The whole of the Prep School was treated to some fine singing from a number of pupils, each of whom sang one Classical song and one Contrasting (generally more modern) song.
Amie demonstrated great control in Peter Warlock’s “Adam lay y-bounden” then courageously took on the difficult “Feelings” (Morris Albert). Chloe sang Chris Bell’s “He that is Down” with lovely tone and went on to give a contrastingly cheerful rendition of Lloyd Webber’s “Any Dream Will Do”. Darcy sang “The Nightingale” (Johannes Brahms) with lovely tone then delivered a very sweet and tuneful “A-roving” (Traditional). Francesca gave us a confident and wide-raging “Panis Angelicus” (Cesar Franck) and her own truly mellifluous version of “Somewhere over the Rainbow”. Julia engaged us all with her powerful but melodic “The Lark” (R. Rodney Bennett), going on to demonstrate her range with an exceptional “Lurking in the Pond” (Colin Cowles). Molly demonstrated very good breathing throughout “Two Brown Eyes” (Edvard Greig) followed by a charmingly wistful “Somewhere over the Rainbow” (Yarburg/Arlen). Milo showed real power and control over both tone and volume in his offerings of “The Call” (R. Vaughan Williams) and an upbeat “On the Street Where You Live” (Lerner/Loewe).
It was, as it usually is, a difficult choice for adjudicator Graham Hoskins to make, but after due deliberation Julia was declared winner, with Milo and Chloe taking the other podium places. All, however, showed real courage in performing their solos in front of the entire school, and our thanks go out to them for a wonderful hour’s entertainment.
Apologies for the rotten picture: difficult lighting conditions and a limited camera (or was he just a hopeless photographer?)