We began the day's festivities with the Unison Singing Choirs - Infant School Age, and my, what an amazing class! Such quality singing from these young singers, and some excellent work being done by all the music teachers as well. New to the class (and the Eisteddfod) were School of Popular Music (SOPM), making their first appearance with their Pop Choir (minis). I must say, the children really presented themselves well, sung with enthusiasm and a real sense of joy, and were incredibly well behaved and supportive of the other performers in the class by watching and listening intently, which is a real credit to themselves, their parents and their conductor Jo Marsh. Other highlights of this class include Blanchelande Infant Choir's performance of 'The Vegetable Song', complete with shopping trolley and disgruntled customer very displeased with his sprouts, and Forest Primary School Infant Choir's 'Let's go Fly A Kite' with a beautifully made and displayed kite flying away at the back of the choir. Such fun and really great singing from all the groups, with the winner's this time being Forest Primary School with a Highly Commended. Following directly on, we had another choir class, this time Choirs Unison Singing, Junior School Age. Another very high standard of class, with everyone receiving Highly Commended or above. Again, some lovely sound being made by all the groups here. I'd like to mention the young lad who performed the solo in Beechwood's 'Close Every Door' - a really beautiful sound there, well done! A particular highlight of this class was the performance by Melrose Junior Choir, who wowed us with a beautifully lyrical performance of 'She's Like the Swallow', followed by a suitably brash and mischievous rendition of 'Naughty' from Matilda. The core sound these girls make is truly excellent, which won them a well deserved Distinction and the trophy.
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| SOPM Pop Choir (Minis) raring to go for their first ever performance at the Eisteddfod |
- Closing out the morning, we had two more chamber music classes: the Junior School Age Instrumental Ensemble, and the Junior School Age Orchestral Woodwind Duos, Trios & Quartets - another excellent example of the 'social' music making we seem to be so good at here in Guernsey, followed by the last class of the morning (or by this point, lunch hour!) the Folk Choirs for Junior School Age featuring the Guernsey Music Centre Primary Choir. Another fine display of choral excellence, with this choir creating a lovely warm sound, and earning themselves Highly Commended. I think it's perhaps worth mentioning at this point that, maybe a bit too much was crammed into this morning! By the time the first two choir classes had finished (and over run), it was nearly noon, and we still had 5 classes to go. This might be an oversight that perhaps the organisers what to look at the next year.
The afternoon session started much like the morning, with another choral class, this time the Junior School Age Part Singing. Once again we were treated to a fabulous array of choral singing from our youngsters, this time in the 8-11year old bracket. Class winners, Forest Primary School Junior Choir really showcased their excellent choral singing, earning themselves a Distinction, and I think this is a real testament to their teacher Elaine Chapman (who also conducted the Infant Choir in the morning session) - Elaine is doing stellar work with these youngsters, achieving a fantastic sound, but also clearly capturing the children's imagination and sense of fun - their second piece 'Dang-A-Rang-A-Dang-Do!' was sensational: a breakneck speed lesson in diction which would teach a fair few adults a thing or too! Other highlights of this class included Guernsey Music Centre Junior Choir's lovely use of umbrellas and tapshoes, and the lovely skill of the SOPM Pop Choir (Juniors) in accompanying themselves with percussion for their piece 'Budapest' - I'd like to single out Marley Fallaize from that group, who lead the singers with some super solid Cajon playing.
- Now.... I don't really want to talk about this, because it's upsetting, but I think it would be a disservice to not mention what happened in this class. Despite performing beautifully, and with great style, and receiving praise for their vocal sound, SOPM were actually disqualified from the class, much to the shock (and in some cases, disgust) of the audience. To explain what happened, basically, only one of SOPM's pieces actually featured 'part-singing', which this class is for, and so Adrian Goss decided that he had no choice but to disqualify the group for not adhering to the rules of the class. For me, this was 100% the wrong decision, and I know it was very upsetting for everyone, but especially the kids, because despite all the lovely things he had to say about them, all they heard was 'they did it wrong'. I've since checked the syllabus, and it actually doesn't specify what is a) meant by part singing, b) how much of it is required in the selection of music. It is very, very vague and I think this needs to be addressed by the committee in order to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. There is a huge problem there with clarity, which left our adjudicator (who is a stickler for sticking to the rules and guidelines) in a bad position, and in a position which, I feel, he really didn't want to be in, as he did express his great sadness to have to do it. Furthermore - I feel that disqualification of CHILDREN should never be an option, because any mistake that is made with content is the mistake of the teacher, which is what makes this so heartbreaking - children should not be punished for someone else's faux pas (and I know their conductor is devastated). There are many ways this could have played out - they could have been docked marks, and their conductor told to think more carefully next year, they could have been given a Certificate from a lower category, but they should have never been disqualified. My greatest concern is that these children will now not want to ever perform again, and I think a lot of damage control needs to be done. So, I'm urging you, public of Guernsey, to show your community spirit - if you were there and enjoyed this groups performance (which I know many of you did), PLEASE forward on your feelings on to SOPM so that the children understand it was one person's decision based on a technicality, not a reflection on their skill or talent. I would very much like to thank Rachel Wright from Music Centre, who came up to the children at the end of the class to tell them how amazing she thought they all were - I really hope that more of this positivity can make it's way to these fantastic kids and keep their hearts in love with music.
Moving on.... The next set of classes were the Pop Duos, Trios & Quartets Under 15, and Under 18. Some great display of 'social' singing here, and a good selection of music for this age bracket. I've already discussed the difficulties of choosing popular music repertoire for younger singers - add to that the need for a duet, trio or a quartet, and it starts to get a little trickier. One suggestion I might make to these students is to explore OLDER popular music. There's some excellent songs from the 60's and 70's (I'm thinking the Supremes, or even the Beatles for their use of group harmonies). That said, some impressive group work here, and some unique styles being developed. I particularly like Third Above, I think this little group have a lot of potential to develop something really unique. The winners of each class were Lucy Mahy, Simone Ashplant and Morgan Taylor in the Under 15s for their song 'The Climb' (receiving a Highly Commended), and Luchelli in the Under 18s who received a Distinction for their version of 'Feeling Good' (Seriously... was there a memo that went out this year about this song needing a lot of airtime?!) Excellent work all round.
Next we had a very large Orchestral Woodwind Class for the Under 14, showcasing, not only a large range of repertoire, but a vast variety of instruments as well! A good quality standard of class which, again, highlighted the quality work of the teachers in giving these students a solid musical training. A large section of this group received Highly Commended, but it was Lily Becker who just pipped the win with her performance of 'Tambourin' by Somis. Closing out the afternoon we had yet more choral classes; the Male Voice Choirs Under 14, followed by the Choirs Madrigal & Part-Song Secondary School Age class. Particularly with the Male Voice Choir, it's great to see boys of this age continuing to sing. There's been a lot of talk about vocal transition, which is really important to have the right information on, as it is a vulnerable time for voices! Good to see some careful and insightful work being done by Rachel Wright with these lads. Two great classes, with one choir in each, both receiving Highly Commended for their efforts.
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| Winner of the U18 Songs from the Shows; Luella Taylor |
I have to say, the standard of this class this year was amazing. Every single performance was slick, polished and hugely entertaining, whether it was a hilarious comedic number or a heart-wrenching ballad. In his adjudication Adrian reiterated his comments given to the Under 15's about the use of twang and not forcing the voice, and how he was looking for a performance with the emphasis on song (you can read my review of his comments in
- After the Musical's buzz, it was back to the 'serious' music with two solo piano classes - the J.S.Bach Instrumental Solo Class 16 & Over, and the Piano Jazz Over 18. Two classes vastly different in style, but equally demanding in technical skill and approach (although one could argue that J.S.Bach's understanding of harmony paved the way for Jazz... but we don't have time for that!) - Some truly excellent playing in both of these classes, with Martin Hassall in the Bach class receiving 86, and John Morris in the Jazz receiving 87.
Now... I'm actually going to skip ahead a little, and talk about the Mixed Voice Choirs Class in a little bit..... So, on to the French Song Over 18. It's an interesting class this, and it's one my dad constantly questions me about. He often asks, "Why does everyone sing classical when there are so many great French pop and jazz songs available?" - and my answer is this: The French song is a class in which the singer can use their mark to be in contention for the Marion Blondel Trophy, a special award given to the best classical singer in the adult section who receives the highest average mark. Only certain classes are eligible, French song being one of them; hence why people tend to perform classical French songs by composers such as Faure and Debussy. However, that's not to say you can't do a contemporary French song! In this small class, we had two classical performances, and a more contemporary performance which was given by class winner Lindsey Veillard. I am so pleased that Lindsey is having such a great festival this year, having won the Folk Song, Contralto and now the French Song. Great Job Lindz!
The Choirs Mixed Voices, Over 18 is always a great class, as the standard of choral singing in the Island is incredibly high. The first competitor of the class, GYCT Singers I think, sang the best they've sung this festival. I always enjoy hearing GYCT sing, because they really do embody the most important thing about music, the Eisteddfod, and the island in general - community. They always look like they are having the time of their lives, and by their own admission are, 'A bunch of people who like to sing.' Adrian was very complimentary about the first two pieces of their programme, but their third piece was a little rough around the edges, most probably because it was the most complicated in their set. I'm so pleased to see GYCT challenging themselves with more complicated material, and I hope they take away many positives from tonight's performance, which earned them a Highly Commended. The other competitor in the class was The Accidentals, who have already proved themselves to be an Outstanding choir on two other occasions in this festival. Adrian was impressed by the choice of programme (and apparently is even good friends with one of the composers!), and of the choirs ability to create lush harmonies. I was pleased to hear that Adrian really enjoyed the piece I had written 'August: Sweet Summer's Night' from my 'Year Suite', and am very thankful for the choir for performing it so brilliantly! An amazing comment which came about in the adjudication was about the Accidental's final piece, 'Short People', in which Adrian stated the choir achieved something he's only heard 3 times previously: A choir singing in 3-dimensions! (You might have had to have been there to really understand what he was talking about, but safe to say, the audience and choir knew what he meant!) - The most amazing moment of the evening came when Adrian decided to do something he's never done in 30+ years of adjudicating...... award a 95!! Safe to say, the choir, and their conductor Marilyn Pugh were blown away! What an incredible result!
Well, I thought Tuesday was long, but Wednesday managed to push the boat out due to the number of choirs performing. It also pushed things to the extreme lows, but also the extreme highs of festival performing. I think what we need to take away from today is the final words Adrian gave to the audience. That there is something really special about Island communities, as they always seem to produce the highest standard of music making (especially given the population size), and the sense of community spirit in the realm of music in Guernsey is very special indeed, and we need to hang on to it, and continue nurturing it for as long as humanly possible.
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| The happy faces of a happy choir! The Accidentals after their amazing win with 95 marks!! |
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