All those present at the Carol Concert, held in St. Mary’s Church on Monday 16 December 2013, were in agreement that this was a truly uplifting school event. It is a great advantage to be able to have this event in our local church and we are grateful to St. Mary’s for accommodating us in such a splendid setting. The Rev. Rosie Hoad welcomed the students and their families as well as staff and governors to the annual event and started proceedings with a prayer.
The message of Christmas was delivered with readings from Mrs Davies-Jones, Sammy Standing (7B), Daniel Norris (Head Boy, 13TBI), and Mr Ferguson. The congregation enjoyed singing traditional carols and the music provided by the students had a Christmas theme, all of which was skilfully compered by Head Girl, Madeleine Williams (13HDU).
Ben Dunham (7D) opened with a solo of the first verse of ‘Once in Royal David’s City’. The Jazz Band performed to their usual high standard with Who Let the Elves Out before the Year 7 singers performed ‘Vois Sur Ton Chemain’, the result of work done in their French lessons. They came back later for a Spanish number, ‘Feliz Navidad’ and many of them then joined in with the Glee Singers, where a real highlight was ‘Christmas is Coming’, composed by Usman Mahmood (9F).
Not to be outdone, the staff choir performed ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’, much to the delight of those assembled. Max Mills (13HDU) and Will Millett (7D) joined force in a percussion duet ‘Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree’. This was also an opportunity to celebrate Max winning a place at the Royal College of Music to study percussion, no doubt something that will inspire Will. Gheorghe Rotaru (9E) is also a musician with great ability, as noted by his Chopin waltz, performed on the piano. The Jazz Band concluded proceedings with ‘Santa’s In Town’ before the final carol.
Thanks are due to Miss Andrews and Miss Lumber from the music department for their work in leading the musicians in rehearsals and on the evening.
The retiring collection has been sent to the ‘Street Child Africa’ charity. Thank you to everyone for your generosity. As ever the evening was rounded off with mince pies and mulled wine in the Church Hall.
Tags: 2013-14, Carol Concert, Events, Music
