Sweet Harmony in the House Music Competition
Many congratulations to Arcos and Sea Kings who sang heartily and played their ways nimbly to clinch joint first place in the House Music competition which closed the first half of the spring term. The event is the biggest House competition of the year, involving every pupil in the Prep School and showcasing the school’s top musical talent in solo categories alongside House ensembles and a whole House song category.
The gym was packed to the gunnels and heard extraordinary solo performances on a range of instruments in Junior and Senior sections of piano, brass and woodwind, strings and voice.
The soloists captivated the audience and made judging incredibly hard for poor Mr Jordan, Director of Music from Eastbourne College, who did a fantastic job, and was most encouraging towards our young musicians. The standard of play was extraordinarily high with the majority of pieces played in the Senior categories ranging from Grade 6 and up.
Solo winners were:
Elementary Piano Sammy C
Intermediate Piano Sam F
Advanced Piano Spike G
Elementary String Louie V (Cello)
Advanced String Juliette Z (Violin)
Elementary Wind and Brass Henry DG (Trumpet)
Advanced Wind and Brass Daisy N (Flute)
Junior Singing Harry S
Senior Singing Ed G
Composition Ed G
After a short ice cream break, the sound level was cranked up a gear as the House ensembles took to the stage. It is not often that you would think of putting a xylophone together with an electric guitar, oboe and violin. Nevertheless, this Sea Kings ensemble beat the rest of the Houses with their rousing rendition of ‘Stranger’s in the Night’.
Finally, tension reached fever pitch as each House performed their choice of song from a musical. Oom Pah Pah, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and We will Rock You were all sung with gusto and enthusiasm but it was VC’s moving arrangement, with actions and flags, of Les Mis ballades that won Mr Jordan’s vote.
Whole House winners:
House Ensemble 1. Sea Kings 2. Arcos 3. Rovers 4. VC’s
House Choir 1. VC’s 2. Sea Kings 3. Arcos 4. Rovers
The whole event offered unified support and enthusiasm for each and every performance and was a rollicking success.
Congratulations to all but huge thanks to Mrs Wicks, Director of Music for organising the event, Miss Eldridge for supporting Mrs Wicks and a final thanks to the House leaders and tutors for pulling together their House songs with such enthusiasm and panache.
