Winter Concert 2017
Mr R. Crann, Acting Subject Leader: Music, writes:
This year’s Stanborough School Winter Concert was held on Thursday 30th November and featured over 130 students. The theme for the concert was the Beatles as this year marks the 50th anniversary of their seminal album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The concert was started by Mrs Ritou leading the Concert Orchestra in her first Stanborough Concert. They performed the Waltz of the Flowers from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet and they will be performing more from the Nutcracker at our upcoming Carol Concert.
Mrs Ritou has also been leading Vocailini this year, which has allowed me to take over STAGS. Needless to say, despite the change in leadership, both choirs delivered fantastic performances and showed that the rivalry is still just as fierce.
It is usual for the themed songs to begin after the interval, but with so many popular songs written by the Beatles, almost all of the performers chose a Beatles hit to perform. Senior Choir started the themed songs by singing a madrigal inspired arrangement of Here Comes the Sun. That was followed with other Beatles songs by the student-led Ukulele Group and Holly Deacon.
The first half finished in style with a preview of our upcoming school show Guys and Dolls. Parents commented after the concert on how incredible the performance of Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat sounded when the show is still some time away.
The second half began with the traditional Year 7 Christmas Song competition. The Year 7 students have been writing Christmas songs in their lessons this half term and the best from each house was chosen to be performed at the concert. All of the songs were written and performed by students on the night and the winner was picked by Mr Brown.
There was tinsel everywhere in all the excitement as Mr Brown announced Hatfield as the winning house. He commented that “they had a large choir of students, were very well organised and their singing was clear with expression and volume. They also had good co-ordinated actions, which along with their evident enjoyment and Christmas spirit made for an excellent performance of their composition.”
The year 10 GCSE music class then highlighted their talents with more Beatles songs that they have been practising in class. The second half also featured other Beatles performances by Uber Choir, Guitar Club, Poppy and Florrie Humphries and the “Smiths Salt and Shakers”.
The grand finale featured all 130 performers joining together to sing the Beatles song that so aptly summarised the spirit of the concert, With a Little Help From My Friends.
Join us on Monday 18th December for our Carol Concert, this year being held at the United Reformed Church in Welwyn Garden City.
