The John Colet Choir has started learning a new piece for the Ryde Eisteddfod. Myoon-Myoon is a mysterious Australian piece, written in 1996 by Stephen Leek, about Uluru. Tempo changes make it quite tricky, but Choir Director Michaela Miles says they are certainly up to the challenge.
They are very good at listening to music and are quite quick at memorising their parts, she said.
They will also perform Amazing Grace at the eisteddfod, which Mrs Miles says is unusual for a primary choir to sing in three parts, as JCS choir does.
Mrs Miles says all our choirs display great focus and discipline when they perform, and in preparation for Ryde she will be continuing that focus, while developing animation and lifting their faces while looking, like glue, at me.
Meanwhile our 3rd and 4th class choir is also learning a new Australian work, inspired by the Jabberwocky recital at Open Day. It is Songs for Snark-Hunters by Martin Wesley-Smith, all about the hope, fear and anguish of going on a snark hunt. Or will they find a boojum?
Mrs Miles takes the John Colet Choir, which is open to 4th, 5th and 6th class students by audition, on Wednesday afternoons after school and Thursday mornings from 10.50am -11.30.
She takes the 3rd and 4th class choir on Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 8.40 9.25am, and 5th and 6th class choir on Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 9.45am-10.30.
I give students copies of the music to look at, we go through it together and work out the long and short notes. There is quite a lot of music reading, and [even if they don t learn an instrument] they get very good at following a melody and musical phrases. They are also all very familiar with music with more than one part. 
