In Fine Voice

In Fine Voice

I write the day after the Christmas Concert. It was a lovely occasion and I think will have put everyone in the mood for this special time of year.

The Barn was looking fantastic and beautifully decorated (thanks to the Parents’ Association!), the tree was up, the fire burning and all involved wore their Christmas jumpers and hats. There were some wonderful performances and I was very proud of the children and the high standard of music they produced.

However, I am actually only going to single out the ‘buskers’, a bassoon trio, flute trio and various clarinet ensembles, who provided the entertainment pre-concert whilst parents enjoyed mulled wine and mince pies! It was a typical and heartening DH scene: some Year 3 and 4 children chaperoned by older, more experienced players, relishing the opportunity to perform some carols in public for the first time.

Looking back, our string players enjoyed a wonderful day of music-making at Lancing College performing at a concert in the evening. We have also enjoyed some lovely informal concerts from Years 1-4. It was especially exciting to hear some of the new instrumentalists in Year 3 perform on the instruments they took up at the start of term.

There was also another full day of music exams here and worthy of mention are Molly Ormerod (Grade 3 singing) and Hamish Skinner (Grade 1 singing) and finally Amity Blowey (Grade 5 singing). The choir were in particularly fine voice for the Remembrance service in Arundel, where they performed a challenging unaccompanied spiritual in 4 parts. I am used to hearing (and incredibly grateful for!) praise for what they have