On Monday 15 December, the school hosted its traditional Carol Concert at the local St Mary’s Church. The concert began with a warm welcome from Reverend Matthews, and there were a number of readings about the important of Christmas throughout the proceedings, from Lazar Dekic (7B), Head Boy Josh Norris (13TBI), Mrs Davies-Jones and Mr Ferguson. The event was expertly compered by Louis Kelly and Jack Takeda (both 12HDU).
The opening musical number, following Louis Rugg’s entrance music on the piano, was ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’. This piece, like many others throughout the evening, was a new arrangement by Music teacher Mr Rolet, who did an excellent job of putting new spins on these classic songs. ‘Rudolph’ was performed beautifully by the Year 7 voices troupe, who were accompanied by Mr Giannotta and the ukulele club, giving only their second public performance since their formation. Following this, the Guitar ensemble gave a great performance of ‘O Holy Night’, before the String Group played ‘Ding Dong Merrily on High’. It was lovely to see that both groups contained both student and staff representatives, with Mrs Stewart and Mr McDonnell (drama) in the former, and Miss Tighe from the mathematics department performing in the latter.
The Glee Club, made up of students in Years 8, 9 and 10, gave two performances over the course of the evening: ‘Little Drummer Boy’ and ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’, both of which received a fantastic response from the audience. Then it was the turn of Max Lundlack-Orr (10C), who gave a phenomenal solo violin performance of Vivaldi’s ‘Allegro’, which was enough to make your hair stand on end! As if that wasn’t enough, the Brass Ensemble gave an excellent performance of ‘Jingle Bell Boogie’, which received a great ovation from the assembled congregation. Rock School nearly blew the roof off with ‘Mad World’/’Feed the World’, before the Jazz Band concluded proceedings with a medley of Christmas classics.
Once again, the retiring collection was donated to Street Child Africa, an important charity working with street children throughout Africa. Thank you to everyone who made a kind donation. Special mention must also be given to Mrs Davies-Jones and the rest of the performing arts department for their support of rehearsals and the organisation of the event, and to all the participating musicians for their constant hard work and commitment! Evenings like this continue to prove the consistently excellent standard throughout the music department at Isleworth & Syon, as each year the students and staff somehow manage to top themselves. Thank you to everyone who attended this wonderful event!
Tags: 2014-15, Carol Concert, Events, Music, Performing Arts
