2014 Talent Show

The 2014 Talent Show was held on the 24th September. It was another memorable evening and very difficult to choose just 3 winners.
Eventually we decided to award 3rd prize to Emily Lockett (Y9), who sang and played the guitar with great skill and personality. 2nd prize went to Daisy Mitchell (10), who bravely and beautifully sang an aria in Italian. The 1st prize was awarded to William Davenport (Y11) who played his own composition "Ice" on the piano.
Special mention should also be given to Luke Imber, Millicent James, Alex Webb, Kieran and Jordan Picken for their great performances.
Sound and lighting were provided by Dominic Axford and Christopher Davis, with help from former student Daniel Jones.
Tickets and refreshments were organised by Caitlin Duncan and Rosie Bould

Dr Who?

Last summer, William Davenport and Jordan Picken brought me their composition entry for the BBC Dr. Who Proms competition. I was expecting to make a few suggestions as to how to improve it, but it was perfect already and I felt that it was a potential winner. But how could it possibly win when there were hundreds of entries? Well it did win. There were two classes and William and Jordan won the junior class.

We went to the BBC studios in London to work with Ben Foster, one of the composers of the music for Dr. Who, to prepare this piece to be performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. This is the orchestra that is used to record all the Dr. Who music. 

The piece was performed at the Dr. Who Proms on the 13^th and 14^th of July, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. 

So I found myself at one of the greatest venues in the country, at the greatest music festival in the world, watching a performance of a composition from two of my students! Not a bad day!

There is an important lesson here: the best that we produce in this school is often equal to, and can be even better than, the best that anyone in the country can do.

Art Exhibition

As usual, we will be providing the music for this event. It will mainly be a showcase for Y9 musicians. It's free. There may be food. Come along!

We Will Rock You - photos please!

I'm still buzzing about how wonderful this show was. There were so many things I could pick out to mention:

• the astonishingly professional performances of Bethan Marshall, Daniel Jackson, Ed Mellor, Teri-Marie Yoxall, Jenni McMahon, Adam Simpson and Amy Bould. All of them would grace any West End stage. 
• Rob's fun dancing in Another One Bites The Dust 
• the glorious singing of Beth Fallows, Becky Mellor and Kirsty Chadwick
• the emergence of new talents, especially amongst Y9 (can't wait for the next show!) 

And the band, what a band! James Shufflebotham's glorious solo work, providing power, equalling Brian May's melodic gift. Joe Garvey's fluid and highly skilled bass playing. Tom Jones' drumming, powerful or sensitive, always perfect. For the first time in many years I was able to leave some of the keyboard work to another player - marvellous work from William Davenport. The band also had the superb support of Beth Eardley, Tom Hardwick, Jordan Picken and Ben Lockett. It was a great feeling to start the show with Innuendo, all the power of that opening beat made me feel like I was driving an expensive, but always reliable, luxury car.

Anyway, you'll notice that this post has no photos. Neither has a noticeboard in my classroom. So please bring in any photos you have and I'll put them up here or there!

Thanks for a wonderful show!

Rehearsals for the rest of the term

Monday 10th December - orchestra 3.15-4.15
Thursday 13th December - choir 3.15-4.15
Monday 17th December - orchestra 3.15-4.15
Tuesday 18th December - everyone at St. Lawrence Church 9.00-12.00

Tuesday 18th December - Carol Concert - St. Lawrence Church 6.30-8.00pm

Wednesday 19th December - Sainsbury's - 9.30-11.00

Wednesday 19th December - 6.30-7.30 - performance of "Hammer to Fall"

All done for the first term - collapse in satisfied heap!

Happy Christmas

Come and join the choir for Christmas!

Dear student!

I would like you to join the choir and take part in the Christmas Concert, which will take place on Tuesday, 18^th December at 6.30pm, at St. Lawrence church. If you agree, your commitment will be to attend 3 after school rehearsals:

Thursday 29^th November

Thursday 6^th December

Thursday 13^th December

These will take place in the music room (130) from 3.15 till 4.15.

There will also be a rehearsal during the school day on Tuesday 18^th December: you should go straight to St. Lawrence church at 9.00am. I am also arranging a performance at Sainsbury’s, which will again take place during the school day.

The concert will last about an hour and a half. As well as singing some traditional carols we will be singing “The Power of Love” (as in the John Lewis advert), “Goodnight” by the Beatles and anything else people suggest!

I hope you will consider joining the choir. It has the following advantages:

·         Gaining confidence in singing and in general

·         Learning more about singing techniques and reading music

·         Enjoyment through the “buzz” that live performance can give

·         Feeling that you are taking part in school life and promoting the school in a positive way

You won’t have to audition, it doesn’t matter how good or bad you are at singing. You won’t have to sing a solo (unless you want to). It’s non-stop fun so I hope to see you soon!

We Will Rock You

Good luck to everyone performing in We Will Rock You - it's going to be great! Tickets are still available for Wednesday and Thursday

We Will Rock You

Tickets are now on sale for this great show. The dates are 21st - 23rd November at 7.00pm. The last time we did this show it was astounding. This time it promises to be even better - the standards achieved by those playing principal roles, the quality of the chorus singing, the dancing, the band - all are amazing. You'd be mad to miss it! so don't!

Art Exhibition

The annual Art Exhibition, which is in the main hall on the 4th July from 6-8pm will also be a showcase for Y9 musicians. Great art, great music, what more could you possibly want? How about free admission?