Festival of Music 2020

On Monday we heard from two of our excellent visiting music tutors: piano teacher, Miss Bell and saxophone teacher, Mr Fazakerley. Miss Bell is playing Debussy's beautiful Arabesque No. 1, and Mr Fazakerley is the saxophone soloist in this performance of Imagine by the Band of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment:
   

The first fantastic student performances have been submitted by Ted (on one of his YouTube channels), Sam, and brothers, Ralph and Alistair:
   

Two more excellent staff offerings today, some beautiful Corelli from Mrs Coleman and Mr Barton, and a pointer in the direction of guitar teacher, Mr Gaskell's YouTube channel, where he posts an eclectic mix of recordings, covers, and original material.

Mrs Coleman is also a member of the Polyphonica Recorder Trio, which was formed in 2006 and has since performed at venues across the UK and Europe. Polyphonica released their self-titled debut album in August 2010, which features music from 14th century monody and music by Henry VIII, Susato, Holborne, Genzmer, Allworth, Matheson and Sieg. Their second CD, 'Music for Countertenor and Recorders' featuring the renowned countertenor, Robert Cross, is currently being recorded. You can hear just how fantastic they are by visiting their YouTube channel.

The track from Mr Gaskell I have chosen is based on a piece of art by Southport based artist, John Corcoran, entitled 'Liverpool Waterfront', and is an original composition played on a nylon strung guitar. The music is named 'Memories of Loch Etive' and was put together on holiday one Summer whilst staying in a crofters cottage on the banks of Loch Etive, Scotland. Please do explore more of Mr Gaskell's music.
 

 
Today's fabulous student performances come from Sixth Form musicians, Grace and Tasmin, Year 9 pianist Leo, and Year 8 vocalist Jack. 
     

 

Two more fantastic staff videos for you today. Our Infants music teacher, Mr Shannon, plays and sings a song from ‘The Greatest Showman’, and horn teacher, Mr Gibson, performs the beautiful ‘Nocturno’ by Franz Strauss:

 

 

We also have several more brave students who have submitted recordings, starting with original tracks from Sixth Former, Ben, plus videos from Han (Year 10), Seb (Year 9), and Patrick (Year 6).
       

Two more staff offerings today, with a beautiful performance of Eva Cassidy's version of 'Over the rainbow' by our violin and viola teacher, Mr Glossop, and 'Panis Angelicus' from Mrs Keating and Emily. You can hear much more from Mr Glossop by visiting his website and YouTube channel.

 

   

Student performances today from the Year 10 bubble band (!), Gene, Miles Anthony.
   

Our Friday playlist begins with a couple of duets from Year 11 trumpeter, Tom Molloy, and his teacher, Miss Baker:
 

Soyra (Lower Sixth) sent in a beautiful video of her singing Fauré's 'Clair de Lune' (not the more famous Debussy piano piece of the same name), with Mrs Petrenko playing piano:
   

Grace and Ted submitted videos earlier in the week in other musical styles, but here they are showing their versatility!
     

With the week coming to a close, here are two compilation videos of yet more students who managed to get performances sent in. 

Seniors: Olivia (Year 7), Alice (Year 7), Han (Year 10), Jemima (Year 7), Ava (Year 8), and Jack (Year 8).

Prep: Anya (Year 2, and the youngest performer of the week!), Holly (Year 6), Samuel (Year 3), Alice (Year 3), Thomas (Year 5), and Jake (Year 4).

Congratulations to all who have submitted recordings, and I hope that you have enjoyed watching!

 

And finally... a light-hearted end to a busy week from Mr Robinson, with a little something he felt inspired to write when (at a time without Lockdown!) he spotted an inquisitive badger whilst on holiday in the Lake District!
 

A final selection of wonderful videos sent in by students and staff, starting with flute teacher, Mrs Sousa, playing a piece called 'Sunstreams' by Ian Clarke:
 

Our last student submissions begin with our Sixth Form Saxophone Quartet, playing Ain't misbehavin'
   

The last word goes to our Prep pupils, with a final compilation of fantastic performances. If you click through to YouTube, you can follow the timestamps for each piece. Congratulations to all of the following:

0:00 Hannah Y6
0:58 Eliza Y2
1:27 Nathaniel Y5
2:34 Scarlett Y6
4:31 Cayden Y4
4:57 Lloyd Y6
7:16 Imogen Y6
7:51 Anthony Y4
8:14 Patrick Y6