Sherborne Abbey Festival

Sunday 30th April, 1pm

We are honoured to have once again been invited to perform at this year’s prestigious Sherborne Abbey International Music Festival after a threeyear gap. I am extremely pleased to be able to promote this event on a personal level since this free lunchtime concert in Sherborne Abbey will be a world premiere performance of highlights from my own new musical theatre interpretation of the wonderful novel “Moonfleet” (by J.M. Falkner, first published in 1898), which I first conceived during the Covid-related lockdowns.

Following on from our previous collaborations with the Bournemouth Sinfonietta Choir, this year’s concert is an exciting three-way collaboration between: the Gryphon School Choir, the Gryphon Staff Choir (both Directed by Adam McDonald) and ‘The Phoenix Voices’ (Directed by Kris Emmett) - a local Community Choir based in Yeovil, whose members come from around our local area. In addition, to the Choral items, there will be a selection of solo and duet numbers performed by Gryphon Sixth Form students Grace B, Danielle R, Barny G and Jack B, and also by Mr McDonald, Mr Kris Emmett and Mrs Tracey Mizen; I am extremely grateful to each of them for kindly agreeing to sing these for me!

Set in 18th century England primarily on the South Coast of Dorset, ‘Moonfleet’ features many well-known modern-day tourist sites such as Fleet near Weymouth, Chesil beach, Portland Bill, Dancing Ledge and Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight. The plot is an exciting and fastmoving historical adventure tale of smuggling, hidden treasure, romance, murder, treachery, imprisonment and shipwreck involving the personal tribulations of John Trenchard, a young orphan who grows up on tales of the ghost of a certain Colonel ‘Blackbeard’ Mohune and his cursed lost treasure - a diamond, said to have been gained from King Charlies I through deceit (as the price for the desperate King’s freedom from imprisonment during the English Civil War). The story follows John’s eventful path to adulthood through his ill-fated yet ultimately fruitful pursuit of this treasure and the valuable life lessons he learns along the way about friendship and loyalty, honour and redemption, selflessness and sacrifice, chance and fate and the course of true love and devotion.

By Val Mizen, Head of Music

Primary Schools Music Pyramid Sing-Up Showcase Concert

Following three years of not being able to run a ‘Sing-Up’ project with our local Primary Schools, it is fantastic that our local music pyramid is now back up and running with this year’s chosen theme being ‘Rock Musical Theatre’. Mostly year 5 and year 6 students have been learning eight well-known Rock-style Musical Theatre songs: “We Will Rock You”, “We Are The Champions”, “You Can’t Stop The Beat”, “Stick It To The Man”, “When I Grow Up”, “Footloose”, “It’s A Hard Knock Life” and “Mamma Mia”. The schools participating this year are: Sherborne Abbey Primary, Bishop’s Caundle, Bradford, Abbas, Buckland Newton, Sherborne Primary, Thornford, and Trent Young’s. Each school is learning and performing three songs in different paired combinations with other schools.

This year’s musical collaboration is being rehearsed and directed by Amy Parker - our very own singing teacher - whose enthusiasm for singing and musical performance is inspiring our primary students to overcome their anxieties about singing and to join in whatever their ability or previous experience. The free to attend Sing-Up showcase concert is on Wednesday 29th March at 4pm at the Sherborne Girls’ School’s ‘Gransden Hall’; due to the hall’s capacity we are unfortunately limited to one primary school parent attending per child performing.

We are extremely grateful to each of the Headteachers and Music Leads for their support, without which none of this year’s Sing-Up project could take place. Our thanks also go to Sherborne Girls’ School for the use of the Merritt Centre and for being so supportive of this endeavour.