Our Christmas Concert a fortnight ago was a joyous affair, with a Chapel packed to the rafters ready to witness an evening of musical treats. We were thrilled to resurrect the Year 7 Choir for the first time in many years, who opened the night with an energetic performance of Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Know’, the opening lyrics of ‘Tonight, we’re going to have ourselves a real good time’ being quite the fitting way to raise the curtain on the event. This was followed by the Newman Orchestra, who gave their version of three classic Christmas tunes. Year 8 pianist Eashaan Acharya then took to the stage with a poignant festive performance, before the Guitar Ensemble took us away to Latin America with their performance of ‘Tamacun’. Some inspiring Renaissance-inspired arrangements Brass Ensemble followed, before we again welcomed students from the Prep School back to the stage, this time the Chapel Choir with the music of Joubert and Rutter. It was then the turn of our String Ensemble with ‘A Moravian Carol’ before Phoebe Blow had the Chapel mesmorised with a stirring performance of ‘O Holy Night’. The Swing Band then blew the roof off with their renditions of ‘APT’, ‘Like A Prayer’ and ‘Santa Claus in Comin’ To Town’, after which the audience was no doubt relieved to have a breather and a glass of mulled wine courtesy of Mr Studd!
The second half began with the jewel in the crown of our department, the Ratcliffe Orchestra, with a frantic ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ medley before some more light-hearted, festive cheer with ‘A Mariah Carey Christmas’. Year 12 pianist Teresa Chmurovicova was next to show her talents with Orito’s ‘Snowfield’, followed by another of our outstanding small-group ensembles, the Flute Choir, played ‘Mr Sandman’ with their traditional beautiful sound and excellent ensemble awareness. For the first time in many years, we have an Organ Scholar here at Ratcliffe in the form of Year 12 Inigo Tristanto, and his performance of Bach’s ‘Prelude in G Major’ was enough to have hairs stand up on end, and following this was two more small-group items, Mrs Barlow’s Woodwind Ensemble with a traditional folk tune followed by ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’, and Mrs Cole’s Chamber Ensemble with their own abridged version of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. The Ratcliffe Choir took us to the conclusion of the night with a plethora of repertoire, ranging from ‘Die With A Smile’ to a hair-raising arrangement of ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, the hauntingly beautiful harmonies of which left the audience in stunned silence. The final item to close proceedings was the return of the Year 7 Choir with Slade’s ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’, and what a joy it was to have so many of our youngest students shining on the stage and finishing the term in such style, making such a meaningful memory that will be with them long through their Ratcliffe journey.
My sincerest thanks go to all involved in such a triumphant evening, which required such extensive behind-the-scenes work, from our housekeeping and catering staff to the marketing and technical teams. A huge thanks also to the wider teaching staff who gave up their evening to support the students, as well as the peripatetic staff who led their various ensembles with such pride. However, my biggest thanks as ever go to the Music department staff – Mrs Barlow, Mr Finn, Mrs Cook and Mrs Markham – we make a formidable team who continue to go from strength to strength, and it is no wonder our concerts continue to get better every time. Here’s to the Spring, and we are all so looking forward to getting going again with preparations in January.
After such a large event, it would have been quite lovely to put our feet up and enjoy the remainder of the term from afar, although that’s not quite how a Music department works at Christmas! Last Friday, 18 of our Choir (accompanied by Mr Finn and I) excitedly made our way to De Montfort Hall for the annual Menphys Carol Concert, and it was once again an exhilarating experience that truly got us all into the Christmas spirit, if we weren’t all already. Many of this year’s Choir were new to the Menphys concert, so to see their faces as they walked into the grand venue for the first time was magical, as was the sound all 20+ choirs made when the conductor hit the first downbeat of the morning rehearsal. Following this, we ventured into Leicester for some downtime, and I still can’t quite believe Mr Finn beat me at bowling with his last attempt by getting a strike. Surprisingly, we were the only to members of our party brave enough to have the barriers down! After filling ourselves with Nando’s, we returned to De Montfort Hall after a slightly soggy walk for the evening event, which was a wonderful affair that went without a hitch. What a privilege it was to be able to once again unite with so many other Catholic schools for such an important cause, and it was lovely to once again unite with our friends at De Lisle College, Loughborough, and St Martin’s Academy, Stoke Golding for our joint performance, which this year was the most atmospheric Pentatonix arrangement of ‘Mary, Did You Know’. We very much look forward to returning to De Montfort Hall and performing for Menphys next year, and congratulations to all who took part for a wonderful evening.
Our final week of term was filled with much tiredness, but of course much fulfilment. On Wednesday, our Choir delighted our student and staff body by entertaining them with carols as they ate their lunch, and this morning’s scholars’ meeting was the perfect way for me to catch up with our department’s finest, thank them for their wonderful work over the past term and wish them well for the Christmas break. This afternoon’s Carol Service was another beautiful affair, with a number of items resurrected from our Christmas Concert interspersing congregational carols sung with such gusto by a full Chapel, accompanied by our majestic Orchestra and Choir.
As another fine term comes to an end, my heart is full of music and pride, and although this upcoming break is much deserved, there is so much to look forward to when we return in January. Wishing you all an enjoyable, musical Christmas break.
Mr Harris, Director of Music
