Alexandra Traditional Irish Group Visit: An International Concert

Sophie von Brauchitsch one of our form V pupil's from Germany writes about the Alexandra Trad Band visit to the school.

On Tuesday, the 8th December, nine girls and their teacher from Alexandra College, Dublin visited our school to hold a concert of traditional Irish music in the BSR.

This concert was a great opportunity for the music students in forms V and VI to hear traditionalal Irish music, an important part of the Leaving Certificate Music course, live. However, not only music pupils attended this concert. Many others curious about Irish music style came too.

The group consisted of four harps, three fiddles, a flue, a tin whistle and a bodhrán, which is a traditional Irish drum. They played twenty-two pieces in blocks of three and four, dances like Reels, Jigs, Slip jigs and Slides along with traditional Irish songs, like The South Wind, Drowsy Maggie, Trip to Sligo and Sally Gardens. In some pieces, players performed solo accompanied by the harp, presenting their instruments and how they sound on their own.

In the breaks between the blocks, Justine Heffernan, a form VI pupil from our school, preformed three traditional Irish dances, first a Reel, then a Jig and finally a Slip jig.

After the concert, everyone went up to the Cadagon main room, where the performers and the audience talked about their experiences with traditional Irish music.

This concert brought Irish music, which can sometimes seem a little dry, nearer to the us all and gave the pupils who haven’t dealt with this topic before an idea about traditional Irish music.

Alexandra Traditional Irish Group Visit

by Chris Doherty, form III

On Tuesday evening we were visited by a traditional Irish music group from Alexandra College. As one of the topics covered by the Junior Certificate course, I found it interesting to hear Irish music played live. It was a first for me and many others who attended but I think it was enjoyed by all.

They played a variety of different Irish songs like reels, hornpipes, jigs, slip-jigs and others, in sets of threes. Their band consisted of four harps, three fiddles, flutes and a bodhrán, all traditional Irish instruments. All the songs were performed to a high standard and I think the audience appreciated the quality of performance.

Along with the music performance there was also an Irish dance performance given by Juntine Heffernan, form VI. I personally have never seen Irish dancing performed live but even I could see that she executed the steps excellently and I’m sure the others would agree. She showed us three dances, a reel, a jig and a slip-jig.

Overall I think it was a very enjoyable evening giving some people, myself included, their first live performance of traditional Irish music and dance. The night was enjoyed by everyone and a big thank you on behalf of all of us who attended to those who performed, both the girls from Alexandra and Justine, and Mrs. Malone-Brady for organising the event.

Christmas Gigs

Between correcting exams and writing reports, another member of staff has found the time to prepare for two concerts. Following the success of their most recent concert, which you can read about here, The Keynotes will perform twice over the Christmas Holidays. The concerts will take place on Saturday the 20th and Monday the 21st of December in the Freemasons Hall, Molesworth street, Dublin 2.

The Keynotes are a Barbershop Quartet, consisting of five members (don't worry Mr. Finn teaches History not Maths!) with a huge repertoire of pieces and a reasonably large repertoire of jokes. Mr. Finn's performances in the school are always met with tremendous applause and these concerts promise to be of equal entertainment.

Christmas Gigs

'Ronan Swift and his trusty band' will make a popular return to the stage in Bewley's Café Theatre on Grafton Street on Thursday December 10th. Doors open at 8:30 with the sonorous musings of Mr Swift. Admission will be a recession busting €10 and the night will boast a host of new material from the man himself!

The Keynotes Concert

by Michael McBurney

Last Friday a group of students accompanied by Mr Clarke attended a fund-raising concert in Rathgar Church of the Three Patrons in which the legendary singer Rebecca Storm performed. This event was very attractive but what made it so much more unique is that Mr. Finn and his barbershop group The Keynotes were special quest performers of Ms. Storm. Made up of five people, The Keynotes are a very unique act and have performed for the President and on a number of Irish tours. They are an a capella group specialising in male harmony with Mr. Finn often singing the soprano line himself, an expert in falsetto singing.

The night was truly outstanding with hits like O Sole Mio and In the Jungle on the set list. The act was made even more fun by the friendly vibe given by the group as they made fun of each other on stage in front of hundreds. The time and music seemed to fly and in no time the set was finished but they did of course produce an encore which replicated the amazing performance moments before.

Rebecca Storm then made her way onto the stage and performed some sensational numbers such as Don’t Cry for Me Argentina from the musical Evita as well as many other very famous and popular songs from Broadway and West End Musicals.

All in the all the night was very good, all the music being very well received by the audience and also by the students.

Music in the Classroom, Junior Cert.

Below are two reviews of a trip to the National Concert Hall to a concert organised by the Irish Times Music in the Classroom project. The concert was aimed primarily at Junior Cert. pupils but even the Transition Year pupils who came with us gained alot from the performance. Gearóid Grant conducted the RTE Concert Orchestra, vocally aided by Emmanuel Lawler, giving examples of music through various periods of history and introducing the orchestra.

Nicola Dalrymple
On Tuesday the 10th of November we left St. Columba’s College at 9:00 and made for the National Concert Hall in Dublin. Form I, II, III and IV music pupils all made the trip.
When we arrived we looked around the park at the back of the concert hall. They were very beautiful. We then headed into the hall and sat down. (Click here to read more...)

Peter Quigley
On Tuesday the 10th of November we went to the National Concert Hall to listen to an orchestra play. They started off by playing the theme tune from Star Wars. The conductor, Gearóid Grant, then talked to us about the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern eras. (Click here to read more...)

RTE Cooperation Ireland Choir Competition

Despite a sterling performance the St. Columba's College Choir were unsuccessful obtaining a place in the RTE Cooperation Ireland Choir Competition Finals. The choir performed admirably and were a fantastic example of the musical talent the school can boast. Well done to King's Hospital on their achievement. Siobhán Brady wrote a short article on her experience of the competition.

The St. Columba's Choir recently took part in a choir competition for RTE. We had to make a CD of two songs which we did one evening in September. We recorded "For the Beauty of the Earth" by John Rutter and the "Glory Train", a spiritual song. We found out a few weeks later that our choir had gotten through to the Regional Finals of Dublin along with four other schools: Notre Dame, Alexandra College, King's Hospital and Mount Anville. We were told that that this was going to be televised. Before the live competition RTE visited the college to take a few pictures and videos. They filmed people having lunch in the Dining Hall and lots of shots in the Cadogan. Robbie Hollis, Jessica Beresford and myself had to walk around Chapel square a few times and up and down Cloisters for the camera man. (Click here to read more...)

Music Soirée

Ling Fan Gao writes on the first Music Soirée of the new term.

The Music Soirées organised by Mrs. Malone-Brady throughout the year provide a valuable opportunity for music pupils to perform in front of friends and other musicians. They provide a stage from which new musicians can practise playing and singing in front of others, gain experience and become more relaxed. The audience is very appreciative as they know firsthand the challenge that overcoming nerves poses. The event took place on Saturday evening in the Cadogan Music Centre. It was quite informal and anyone who wished to come along to play could.

There were a number of people playing from the very young to the more senior. No matter the standard of difficulty every performance was met with a big round of applause and a great confidence boost. This was a first performance for many and was a great experience.
Refreshments were provided by Mrs. Malone-Brady following the concert and it was a great opportunity to stand around and talk about the experience and exchange compliments to one another.

Many thanks to Mrs. Malone-Brady for organising the event.

Music Scholarship

by Lingfan Gao

The music scholarship in St. Columba’s is a very competitive affair. The experience of the audition differs from person to person, they made me really nervous yet it was a pleasure to hear every soloist perform his or her own style of music. The order was chronological so the youngest members of the group performed first, pupils from form I right through to form VI. Scholarships are awarded to different categories, Junior, Intermediate and Senior.

The junior section was great. Siobhán Brady (II) performed excellently on Cello and Voice. Kezia Wright (III) and Sally Bebby (II) both performed excellently too, both are talented singers.

In the Intermediate section Patrick Tice (IV), Emma Moore (IV) and I competed for the scholarship. Patrick gave a strong performance on guitar, his piece soft and gentle. Emma performed on the violin and sang, performing very well on both instruments. I played Beethoven’s Pathétique, first movement, on piano.

In the senior section, Robbie Hollis played saxophone, showing off his technique and command of the instrument. Michael McBurney sang a jolly and light hearted piece matching his personality and revealing his great voice. Sophie played the flute, a very challenging piece by Mozart but played very well. Poppy Vernon, however, stole the spotlight by singing a Mozart aria, sad and powerful, she brought the piece to life and communicated the meaning to the audience with powerful expressions that matched the mood of the song.

The event was adjudicated by the Warden, Mr. McCarthy, Ms. Malone-Brady and Mr. Clarke. Scholarships were awarded to Siobhán Brady (junior), Kezia Wright (junior), Emma Moore (intermediate), myself (intermediate) and Poppy Vernon(senior). To stand up and play in front of judges and fellow pupils is a hard thing to do and everyone who performed did so well and gained vital experience.

Music in the Classroom

On Wednesday 7th October form Primary went on a class trip to The Irish Times Music in the Classroom Concert in the Helix. Each pupil was asked to write a review of the concert and the following, by Clara Murphy, was selected as the best.

Today form Primary went on a class trip to 'Music in the Classroom' in the Helix, DCU. We were the first people in the hall but after a few minutes loads of other schools arrived. Our class was the smallest group there. Shortly after this the orchestra walked on stage while everyone clapped and shouted.

The conductor, Gearoid Grant, came on stage and told us there would be a quiz for every school based on the songs from Carnival of the Animals. After they played the first piece St. Columba's was called out, after blanking for a few seconds we all came to our senses and answered.

The rest of the concert was great, we sang all the songs we spent time in class learning. The end was especially fun because we all got to sing ABBA songs.

Choir-mania!

Congratulations to the Choir on their qualification for the regional heat of the RTE Co-Operation Ireland School Choir Competition 2009. The competition will take place on Friday 16th October and will be televised on RTE 1 on Sunday 25th October. Tune in at 6:30 to support them!

There is also a very small number of tickets available to the recording so if you are interested please email the music department on sccmusicdept@gmail.com.

Farewell Future Wives

Congratulations to Mr. Ronan Swift, teacher by day, singer-songwriter by night, on the launch of his second album, Farewell Future Wives. Mr. Swift played to an extremely appreciative audience at the launch party last night in the Unitarian Church on Stephen's Green.

Mr. Swift is joined on this CD by his regular accomplices Eoin O'Brien, Josh Johnston, Bill Blackmore, Malachy Robinson and Dara O'Brien. The album was recorded in the St. Columba's Chapel and the acoustics captured lend the music an interesting, relaxed sound.

'The theme of the new album is the old-fashioned business of courtship. It uses a variety of settings and approaches – musical, lyrical and contextual – to capture the highs and lows of finding a soul mate (or even something less profound) in the first decade of a new ‘minnellium’.

'From full band tracks to more intimate solo performances, from a Henry Purcell male voice choir to a 10 minute epic set on New Year’s Eve 1999, variety is the spice of this release.Using different song styles, spoken anecdotes and Ronan’s naturally inviting storytelling lyrics, the listener is introduced to a colourful troupe of protagonists and onlookers.

'There’s the “west London fop” of You’re Havin’ A Baby, an Italian sweetheart in European Union, the Awful Man on the Tottenham Court Road, a national school mummy (Adulterous Thoughts) and a herd of Fresian cows (Interrupted By Cattle). Ronan is intuitive and versatile in his lyric writing; once wistful and poetic and then direct and bawdy, but always vivid and honest.'

The album is available online through iTunes and also Tower Records, Road Records, Shandon Records and CDBaby.

For more information please see the Unitarian Church News Website and Shandon Records.

First Concert of the new year

The first concert of the new academic year will take place on the Saturday the 12th of September. The programme will consist of music the choir sang on its recent trip to Tuscany which will be intersperced by presentations given by the pupils involved.

Installation of the new Chaplain

Last night saw the installation of the new college Chaplain, Rev. Nigel Crossey, in chapel at which the choir sang Pittoni's Cantate Domino, Caccini's Ave Maria and the Lord's Prayer.

This was also the first chance to showcase the fantastic renovations to the chapel's Pipe Organ which was overhauled over the summer break and is sounding better than ever.

The ceremony was held by the Archbishop of Dublin and Glendalough. Many congratulations to Rev. Crossey, we wish him the very best and well done to the Chapel Choir who sang wonderfully after a mere four days back in college.

Music Lessons

Instrument lessons start next week so sign up as soon as possible! There is a huge range of instruments available here in St. Columba's including Piano, Violin, Cello, Guitar, Voice, Clarinet, Saxophone, Flute, Trombone, Harp, Drums, Xylophone and many more.

Lesson times will be published downstairs in the Cadogan on the notice boards early next week so check regularly for your day and time of lesson. Take your permission slip, from the notice board, with you to class and present it to your teacher when you ask to leave class. You will not be taken out of the same class each week.

Sign up sheets are available from Mrs. Malone-Brady and Mr. Clarke.

Welcome back!

The academic year has begun again here at St. Columba's College and that means another year full of concert trips, pupil concerts, chapel performances and choir practices among other events.

Keep an eye on the blog and calendar for further updates.

Leaving Certificate Results

Congratulations to all the pupil's who have just received their Leaving Certificate results today. The college average was a very impressive 445 points per pupil.

A special congratulations to the music pupils, all of whom obtained a Grade A at Higher Level. An outstanding result. Well done to them and to their teacher Mrs. Malone-Brady.

Lucca

by Emma Moore

On our second day in Italy, we were to visit Lucca. After a somewhat early start, our bunch of fairly groggy students and teachers met by the piano in the hotel for a quick rehearsal before leaving for Lucca for the day.

When we arrived, we were given the afternoon free to explore. Almost every girl got lost in the fabulous Italian jewellery stores around town, and the teachers wisely found themselves a café to sit in for the duration. Having met up again at 7.30pm, we travelled to a little spa town just outside Lucca for our first concert.

Following a transfer from our coach to a shuttle bus for the steep roads to take us to the spa town, we arrived to find a somewhat eerie village. We saw only a couple of people, and wondered whether we were in the right place. Luckily we were, but had to wait a while for someone to come and actually let us into where we were performing.

The Barbershop took these minutes as sacred time to have a last minute practice while the rest of us looked around. When we were let in, we had a while to have a quick practice and get changed. Our audience arrived and the concert began.

We were performing our Light Music folder, which I think was our favourite one of the two! After the interval, we and our audience were serenaded by the Barbershop Quartet. Having performed their line-up of English songs, they introduced their star guest, Ms. Sylvia O’Regan, to do an old Italian classic, O Sole Mio, which had been arranged by Mr. Barry Finn on the bus on the way to the concert! This went down very well with the audience.

Following the concert we were fed and watered by the residents. The hospitality was fantastic and a great time was had by all.

Our trip to Pisa

By Molly Buckingham.

On Tuesday 23rd June,the choir were just ready to go home from our wonderful trip to Tuscany, but there was one place we had to visit; Pisa. We got there at around midday and the weather was definitely at its best. We all walked to the main historical part of Pisa. It was amazing.

We each had about three hours to walk around and explore. The best part for me was to see the leaning tower of Pisa. To see it for real was an amazing experience that I definitely won't forget.

All around it were lots of stalls selling souvenirs and things so we all got presents for our families there! The tower looked huge but we couldnt quite bring ourselves to climb it! Lots of people took pictures and there were many tourists, like ourselves, eager to take a picture of somebody appearing to hold it up!

In the late afternoon we headed to the airport. It was quite sad to leave Italy, but although it was such a fantastic and memorable trip we were all looking forward to going home after a long year of school.

Tuscany Trip

by Siobhan Brady

The Choir trip to Tuscany was first mentioned to us in September 2008 and it was hard to believe, as we were waiting for the bus to the airport at 4.30 am on Friday 19th of June, that the day had finally arrived! Everyone was exhausted on the bus as we had just finished our exams the day before and here we were at the crack of dawn. Things improved in Dublin Airport when we had checked in our bags and had finally had something to eat. As the plane took off we really felt we were on our way.

Once we stepped off the plane the heat hit us straight away. It was a welcome change from Ireland. We collected our bags and a brand new coach was waiting for us in the Arrivals. We wasted no time and were on our way quickly to our hotel in Montecatini. We were sorted into our rooms first and each group was given a key. I was delighted to be sharing with Dearbhala Gernon and Nicola Dalrymple. Our room was quite big and it had bunk beds and two single beds. We also had a lovely en suite. We had to be downstairs for a meeting at 2 o’clock with Mrs. Malone-Brady and Chiara, our Club Europe rep. We were told some rules about the hotel, and then to our delight we were told that we had free time until 6pm when we had to be back for a rehearsal.

We were starving! The first thing we did was go to the pizzeria where we had a HUGE slice of pizza and a drink each. It was boiling hot outside so we immediately went across the road to an ice-cream parlour where we had the most amazing ice-cream ever. While I got strawberry and Dearbhala got mint, to Nicola’s surprise she ended up with Sherry flavoured ice-cream instead of Fruit of the Forest that she thought she was getting!

We headed quickly back to the hotel as it was so hot and we were dying for a swim. We were so glad the hotel had a pool, even if it was pretty small. The pool was outside and was already warm from the sun and was absolutely gorgeous. We had a lovely swim and had a shower and got changed. We headed downstairs with our Light Music Folders for our rehearsal. We learned Freedom Train, which soon became a favourite among the choir members. We then went through all the songs for the concert the next night. Although we were all tired, it still sounded pretty good.

We finished at 7 o’clock and then we had more free time until dinner at 8 o’clock. It was a three-course meal with a pasta dish first and then turkey and chips and even more ice-cream for desert. That night we sat outside the hotel in the green plastic chairs and chatted to the Americans who were staying across the road. We headed to bed around 10 o’clock and went straight to sleep. It was a great start to an amazing trip.

Kumidaiko

Here's a little information on Kumidaiko as seen in the Actiontrack production, Tinseltown Meltdown.

Kumidaiko is the name used for a percussion group using traditional japanese drums. The drums, Taiko, which are used in the group vary. There are several types of Taiko. Byou-uchi daiko taiko have skins which are attached directly to the body of the drum, while Tsukushime-daiko have skins which are first attached to rings which are then laced to the body of the drum.

Byou-uchi daiko taiko are usually made from a single, hollowed out piece of wood which dictates the size. The largest Byou-uchi daiko taiko is the ōdaiko. Some ōdaiko are made from trees which are hundreds of years old and so big that they cannot be moved. Byou-uchi daiko taiko cannot be tuned.

Tsukeshime-daiko are a tuneable taiko. The skin is attached to a ring which is then attached to body of the drum, also usually made from a single piece of hollowed out wood.

While there are a large number of taiko they all have some things in common. Firstly, they are all members of the percussion family. Most taiko are struck by bachi which are straight wooden sticks used to hit the taiko. Taiko are also famous for the huge tension put on the skins. This is probably because they originate in such humid regions that the tension was used to stop the skin from sagging.

Actiontrack

The all singing, all dancing Actiontrack performance took place in the college on Saturday evening, to a packed BSR. The show was simply excellent, the array of talent was enormous with pupils taking to the stage as if born for it.

The plot told the story of a superficial Tinseltown populated by celebrities. André Peters (Harry Bravery) is told to leave when he displays 'genuine emotion'. When he leaves Tinseltown André meets a variety of social 'misfits' one of which, Tara Cards (Miriam Poulton) predicts the annihilation of Tinseltown when a group of Hippos walk down mainstreet. He also encounters a group of Ice-cream miners, Ben, Jerry and Mr. Whippy (Dudley Browne, Michael McBurney and Jack Armstrong).

The climax of the play was a fantastic pyrotechnics show behind the BSR, accompanied by the stirring rhythms of the Kumidaiko drums performed by various members of the Transition Year.

Have a look at the slide show to the right for more pictures.

Chapel Performance

Many thanks to Ronan Swift and Matt Walker, two member of staff here in the college, for their performance of Mr. Swift's song 'Bad Cess to You Rich Boy' in chapel this morning.


Both Mr. Swift and Mr. Walker are accomplished musicians and performers and have a number of recordings under their respective belts, including 'Farewell Future Wives' from Mr. Swift and 'Star Turtle', 'Nightmares and Videogames' and 'Grin and Bear' from Mr. Walker's group Star Turtle.

What I'm hearing...

Today we asked a few random people what they have been listening to lately. Below are some of the replies. Enjoy.

Rich (of ActionTrack fame) has been listening to the group Eels, a famous rock group whose discography include Beautiful Freak, Electro-Shock Blues and Daisies of the Galaxy among others. Here is a sample:

Mr. Watts (of Art Room fame) has been listening to Ry Cooder, a guitarist, singer and composer born in the U.S.A in the forties. He has been making music since 1970 and recorded several new songs last year. He is especially know for his slide style of playing. Cooder is also responsible for the formation of the Buena Vista Social Club. Here is a sample of Cooder.

Today in Music History

Today is the birthday of Alexandre Tansman, a famous composer.

Tansman was born in Poland to a wealthy family, and, like a number of other famous composers, studied law in the University of Warsaw. He did, however, also study music at the Łódź Conservatory and when he moved to Paris he continued working on his compositions. While in Paris he studied under Igor Stravinsky and Maurice Ravel and associated himself with a group of foreign composers working in France who called themselves École de Paris.

During WW2 Tansman fled to Los Angeles, with the help of his friend Charlie Chaplin, and on his return to Paris after the war Tansman found his music outmoded. He then turned to his Jewish and Polish heritage and used this as inspiration.

In his hometown of Łódź there is a competition, entitled the Alexandre Tansman Competition for promising musicians every year to promote his music.

Form Primary Presentation

After studying Irish music with Primary form, the pupils prepared a project on their own cultural music. Attached is a presentation on Indian Music by Rishi Manuel.

Click on the on the full screen button to enlarge the slideshow.

St. Columba's on tour!

Preparations are well underway for the college choir trip to Tuscany. There are 39 pupils, staff, past pupils and parents leaving Dublin at 6:30 am on Friday the 19th of June.

The choir will sing at a number of concerts and choral festivals while in Italy including the final event of 'La settimana delle terme' an annual festival celebrating the local thermal baths. This performance takes place in Bagni di Lucca on the 20th of June at 9:00.

Our second engagement will be Mass at the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore on the 21st. The last concert will be at the Chiesa di s. Agostino on the 22nd.

The itinernary is well laid out and boasts a number of cultural visits to local monuments and tours of the surrounding regions.

Check back for pictures soon!

Lunchtime Recital

Here's a clip of Benjamin Russell's performance of 'Go Lovely Rose' by Quilter which he sang at the recital, and also at the opening of the Opening of the Cadogan building.

Lunchtime review

Below is a review of the lunchtime recital from the last post written by Mark Russell, brother, but unbiased!, of Ben.

Review

On Thursday the 29th of January, we went to St Anne’s church on Dawson street to hear Benjamin Russell, a baritone, and Anna Brady, a soprano, give their recital. Lasting about an hour, the performances were very well accompanied by the pianist Mairead Hurley. Ben started off the concert brilliantly with ‘Deh vieni alla finestra’ from Don Giovanni. After that Anna beautifully sang ‘In uomini in soldati’ from ‘Cosi fan tutte’ also by Mozart. This was followed by the duet ‘la ci darem’ which also features in Don Giovanni.
Next Ben sang two songs, first ‘Mondnacht’ by Schumann and secondly ‘Der Musensohn’ by Schubert. Followed by Anna’s performances of : ‘Ich atmet einen linden Duft’ by Mahlen and 'Ich hab’im penna' by Wolf. Ben then entertained us with ‘I hold your hand in mine’ by Tom Lehrer, an amusing song about an insane husband missing his dead wife! Anna created a lingering atmosphere with the next song ‘Sure on this shining night’ by Baber. As everyone agreed, the following three songs, really showed off Anna and Ben’s musical talent, especially the duet ‘Bess, you is my woman now’.
I can’t decide which was my favourite: the final songs ‘Last night was one of those nights’ performed by Anna and the’ Hippopotamus song’ performed by Ben, both of which were very entertaining and got a lot of laughs. Or, the unexpected encore of the Popagena duet, which must have been very difficult to learn because of its incredible speed!
Everybody really enjoyed the concert and we look forward to future performances by Ben and Anna!

My Fair Lady

Following the performance run of My Fair Lady the Primary and Form I music students were asked to write a review and the below composition by David Lowsley is a good example of the standard submitted.

Review of My Fair Lady
by David Lowsley

I went to see My Fair Lady on Saturday with my Dad. I really enjoyed it. The singing was really good. The songs I liked best were ‘I have often walked down this street before’ and ‘Wouldn’t it be lovely’.
The characters I liked were played by Poppy Vernon, Richi Manuel, Mark Russell and Aidan Chisolm.
The dancing was really good. The costumes were excellent. The backdrops were really amazing too.
The audience seemed to really enjoy the play also as there was a lot of clapping and cheering at the end.
All my friends on the show acted very well. All their hard work and effort really paid off.
My Fair Lady is based on a George Bernard Shaw play based on Pygmalion and was adapted by Lerner and Lowe.
I loved the character of Eliza Doolittle and also Henry Higgins. I think it is a great story. I really like the last scene.
Overall I was very impressed by the show and really enjoyed it.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to past pupil, James Danaswamy, on achieving a scholarship to study singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. James completed his Leaving Certificate with an A in Music, in June 2007. He commenced his singing studies in St. Columba’s College with Sylvia O’Regan, and studied with her for a further year in Dublin. He then moved to Bristol where he studied with Chris Turner, and prepared for his Guildhall audition. He will commence his studies in Guildhall in September 2009.
We wish him all the very best!

Christmas Concert Review 2008

December 6th was the date of the Annual Christmas Concert where the wealth of musical talent in the school is tapped for an evening's light entertainment. The extraordinarilyhigh standard of talent is a testament to the diligent work of the teaching staff and pupils in the Music Department.

Christmas Concert 2008
by Anna Traill

To start the concert off the SCC orchestra, who I was really looking forward to listening to as I hadn’t heard them before, played 2 songs. The orchestra have members from I all the way up to form VI. They’ve been practising a lot and they sounded brilliant. They played ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon’ and Handel’s ‘La Réjouissance’ from Music for the Royal Fireworks. The two contrasting pieces went well and brought a great atmosphere to the start of the night.
Mia Peters was next playing a clarinet piece by Debussy. Mia, who is one of the senior music scholars, played this instrument extremely well and the sound of the clarinet rippled beautifully through the audience.
Michael McBurney, fresh from his performance in our musical production ‘My Fair Lady’ as Colonel Pickering, sang a beautiful Christmas song, ‘I’m dreaming of a white Christmas’ to put us all into the Christmas spirit. Michael sang beautifully and put a smile onto all of our faces.
Kyung Min Kim was next on the stage with the guitar and played a wonderful piece. This was the first guitar piece heard and was definitely a good one to start off with, the practice undoubtedly paid off for Kyung.
Daphne Wright, another music scholar sang Oh Holy Night. This was truly beautiful. I was talking to her before-hand and she was worried about forgetting her words, but her voice was stunning. The high notes soared over the audience and I think I speak for everyone when I say that it was simply stunning.
Poppy Kirwan Browne was next and after loud applause and much cheering Poppy played a piece on the piano, a Sonata by Scarlatti. Poppy, who plays in the Royal Irish Academy, played this beautifully; it was accomplished and atmospheric. Well done Poppy.
The Transition Year choir, consisting of Daphne Wright, Olivia Plunket, Sope Anthony-Ojolola, Andrew Martin and Michael Mc Burney sang next, a four part piece, Sunrise Sunset from “Fiddler on the Roof”. The Transition year don’t have much time to practise, as I know this from being in the same choir last year. They did a fantastic job singing this, their voices complementing each other to give a great performance.
Rebecca Kuelby from form V played the concert harp, the first such performance in SCC. This was captivating, she played ‘Hit the road Jack’ by Ray Charles. This was brilliant because everyone knew the song and it sounded brilliant on the harp, jazzy but well controlled.
Siobhan Brady, from form I, following her performance with the SCC orchestra, played the cello at a very high standard and sang as well. This was a very successful night for Siobhan, both her pieces were outstanding. She sang, ‘As long as he needs me’ and played ‘Danse Rustique’ on the cello. Both of these were beautiful and she showed she was worthy of her music scholarship.
Justine Heffernan, a new pupil to form V this year, played a piece on the clarinet unaccompanied called ‘Scardy Cat’. This is a jazzy piece and was extremely well played.
Young Molly Buckingham from form I, having changed her song 5 minutes before her performance sang an Irish song called ‘Let him go or let him tarry’. This was beautifully sung and she carried it really well. Having a solo in Silent night in the School Concert, I’d say her singing is going to improve wondrously.
Luisa Hell from form VI played a piano piece by Chopin. This was fantastically played and the emotions of the piece were very well conveyed. Luisa is another of the music scholars and plays the piano beautifully.
Patrick Tice, form III, played ‘Blues no.1’ by Weil on the guitar. This piece was very well put across, was a ‘bluesy’ performance and he really got into the rhythm of it and seemed to enjoy it.
Rishi Manuel, one of the soloists in the Carol Service, from form Primary sang ‘I’m Walking in the Air’ from the Snowman. This sounded angelic and extremely clear, the song really suited him and everyone loved it.
Antonia Esses, another Primary pupil, who also plays in the Royal Irish Academy, played the piano to a remarkably high standard, a lovely sonata by Gueseppi. She executed this brilliantly.
Sally Beeby, from form I, sang a really cute song called ‘Smile’ by Charlie Chaplon. She sang this with such clarity and it put a smile on everyone’s face.
Lingfan Gao, another music scholar, from form III, played an intricate piano piece by Haydn. This was outstanding and he showed his full musical ability in his performance.
Johannes Stolberg-Stolberg played the trombone with true enthusiasm. He played ‘Big County Trombone Solo’ and should be very pleased with his performance.
Carl- Victor Wachs from form V played the piano very clearly and steadily, his passion shining through his playing. This piece was quite demanding technically and he executed it extremely well.
Shane Lavin rounded off the evening with his fantastic performance of ‘O solo mio’. The piece suited his voice well and he really raised the roof of the BSR. His voice was bold and strong it was a brilliant end to the night.
This concert was an extreme success and it couldn’t have been done without the hard work and dedication of Geraldine Malone-Brady. It was a pleasure to watch and everyone’s spirit was lifted for the weekend.