31 March 2025
Mr Richard Hammond-Hall, Director of Music
Musical highlights in this half of term have been many and varied, from a musical theatre masterclass with a West End star to the wonderful performance of Cecilia McDowall’s cantata Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo, which concluded last week’s superb Spring Concert (main photo).
Since the half term break, Woldingham musicians have been working extremely hard. Students have produced some exceptional original compositions as part of their GCSE and A Level coursework and we’ve enjoyed fantastic results this term in ABRSM and Trinity practical exams. Our music scholars competed to gain a coveted place in the national Pro Corda Chamber Music Finals and the Millennium Centre has been a hive of activity, with students eagerly preparing for a calendar bursting with performance opportunities.
On Monday 3 March, students from the Music and Drama Departments took part in an inspirational Musical Theatre Masterclass hosted by professional singer Tiffany Graves, who is currently in Mathilda in the West End. Our students delighted in receiving top tips from such an engaging and dynamic performing artist.
Each term the Music Department hosts a Soloist Evening in our Recital Room, which gives students the opportunity to perform solos in a relaxed, intimate and supportive environment. Whether they go on to be the CEOs of large companies, orchestral musicians or neurosurgeons, the skills students hone during such recitals - the ability to hold a room and the sangfroid to make real time decisions under pressure - will serve them well in the future. Standout performances at our Soloist Evening in March included Lydia N in Year 9’s virtuosic rendition of Madeleine Dring’s lively Italian Dance and an outstanding Woldingham debut solo performance from Aibee in Year 7.
On Sunday 16 March, Woldingham was proud to host the final of the national Pro Corda Chamber Music Competition. We welcomed hundreds of the UK’s finest young musicians from schools across the country. Congratulations to our Junior Band - Antonina, Dash, Maya, Minerva, Mythili and Sophia – on reaching the final and representing Woldingham superbly.
Our Spring Concert on Tuesday 25 March was a celebration of all the outstanding music making that goes on at Woldingham. It featured superb performances from the following ensembles: Symphony Orchestra (D’un Matin de Printemps by Lili Boulanger), Sinfonietta (Viva la Vida by Coldplay), Brandenburg String Ensemble (Jig from Holst's St Paul’s Suite), Flutissimo (You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban), Percussion Ensemble (Michael Jackson's Beat It), Rock Band (songs by The La’s, The Wombats and Nirvana), Jazz Band (fittingly, improvising two great numbers, including Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely, at short notice due to their singer being indisposed), Caritas Junior Chamber Choir (My Shot from Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda), and a fun, farewell performance of Back on 74 by Jungle from our Music Ribbon, Keira and some of her fellow Upper Sixth Formers.
In the second half of the concert, our Junior and Senior Choirs, joined by the Vox Anima Chamber Choir, gave a powerful performance of Cecilia McDowall’s incredible cantata, Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo, for choir, solo violin (Lilico, Lower Sixth) and piano (Andrea, Upper Sixth), conducted by one of our amazing singing teachers, Victoria Milnes. This unique piece was commissioned by the National Children’s Choir of Great Britain and tells the remarkable story of Syrian refugee Nujeen Mustafa, who fled Aleppo in a wheelchair and successfully sought asylum in Germany after an astounding journey in which she was pushed over 2000 miles to safety by her sister.
To conclude a wonderful spring term of music, on Thursday 27 March, in collaboration with the Language Department, the Music Department hosted Jazz and Pop Night with a Twist, where students performed songs in French, German, Spanish and Portuguese, accompanied by a professional jazz band. The audience, seated at cabaret tables in the Live Lounge, were not only impressed by the students’ musical abilities, but their authentic and confident command of numerous languages.
You can see more photos from our Spring Concert in the gallery below.
