month for October is one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century - the American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer, Stevie Wonder (1961 - present).

Arguably one of the most famous examples of achieving great success in spite of disability, Wonder, born Stevland Hardaway Morris in 1950, overcame developing blindness shortly after his birth to become a hugely influential pioneer across a range of musical genres, including R&B, pop, soul, gospel, funk and jazz.

In the early 1970s, his use of electronic musical instruments such as synthesisers - innovations which didn't become mainstream in many countries until the 1980s - helped reshape the conventions of contemporary R&B.

His figures and accolades are truly staggering, selling more than 100 million records worldwide, achieving no fewer than 25 Grammy Awards as well as an Academy Award for Best Original Song for his stellar hit I Just Called to Say I Love You, which featured in the soundtrack of the film The Woman in Red.

In 2009, he was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace and honoured with the prestigious musical Gershwin Prize by US President Barack Obama, also being presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the same world leader in 2014 for his political work advocating civil rights, citing iconic American minister and black rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. as a huge influence.

Further information and resources, as well as videos of some of Wonder's most famous performances, can be viewed below.