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.
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. 
