Jazzman Pete Letanka comes to St Mary's 2025

Premier League Jazzman Pete Letanka comes to work & perform with the children of St Mary’s Primary, Hadleigh

Confidence through Jazz Creativity

World-class jazz pianist, composer and educator, Pete Letanka will be coming to St Mary’s C of E Primary School in Hadleigh to work with children for four days with a final invitation-only concert at the Hadleigh Town Hall on 14 February 2025, joined by Hadleigh’s own jazzman, George Double on drums and the singing and percussion of 80 children.

This is an outstanding opportunity for the school’s students to learn jazz creativity and show off their singing, playing and performing abilities. Local councillors, funders, parents & carers and staff & governors have been invited to attend the concert.

To further enhance its music curriculum, St Mary’s invited Pete to come and run day-long workshops over four days with the Key Stage 2 students and to perform a mini-concert at the school for the KS1 children from Early Years upwards, so that every child gets a taste of his and his trio’s music-making brilliance. Children will sing & also play djembes, glockenspiels, xylophones and a range of other percussion instruments to put on an astounding display of jazz creativity and performance.

As one organiser said of Pete Letanka:

“I don’t think I’ve met anyone else who can deliver the same level of brilliance, humour, concentration, fun and focus.  Truly inspirational.”

Pete has worked all over the world and has run educational projects, including with inner London state schools, special schools & street children. In the summer each year, he runs Southwark Splash, a music project with 600 children at the Royal Festival Hall.

St Mary’s C of E Primary is an outstanding school (SIAMS) with an overall ‘Good’ rating (Ofsted). All its children are loved and educated to an extremely high standard by a dedicated and highly skilled teaching and support staff.

Its motto is “Love one another. As I have loved you, so must you love one another.”