HOUSE UNISONS TRIUMPH FOR LUPTON AND SCHOOL HOUSE

Lupton House and School House left the annual House Singing competition on Thursday proud and jubilant, having taken the Unisons cup and Part Song Shield respectively.

School House’s slick quartet gave us rich tones in Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel for their Part Song offering. It had a beautiful sense of balance, showed good communication between the ensemble, conveyed a sense of atmosphere and certainly hit the mark with the spine-tingling factor. The boys will surely be invited to perform again at House lunches and evening events next term.

Lupton’s upbeat 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton, ably conducted by Orchestra Leader Candice Dobson, had the audience swinging in their seats. Their practice paid off, giving us clear diction, and in ‘Electricity’ they had an even melody across all of the voices, and worked well together, communicating the spirit of the song with great ease.

The judge for this year’s competition, Mark Bamping, is a freelance musician from Staffordshire with extensive choral singing and orchestral experience. He said: “I was really very impressed with the standard of the singing today. It’s clear that a lot of hard work has been put in during the last month and I do congratulate everyone for their performances. Singing is a fantastic way to bring people together and I hope that these pupils continue to enjoy singing long after their school days.”

For Unisons, Robertson came in second place with ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ and ‘Suddenly I see’, followed by Powell House with ‘Castle on a Hill’ and ‘The Cave’. The Part Songs competition saw Carus in second place with ‘Things we lost in the fire’ and Robertson House with ‘How Will I Know?’.

Director of Music Chris Allinson expressed his thanks to Mark Bamping, to the Music department staff, Housemasters and Housemistreses and tutors, and pupils, for dedicating the time to rehearsals in an exceptionally busy Half Term.

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