Wadebridge Music Festival Success

March 8th, 2019 | Posted by Rebecca Walker in Gallery | Music | News - (0 Comments)

In a remarkable sign of the strength and vibrancy of the musical life of St Joseph’s school,  pupils from across the school participated in the annual Wadebridge Festival of Music and Speech in the last week.

This prestigious festival runs for five days and includes competition classes for speech, brass, choirs, instrumental and vocal. There were many successes for our pupils during the week, and we have celebrated these in school: huge congratulations to every participant, whether they were a winner or not.

Ruby Kirkwood (Year 4), Darcy Courtney-Bridgey, Isabelle Thorns and Chloe Smith (Year 10) not only won their classes but also received shields for achieving the highest overall mark in their category.

A special mention must go to two remarkable sets of siblings: Ben and Ella Hodgson (Years 7 and 6) who won seven trophies between them, and Alice and Oscar Amankwah (Years 9 and 6) who went home with five awards. In addition, Ben and Ella were both awarded the highest marks in the male and female vocal classes, and Ben was named as the Wadebridge Festival Singer of the Year.

Well done to all of our pupils who took part this year, especially if it was your first time. A huge thank you to all the music teachers involved and parents who supported the children.

Well done to all of you, we are very proud of you all.

Wadebridge Prize Winners:
Year 4 Tilly Goodwin (Piano and Vocal) Ruby Kirkwood (Piano)
Year 6 Oscar Amankwah (Piano and Vocal) Ella Hodgson (Vocal)
Year 7 Ben Hodgson (Vocal) Georgie Gilbert (Clarinet)
Year 8 Oliver Goodwin (Piano)
Year 9 Alice Amankwah (Piano and Vocal)
Year 10 Darcy Courtney-Bridgey (Piano and Violin) Lucas Drayton (Vocal) Chloe Smith (Flute) Isabelle Thorns (Flute, Piano and Vocal)
Year 11 Lucy Rowe (Vocal)

Wadebridge participants
Yr 11 Lucy Rowe,
Yr 10 Darcy Courtney-Bridgey, Lucas Drayton, Chloe Smith and Isabelle Thorns
Yr 9 Alice Amankwah and Daisy Bailey
Yr 8 Oliver Goodwin, Isabel Ivell, Daisy Rae and Brontë Stevens
Yr 7 Georgie Gilbert, Ben Hodgson, Kelly Lam, Rosy Renfree and Louisa Smith
Yr 6 Oscar Amankwah, Phoebe Blatchford Cooper, Ella Hodgson, Sophie Renfree, Hollie Shute, Beth Sobey and Shannon Uglow
Yr 5 Erin Godwin and Millie Rose,
Yr 4 Tilly Goodwin, Ruby Kirkwood and Cecily Whitbread
Yr 3 Jake Godwin

 

 

 

Wadebridge Music Festival Success

February 27th, 2019 | Posted by Rebecca Walker in Events | Gallery | Music | News - (0 Comments)
Congratulations to Louisa, Chloe and Isabelle who have just returned from the Wadebridge Music Festival.
Year 7 pupil Louisa was awarded 2nd place in the Grade 3 to 5 Woodwind Solo competition playing the clarinet.
Year 10 pupil Chloe was awarded 1st place in the Grade 3 to 5 Woodwind Solo competition playing the flute and she was also awarded the highest overall Woodwind score.
Year 10 pupil Isabelle was awarded 1st place in the Grade 6 and above Woodwind Solo competition playing the flute.
Congratulations to all three musicians on their wonderful performances 🎼
Over the next few days many St Joseph’s pupils will be participating in the Wadebridge Music Festival. We wish them all the best of luck.

Christmas Entertainment

December 12th, 2018 | Posted by Rebecca Walker in Events | Music | News - (0 Comments)

A fantastic afternoon was had by all fortunate to attend the 2018 Christmas Entertainment afternoon at St
Joseph’s. Residents of local care and residential homes joined grandparents of St Joseph’s children for an afternoon of carols and Christmas singing, followed up by a festive quiz and all topped off with mince pies, tea and coffee.

The audience were initially treated to music from Canzonetta, the Boys’ Choir and the Chamber Choir, all of whom sounded fabulous. This was followed by a very impressive rendition of The Holly and the Ivy, which showed just how accomplished the choirs were in relation to the less trained singers, and rounded off with carols with which everyone participated.

It was also a pleasure to welcome back Janet Worsnip, a teacher who is a very important part of St Joseph’s school history. She taught biology and science at the school for many years, and was very pleased to be back. Mr Scott said of Miss Worsnip “I know how highly she was regarded during her time here from those who taught with her. It was a privilege to see her back in school, and it is because of teachers like her that the school has such a proud past.”

The children then served their guests as they enjoyed the festive food. All agreed it was a very successful afternoon’s entertainment, and a great chance for faces from St Joseph’s past and present to share some seasonal joy.

 

Fantastic music award for 7 pupils

November 6th, 2018 | Posted by Rebecca Walker in Music | News - (0 Comments)

Many congratulations to members of the Senior Choir who were successful in their Royal School of Church Music (RSCM)  Dean’s Awards  examinations and who were presented with their distinctive green ribbons by the Dean at a special service at Truro Cathedral on 6th October 2018. Lucas Drayton kept the flag flying for the Head Choristers of the Boys’ Choir, being the second young man in that position to have passed the examination. Mair Attwell, Maddie Marsh, Lucy Rowe, Chloe Smith, Issy Thorns and Millie Turner kept the tradition up for the Girls’ Choir and all passed with Distinction.

This national examination tests a wide range of  knowledge and understanding.  Not only did everyone have to perform three pieces of music, perform aural  and sight-singing tests,  but they had to undertake a very rigorous and lengthy viva-voce exam, answering questions on the Church’s calendar, liturgy, suitable music for the different services and seasons within the church, compare, contrast  and analyse anthems and discuss their musical  experience and contribution within the choir too – no mean feat.

St Joseph’s has been entering candidates for the Dean’s Award since 1995 and the Bishop’s Award since 1999 and, according to  RSCM Headquarters, has had the highest total number of  successful RSCM Dean’s and Bishop’s Award winners in the whole of the South West.

Well done to them all!

Music For A Summer Evening 2018

May 17th, 2018 | Posted by Rebecca Walker in Events | Gallery | Music - (0 Comments)

There seemed to be a sense of déjà vu at this year’s Music for a Summer Evening concert! However for once, the sun came out and it really felt as if the summer concert season was well underway.

Apart from being a great social occasion with the chance of refreshments afterwards, it was encouraging to see a number of pupils (many of whom were Grade 6 standard and above), from Years 7 – 11 taking part.  For such a young pupil base, their performances were outstanding.

In addition to the many superb solo performances, the newly re-formed Wind Band gave their debut performance, playing I dreamed a dream from Les Miserables.  We welcomed a number of new players into the Band, including some pupils from the Junior School.   The Boys’ Choir delighted the audience with their performance of Do you hear the people sing, also from Les Miserables.

 As has been the tradition over the past few years, when we have listened to some compositions from the Y11 GCSE Music group, this year was no exception.   Hattie and Holly proudly presented their Set Brief from the Exam Board to the audience, both of which were very well received.

Members of Canzonetta have also been working very hard throughout the past term and performed A Bunch of Thyme arranged by Michael Neaum, Philip Lane’s Full Fathom Five and Frank Bridge’s arrangement of the tongue twister, Peter Piper, to a very appreciative audience.

The evening ended with Canzonetta and the Boys’ Choir joining forces and performing Rutter’s Gaelic Blessing, followed by Rhythm of Life from Sweet Charity. They were joined by former Head Choristers Alina Nuta (2015-2016), and Rosanna Rowe (2016-2017) for both pieces.

A huge ‘well done’  to everyone who took part – especially all the soloists who performed so brilliantly:  Katie Heard (Musical Theatre), Fallon Gillies (Violin), Issy Thorns (Flute),  Darcey Courtney-Bridgey (Piano), Lucas Drayton (Singing), Alec Macdonald (Trumpet), Lucy Rowe (Singing), Holly Whale (Trombone) and Hattie Loe (Singing) as well as members of the Boys’ Choir, Canzonetta, the String Ensemble and the Wind Band.   It was a fantastic evening and £182.50 was raised for the Cornwall Air Ambulance.