2018 -19 Introduction Ellie Sings at Garsington The academic year 2018-19 continued to be a highly successful one for Old Palace Musicians. The Music Department is hugely proud of the many achievements of our students; who are excellent ambassadors for the school. Their dedication and commitment to rehearsals and practices has led to some high quality performances this year, including a wonderful collaborative performance of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s © GItots2019 Dream with the London Mozart After playing the role of Flora in the with The Guardian describing the Players, performances of two glorious English National Opera and the Open Air production as ‘A truly great achievement, Ēriks Ešenvalds pieces in the Spring Theatre’s wonderful, critically-acclaimed devastating and unforgettable,’ and Concert, and success at local music production last year, Ellie in Year 11 awarding the opera 5 stars, whilst The competitions. reprised her role at Garsington Opera Times described it as ‘a hauntingly great Beyond performing music, we from the 1st until the 19th July this year. show,’ also awarding 5 stars. witnessed a captivating set of The production has already received rave Well done Ellie for a remarkable workshops and performances of reviews from a number of publications, achievement! pupils’ A Level compositions, again with the London Mozart Players. The quality of choral singing continues to be a hallmark of the Pupils Sing in Music Department. The monthly evensongs at Croydon Minster and Live Radio 3 also a memorable service sung at Exeter College, Oxford have been Choral Evensong greatly appreciated by the wider community. Our Minster Choristers Broadcast at also sung at a wonderful service at Westminster Abbey, and contributed Croydon Minster a mesmerizing global broadcast of Evensong on BBC Radio 3. Congratulations to Aarna, Amber, Grace, Sanjana, Olivia, Mayowa, Zaynah, Ellie Diversity of musical experience is a and Sophie, who took part in Croydon key ingredient to our Department, Minster’s special Choral Evensong which and concerts last year featured a wide was broadcast live on Radio 3 on 14th range of music that is reflective of the November 2018. eclectic tastes of our young musicians. There is something for everyone’s The pupils are photographed with Ronny taste and everyone’s ability, and we Krippner Organist and Director of Music at embrace that diversity and celebrate Croydon Minster. the quality of musicianship and creativity of our girls. Carol Entertains in Centrale Finally, a personal word of thanks On 21st July, Carol in Year 13 played a from me to the wider family of Old movement of the Mozart KV 449 Piano Palace musicians (pupils, parents and Concerto alongside the internationally staff) for their support and friendship. acclaimed London Mozart Players None of this can happen without the in Centrale shopping centre in endless backing and encouragement Croydon. She played wonderfully you provide for our pupils, and I thank and received rapturous applause at the you all. end of her performance, which was James Griffith part of the award winning series Director of Music “LMP on the Move” which takes performance and different collaborations to new audiences in unusual venues. Well done Carol! 2 Rondo 2018- 19 The Choir Sings in Vienna One of the highlights of this year has been the Choir’s tour to Vienna. At the start of the 2018 summer holiday, students from Years 7 to 13 travelled to Vienna with Mr Griffith, Miss Orr and Miss Barker. Vienna has many extraordinary churches, and we felt very lucky to perform in three of the grandest. Our first concert was at the Votivkirche, which featured the whole programme of secular and sacred music. The performance opened with some beautiful Hildegard von Bingen solos, closed with With Love from Motown complete with actions, and featured everything in between, from Mendelssohn to Fauré to Tim Minchin. The performance seemed to go down well, as some audience- members who led choirs themselves came to ask us when we In between our concerts we had plenty of time to explore. The were next singing. boat trip down the river was a wonderful way to see the city, Our second concert was a short, sacred performance in the and we got a flavour of its culinary delights at the Naschmarkt. Stephansdom. We were delighted to have some familiar faces We greatly enjoyed the Haus der Musik, an interactive sound in the audience, and felt privileged to sing in such a famous museum where you could conduct a recording of the Vienna cathedral. Philharmonic that followed your gesture and made a scale Our final concert was at the ornate Peterskirche. It once climbing up a piano staircase. On the final evening, we visited again featured an array of our sacred and secular favourites the Prater Park with the iconic Ferris wheel, which was a lovely bookended by some impressive improvisations by the resident way to end the tour. Many thanks to Mr Griffith for conducting organist. As the very last performance for our Year 13s, we had the choir, Miss Barker for being resident photographer, and Miss to end the concert with Chilcott’s Like a Singing Bird, an Old Orr for accompanying the choir and organising the trip. Palace favourite! Rondo 2018- 19 3 Steinway Concert On Friday 28th September, Old Palace celebrated the school’s gift from the Whitgift Foundation of a Steinway concert grand piano in some style, with an enthralling concert in the school’s Banqueting Hall. A number of the school’s young musicians and pianists (pictured above) performed solo pieces or took on the role of accompanist throughout the evening, with sumptuous performances which showcased the versatility and tonal quality of the instrument. The evening concluded with some breathtaking performances from guest pianist Danilo Mascetti, a young concert pianist, and violinist Flora Fontanelli, which were undoubtedly aspirational for many of the Old Palace musicians. The concert was a lovely way to end a busy week with some fabulous music in a beautiful setting. Weekly Chapel Recital Our weekly Chapel Recital Series began with some of our Year 11 Music students. This is a musically talented year, and Shreya, Tanya, Varsha, Sabrina, Olivia, Olesya, Rachel and Anushka all gave excellent performances of pieces from their GCSE performances. They have set the bar high for the weeks to come! Senior Soiree On the 21st November, Music students in Years 11-13 took part There were some exceptional performances at the event, and in the Senior Soiree. It was a lovely occasion and an opportunity all of the performers deserve congratulations for their excellent for the many musicians at the event to showcase their work. Thanks to Miss Orr and Mr Griffith for accompanying the considerable talents. performers. 4 Rondo 2018- 19 Autumn Concert On 17th October the Old Palace musicians went to Croydon Minster for the first major concert of the year, with an eclectic mix of vibrant performances. Training Orchestra was slick as always in their performance of a Pavane and Galliarde, while Senior Orchestra played Vaughan-Williams’s English Folk Song Suite with elegance. The Year 6-7 Mega Choir and Prep Polyphonic gave a fantastic rendition of Jonathan Dove’s Seasons and Charms, evoking a range of moods, with more than one hundred students on stage! It was the debut of Les Choristes, who stepped up to the challenge of singing in French, while Year 6-8 Choir performed a pretty arrangement of the song Shenandoah with Kirsten (Year 12) accompanying on the flute. Interspersed between the larger items were a number of excellent performances from Celeste (Year 7), Nia (Year 12), Carol and Megan (Year 13 and 12), the Clarinet, Guitar and Jazz Ensembles. Ellen and Ellie (Year 11) awed the audience with a stunning performance of Lloyd-Webber’s Pie Jesu. To round off the evening, Chamber Choir got us all tapping Lunchtime Recital our feet with performances of Chattanooga Choo Choo and Queen of Soul, a medley of music by the legend Aretha On Friday the 5th of October, a group of Year 11 students from Franklin, capturing the spirit and energy of Old Palace Old Palace opened the Season of Croydon Minster Lunchtime Musicians! Recitals. Well done to everyone involved. Typically of our music students, there was a real variety of repertoire, ranging from a rendition of A Million Dreams from the musical The Greatest Showman, to a movement of Beethoven’s Whitgift House Chapel monumental Pathetique Sonata. The girls all performed with style and poise. Huge Concert congratulations go to all. Surrey Harmony Workshop Earlier this month we saw the first of the Music Award Holders workshops take place in the Chapel. Ladies from the award winning Surrey Harmony barbershop group took our students through their paces with an hour and a half of intense and powerful singing. The benefits of singing are well-documented: it boosts our self-esteem, enhances our energy levels, mental alertness, concentration and memory, boosts confidence and, of course, is a great social experience where we can mix with like-minded souls. There is something particularly special about a capella singing however, and the workshop brought out some spine tingling moments and rich and resonant harmonies. On Monday 10th December, twenty Year 4 and 5 students in Prep Polyphonic went to sing in the annual Carol Service at The students were able to watch Surrey Harmony perform Whitgift House for residents, staff, family and friends. some songs, learn some warm ups, rounds and a tag and engage in plenty of singing and movement. Polyphonic sang two special anthems Mary did you know? and Christmas Star as well as the more traditional carols.