Pages 71-80 - Oswestry School

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THE ST DAVID’S DAY CONCERTA review of the St David’s Day concertThere cannot have been many occasions when HolyTrinity Parish Church coped with a bigger audience thanthat for the St David’s Day Concert presented by OswestrySchool as part of celebrations for its 600th anniversary.Literally with standing room only, an appreciative followingof staff, parents and guests rose to congratulate organizer,the director of music Mrs Sue Morris, on a magnificentprogramme of choral and instrumental music from earlytimes to the contemporary, under the umbrella of OswestrySchool. We were treated to a well-managed, easy-going andenjoyable evening of remarkable talent.The first half began with the Porthywaen Silver Band,conducted by David Thomas, playing a medley of Welshmusic in the manner to which they are so well suited. MaeHen Wlad Fy Nhadau caught the audience somewhat bysurprise and only a handful rose to their feet to sing theWelsh National Anthem on the day of their patron saint,which was something of a disappointment but, no matter,the tone was set.There followed that delightful version of Psalm 23 byHoward Goodall, legendary as the theme tune to the Vicarof Dibley, sung by the choir of Oswestry School’s pre-prepdepartment, Bellan House. Conductor Mrs Juliet Woollamhas this choir extremely well trained: their diction wasimpeccable and the soloists, Elliot Blount-Pownell, TomNicholas, Jack Woolf and Jamie Jones, were meticulous intheir intonation and projection. It was hard to believe thesechildren are only in years 3 and 4.Moving up a generation, the junior choir of OswestrySchool, conducted by Mrs Karen Lentink, sang the pieceSound The Trumpet from Come Ye Sons of Art by Henry Purcell.Though one is used to hearing this performed by a pair ofsolo soprani, the two parts of the choir were precise in theexecution of some tricky running passages, whilst entrieswere both accurate and secure.It is tempting to state that the“professionals” were next to performbut of course, Cantiones, though anamateur chamber choir, is of, quitesimply, professional standard. The twocontrasting works, sung under theleadership of musical director GerryHowe, were, as expected, faultless:first Palestrina’s Sicut Cervus, then therousing Parry anthem I Was Gladaccompanied by organist ChristopherSymons.There followed, for me, thehighlight of the evening, as all ages combined for JohnRutter’s Look at The World. Though not particularly familiarit was instantly recognizable as Rutter (as Alice Tinker wouldhave said, “I can’t believe it’s not Rutter”!) and thejuxtaposition of the various voices from the youngestchildren to the most mature adults was most moving. It ismuch to be hoped that those small and medium childrenwill one day be the leading voices in choirs such asCantiones.The Armed Man—A Mass for Peace by the Welsh composerKarl Jenkins was the sole work of the second half of theconcert, for which the senior choir of Oswestry Schoolcombined with Cantiones, accompanied by guests fromOswestry Sinfonia, the Shropshire Youth Orchestra andPorthywaen Band.The work is an odd mixture of genres, with parts of highchurch mass interspersed with settings of 20th-centurypoetry, excerpts from the Mahabharata, and psalms. Themusic is equally diverse, at times simple, tuneful andpoignant, elsewhere in the best traditions of big filmsoundtrack, and in yet other places repetitive or almostcontrived in atonality. On the whole, however, the massedchoirs made the best of every movement, the school choirbraving the wide range of pitch without hesitation, whileCantiones provided bulk and support for the youngsters.Individuals from school staff and Cantiones dealt with theshort solo passages but all praise must be levelled at thestudents themselves who had so much to execute and whocarried it off splendidly.It was no wonder that Mrs Morris shone with suchgenuine admiration for them all as the evening drew to aclose.Mrs Lentink and the junior choir at Holy Trinity Parish Church74 – The Oswestrian
THE MUSICAL YEARPRACTICALEXAMINATION RESULTSABRSMGrade 1 Violin (Merit)—Laura DoyleGrade 2 Flute—Ben ChanGrade 2 Trombone (Merit)—Lucy WilliamsGrade 3 Violin (Merit)—Evie LaceyGrade 4 Trumpet—Harry HicksonGrade 4 Violin—Natalie YeungGrade 5 Piano—Jeffrey ChuGrade 5 Singing—Laura Bell WilliamsGrade 5 Violin—Ruth ReynoldsGrade 7 Piano—Vivian LeeTRINITY GUILDHALLGrade 4 Drum Kit (Merit)—James DawsonGrade 4 Drum Kit (Merit)—Oliver NewmanGrade 6 Drum Kit (Merit)—JonathanMolesworthGrade 8 Drum Kit—Alun MorrisOSWESTRY MUSICFESTIVAL RESULTS 20071st—Brass Solo (12 and under) Thomas Rose1st—Brass Solo (15 and under) Alister Talbot3rd—Vocal Solo (15 and under) Biba Gonzalez1st—Vocal Solo (19 and under) Emily Middleton3rd—Vocal Solo (19 and under) Laura Bell Williams1st—Vocal Duet (25 and under) Paige Baker andLaura DoyleLower School Choir awarded a merit in the youthchoir section1st—Drum Kit Solo (9 and under) Richard Christie(Richard was awarded the Recorded Music Societytrophy for winning this class)1st—Drum Kit Solo (15 and under) JonathanMolesworth2nd—Drum Kit Solo (15 and under) James Dawson1st—Woodwind Solo (15 and under) Tom Niblock2nd—Woodwind Solo (15 and under) Annie Keogh2nd—String Solo (12 and under) Evie Lacey2nd—Piano Solo (9 and under) Richard Christie1st—Piano Solo (12 and under) Evie Lacey2nd—Piano Solo (19 and under) Vivian Lee1st—Piano Duet (19 and under) Natalie and VivianLeeA summer concert—5 July 2007Junior StringsLargo (from The New WorldSymphony)Dvorak arr WestonEmily Middleton(soprano)SamsonRegina SpektorSeren-Heyward Jones(clarinet)Voi Che Sapete (from TheMarriage of Figaro)MozartFlute ChoirElena Burkart, CharlotteDade, Katie Hughes, EliseFisher, Verity Bowen, LornaHankey, Laura Bell WilliamsFree as a BirdWedgwood arr BatyThomas Rose(cornet)Panis AngelicusFrankRichard Christie(piano)The EntertainerJoplinPaige Baker(soprano)Colours of the Wind (fromPocohontas)Matthew Bunby(cello)Italian RantAnonLower School ChoirHeat WaveBerlinThe Lullaby of BroadwayWarren/Dubin arr MarshTristan Hartey(baritone)Empty Chairs, Empty TablesBoublil & SchönbergTraining Concert BandHang on SloopyRussell/Farrell arr SweeneyBig BandSilvergate OvertureEdmondsonPomp and CircumstanceElgarBiba Gonzalez(soprano)The Unexpected SongAndrew Lloyd WebberSax EnsembleGeorge Read, CharlieUnderhill, Jessica Smith,Paige Baker, Dougie Williams,Annie KeoghJames Bond ThemeNormanLucy Williams(Trombone)Des Pfarrers Nas MowatChelsea Bentley(mezzo soprano)I Feel PrettyBernsteinCatherine Bateman(Clarinet)Coquette, SicilienneParadisEnsembleHarry Hickson (vocals),Jonathan Molesworth(drums), Josh Austin andKristina Kingolts (guitars)TaylorJack JohnsonAlister Talbot(cornet)The Ash Grove Air andVariations RoundTom Niblock(saxophone)AriaBozzaHarry Hickson(tenor)Ain’t that a Kick in the HeadCohen and HeusenRuth Reynolds, Evie Lacey(violin duet)Romance and AllegroPleyelBrass TrioEdward Wadon, AlisterTalbot, Thomas RoseI Got RhythmGershwinEdward Wadon(euphonium)Carnival of VeniceArbanEnsembleTanny Gliksman (vocals),Brooke Simons-Akwah (leadguitar), Matt Dunson(drums), Charlotte Dade(flute)CrazyBarkleyThe Oswestrian – 75
Page 1 and 2: LES MISÉRABLESevening. The choice
Page 3: THE MUSICAL YEARLaura Bell Williams
Page 7 and 8: THE RECITAL SERIESAnother memorable
Page 9 and 10: HOUSE DRAMAFinally, it was Donne’

Pages 71-80 - Oswestry School

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