14 January 2024 Abingdon Music The annual House singing competition took place on 11 October and it was a great privilege to welcome Ralph Allwood to judge this years’ competition. Each House provided dynamic and energetic performances but there can only be one winner. Joint 3rd was awarded to Pygotts and Crescent, with Stockdale’s taking the runner up spot. However, it was School House, with both a committed and unified performance who took the acoldate of House Singing Champions for 2023! House singing On 3 November, we welcomed concert violinist and Head of Strings at the Glasgow Conservatoire, Professor Andrea Gajic, to school for a violin masterclass for 5 of our top violinists. Opening with a performance of Carmen by Sarasate, she wowed the audience with her amazing sound and technique. It was then the students’ turn. Professor Gajic was incredibly impressed by the quality of playing and level of engagement but she was also constructively critical about some aspects of each individual performance. Our violinists responded positively and there was a noticeable improvement after each critique session. Violin Masterclass Remembrance concert On Friday 10 November, the school continued their commemoration of Remembrance with an evening concert, held in the Chapel. Featuring readings, solo instrumental works, vocal repertoire and items sung by the Chapel Choir, everyone agreed it was a varied and beautifully delivered event. The Chapel choir sang with subtlety and nuance with the emotion of movements from the Faure Requiem contrasting with the moving settings of Parry’s Crossing the Bar and Guest’s For the Fallen. Other items included songs from Alexander and Joanna L’Estrange’s Freedom, whilst there were notable instrumental performances from the String Quartet playing Puccini’s highly charged Crisantemi, a bagpipe solo alongside 2 piano solos from Samuel and Thomas. Throughout the concert, a series of readings were eloquently and sensitively delivered by a range of pupils across the full spectrum of the school. Finally, there was the opportunity for solo vocal performance with a number of songs by Gurney, Finzi, Butterworth, Quilter and Rutter completing the programme.
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