Sound of music for school special

The musical event is one of the biggest in the school’s calendar and sees pupils from Year 7 through to the Sixth Form taking part in a wide range of classes to help their house win the prestigious house music trophy.

Malcolm Brown, the school's head of music, said: “The pupils are fiercely competitive when it comes to winning for their house and this means we enjoy some wonderful performances delivered with real passion and enthusiasm.

"There are 11 music classes including solo instrumentals and vocals, instrumental ensembles, small and large choral groups, bands and a chamber music category. The planning and preparation is led by the older pupils who audition, select and often accompany the solo performers, choose and arrange the music for the ensembles and choirs as well as rehearsing and conducting the performances.

"The end result is a joyful celebration of music making from pupils aged from 11 to 18, some of whom may never have had the experience of performing in public before. The quality of the music they produce is testament to both the leadership skills of the pupils as well as their musical talent.”

Every year the school invites an external adjudicator to judge the competition and this year the school was joined by Danielle Heathcote, artistic director at Gordon’s School in Surrey.

Organisers said experienced performer Danielle was able to offer valuable feedback after each class explaining how she had reached her decisions and offering tips for how pupils could further improve their performances.

The most popular classes was the large choral group of ten or more performers, with most houses having around ten times that number on stage. The Sixth Form pupils had the difficult task of organising their entry, picking the song or theme, arranging the performance, auditioning and selecting their choir members as well as rehearsing them and conducting the final performance.

After listening to the four houses Danielle described the sight of so many pupils of varying ages singing together with such skill and enthusiasm as “inspirational”. She awarded first place in this class to Darwin’s upbeat medley of Michael Jackson songs.

In the choral categories, Danielle rewarded groups who listened to each other and their leader most effectively while the winning ensembles were those who connected with each other and their audience. In the solo categories Danielle was looking for pupils who demonstrated a beginning, middle and end to their performance and told a story with their playing.

While the final marks were being counted, the audience was treated to a performance from some familiar faces when a number of recent leavers joined headmaster Gary Hickey on stage to form an unlikely but highly entertaining rock band.

Finally the marks were in and the winning House was announced with Danielle presenting the trophy to Darwin House. Darwin also won the Saull Cup for their winning group choral performances while Darwin’s Ed Simons received the Coomer Cup as the outstanding individual performer. Talbot House took the Newport Music Club Cup for their winning chamber music performance.

Adams music department is now preparing for its big production in July of the musical Anything Goes.

Mr Brown said: “It promises to be a wonderful evening with some amazing song and dance numbers the whole family will enjoy."

The show will run from the July 10 to 13 and tickets will be on sale from the school nearer the time.