The Primary Choir worked very hard throughout term 3 and learnt all their music for the Speech Night concert huge round of applause! It’s a rich program of beautiful music by Mozart including a duet from the Magic Flute and two choruses from his one act comic opera Bastien and Bastienna with a finale in three parts featuring a solo from this year’s Head Chorister Luke McCrostie as Colas the wizard.
Learning all the parts in term 3 has meant that we can pace ourselves until after the Primary Shakespeare festival. Then we start a refining and polishing exercise. This is a process of working on the all important details such as dynamics (louds and softs), pronunciation, expression, tone quality, phrasing, clear entries, clean finishes etc etc. This requires finer listening and attention.
When you listen to the final performance on the night, it’s this attention to detail that transforms a good work-a-day performance into an excellent, uplifting experience with a certain je ne sais quoi. For the children, it becomes a hugely rewarding experience to have worked hard together and presented their best. Any perceived imperfections are just the joy of live music and can and do happen to any musician professional or amateur.
One of the many highlights of Speech Night is at the end where everyone parents and children join together to sing a Christmas carol and the National Anthem. The carol is a shared piece with everyone singing the first and last verses and the Infants Choir singing a verse on their own and likewise the Primary Choir who learn their section in two parts and also a descant for the grand finale of the last verse. This year it’s Hark the Herald Angels Sing but don t worry if you don t know the words, they will be in the program!
Pictured is Primary Choir Director, Sarah Mane, working on the behind-the-scenes details for the school’s grand finale performance of the year. 
