Some highlights from the Vaughan’s music-making in 2015

With the year drawing to a close this seemed a good time to look back on 2015 and revisit some of the highlights from a wonderful year of music-making at the Vaughan. 

So, in no particular order.....

1. Raising a lot of money for a very good cause

In January the Schola sang Mozart’s Requiem at St John’s, Smith Square. The concert was the creation of Vaughan parent Ben Warren and given in memory of MP Paul Goggins. All proceeds from the evening, which amounted to more than £25,000, went to the homeless charity The Passage.

This was the first of three times in 2015 that the Schola would sing at St John’s, Smith Square, surely London’s most friendly and welcoming concert venue! We returned there in April for a concert of our own with the Baroque Ensemble Spiritato! when we were very lucky to be joined by world-renowned counter tenor Iestyn Davies in a beautiful evening of Purcell and Charpentier.

We also were at St John’s in September when the Schola competed in the London International Acapella Competition. This is a major event and we were privileged to take part alongside some outstanding adult groups. Who knows, perhaps inspired by our involvement the competition has been revamped for 2017 and will now include a youth class for choirs such as the Schola, separate from the adult professional groups. We look forward to competing when the time comes.

2. Exploring the extraordinary world of Mahler

Its not easy for a School’s musicians to explore the work of Gustav Mahler as the demands his music makes both in terms of difficulty and in resources make it rather unapproachable. But in March, thanks to the Vaughan’s now long-established link with Southbank Sinfonia, 35 of our most advanced instrumentalists were able to perform the composer’s Fourth Symphony in a wonderful concert given at St John’s, Waterloo.  Sat side-by-side their professional counterparts, our musicians experienced first-hand the unique musical world of this greatest of symphonic composers, under the guidance and baton of David Corkhill, Southbank Sinfonia’s assistant director and a man of great musical experience and wisdom.

3. Singing at King’s College, Cambridge

Once again this year many of us will have no doubt have listened to the annual broadcast of Carols from King’s College, Cambridge. This beautiful chapel is perhaps the most famous location for singing on earth and so it came as a particular thrill when the Schola joined Kings Voices (a choir of undergraduates at the college) in March to sing Evensong. We were most grateful to Ben Parry, who conducts Kings Voices, and Director of Music Stephen Cleobury, for inviting us.

This was to be the first of two visits to Kings College as just a few weeks later, on Good Friday, fifteen boys returned to sing in a concert performance of Sir James MacMillan’s St Luke Passion. This performance, conducted by the composer and broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, was followed by a performance at the Barbican Centre on Easter Sunday. 

4. Performing the Vaughan Williams Tallis Fantasia

As part of the Spring Concert in March the Senior String Ensemble performed Vaughan Williams’ masterpiece for string orchestra, the Fantasia on a Theme ofThomas Tallis. We are very fortunate to have a large number of very talented string players at the moment - something perhaps rather unusual in a boys' school – and under the guidance of Mr Manoras they gave a very fine performance of one of the great works of the string repertoire.

Concert Band were on very good form that evening too. We were delighted much later in the year when they were awarded Gold at the National Concert Band Festival and then invited to perform in next year’s Finals in Manchester.

5. ‘This is the best of me’….

are the words that Elgar used to describe his greatest choral masterpiece, TheDream of Gerontius. To mark the centenary of the Vaughan we sang this extraordinary work at the end of March. We were joined by the Cantus Ensemble for what was an excellent evening. Old Vaughanian Peter Davoren gave his first performance of the leading tenor role: Peter’s “Take me away” will live long in the memory.

6. Appearing on the operatic stage

In May the boys sang in the Royal Opera’s new production of Krol Roger. Thirty boys, singing in four parts, unaccompanied, in Polish, pianissimo, for quite a long time, in pitch black, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano. No pressure there at all!

We’ve had easier gigs but the boys got there in the end and something quite magical was created by the brilliant people at the Royal Opera House that it was very special to be a part of.

We were on more familiar territory in November singing in the new production of La bohemé at English National Opera. And the operatic year has ended on a real high, singing, with Maestro Pappano at the helm once again, in the Royal Opera’s wonderful new production of Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci.

7. The Schola’s Tour to the USA

At the end of June the Schola travelled to the USA for its most ambitious tour in many years. We sang in four cities, traveling through seven states in two weeks. There were many highlights but perhaps the most lovely thing was the remarkably kind way that the boys were looked after by the homestay families – and the tears we had as they had to say goodbye for the last time!

7. ‘Agony, so much greater than yours’…..

The school year ended in July with surely one of the greatest Vaughan musical productions as we presented Into the Woods. Sondheim brings out the best in all of us and we had the most magical couple of weeks putting together and performing this most amazing of shows. Outstanding performances from all, not least Milky White, the cow, who continued to appear around the School right through the Summer and into the new term.

8. The boys take up the baton

We have some very talented boys at the Vaughan and in the St Cecilia Concert in November two of them conducted the orchestras – Filippo Turkheimer the Second Orchestra in some sparkling Rossini and Thomas Fetherstonhaugh the First Orchestra in a very musical and considered performance of Schubert’s Eighth Symphony. 

9. Back at the Royal Albert Hall

It was great to return to the Royal Albert Hall in December for a performance of the music from the Tim Burton movie Alice in Wonderland. Composer Danny Elfman was present and we had a great couple of days singing his superb score for the film including a new section that had been composed especially for the occasion.

10. And finally, the Carol Service

The highlight of every year is arguably always the Carol Service. And this year was no different with a capacity crowd, the Schola and the Brass on good form, and a few small tweaks to the logistics that people seemed to appreciate. The choice of carols was a little more contentious perhaps! Much praise for Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day and people enjoyed the first performance of the carol that had been composed for the occasion by film composer Mychael Danna. But the arrangement of Ding Dong Merrily on High rather divided opinion! Perhaps next year we should think a little nearer the box…..

Music at the Vaughan over the next few weeks

The run up to Christmas is always the busiest time of the year for the Music Department but the next month or so is especially hectic.

Sixth Form Choir (which has record numbers this year!) is traveling to Cambridge this week to sing Evensong at Selwyn College, Mr Jackson's old college. And on Sunday, for Remembrance Sunday, the Schola is to sing an Evensong service at Holy Trinity, Sloane Square.

Boys are currently singing in La boheme at ENO (see video below) and have also just started rehearsals for Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci at the Royal Opera House which is on in December.

The Schola is also about to record a new CD - a recording with the Belgravia Chamber Orchestra of the Fauré Requiem and other works. This will hopefully be available in the New Year.

On Friday 20 November the School will hold its annual St Cecilia Concert. This is often the biggest concert of the year and this year looks to be no different. Music by Schubert, Saint-Saens, JS Bach and Ravel is on the bill including Bach's wonderful cantata Wachet Auf whilst the second half of the concert will be made up of extracts from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. We will be joined for the performance of Orff's masterpiece by forty young singers from Corpus Christi Primary School in Brixton.

There will be a Junior Concert for the younger ensembles on December 2, which will include a performance of Britten's Ceremony of Carols by the Schola trebles, plus Second Orchestra, Jazz Orchestra and Junior Strings.

On December 12 twenty lucky boys get to sing at the Royal Albert Hall in a live performance of Danny Elfman's music from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, as the film is shown on a giant  screen.

And there are all the Christmas services as well of course; a Carol Service for the Mayor of Kensignton of Chelsea being given by Sixth Form Choir on 3 December, one at the National Liberal Club for the Schola trebles on 8 December and the Vaughan's Service of Lessons and Carols which will be at 7.30 pm on Thursday 17 December at Our Lady of Victories, Kensington High Street. Oscar-winning film composer Mychael Danna (who wrote the music for Life of Pi) has composed a carol for the Schola which they will give the first performance of that evening. Another carol the Schola will sing is this wonderful miniature, just to get you in the mood!

Boys singing in ENO's new La boheme

Boys from the Vaughan, joined by girls drawn from a number of schools, are currently singing in English National Opera's new production of Puccini's La boheme. 

Here are some photos (by Robert Workman) of the boys and girls in action.

Schola Cantorum Review of 2014-15

This review of the Schola's year 2014-15 appeared in the recently published Vaughan School Magazine.

The Schola Cantorum

The Schola continues to develop and expand the work that does and this year has been full of new opportunities and challenges. I have already described the singing at the Centenary Mass and the involvement of Sir James MacMillan, from who the Schola had commissioned the Offertory Motet. It was a further joy that Sir James very kindly agreed to become a patron of the Schola, alongside David Hill, director of the Bach Choir and James O'Donnell, Master of Music at Westminster Abbey. Our involvement with Sir James, the Bach Choir and Westminster Abbey were all to develop during the course of the academic year.

There have been many prominent and prestigious occasions this year but the core of the Schola’s work continues to be the singing each week at the Lower School Mass. First thing on a Wednesday morning is not perhaps the most inspiring point of the week, the New Hall has no acoustic whatsoever and there is an electric organ for accompaniment. Nonetheless, the choir has sung each and every week, offering different music of all kinds across the year, covering huge range of repertoire. Particularly pleasing this year has been the reliable attendance of the older boys, something that has not always been the case in the past.

Rather off-setting the New Hall as a location for singing, the Schola has been fortunate once again to sing each half-term at Westminster Cathedral, surely one of the very finest places for choral singing. We have sung some big repertoire there this year including Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli in January and Britten’s Missa Brevis with just the trebles in May. In March the choir sang a Lenten programme of Byrd. A wonderful occasion came in the May half-term when the Schola were asked to lead the singing for the installation of Cardinal Nichols as Chancellor of St Mary’s University, which they did with great confidence and style. I was away that day and so the choir was conducted by Sam Jackson. Mr Jackson is wonderfully loyal to the Schola and the Music Department generally. He is a very gifted musician and teacher and we are very lucky to have him in the Department.

The Schola’s new patrons have been directly involved with the Schola in several ways during the year. In February some of the trebles sang in a performance of Carmina Burana with the Bach Choir at the Royal Festival Hall, conducted by David Hill. Later in the year, one of the boys, Harry Fetherstonhaugh, sang the treble solo in the Bach Choir’s performance of Elijah. A particular delight came when we were asked to replace the trebles of King’s College, Cambridge in a performance of Sir James MacMillan’s St Luke Passion, which was broadcast live on BC Radio 3 from King’s College on Good Friday. This performance, given with the Britten Sinfonia and conducted by the composer (repeated at the Barbican on Easter Sunday) was amongst the most accomplished of the year and perhaps marked a new level of professionalism from the boys.

The MacMillan performance was given alongside boys from Trinity School, Croydon. This was the second time we had performed with them in a matter of weeks as at the beginning of March the boys had been alongside Tiffin Boys Choir and Trinity Boys Choir to give a joint performance at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

 
The Royal Opera House has invited the three choirs to sing as we are the three schools who have provided the boys chorus singing at the Opera House for many years. If you have been to an opera at Covent Garden in the past fifteen years and there have been boys singing in it, the chances are that you were listening to boys from one of these three choirs. Each choir performed on its own before they came together and conducted by Renato Balsadonna, Chorus Master of the Royal Opera, sang the closing scene of Englebert Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretal.

There have been other trips to the Royal Opera as well of course. Conor Quinn and Alessio D’Andrea sang solo roles in Die Zauberflöte in March and then 29 boys performed in Szymanowski’s opera Krol Roger.  This is the first time that the Royal Opera has staged this extraordinary work in a new production by Kasper Holten, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano. The boys singing is very exposed and difficult and the rehearsals were fraught at times but the boys stuck with it and gave very respectable performances, including one that was streamed live on the internet. The opera is sung in Polish which made for its own particular challenges, although we are lucky to have several Polish speakers in the choir who were able to help with the pronunciation!            We were on more familiar territory in November when the boys sang in La Bohemé at English National Opera.

There have been some notable concert performance also during the course of the year. In November the Schola gave a concert in Sacred Heart in Wimbeldon, raising money for School Chaplain Father Dominic’s charity, Grief to Grace. In January the choir sang a performance of Mozart’s Requiem at St John’s, Smith Square, to raise money for the Cardinal Hume Centre. This was a wonderful occasion, organised by Vaughan parent Luke Warren in memory of Paul Goggins, an MP who had been very involved in the Cardinal Hume Centre prior to his sudden and untimely death. The concert raised more than £25,000 for the charity. We returned to St John’s, Smith Square for our own concert in April, when the Schola performed for the first time with an early music group – Spiritato!- in a programme of French and English Baroque music. This was a lovely occasion, made more memorable by the presence on the platform with us of one of the great singers of our time, counter tenor Iestyn Davies, who had very graciously agreed to perform. He was outstanding of course, but there was some very lovely solo work from the boys as well in what was an enjoyable evening.

Our links with Westminster Abbey have been developed considerably during the course of the year and the gift of the Snetzler Chamber Organ has been described above. The Schola had never sung at the Abbey however until this year and so we were delighted to be offered the chance to lead the All Souls Day Eucharist service. This was a wonderful occasion, the Schola singing the setting of the Requiem by Fauré. We were very pleased to then be asked to return to sing Evensong in April and, following that, once again in June. These three visits have been amongst the real highlights of what has been a year full of memorable occasions.

There was one further remarkable occasion this year as in March the Schola were invited to sing Evensong at King’s College, Cambridge. Alongside Kings Voices, under the direction of Ben Parry, the Schola became, I believe, the first state school choir to sing a service at the Chapel in its 500 year history. With music by Duruflé, Noble and Byrd, the Schola performed beautifully and were able to experience first hand singing in this most famous of acoustics.

As I write, the Schola are preparing to travel to the USA for a ten day, seven state tour. There will be news of this no doubt on the Music Department Blog and the Schola’s website, www.scholacantorum.co.uk On the website you can also learn about next year’s plans for the choir. These include operas at Covent Garden and the Collesium, performances of Danny Elfman’s music at the Royal Albert Hall, a John Passion project with performances in London and Douai Abbey and the recording of a new CD, possibly two! The year will begin with us competing in the finals of the London International Acapella Singing Competition, a hugely prestigious festival in which we are delighted to have been invited to participate.

Finally, some thanks. I have already thanked Mr Jackson and of course would add to his name that of our wonderful accompanist, Mr Evans, who contributes so much in so many ways to the work of the Schola. I would also like to thank the parents of the choir – having a boy in the Schola is a big commitment. And of course I would like to thank the boys, especially the trebles who have worked incredibly hard this year     . I look forward very much to seeing where our adventures take us next year!

Scott Price

Director of Music

Music Department Review of 2014-15

From the Vaughan School Magazine here is the review of 2014-15.

Music at the Vaughan, 2014-15

This has been a remarkable year for the Vaughan and indeed for the School’s musicians. From the Centenary Mass in September, to the Centenary Celebration at the Royal Albert Hall and then on beyond into School year, the Music Department has risen to the challenge of the Centenary with great energy and enthusiasm, enhancing many public occasions with splendid music-making. I hope that the musicians will feel proud of their efforts over the past twelve months – they certainly deserve to give themselves a pat on the back! It has been quite a year!

The Vaughan has long been known for its music-making but it appears that this was not always the case. For its first twenty or so years the Vaughan appears to have had very little music-making going on other than congregational singing although the boys were certainly familiar with sadly now largely forgotten Catholic chants. In 1935 a Music Society was founded by the older pupils and in 1937 there was reference in the Vaughan magazine to “the new choir”. Under the regrettably short headship of Monsignor Butcher (1948-1952) music, along with the other arts, seems to have begun to flourish. The singing at Mass and Benediction was said to be much improved and when distinguished violist Bernard Shore visited the School in 1950 to give a recital he commented on the “beautiful tone” of the School Choir and suggested that they should soon tackle music in four parts.

From these cautious beginnings has grown the musical tradition that continues to flourish to this day. In our now ten years old but still magnificent facilities the Department is bigger and busier than ever. More than four hundred instrumental lessons have been given each and every week by our ever-expanding team of instrumental teachers and around 300 pupils have taken regular part in extra-curricular music. Class music continue to be lessons that the vast majority of pupils seem to very much enjoy and there is some wonderful work taking place in the classroom at all levels in the School.

Recognition of the musical traditions of the Vaughan came from an unexpected avenue this year when Westminster Abbey asked if we would like to house on long-term loan a Chamber Organ that had formerly been kept in the Henry VII Chapel at the Abbey. The organ was built by John Snetzler in around 1760. We were of course delighted to accept and are very grateful to the Dean of the Abbey, the Very Reverend John Hall, and the Organist of the Abbey, James O'Donnell (who is a patron of the Vaughan's Schola) for making the offer. They were keen that the instrument be used liturgically and in its new home in the chapel the instrument has been played during the School's Benediction service that ends each week.

Once again the music staff at the Vaughan has remained virtually unchanged. We were all sorry when flute teacher Amanda Cousin left at Christmas for a new full-time position. Her place on the staff has been taken by David Cuthbert. We have also welcomed Josh Cooter who has taught the trombone at VCYM and former pupil Jerome Knox who has taught singing as the Department continues to grow. The Music Staff now numbers more than forty teachers. Each and every one works very hard contributing their own unique skills and experiences to the musical life of the School and I gratefully acknowledge their wonderful work.

I would also like to thank the pupils who have contributed so much over the past twelve months. As always, their enthusiasm and commitment has been outstanding, indeed, this year’s Upper Sixth has always been markedly positive and loyal to the music-making.  In particular I thank the following for their remarkable contribution to the musical life of the School: Philippe Barbaroussis, William Lim Kee Chang, Malcolm D’Souza, Aeron Dela Cruz, Tom Coyne, Thomas Whear, Patrick Huynh, Andre Weston Peters and William Cunningham, Thomas King and Jack Harnett. I wish them all the very best for the future.

Finally I would like to thank the parents of the School for all the invaluable support during the year that has just drawn to a close. Time and time again the Vaughan parents have proved that their support for the School’s music-making is total, through attending our many events in such numbers, through ferrying the pupils to and fro, through supporting the teachers, unfailingly replying positively to requests from the Department and in so many other ways. We are very lucky indeed to have such kind and generous parents at the School. Thank you for all that you do to support our work.

There are a number of exciting ventures planned for next year. Boys will once again appear in operas with the Royal Opera and English National Opera and in December boys will sing at the Royal Albert Hall for a showing of the Tim Burton film Alice in Wonderland. We are to perform Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and JS Bach’s St John Passion amongst many other works.  I hope that you will be able to join us at these and other occasions next year – you can follow the Music Department on Twitter (@cvmsmusic) if you would like to be kept up to date.

 

Concerts 2014-15

The start of the academic year 2014-15 was dominated of course by the preparations for the Centenary events. The Mass to mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of the School in 1914 was held on Friday 19 September at Westminster Cathedral.  The principal celebrant was Cardinal Vincent Nichols. He was joined by around thirty fellow priests, many of whom have links to the Vaughan. The Schola and Senior Brass lead the School's worship in considerable style that day. The Schola was augmented by twenty former members of the choir who sang the baritone choir part in Widor's Messe à deux chœurs et deux orgues. It was wonderful to have these former members back with us - some left recently, others as long ago as 12 years. The other very welcome guest with the Schola in the apse of the Cathedral that day was the world renowned composer Sir James MacMillan, who had composed a piece for the occasion. It was a great honour, and quite nerve-wracking, to give the first performance of his motet, Emitte Lucem Tuam in his presence - and what a piece he has written for us too. The boys sang very well and many people commented afterwards on what a dramatic and fitting addition the work was to the liturgy. MacMillan was very pleased with the performance and complimented the choir warmly, including talking about the Schola and the performance later that afternoon when he was interviewed on BBC Radio.

The Centenary Celebration which followed in October offered a unique opportunity and a unique challenge. Unlike, for example, a musical, there was no script, score or indeed any real precedent to copy. An evening's entertainment had to be constructed from scratch. And on such a huge stage as well – there are five thousand seats in the Royal Albert Hall!

From the very beginning it was intended that the evening would be structured around a series of short documentary-style films shown on a giant screen - perhaps inspired by an occasion a few years ago when the Schola sang at the world premiere of the 3D version of Titanic! 

Two Vaughan parents who work in the film and TV business, Adam Scoffield and Flavia Ritner, amazingly agreed to help make these films – amazing as they must have known the amount of time it would take - and around 18 months before the evening we began to film, starting by interviewing on camera many Old Vaughanians and former staff. Scripts were written and pupils were slowly but surely filmed speaking the narration. More than 100 pupils took part in the filming process.

Filming is an incredibly time-consuming activity; for example, one day was spent at Westminster Cathedral - from which there was perhaps 20 seconds of footage shown on the evening. Another entire day was spent with two Old Vaughanians, John Sankey and Terry Denett (who very bravely also appeared on the stage on the evening) filming in the former grounds of Beaumont College where the Vaughan had been evacuated to during the war, again just for a short passage of footage on the evening. Many more hours were spent researching the Vaughan’s history and collecting and creating graphics and photographs to add life and colour to the films.

Slowly but surely the films took shape. A film about sport was very kindly made by another parent, Matt Lorenzo, with an Old Vaughanian presenting from his sports anchor desk in Doha! Using the history of the School written by Peter Brennan in 1995 we also created an illustrated brochure of the School's history and brought the story up to date. Hannah Staff worked very closely on this, alongside the Fetherstonhaugh Publishing company.

Meanwhile, numerous ideas were considered for the musical items and eventually the programme began to come together. To make it into the evening the music had to be short, reasonably accessible, and not too challenging to play - the difficulties of performing in the Royal Albert Hall were sufficient without playing hugely difficult music! That said, the fanfare composed especially for the occasion (and which brilliantly used the school and the Albert Hall's resources) was quite tricky! The composer of that piece was Dr Philip Wilby - Miss Wilby's father.

 

There were numerous technical aspects involved in making the event run smoothly. The films were projected on to the 30 foot screen from one of the audience boxes whilst the men who controlled them were hidden in the basement of the Albert Hall. They started each film on a cue from the show caller, John, who sat next to the lighting and sound people on the desks at the back of the arena, giving instructions from the script. Adam Scoffield was at the hall during the day with the computer equipment needed to edit the films if it proved necessary. Flavia Ritner was also present for the rehearsals to time everything (it would have been disastrous to discover that we were over time) and also to add last minute tweaks to the script. The script for our brilliant host, Stephen Cole, was run to an autocue controlled by a chap called Danny who sat in the ‘bull run’ as they call it – just be the entrance to the stage.

There were 200 microphones on the stage, all running to the desk at the rear of the arena from where they were mixed by the Albert Hall’s in-house sound team – the difficult acoustic of the Albert Hall makes unique challenges, especially when you were mixing live music, live voices plus video sound. Lighting was also controlled by the in-house lighting team of the Albert Hall, following the script – they were left to light the show as they felt best, according to the suggestions given. The school crest was shone onto the famous ceiling mushrooms (installed to improve the hall’s tricky acoustic and of course referred to by John Lennon in ‘A Day in the life’) using a device called a ‘Gobo’ – these had to be made specially. 

Also contained in the ceiling of course were the 1500 balloons, each with the school crest printed on them, that were released at the end of the final hymn! Although I spoke to the balloon man a great deal on the phone we did not meet on the day as he worked away in the dome of the hall, inflating the balloons only once in the ceiling. He would also have been last to leave as he faced the challenge of lowering a device down from the ceiling to blow down the several hundred balloons that would be caught in the acoustic mushrooms and never reach the boys gathered below!

All these various technical aspects were controlled by the stage manager, a wonderful lady called Maz Bryden who came to work with me for the final couple of weeks of the preparations. She was simply invaluable in controlling the many complicated aspects of the show and allowing the music staff on the day to concentrate on the music. The Albert Hall provided a team of around 20 technicians who ensured that the stage was set as we wished and looked after the challenges of the day, all led by Mo Crowe who was our show manager at the Royal Albert Hall. 

All of this help meant that the day itself was actually easier than the average large concert we put on. It was made easier still by having the help and support of the entire teaching staff, all of whom at some point were involved in chaperoning the performers and then bringing the rest of the School into the Hall at the appropriate time. Seating and ticketing in the Albert Hall is very complicated as more than a thousand seats are owned by the ‘members’, individuals (such as Her Majesty the Queen!) and large companies who have bought boxes and stalls seats and have the right to attend whatever they wish. They were not all terribly quick at returning their seats to us and so it became difficult to know how many could sit where. It was a major relief to see the whole School safely sat in the Hall waiting for the show to start! Particular mention should be made of Mr Kehoe who looked after the arrangements on the evening for the School. And credit for the ticketing of the event belongs to Hannah Staff who worked closely with me to ensure that everyone ended up sat in the right place.

The involvement of so many individuals was the reason for the show’s smooth and error free success and it is good to have the chance to thank them now even if time did not permit them all to be thanked on the evening. Particular mention must be made of Flavia Ritner and Adam Scoffield who gave many, many hours of their time to produce the films that made the evening what it was. They were the rather unsung heroes of that occasion and I am glad to have chance to record now my deepest gratitude to them here.

I would also like to thank all the performers of course. It was wonderful to have with us so many Old Vaughanians for the evening. Many played in the orchestra or sang in the choir. Perhaps most impressive were the greatly accomplished, confident performances given by the Old Vaughanians in the musicals medley. And comedian Dominic Holland delighted the audience with his very funny routine about a maths test from his school days! 

It is perhaps, given the occasion, worth listing for the record the music that was performed that evening, as there was no concert programme as such:

Zadok the Priest, Handel (extract)

Spitfire Prelude, Walton

The Lord Bless You and Keep You, Rutter

Superstition, Stevie Wonder

Hymn to the Fallen, John Williams

Jerusalem, Parry

Panis Angelicus, Franck and Ave Maria, Schubert (with The Priests)

Hymn at Heaven’s Gate, Philip Wilby (world premiere)

How About You, Burton Lane (soloist James Townsend)

Musicals Medley:

            Anything Goes, Anything Goes

            Maria, West Side Story

            Pick a Pocket, Oliver!

            Pretty Women, Sweeney Todd

            By the Sea, Sweeney Todd

            Brush Up Your Shakespeare, Kiss Me Kate

I Was Glad, Parry

He Who Would Valiant Be, arranged Wilby

If you missed it then it’s available on DVD. And if you were there, then thanks for coming! And many thanks for the countless messages that were sent in the days following. It is lovely to know that the work of all the people mentioned above was so well received and so greatly appreciated.

Following on from what was clearly the biggest occasion in the history of the Vaughan’s music-making was always going to feel rather odd but the year continued as always and there have been numerous musical events on all different kinds of scale. In the Michaelmas Term we held our annual series of Early Evening Recitals for the pianists, string players, woodwind, brass and organists of the School. These evenings saw some very fine performances. The Lent Term saw the annual Music Competition. Each Heat was adjudicated by an accomplished musician who offered the pupils advice on how best to improve and also chose the winners. More than 100 pupils took part in this year's competition. At the Grand Final, held in March, we witnessed a very high standard of performance throughout. The adjudicator, Ralph Allwood appointed the winners as follows:

Lower School Musician of the Year                       Thomas Fetherstonhaugh

Upper School Musician of the Year                       Luke Warren

The Lower School Chamber Music Competition, adjudicated by Tansy Castledine from St George’s School, Weybridge, saw a record number of participants and groups – 22 ensembles in total. The winners were ‘Second Form Jazz’ and the outstanding individual prize of the evening deservedly went to Xavier Nadal. The competitions and recitals are amongst the many aspects of the Music Department arranged by the  Miss Wilby, the Assistant Director of Music. Sarah is a delightful colleague, incredibly supportive of the boys and her fellow staff, wonderfully unassuming and modest yet greatly talented and held in great affection by us all.

The Big Band featured strongly at the Royal Albert Hall and then set about preparing the annual Big Band Evening, which this year took the form of a tribute to Frank Sinatra. We are lucky to have a few outstanding vocalists at the moment and they were very much to the fore on this evening, with five pupils singing songs across the evening, to a large and appreciative audience. The Band also were out in force at the Centenary Ball in June.

The St Cecilia Concert in November saw a capacity audience at St Paul’s Church, Hammersmith with around two hundred pupils taking part in a very enjoyable concert. School Choir sang extracts from the Centenary Celebration – I Was Glad and the Hymn to the Fallen whilst the orchestra performed the Spitfire Prelude and Fugue by Walton. There was splendid music-making from the Concert Band, Second Orchestra and Senior Strings too in what was a lovely occasion, marked by a real sense of the confidence in the performing, no doubt inspired by the recent Centenary Celebration

The strong performances from the orchestras and bands continued through the course of the year, displaying the wide variety of instrumental playing at the Vaughan. More than 150 pupils took part in the Spring Instrumental Concert, held at St Paul’s School, Barnes, early in March. The programme included much challenging repertoire, made possible by the outstanding quality of some of the most senior players currently. This is especially true in the strings department where the playing over the last couple of years has been stronger than ever before. This year’s Spring Concert saw the Senior Strings perform Vaughan Williams’ Fantasy on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. To even consider performing music this complex is a sign of the level at which the boys and girls perform – and that they could play it with such quality of tone and ensemble is remarkable, and a real testament to the quality of the string instruction at the School, led of course by Mr Manoras. The Concert Band, directed by Sarah Wilby, were also particularly strong on this evening, performing Fiesta by Philip Sparke. The concert closed with Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. This was a concert of seriously ambitious music!

This was the second time the senior orchestral players had performed however in just a few weeks as in February we had gathered on a Sunday morning to begin the annual collaboration with the Vaughan’s professional orchestral partners, Southbank Sinfonia. Each year we try to have a different angle on the collaboration and this year was no different as, under the expert guidance of conductor David Corkhill, the combined forces tackled Mahler’s Fourth Symphony. Yes, Mahler! And what a performance it was, given at Southbank Sinfonia’s home, St John’s, Waterloo. This is extraordinary music, full of colour, energy, great difficulty, great tenderness, many extremes of emotion. For most of the Vaughanians this was no doubt their first experience of Mahler and it was wonderful to see this unique musical world being encountered for the first time.  We are very fortunate indeed to have the link with Southbank Sinfonia – they are increasingly involved in the work of the School and their support for the Department is greatly encouraging.

Another most memorable occasion in this year’s musical calendar came at the end of the Lent Term when School Choir gathered at St James’s, Spanish Place to perform what was billed as the Centenary Concert (the event at the Albert Hall having been a ‘Celebration’!).  To mark the School’s Centenary musically there was only one work that was truly suitable, Elgar’s remarkable The Dream of Gerontius.  And so, in the final week of term the School Choir, joined by the Cantus Ensemble and the Belgravia Chamber Orchestra, performed this work, one of the very greatest of all oratorios, with soloists Old Vaughanian Peter Davoren, Diana Moore and David Soar. This was a splendid performance, full of energy and passion, remarkable given that it came at the end of such a long and demanding term. Elgar’s choral writing makes many demands on the singers and the boys proved more than equal to the challenges of the Demons Chorus and the tour de force that is Elgar’s setting of Praise to the Holiest. The Schola did a fine job as the semi-chorus. The Blessed John Henry Newman’s words are always powerful of course but in the setting of St James’s, Spanish Place the work made a tremendous emotional impact on many present. Congratulations to all involved in what was a very memorable evening.

London International Acapella Competition

Next week the Vaughan Schola will compete in the prestigious choral festival, the London International Acapella Competition, which is to be held at St John's, Smith Square.

The competition was founded and is curated by the director of the world famous Tallis Scholars. They will give what will be their 2000th concert on the first night of the festival.

The Schola will take part on the Wednesday evening, singing in a workshop with vocal coach Ghislaine Morgan and then on Thursday at lunchtime when the choir will sing a fifty minute recital of unaccompanied music at St Steven's, Rochester Row, starting at 1.10 pm. On Thursday evening the choir will compete in the competition itself at St John's Smith Square.

 

There is more information on the event on the website of St John's, HERE.

There are also Facebook Events about the various elements of the event on these links:

Read more about the Schola's Lunchtime Recital HERE

Read more about the Schola's Heat HERE

Music Events in 2015-16 at the Vaughan

The year ahead looks set to be another very exciting one for the musicians at the Vaughan. 

It will see pupils performing at the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Opera House, the London Coliseum, the Royal Festival Hall, St John’s, Smith Square, Westminster Cathedral, Douai Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and many places besides.

The St Cecilia Concert in November will include music by Schubert, Bach and others, with the main work being a performance by School Choir of Carl Orff’s oratorio Carmina Burana.

After Christmas, School Choir will prepare a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, to be held at St James’s, Spanish Place in April. We will be joined that evening by a remarkable set of soloists, Sarah Fox, Diana Moore, Peter Davoren and David Soar.

The orchestral work of the older pupils will focus on Schubert’s Eighth Symphony this term and Dvorak’s Eighth Symphony the following term. The work to be performed side by side with Southbank Sinfonia this year in the amazing Tenth Symphony of Shostakovitch.

The Big Band is set to be busy too with gigs planned at the Bull’s Head, Barnes and Ronnie Scott’s world famous jazz club plus the annual Big Band Evening in January. 

Highlights for the Schola include a concert performance of the Mozart Requiem with the Orion Orchestra in October,  two performances of JS Bach’s St John Passion with the Belgravia Chamber Orchestra in March and an Evensong service at St Paul’s Cathedral in April.

Boys in the Schola will sing in English National Opera’s new production of La bohemé in October and November and in December will sing in the Royal Opera’s new productions of Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci. Later in the year boys will sing in the Royal Opera’s production of the rarely performed Oedipe by Enescu. The highlight for the boys may well be a return to the Royal Albert Hall as we perform the Danny Elfman soundtrack to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland as the film is shown on a giant screen.  The Schola is also going to record a new CD, of the music of Gabriel Fauré, including his setting of the Requiem.

The school year opens with the Schola singing in the London International Acapella Competition. This prestigious competition, created by the Tallis Scholars founder Peter Philips, brings together choirs from around the world to compete in a range of sacred music. As well as competing, the choir will also give a recital at St Stephen’s, Rochester Row and take part in a masterclass with Ghislaine Morgan.

It will make for a busy start to what promises to be an exciting year for the School’s musicians. We look forward very much to welcoming everyone back over the next few days.  

The Schola Tour Part 2

Difficulties finding an internet connection made it impossible to write anymore about the Schola's trip whilst it was going on but now that we are all back here are some details about the rest of our trip. 

On the Tuesday morning of our trip the boys were brought by their new homestay families to Xavier University where the Cincinnati Boychoir holds its Summer Camp. We spent a happy couple of hours taking part in activities with the Cincinnati boys, singing for them and they for us, plus learning some of their songs. We also rehearsed our joint piece for the concert later that day.

We then traveled into Cincinnati and to the wonderful St Peter in Chains Cathedral, the venue for the evening's concert. This Cathedral is very highly regarded for its amazing acoustic and we were able to enjoy this in our rehearsal. A rather spectacular storm had broken whilst we rehearsing so we filled the time whilst we waited taking pictures on the sanctuary steps.

Once the storm eased we walked to downtown Cincinnati, heading to the National Underground Railroad Museum, a museum that looks at the history of slavery and the events surrounding the US civil war. The boys found this very interesting and spent a great deal of time reading the information alongside the exhibitions.

Following a tacos dinner kindly provided by one of the Cincinnati choir parents we returned to St Peter in Chains for our concert, given jointly with the Cincinnati Boychoir. They sang beautifully to open the concert and we then sang our programme, before coming together to sing Panis Angelicus to finish. This was a lovely evening, full of excellent music-making.

The following morning, Wednesday, we were on the move once again, heading to Akron before flying to New York, on an excellent Southwest service. At La Guardia we were met by our fifth coach company of the week who took us into New York and to St Thomas Choir School which was to be our home for the next five nights. St Thomas is one of only two schools that exists purely for the members of a choir in the world, the other being Westminster Abbey Choir School. It was good for the Schola to be back together again. Dinner in Times Square was followed by the first of many games of table tennis before we all retired.

Thursday morning was special as we had been invited to a private tour of Carnegie Hall. Our guide showed us the three performance halls that they have, plus the museum which includes things such as Benny Goodman's clarinet and Ella Fitzgerald's glasses. In the smaller of the halls the Schola stood together and sang - so we can say that we have sung at Carnegie Hall, if not for an audience!

Lunch was eaten in the Food Hall at Grand Central Station before we travelled out to Stamford for our evening concert. The Basilica of St John the Evangelist was our venue, a church that we had no links with as such, and so I was concerned that the audience might have been small. In fact we drew what was our largest audience of the trip and the boys sang a very lovely concert that drew a standing ovation from the many people in attendance.

Friday was a rest day (other than a rehearsal first thing!) and was spent exploring New York. We went to the top of the Empire State Building and then to the Statten Island Ferry to see the Stature of Liberty. We visited Ground Zero and the new Freedom Tour before going bowling on Times Square.

Saturday morning was spent exploring the amazing National History Museum and walking through Central Park before we had lunch at the Rockefeller Centre. Then we headed to St Thomas for our rehearsal for the following day's service. This was our first chance to sing in one of the most important and famous churches in the US and it was good to have plenty of time to get used to its particular challenges.

Following our rehearsal we went to Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral (which is currently being cleaned and is covered in scaffolding, which is why we did not perform there) and then for a final dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Returning to the Choir School, the boys gave gifts to the staff and awards to each other!

The following morning we were up early as we had to be at St Thomas Church by 9 am. There, we rehearsed and were then taken through the decidedly complex processions and other bows etc required by the service. The boys did their best to take this all in! The service itself went very well overall and there was some lovely singing, especially from our soloists in the Mozart Mass.

You can hear the service on St Thomas Website HERE.

Following the service all that was left was to finish our packing - a quick pizza lunch of real New York pizza and a drive to JFK. We flew out that evening and landed first thing on Monday morning, arriving back at the Vaughan just fifteen minutes late (the coach driver from Heathrow went the wrong way!).

Many thanks are owed to all the people who made this trip possible. We were helped greatly by Christopher Berry in Milwaukee and Christopher Eanes in Cincinnati. Many thanks are owed to the wonderful host families in both cities who were so very generous towards the boys. Thanks are also owed to the clergy and staff of the cathedrals and churches where we sang, in particular Monsignor DiGiovanni in Stamford and Ben Sheen, Assistant Organist of St Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue.

Huge thanks are owed to the staff who accompanied the boys on the trip, Miss Lawley, Mr Brennan, Fr Dominic Allain, Mr Jackson and Mr Evans (who played beautifully for the choir as always). Many thanks to the boys as well who worked very hard and were wonderfully resilient throughout the trip, singing to a very high standard at all times. They were also great company and a pleasure to lead. The tour brought to a close a wonderful year for the Schola and indeed was paid for in part from the money they have earned singing for operas and films. I hope that they felt their efforts were justly rewarded  - they certainly seemed to have a pretty good time!

The Schola USA Tour so far….

We have been having the most wonderful time so far on the Schola’s Tour of the USA.

We flew out of Heathrow on Friday morning and enjoyed the very impressive service on our flight via Virgin Atlantic over to Chicago. The ground staff congratulated us on how polite the boys were and the crew of the flight were full of praise for the boys and their good manners. 

When we landed we were met by ABC Transportation (first sigh of relief from me!) and we travelled up to Milwaukee. There we got our first views of the wonderful St Josaphat Basilica where the choir was to be based for the first three days of the tour. Everyone was very impressed!

Then came the arrival of the host families and a few at a time the boys left with their new found friends. Rather an odd experience but it was clear immediately that they were going to have a great time.

And indeed the following morning the boys arrived back looking refreshed and full of stories of their adventures which ranged from camp fires, play station marathons to sitting in private jets, with lots of smores thrown in. They really were so very happy and had clearly been looked after wonderfully.

We rehearsed in the church, enjoying the Basilica’s glorious acoustic, before setting off for our various activities. The older boys went to Summer Fest, ‘the world’s largest musical festival’ whilst the younger ones had great fun at Discovery World and then at the amazing Harley Davidson Museum. There I got to ride on a Harley which was something new for me!

We returned to the Basilica and then came one of those little moments that make these kind of trips so special. There was a baptism taking place and so a few of the boys sang Duruflé’s Ubi Caritas as a small gift to the couple and also to the Basilica for being so warm in their welcome to us.

We then sang our first concert for a large and very appreciative audience. The Schola sang a first half of English music ranging from Byrd to Jonathan Dove before singing the Fauré Requiem in the second half. The boys were tired by the end but sang beautifully throughout nonetheless. 

 

The following morning we gathered again at the Basilica to sing for the 10 am Solemn Mass. This was a special occasion with the Schola joined by the men of the Basilica’s own choir to perform Widor’s Mass for Two Choirs and also singing  music by Parry and Mawby. The Schola sings concerts perfectly well but it is when the choir is singing in the context of a liturgy that it is at its best and this was certainly true on what was a memorable morning.

We then headed into Chicago, having fun at the Willis Tower Sky Deck and looking around the city a little before returning to Milwaukee for dinner together at Joey Buenos famous Italian restaurant and then off to the homestays.

Today we gathered early at the Basilica for Mass for the Feast of St Peter and St Paul, which also falls on the anniversary of Father Dominic’s ordination to the priesthood. This was a beautiful and peaceful occasion which made for a very appropriate end to our time Milwaukee.

A long bus journey followed but eventually we arrived in Cincinnati to meet our new hosts. Luggage was taken away by these very kind people and we headed to one of the highlights of the trip so far, a Major League Baseball game at the Cincinnati Reds Stadium. This was a lot of fun! As the game went on the boys left for their homestays – no doubt to be spoilt once again!

Tomorrow we sing a concert here in Cincinnati. More to follow…….