6 minute read
MUSIC
Music 2021-22
At the start of this academic year, the Foundation had a wonderful new song ‘I Am Me’, written by our very own students with help from Jack and Tim, the father-son duo who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent in 2018. We were also able to enjoy brilliant music at our annual Founders’ Day, with the brass band playing and solos from Grace Hillier and Eleanor Bowen. The WGSF Swing Foundation opened the Marsden Jazz Festival in October, giving them the opportunity to play to a live audience alongside saxophonists accompanied by Mr Urbanski. This was a brilliant event and a great start to the musical year. Pieces included ‘Birdland’ and ‘Man in the Mirror’ and there was an array of improvised solos from members of the band.
This year we were able to hold our annual cabaret evening in person again after an online concert last year. Cabaret evenings are always a wonderful opportunity to perform and to listen to fabulous performances that we and many others look forward to each year. This year we saw fantastic performances from all year groups with songs ranging from ‘Dancing Queen’ to ‘Burn’ from Hamilton and ending it all off was Lilli Mae Pert singing ‘Valerie’ which had everyone up on their feet and clapping along. In November we had a wonderful art and music celebration with the Hepworth Brass Band and soloists in the Jubilee Hall surrounded by students' incredible artwork. The concert saw a range of art themed pieces such as ‘Pictures at an exhibition’ played by the string ensemble, with soloists Leina Tordoff playing ‘Danse Macabre’ on violin and Alex Lee singing ‘I’m the Greatest Star’. There were also the familiar faces of Mrs Bentham and Head Girl Eleanor Bowen in the band. Also in the concert we heard two new pieces played by the Hepworth Brass Band composed by Liz Lane. The first was ‘Rhythm of Light’, a suite inspired by the artwork of Barbara Hepworth, fittingly first performed by the brass band at the Hepworth Gallery. We also heard ‘Hear the Call’, a piece written for brass band, solo vocals and flugelhorn (played by Mrs Bentham), written to commemorate the work of the NHS staff. Alex not only sang this in the concert but also recorded this with the Brass Band earlier in the year, earning herself a band-shirt! We also had a jazz inspire day with saxophone teacher Kris Urbanski, which contained rehearsals, lectures, improvisation masterclasses and a twilight concert.
As always, the Christmas season was very busy for our musicians this year. Not only did we have our annual carol service in the Cathedral and our two nights of concerts, but we also had members of the WGSF brass band playing Christmas Carols at Pinderfields Hospital, raising money for the My Hospitals Charity. This was a brilliant opportunity for students to get playing once again and provide some well received entertainment for hospital visitors and staff. The String Ensemble were also asked to play at an Old Girl’s wedding in December, which was a very exciting opportunity for the group and the girls worked very hard to provide carols and pieces from classic wedding repertoire for the event.
Kicking off the new year we had our WGSF Scale-a-thon 2022 which raised £300 for SM4LL. A-level musicians also performed at Camphill alongside QEGS QED musicians in a varied afternoon concert with music ranging from Mozart to The Beach Boys. Mia was also able to play with a string trio in practice for her A-level recital, which was fantastic and the string quartet really added an extra level of depth to a technically challenging piece. The audience particularly enjoyed Alex’s rendition of Goldrich’s ‘Taylor the Latte Boy’, there was lots of laughter for this comedic musical theatre piece. They also loved the boys’ performance of the Beatles’ ‘Let it be’, which had many of them singing along.
Then came our annual school production, which saw three amazing nights of ‘Sister Act’. So many musicians were involved, whether in the band, the choir or on stage, everyone worked so hard and it definitely paid off. We were also joined by Junior School choristers who performed at the start of the evening and at the interval. We had lots of fun in the band rehearsing the music, and the show nights were very exciting for everyone (although we had to be careful of the numerous instruments on the floor of the ‘pit’!).
In March our GCSE Music students had a great learning opportunity with the West Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra coming to play the third movement of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major, one of their set works. They also played the 1st Movement from Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, composed in 1796 for the new keyed trumpet, with Eleanor Bowen playing the solo part. It was also a great opportunity for other students to play alongside professional musicians in the orchestra and exercise our sight reading skills. The following week we took many musicians to the annual Rothwell Music Festival. The Brass Band, Senior Orchestra, String Quartet, String Ensemble and Training Orchestra all played brilliantly, winning their respective classes. Special mention must also go to Eleanor Bowen who played ‘Georgia On My Mind’ accompanied by the brass band, getting special recognition from the adjudicator, along with Davey Webster for some brilliant playing. Leina Tordoff, Hema Nair and Kaitlin Fernandez also played in solo categories, with Hema and Kaitlin also performing duets, and Leina winning the open string solo class and going on to compete for a cash prize alongside the winners of other open categories. We were very impressed with their performances, well done! Congratulations also to the string quartet who were asked to play at the Rothwell Showcase performance after their performance in their competition category. All musicians involved in this competition worked very hard and played brilliantly in their respective classes, with many trophies and certificates all round.
This year also saw our first House Music
Competition, with KS4 and KS5 categories.
Lucy Simmons’ cello performance of
‘Chanson villageoise’ by Trowell impressed adjudicator Amanda Spalding, winning the
KS4 category. Alex Lee won the KS5 category with the second movement of
Jonathan Dove’s Ariel ‘I boarded the King’s
Ship’, an unaccompanied vocal piece, which captivated the audience and led her to a deserved victory.
The Summer Concerts were a lovely way to round off this busy year for the Music Department. Personally our favourite performances were by the show choir and session orchestra, but we might be a bit biassed! There was also a surprising amount of dancing in the concert from the folk band and the show choir, and even a lightsaber fight from the percussion ensemble - it was a very exciting concert all round. The end of the last concert was a great time for us to show our appreciation to the Music Department and say goodbye, although we’re not sure the tearful speeches really did justice to how truly grateful we are for everything the Music Department has done for us.
Alex Lee (right), KS5 winner Lucy Simmons, KS4 winner
