Young Musician of the Year

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The first live music event of the 2022-2023 academic year took place at the start of November, supported by an audience of family and friends in the school theatre.  

There were entrants from all year groups and very strong performances. The evening started with a melodic guitar/vocal solo from Noah, followed by a toe-tapping drum solo of 7 Nation Army from Henry and a piano solo from Madelin. Compromise, the first of the evening’s bands, gave a strong performance of Skater Boi before Libby took to the stage with a very tuneful rendition of Angel Fish on the piano.

The second half was kicked off by the Year 11 band with Pompeii, then Jorja sang Two Birds on a Wire and Andrei performed Interstellar on the piano. The final performances were a vocal solo from Letitia, which was followed by the Year 7/8 group who closed the live show with an enthusiastic version of Shotgun. After all the live performances were over, there was an additional pre-recorded video performance from Tia on the keyboards. 

There could only be one winner, it was up to the judges to decide. In announcing the winner, Miss Ludlow said the judges had been highly impressed by every one of the performers, their talent and musicality, and the confidence they had shown by taking to the stage in front of a live audience.

The results were:

1^st place – Noah

2^nd place – Year 7/8 band

3^rd place – Year 11 band

Our thanks go to Lynn Hawkins and Paul Clarke from Swindon Music Service for acting as judges alongside Miss Ludlow, Pegasus House Manager, and Assistant Principal Mr Wilkinson. Swindon Music Service offered free music sessions for everyone who took part. Thanks also to Swindon Lions Club who came along to support our scholars.

I was hugely impressed by the high quality of all the performances, especially considering the short turnaround since the start of September. The expressions included within the performances really evidenced how the scholars had really thought about the content of their individual pieces and their determination to give it their best. 

Mr Griffiths, Head of Music

Here’s a gallery of photos from the evening.