Back in June, we had the pleasure of joining together in song with the children from Ark White City Academy, St Clement and St James’, St Thomas CE and Wilberforce Primary Schools. It was a day full of wonderful songs from some of our favourite marvellous musicals, and as ever it was a joy to see these children performing in front of their adoring parents.
Rehearsals
Our Vocalise! Performance is an all-day affair for those who are performing. The children arrive first – all four schools involved here had been working on the repertoire all through the year in our school workshops but this was their first opportunity to sing through the material with the world class conductor David Hill at the helm. David relishes the opportunity to work alongside the children every year, and brings an enormous deal of enthusiasm and expertise to this unique concert.
Of course The Bach Choir were also there – our singers join the schools in workshops throughout the year, but this concert is the first time that all of the children involved and the full forces of The Bach Choir combine. It’s always wonderful to see the children’s reactions to the Choir singing – it’s not every day that you have one of London’s finest choirs backing you up!
This year, we were also joined by a fantastic band featuring Andy McBride on drums, Chris Hill bass and Philip Scriven on piano. This was the first time that a lot of the children had sung in such a large group and with this kind of accompaniment, and it was clear that they were really enjoying it.
The performance
At 4pm we let the children’s parents through – they were eagerly anticipating the performance, their excitement bubbling through the room. The concert started with some classic songs from The Sound of Music including the very popular My Favourite Things.
We were then treated to works from Porgy and Bess, Oliver!, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and West Side Story. This selection of works leans towards older repertoire, but the children’s enthusiasm for these works didn’t waver at all – they’re classics for a reason! The audience joined in for many of these works and the children responded by singing even more enthusiastically.
Then we brought things through to the present day with works from The Lion King and Moana before returning to The Sound of Music for one final encore.
The whole day was a joy from start to finish, and we’re looking forward to starting our Vocalise! Season all over again in September where we’ll begin working towards the world premiere of a very exciting new piece by composer Stephanie Jayne Amies. We’ll give more information on that piece very soon!
Help us to continue to spread the joy of singing
We run our Vocalise! Programme to spread the joy of singing throughout London schools – with educational budgets being cut, it’s becoming more difficult for schools to run extracurricular choirs and to continue to provide music lessons. A donation to the Vocalise! Programme will ensure that we can keep running these vital sessions and introduce more and more children to the joys of singing in a choir. If you’d like to find out more about the programme or donate, click here.