 What a year it’s been for the music department! The school calendar has been punctuated by the usual events and more. A November music assembly, followed by the Christmas Concert, followed by 2009 Battle Of The Bands, followed by Grease! Still to come as I write, there is to be another music assembly and entertainments for Speech Day.
We won’t dwell too much on the above events as they have more space elsewhere - other than to say that each event was truly impressive and wowed the audiences beyond expectation. But a few things are worth a special mention: brother and sister, Ollie and Théa Zabell, in Years 11 and 8 respectively, played a big part in the Grease band and their drums and guitar playing really helped to make the show sound professional. Also worth a special mention is Canto which, in its infancy last June, is now a fully-fledged vocal harmony group with 16 members singing beautifully and expertly in three parts. These pupils should be very proud of themselves for what they have achieved. The orchestra, likewise in its infancy twelve months ago, pioneered by Petrina Thomas, has matured into a fine sounding ensemble with a really impressive, tight sound as the players (from both Primary and Secondary) have developed into a proper team. Well done Petrina, the school has really benefited from having a proper orchestra and it’s all down to your hard work! A special well done also to participating pupils whose attendance has been dedicated.
Last summer’s GCSE Music results were better than they have ever been, prompting both Lewis Gowans and Francesca Morris to take it forward to AS Level and again next year to A Level. With a combination of excellent guitar skills and hard work they should do well in their AS exams - good luck folks!
One thing that I frequently hear from older pupils coming into the Music Room for the first time in a very long while is “Wow, the Music Room has really changed.” Of course it has! All the old keyboards have now been replaced with brand new Yamaha PSR E313 keyboards with hundreds of impressive features including split sound, chordal accompaniment, touch sensitivity and, best of all, MIDI ports which means that they can be hooked up to the computers. Which brings me on to the computers! A suite of three computers (all linked to the Yamaha keyboards) has now become a suite of ten, all equipped with various packages of software, enabling pupils from Year 8 to Year 13 to do so much more. Dance Ejay has enabled the younger pupils to become expert DJs, whilst Cakewalk has enabled Year 10s to create, record, layer and edit music. Sibelius has enabled pupils (particularly the Year 12s) to produce professional, notated scores of their compositions.
In terms of peripatetic teaching, we welcome aboard Paul Michaels, who teaches bass guitar. This has been a much needed service as bass guitarists are few and far between in school - bassists have had to be shared between bands in the last two Battle Of The Bands events. With the emergence of new bassists this should be an inconvenience of the past!
Still on the subject of peripatetic teaching, congratulations to those musicians who passed recent graded music exams - these include electric guitarists Ollie Zabell on Grade 6 and Daniel Porter on Grade 1, both achieved with merit. Drum pupils included Alice Millar on Grade 3 with a pass, and Ross Morris, Frank Huisman and Andrew Nicholas all with a merit for Grade 1. Well done everyone, keep up the good work!
The staff band, the ICE Blues, is something that has undergone an intriguing metamorphosis in the last year. With only three of its original members remaining, the band now consists of the following: Head of Maintenance, Eugene Keany as lead vocalist, Mr Trafford, Miss Fiona and Miss Williams on saxophones, myself on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, Mr Pól on bass guitar, Dave Cale on keyboards and lead guitar and Paul Michaels on drums and backing vocals. The band has in fact been “beefed up” from a seven-piece into an eight-piece band, the brass section now consisting of three-part harmony. The sound and confidence has improved enormously over the past few months, having had chances to perform at various school events - the PTA show, the 2009 Battle Of The Bands, and the Comedy Crunch and hopefully more to come!
Within the Primary Department, there has been a huge focus on singing in the past year. Every Monday at nine in the morning, year-groups 1 to 5 now sing together in assembly. Some pupils have been given opportunities to sing solos in front of their peers and this slot has provided an invaluable time for these individuals to share their skills and increase their confidence. For all pupils it has provided experience of community singing. The genres vary between popular and traditional, and pupils are also encouraged to sing in unison and in rounds. Added to this, Early Years and Reception also have a community singing slot, the focus here being one of enjoyment and enrichment; the children are encouraged to explore music through singing and actions.
Miss Fiona has started a Boomwhacker Club on Wednesdays for Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 which has already become popular. Pupils have been practising rhythms, composing in groups, and playing songs such as “The Lion Sleeps” in two-part harmony. Don’t know what a Boomwhacker is? Pop along and have a listen!
And finally onto the grand piano, now resident in the hall. The purchase having been “in the offing” for a long time, the deed was finally done last October and the school now has, for concerts and shows, a top class Steinweg grand - gorgeous to the touch and beautiful to the ear. Well done and thank you PTA for committing to this! We have already heard a few brilliant renditions in the Music Assembly, the Christmas Concert and the PTA show, and given that there are a number of gifted pianists within the school, there will be many more renditions to come.
Rosanna Wellsted |
 Christmas Concert
The evening of December 18th heralded the Christmas Concert, which provided an enjoyable showcase for the musical talent of many EIC pupils. This proved to be a real delight and the audience was wowed by all the impressive musical entertainment that they witnessed.
The orchestra, a combination of pupils from both Primary and Secondary, delivered four enchanting pieces. This included “Walking in the Air”, with Year 7 Charlotte Floyer who delivered a magical vocal line. A huge well done to Petrina Thomas who, in the past eight months, has put enormous commitment and effort into producing an orchestra from nothing.
The rest of the programme included an array of very impressive pianists and acoustic guitarists; the audience were particularly impressed by just how young some of the extremely accomplished performers were - notably twelve-year-olds Tristan Hidalgo Hobson and Egor Ulybin, both of whom are approaching Grade 7 standard. Other musical performances included Alex Horton’s cheery seasonal saxophone solo, Alice Millar’s own drum kit composition, and yuletide sung solos from Zoe Aldridge and Laura Dominguez Jackson, all of which got the audience tapping their feet.
Two drama sketches added to the evening’s variety of performance so well done from the Year 9 performers: Alex Horton, Sam Packwood, Pilar Rodríguez Mata, Keiron Chaudhry, Omar Abou El Ela Bourquin and Lukas Noritzsch whose addition of a little bit of comedy to the evening’s line-up was much appreciated.
Canto, the school’s fifteen-strong singing group, delivered beautiful three-part harmony renditions of “Time After Time”, “Riverside”, “She Will Be Loved” and “Silent Night”, which they have been rehearsing since September. Canto only started in May, and in that time has grown from four members to fifteen and has begun to “gel” superbly as a harmony choir.
Rosanna Wellsted
Click here for more pictures of the Xmas Concert 2008 |
