Music to inspire

The audience at this week’s Prep Music Concert was treated to an impressive demonstration of the power of music to entertain, uplift and inspire. With a whole range of performances it was a fabulous representation of everything that has been happening in Prep Music over the course of this academic year.

The concert began with the Prep Orchestra who performed the theme from Beethoven’s “Choral Symphony”, “Spring” from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and ended with the “March” from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite”. It was an assured performance from a group of musicians who only formed in September – a true example of the power of practise and dedication! Next up were the Ukulele Ensemble who played two traditional folk tunes – “Lovely as Moonlight” and “The Drunken Sailor” – with audience participation encouraged in the latter.

Year 3 provided a demonstration of the recorder – an instrument they have been learning this year as they work towards being able to read and understand music. Similarly girls in Year 4 have also been working on their music reading skills and they performed an Irish March on fifes. Year 6 provided a cross-curricular element to the evening with their performance of “Shout out to YX”, a song they had written as part of a Maths lesson to increase their understanding of Algebra.

The Prep Choir performed two pieces – “Believe” by Lin Marsh, and Adele’s “Skyfall”. They used the pieces to demonstrate their ability to harmonise with each other, which is a skill they have been honing in their sessions throughout the year. Making their debut at the concert were the new Prep Rock Band who got up on stage (with help from guitar teacher, Mr Campbell and one of our Year 9 students) to play “Roar” by Katy Perry. The Rock Band is an extra-curricular activity which has been offered this year as a new activity for girls in Prep.

The evening ended with three songs from the School’s “Young Voices” choir – a group who, back in January, thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to perform with over 8000 other young people at the O2 in London. In their final piece, “Maliswe”, the girls performed sign language as they sang, and taught the audience some of the sign language too so that they were also able to join in.

Headmistress, Mrs Ness-Gifford, said “It was a delight to see such talent on stage: ukulele, recorder and fife groups, the Prep Orchestra and even Pipers first Prep Rock Band, not to mention the singing. The girls' joy at being involved in music making of all types was evident and a wonderful thing to see.”