Choir and the newly named Kirby Quavers entertained us with ‘ Rocking around the Christmas tree ’ and ‘ Jingle Bells ’ respectively. Towards the end of the Michaelmas Term there were worrying signs that nationally the number of Covid-19 cases was rising and it soon became apparent that we would be returning to another period of online learning in the Lent Term. This time we were able to draw on the experience of the previous lockdown and so we set about planning some virtual music groups as soon as possible. ‘ Danny Boy ’ was the chosen piece for Orchestra and pupils recorded their parts individually to a backing track before sending to Mr Bowyer to splice together using his limited but fast-improving video- editing skills. Similarly, pupils from Kirby Choir recorded themselves singing ‘ Someone you loved ’ by Lewis Capaldi and these recordings were combined to create another virtual performance which worked very well and featured strong performances from Maxwell Speller, Ashwin Muralitharan and Delsa McCarthy amongst others. This second online period provided further opportunities for individuals to demonstrate the progress they were making in music lessons; Carys Hamill, Holly Alban-Stanley and Poppy Alban-Stanley all shared videos which were posted on Twitter and reminded the whole community how lucky we are to have such talented musicians at St Lawrence College. The final few weeks of the Lent Term were thankfully back at school and were a frenzy of activity as groups and individual lessons resumed again. The school musical and the new inter-House competition, Battle of the Bands, were due to take part in the Lent Term but both events were rescheduled to the Summer Term. Battle of the Bands involved eight Houses,
including for the first time, Kirby. The first half of the Summer Term was particularly taxing for Fifth Form and Upper Sixth pupils as they were compelled to endure a seemingly endless stream of assessments as evidence for the Teacher Assessed Grades. In spite of this, each House managed to pull together a creditable House band and the competition was viewed online during the week before half term. In the end, the trophy went to Bellerby for their polished performance of ‘ Back to Black ’. In second place, Newlands boys gave perhaps the most entertaining performance with the spotlight on Sam Le Baigue, singing his heart out in ‘ Johnny B Goode ’. In third place, Kirby House did particularly well, forming a band out of Year 7 pupils only and giving some of the other Houses a run for their money in an accomplished rendition of ‘ Blinding Lights ’. In place of a fully fledged musical, we decided to prepare a showcase event which would feature music groups, solos, individual numbers from a range of Musicals, dramatic excerpts and dance. This was to be the first event to an audience that the school had been able to put on since March 2020 but, at the last minute, the easing of restrictions was delayed by the Government and so it was back to Plan B, an online version. Although extremely disappointing, the pupils had put in so much hard work by this point that there was no suggestion of giving up and a full day of recordings ensued. The final offering was presentedonYouTube in twoparts: aSummer Concert and a Performing Arts Showcase. The latter included some wonderfully entertaining accounts of ‘ Revolting ’ ( Matilda ), ‘ Pure Imagination ’ ( Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ), ‘ Ex-Wives ’ ( Six ) and ‘ A Spoonful of Sugar ’ ( Mary Poppins ) and culminated with a whole cast performance of ‘ Another Day of Sun ’ ( La La Land ). The energy, enthusiasm
and focus of all the pupils was palpable throughout. The Summer Concert featured all the main groups and a range of music genres to suit most tastes. The Orchestra presented two challenging pieces from the Capriol Suite by Warlock and an arrangement of an operatic favourite, ‘ La donna è mobile ’. The Senior Choir were on sparkling form with two jazz standards, ‘ Fly me to the moon ’ and ‘ It don’t mean a thing ’. The SLC Rock Band continue to go from strength to strength as could be witnessed in their versions of ‘ Thursday ’ and ‘ Valerie ’. Kirby Quavers transported us to the world of film music with their punchy performance of the theme from Star Wars, while Kirby Choir enchanted us with their singing of ‘ When I grow up’ from Matilda. Finally, the Jazz Band gave us a classy rendition of ‘ Take the A train ’. There were so many outstanding performances that it would be invidious to single out one, however, Tom Choi’s violin solo, ‘ Czardas ’ by Monti, will remain in the memory for some time. He and all this year’s leavers have contributed so much to the musical life of the school and will be greatly missed. We thank them and wish them the very best in the next exciting stage of their lives.
Mr J Bowyer, Director of Music
LAWRENTIAN 2021 49
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