Music Matters Autumn 2019
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Music Matters Autumn 2019 Prep School We are at the end of another busy term in the Prep School! In the Prep School Music Room, I am surrounded by piles of slightly damp music recently retrieved from the pop-up bandstand in the car park. On the table is a washing-up bowl of brass instrument mouthpieces soaking in hot water and I’ve just extracted the final piece of rather twisted tinsel from the bell of a cornet. It must be Christmas! The wonderful sound of carols and Christmas songs seem to be coming from everywhere! On the first Friday of the new term, I set up a stand at the Prep School Clubs Fair to represent the host of extra-curricular music clubs that are on offer in the Prep School and to talk to girls, parents and carers about individual music lessons. I was besieged by enthusiastic parents and girls asking about clubs, concerts and instrumental lessons! The Infant Choir (led by Mrs Amanda Lloyd-Jones), Shake, Rattle and Roll (our percussion group), Junior Radio, Junior Rock, Band Skills (all led by Mr Mark Cheeke), Junior Wind Band, Junior Orchestra, String Machine, Junior Competition Choir (JCC) (led by Ms Amy Edwards) and Junior Flute Choir (led by Ms Jane Groves) all had a good uptake of girls. Nearly 100 girls take part in music extra-curricular clubs each week and it is true to say that, for the girls who want one, there is probably a musical extra-curricular activity available! Most groups have, during the latter part of the term, been working on their repertoire to perform on the pop-up Christmas Bandstand in the old tennis pavilion in the car park! Our team of 17 instrumental tutors have been busy too, and since the beginning of term more than 25 Prep School girls have begun individual instrumental or voice lessons. In the second week of term, 4S began their weekly class brass lessons with Mrs Sian Davis, playing a mixture of cornets and trombones and 3J began their class string lessons with Ms Glynis Williams and Mrs Anna Bowden playing a mixture of violins and cellos! There is always great excitement when the girls open the cases and make a sound with their instruments for the first time! At the beginning of October, the whole Prep School joined together for our annual harvest assembly. Surrounded by an abundance of kindly donated tinned and packaged produce, the girls sang a very enthusiastic rendition of Cauliflowers Fluffy, ably accompanied by the Junior Orchestra. The orchestra also played traditional harvest hymns as the school arrived in the Prep School Hall and String Machine, our prep School String Ensemble, played Harvest Rock. Both of these ensembles were making their debut appearance of the year! Since the beginning of term, the school had been building up to the Howell’s School production of the legendary stage musical, The Wizard of Oz. Year 5 and 6 had been busy rehearsing their musical numbers and learning the choreography in their weekly music lessons since September whilst the Senior School and College cast had been rehearsing every Sunday since the start of term. The much-anticipated costumes were about to arrive in school for fitting, the multi-level stage was being built and the rehearsal schedule was intensifying! The day had come when the basic stage structure was built and ready for a visit. Year 5 and 6 got a sneak preview of the Sports Hall and had a chance to explore the different parts of the stage. The overriding reaction from the girls was, “Wow!” The girls then had some rehearsal time on stage prior to joining with the full cast. During the next week or so, the remainder of the theatrical experience took shape. The set was built, the lighting trusses were flown, the sound was installed and gradually the Sports Hall began to take on the appearance of a theatre. The day prior to the full technical rehearsal, saw the auditorium seating being set up and the gradual emergence of a winding central aisle, snaking its way from the back of the auditorium, through the audience to meet up with the stage. This (with a little bit of help from many sheets of hardboard, a tin of yellow paint and a few black marker pens) was to become our very own yellow brick road, twisting its way through the theatre space, up the ramp in front of row A, over the orchestra pit and off up into the distance, disappearing upstage right! Our Prep School girls had two very intense Sunday rehearsals with the full cast and coped brilliantly with all that was ‘thrown at them’! On the Sunday before the week-long run of performances, came the dress rehearsal where the girls got to work with the incredible sound of the full orchestra, the lighting, the sound and the special effects. They also had to perfect their precisely timed stage entrances with corridor dashes from distant dressing rooms! There was great excitement as the performance week dawned. Year 6 gave the opening performance to a packed auditorium of 500 excited pupils from local primary schools and also performed on the Tuesday evening and at the closing Gala Night. Year 5 performed on the Monday and Wednesday evenings, both to capacity audiences. All of their performances were brilliant and the girls are to be congratulated for their superb dancing, singing and acting. It was an amazing experience for them to be part of a 150 strong cast and crew in such a large- scale school production and the Prep School staff were very proud of them all. The rest of the Prep School got in on the theatrical experience too. During their music lessons in ‘show week’, every class from Nursery to Year 4 had the chance to explore the stage, auditorium and back stage, try out some lighting effects, handle props and look at some of the costumes as well as experience some of the instruments in the orchestra pit. We certainly made the most of having built a theatre on site and as the final piece of kit left the Sports Hall on that Friday night, it was time for a well-deserved Half Term break! On Monday 11th November, the Prep School gathered just before 11am for their annual remembrance assembly. Miss Louisa Gardner (Prep School Deputy Head) explained the importance of remembrance and Miss Emily Davies (one of our Year 4 teachers) played The Last Post on the trumpet, signalling the start of a minute’s silence. Following the rousing bugle call, Reveille, the girls from Reception to Year 5 sang the song, They Grow Not Old, accompanied by Junior Wind Band, our Prep School Wind Ensemble. The lyrics of the song were a setting of Laurence Binyon’s famous poem, For the Fallen. During the song, there was an instrumental verse with a beautiful lyrical countermelody played by Xinrong Z on the cello, which gave the girls the opportunity to reflect upon what they had seen and heard. Our Year 6 girls represented Howell's School at the war memorial in Llandaff village, where they laid a wreath on behalf of the whole school community and wholeheartedly joined in the singing of the hymn, O God our Help in Ages Past and the national anthems. Their behaviour and attitude during the commemorations were a credit to the school. One of the huge benefits of working in an ‘all-through school’ like Howell’s is being able to observe the girls’ musical progress and development right from the age of 3 up to the age of 18! Being involved in Senior School and College musical events always makes me immensely proud of the girls who have come through from the Prep School and this year I was delighted to have the pleasure of listening to a number of our former Prep School pupils perform at the St Cecilia’s Day Recital Evening. Held in the majestic surroundings of the Great Hall, these talented musicians, who are music scholars, performed their solos to a very appreciative audience. Out of the 12 music scholars performing, 7 were former Prep School pupils. This term has also been a busy one for the Junior Competition Choir (JCC). The choir welcomed 16 new members from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 after auditions at the beginning of September. This brought the numbers in the choir to 48, with a good balance between the soprano and alto parts. The choir is conducted by Howell’s’ Senior Director of Music, Ms Amy Edwards. This term the choir has been rehearsing once a week after school in order to build up their choral skills and their attendance at rehearsals has been excellent! They have been working hard to improve their diction, intonation, dynamics and the balance of parts, along with working on phrasing and communication and the way that they blend together as a choir. Rehearsals are hard work, but fun! The choir invited their parents, friends and staff to an Open Rehearsal in late November for them to see what goes on in a Wednesday night’s rehearsal! Ms Edwards led the choir in a series of vocal and physical warm-ups before rehearsing the four pieces in their current repertoire which included two seasonal pieces in preparation for taking part in the evening Senior School & College Carol Service at Llandaff Cathedral. The audience of more than 40 even applauded after some parts of the rehearsal and were in fine voice at the end of the session when they were invited to take part in the warm-down of voices! Guests and choir members were treated to a drink and a cookie and many of the visitors commented on how hard the girls had worked throughout the rehearsal.