Music exam success
Congratulations to the following students who all recently received Distinctions in their recent instrumental or vocal exams! Ler-Ming Wang (ABRSM Grade 8 violin), Siyao Ou (Trinity Grade 8 piano), Siyuan Ou (Trinity Grade 8 piano), Rachel Hopkins (ABRSM Grade 8), Naomi Cuthbert (ABRSM Grade 5), Ria Hiwarkar (Trinity Grade 2 Guitar), Gursimar Baidwan (Trinity Grade 3 Guitar) Well done! A further congratulations to Isabel Dyche and Nadia Fallouh for their success in their Grade 5 Guitar exams. Well done!
Lunchtime Recital
On Thursday 1 December, we held our fourth and final Lunchtime Recital of the term. The KEHS String Ensemble featured in the recital, playing a polished rendition of Corelli’s Christmas Concerto. A fabulous performance to kick off the festivities throughout December! Congratulations to Jennifer Liu, Emmy Jin, Bryneet Kaur, Amber Hilton, Angela Luo, Aparna Chaganti, Helen Cao, Hira Varma, Indira Basu, Jovie Hiew, Lazara Do, Lulu Frisson, Rebecca Broome, Rosabella Sung, Saraniya Vigneswara, Sharon Li (leader), Arooj Ahmed, Karen Mao, Ritisha Baidyaray, and Srilakshmi Sen. You all played beautifully!
Carol Service
We finally returned to Edgbaston Old Church for our Carol Service on Wednesday 7 December. It was a pleasure to be back in the church and to hear so many of our students and staff reading and singing. A special congratulations to the KEHS Chamber Choir for performing so confidently throughout the service, your contributions completely made the event. Thank you to all staff and students involved in making the event so wonderful and festive!
Out Of The Blue A Cappella workshop with Lower School Choir
On Monday 12 December the members of Lower School Choir were treated to an A Cappella workshop with Oxford University’s A Cappella group, Out Of The Blue. The group performed for the choir, and taught them an arrangement of Smash Mouth’s hit song ‘All Star’. We are hugely grateful to the group for managing to get to the school, as they drove through some quite heavy snow from London! We will be sure to have the group back again on their next tour.
There was so much energy in the music studio, complete with 4-part harmony, beatboxing and choreography. We’re thrilled the lower school choir enjoyed the workshop so thoroughly!
December Christmas Concerts
On Sunday 11 and Monday 12 December, we held our annual Christmas concerts. All three concerts were a huge success, with a wide variety of music, including some festive classics, played by many of our talented ensembles. We heard music from: Concert Band, Wind Band, Senior Swing Band, Training Strings, Symphony Orchestra, Choral Society, Junior Swing Band, KEHS Lower School Choir, Concert Orchestra, KES Choir, KEHS Chamber Choir, and the Recorder Ensemble! Across all of the concerts, over 150 students from KEHS were involved. A huge thank you and congratulations to all those who took part, students and staff alike. These concerts are a highlight of the academic year, and all the incredible music we heard is a testament to the hard work and dedication we saw the students and staff put in to rehearsals. You should all be incredibly proud of yourselves and we can’t wait to start making music with you all again in the New Year!
Final message
The Music Department would like to thank all of the pupils for working so hard this term and for their unfailing commitment. We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
