8 December 2011
For the first time our Carol Service was held at St. Helen's church in Abingdon, which proved to be a wonderful venue with a lovely atmosphere and fantastic acoustics.
As usual the programme began in the traditional way with Once in Royal David's City and the solo verse was sung beautifully by Paddy Langdale (Year 7).
The musical items were interspersed with readings from the pulpit and mention must be made of Hylton Harvey (Year 3), Freddie Smith (Year 4), Joseph McConnell (Year 5), Luke Jones (Year 6), Tom Hardy (Year 7) and Jamie Sudlow (Year 8).
The musical repertoire encompassed the 16th - 20th centuries, ranging from Gaudete to Winter Wonderland and performances were given by the choirs, year groups, instrumental ensembles and soloists.
Years 3 & 4 sangSilent Night in harmony and When Santa got stuck up the Chimney with actions. Years 5 & 6 gave superb performances of Gaudete with small groups of soloists for each verse and our male teachers providing the bass line, as well as Ring out the Bells in harmony. Years 7 & 8 sang the wonderful Zion Hears the Watchmens Voices, as well as an energised performance of Deck the Hall in harmony. They also staged a performance of The 12 Foods of Christmas in French, coached by Lynn Hough. Special mention must be made of Tom Buckle (Year 7), who appeared as the soloist in Vivaldi's B minor Violin Concerto with String Group, coached by Helen Rees as well as the solo part in Senior Choir's performance of Suffer Little Children. He performed both with confidence and flair. Other soloists included Adam Bradley (Year 7), who performed The Swinging Roundabout on the saxophone and Raphael Armon-Jones (Year 5), playingNaughty but Nice! on the flute. Guitar Group, coached by Paul Wisby entertained us with Jingle Bell Rock, while Simon Currie's Jazz Band had the audience clapping along in the usual way with Jingle Bells, featuring solo improvisations from Daniel Savage, Adam Bradley, Paddy Langdale, Patrick Johnson, Jack Roberts and Jonathan Dawson. Junior Choir sang Sing high, sing low with energy and enthusiasm. The whole school came together with the staff choir to perform Winter Wonderland before the final congregational carol, the rousing Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
Many thanks must go to Chris Fletcher-Campbell from Abingdon School for his wonderful accompanying throughout on the organ and piano.
