Pupil performances, diverse musical activities and opportunities beyond our school walls - it's been a busy few weeks for musicians at Westbourne House.
We hit the ground running this term with a trip to the theatre. Having been introduced to the instruments of the orchestra in their music lessons last term, Year 3 were treated to a performance from Southern Pro Musica, a professional orchestra based in Sussex, featuring a number of familiar faces (including our own Mrs Peskett on Viola). Conductor Jonathan Willcocks and magician compere Neil Henry led the audience through a number of musical works, from Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto to Piazzola’s Libertango, Rossini’s William Tell Overture to Ron Goodwin’s 633 Squadron. The concert finished with a mass sing-a-long to one of Jonathan’s children’s songs, It’s an Ark, retelling the story of Noah.
The same week saw our more advanced string players head to Charterhouse School for their Prep Schools’ Strings Workshop. They joined over thirty other children from Prep Schools across Surrey and Sussex, rehearsing and performing music by Grieg, Martin and Corette. Director of Music, Alex Dichmont, said ‘It was a great sound and a tremendous opportunity for these children to be a part of a large string orchestra. Many thanks to Charterhouse for organising such a wonderful afternoon’.
The week ended with our own Music Scholars (all those who hold a music award from Year 3-8) taking to the stage. This is always a wonderful opportunity for our most advanced musicians to show each other and the audience what they have been working on. Our Y8 scholars, Xander, Molly, Ben and Christopher presented the programmes they will be taking to their senior school scholarship auditions, whilst Ollie (Year 6) also performed his 11+ scholarship programme. The children in the younger years were treated to some lovely performances, inspiring them to continue practising hard! Congratulations to all involved and good luck to those taking scholarships this year.
Our Rock Band was once again invited to perform at the Ovation Rock Show, held in the intimate surroundings of the Minerva Theatre in Chichester. This concert, featuring young musicians from many local schools is organised by Chichester Music Academy and provides a brilliant showcase of the contemporary music happening in schools in the area. Our band performed Bobby Troupe’s Route 66 and loved every second!
Chapel Choir are knee-deep in rehearsals for their forthcoming tour to Paris. Having had three spectacular venues confirmed, we are very much looking forward to crossing the Channel in a few weeks’ time. Before that, a few fundraising initiatives are taking place, the first of which was a recital by Philharmonia Orchestra cellist (and current parent), Richard Birchall, accompanied by Mr Dichmont. Hot-footing it from tours to Mauritius and Germany in the preceding weeks, Richard presented a programme of beautiful romantic pieces by Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Faure, Saint-Saens and Schumann to a hugely appreciative audience of current and former parents and members of the public. We are very grateful to Richard for giving up his time to raise money for the tour! There are two more events after half term: a lunchtime concert by the choir at St Nicholas’ Church in Arundel, and a piano recital given by Mr Dichmont and Mr Allum at Bignor Park, the home of past parents Lord and Lady Mersey.
This half term ended with two fantastic events. The Year 3 Inter-Patrol Recorder Competition involved all children in Year 3 and represented the completion of their recorder tuition. They competed in tiered classes, performing to their peers and parents. Having been introduced to the instrument at the beginning of Year 2, they have been working hard since then learning the rudiments of the instrument and it is always a pleasure to see them perform with confidence. Standing in front of an audience is always a nerve-racking experience, but they all did themselves proud. Head of Juniors Mrs Davies, an accomplished flautist, was on hand to provide the judging, giving some lovely, constructive feedback to all of the individual performers.
This was closely followed by the whole-school Inter-Patrol Songs and Ensembles Competition the same evening. Ensembles from across the year groups represented their patrols with pride, with the Senior Owls (Coldplay’s The Scientist), Intermediate Tigers (Peter Martin’s Elven Dance) and Junior Otters (Skip to my Lou) winning their respective competitions. The two songs chosen for this year, New York, New York and Cabaret proved popular, and the patrols, with their nominated conductors, certainly went to town with their creative performances. The Panthers were victorious with their fantastic vocal delivery and simple but effective actions, but it was to be the Otters who triumphed overall, when points from the day’s competitions were tallied up. Congratulations to all of the children for a great day of music-making.
Next half term is looking equally busy. We look forward to seeing you at some of the events below:
- Friday 23rd February - Chapel Choir Lunchtime Concert – St Nicholas’ Church, Arundel. 1.10pm
- Friday 1st March - Spring Soiree Piano Recital - Bignor Park House. 7.30pm
- Thursday 7th March - Spring Performance Platform. 6.30pm
- Friday 8th March - Maurice Ellis Music Scholarship Auditions
- Monday 11th March - World Music Workshops for Y3-5
- Tuesday 12th March - ABRSM Exams
- Thursday 14th March - Trinity Exams
- Friday 15th March - Mrs Rowe’s Piano Pupils give a concert. 6.30pm
- Wednesday 20th March - Chapel Choir Concert – Boxgrove Priory. 7.00pm
