Another day full of fab entertainment - honestly, we're being spoiled a bit here aren't we?!
The morning started with anticipated jigsaw puzzle that is 'getting 6 choirs in and out of the theatre to perform AND hear the others sing without annoying too many parents' - and actually, it was so smoothly operated the organisers really have to be commended on their methods or sorting everything out. I was informed by Barbara Minta that this year they implemented the use of a live video feed in the concourse so that parents that couldn't get tickets could still watch their children perform. Brilliant! I remember talking about this last year after the same class, and I'm so glad it's been tried out this year. From what I was told by Barbara, it was very successful - there will inevitably be some purists out there that would prefer to be in the theatre, but anything that helps parents see their child perform in whatever way is a great addition.
- This was an incredibly high standard of class, with every choir getting at least a Highly Commended, but the two distinctions went to Melrose and Forest schools, with the latter taking the trophy. I have to commend both these choirs, and I really thought it was a toss-up between them. Melrose performed a beautiful opening song (in German no less) before a slick, well-articulated piece called 'Don't Call Us, we'll Call You', whilst Forest school's opening song, 'Can you Hear Me?' was poignantly performed, with some exquisite quiet passages, coupled with a more relaxed rendition of 'You've got a Friend in Me'. For me, Forests opening song sold it for me, but I could have seen it being awarded either way. Well done to all the choirs performing, a most excellent morning of choral singing.
- The morning was completed with a great set of U11 Cellists, with Anna Moody taking the trophy with her performance of 'Danse Rustique' by W H Squire. I remember learning this myself (and being several years older than Anna at the time), so I think this made this all the more impressive for me, well done Anna. It was a truly enjoyable class to hear, some real promise coming up in the cello section that's for sure.
The Afternoon session opened with the U15 Popular Song Class. A popular class in itself, it featured some great performances of some well-known (and some not-so-well known) songs, and I think every performer really aimed to give their 100% to every song. What this class did highlight for me was that, in some cases (particularly with this age group), there is an issue with 'appropriateness of the song.' - It's something Ian Hytch has mentioned this week, although mainly in the context of getting the song in the right pitch for your voice. What I'm talking about here is subject matter. I see it all the time as a vocal tutor, I have students who bring me a song they want to learn and I simply cannot teach it to them because the subject matter is too old for them. The U15 category is the hardest, because you're not old enough to really understand some of the things mentioned in the songs, but you're old enough to not want to be doing disney-esque material. I think it's an area vocal tutors (and parents) really need to look at when helping kids/young teens in picking songs to sing.
- That being said, the standard of the singing was very good, and the expression put across in a lot of the songs was brilliant. The newly presented trophy went to Archie Fraser-Dale for his emotional presentation of 'Don't let the Sun go Down on Me'.
- The rest of the afternoon featured chamber ensembles, choirs and a lovely U18 folk song class. Folk songs, in themselves are deceptively simple, but I know from singing them and teaching them that they are, in fact, not! All three competitors in this class really showed great skill in delivering these songs with style and great technique. I really want to praise Kirsty Dempster - as a sixth-former she took on the role of directing the Grammar School Training Strings in the class before, and came back out almost immediately, performed beautifully and won the folk song class. It clearly meant a lot to her, and I know what it's like to have a day when you invest a lot of time and effort, and I'm so glad that she succeeded so well today. You're a hard working musician Kirsty with a lot of professionalism, keep up the good work!
The evening session, although only featuring two classes, contained some fantastic entertainment. The U18 Songs from the Shows class showed off these young performers at their best. Everyone in this class achieved a highly commended, which is a real testament to how well these kids are being taught, and how passionate they all are about this genre of music. Harry Giubileo took award the trophy with a fantastic performance of 'Why I like Movies'. What, I think, sold this performance was Harry's ability to take the audience from comedy to poignancy in the simplest of moves, and with great vocal control and delivery. The O18 pop class, which rounded out the evenings entertainment, featured a somewhat 'unusual' new face appearing on stage, in the form of none other than John Gollop. I have to mention John, more so for his support of the arts on this island. I do a lot of gigs, and I would say John easily attends at least 9/10 of them, so it was a real treat to actually be able to return the favour and support John on stage for a change.
- The class was, again, of a high standard, with four participants receiving distinctions. The class was won by Kim Reece-Sheerin, with a sensitively performed ballad 'I Know you Won't'.
The Eisteddfod is drawing to a close for another year, and it's been great to take part once again (as I'm sure a lot of you agree). However, I want to make people aware of something that's come to my attention. It's in reference to the muttering and mumbling that happens, often when a performer comes out onto the stage. Now, some of you might think you're being quiet, but in actual fact, we can hear a lot of what is said by the audience, and I hate to say it, but some of it isn't very nice. It's great that so many people come to support the performers, but that is actually what you're there to do: support. If you're in the audience, please remember that the person on stage is doing something incredibly brave that requires a lot of confidence: some performers have accumulated a thick skin and a good amount of confidence over the years, but there a lot that are still very new at this and could very well be badly effected by negative audience mumbling. So, I implore you all - think for a minute whether you could actually get up on the stage yourself before making an 'under-your-breath' comment, no matter how innocent or irrelevant (or quiet) you think it might be.
- In light of Ian Hytch's delightful quirk of thanking each and every performer after they've performed, maybe it's time we started applauding people onto the stage to thank them for just simply getting up there and having a go.
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