Vocal Concert

Since starting as the Singing Teacher at Elstree School, the dynamic among young singers has changed dramatically. Many of the boys sang in the school choirs, but very few were interested in singing solo in front of parents and peers. This has changed completely in the last year and I am incredibly proud of all the young singers who performed in the inaugural vocal concert this week.

The concert opened with Barney Courage and Hugo Barnes singing the hit ‘Counting Stars’ by One Republic, followed by a lovely rendition of ‘Moon River’ from Ben Tomlinson.  Charlie Baxter then took to the stage with ‘Tears in Heaven’, bringing many a tear to the McMullen Hall. Inspired by fellow Year 3 singers Lily Steward and Emilie Booth, Molly Perry bravely took to the floor having only had two singing lessons! She sang ‘Let’s Go Fly a Kite’ perfectly from memory without a hint of nerves. A very impressive achievement and an inspiration to us all!

Continuing down the Mary Poppins avenue, Emilie Booth gave a soulful performance of ‘Feed the Birds’, and Lily Steward then presented us with ‘My Father’s Garden’, which she has prepared ready for her Grade 1 next term.  Max Walker sang ‘Early One Morning’ in the traditional, unaccompanied manner and did so beautifully and confidently. The older Tomlinson, Oliver who is also preparing for Grade 1, then sang ‘Home on the Range’ with confidence and vigour.  ‘My Favourite Things’ from The Sound of Music was sung by Charlie Houston with lots of character.

The youngest boy of the concert, Taylor Long, sang ‘Where is Love?’ from Oliver. He has only been learning for a short time, and to learn the notes and words of a difficult song and then offer to get up and perform it in front of a large crowd is very admirable. 

Later in the concert Tom Houston sang ‘Cannonball’ by Damien Rice with passion and confidence, and he also vocally accompanied piano student Adam Collings in Skyfall. Brothers Hector and Harry Tufnell sang and played ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ by Keane, which had the audience smiling and singing along to themselves.

Not only is it enjoyable to put on a concert, learning to sing solo in front of a crowd is a fantastic skill to acquire; if you can learn to conquer your nerves at this stage of life it can benefit future public speaking or performing experiences.  I am really pleased with the input from all the students in the concert and I look forward to working with them all and building on that experience.

 Amber Nunn , Singing Teacher