Highlight of the Week

Lent Term Virtual Concerts

During this most challenging of periods, pupils have sustained their education online through the School’s programme of remote learning and music has been no exception.

Whilst it has been impossible to make music together, live, or even to enjoy face-to-face music lessons, much has been achieved – not least by continuing provision of private music lessons via Zoom. In addition, we have been able to enjoy various opportunities for multi-tracked, virtual ensembles. Whilst challenging to produce, these audio and video performances have helped to maintain out culture of music-making in new and exciting ways.
We are delighted to present our Lent Term Virtual Concert, a series of video presentations which celebrate some of our recent musical successes and achievements. As always, the emphasis is placed firmly on musical participation, enjoyment and a determination to prepare our performances to the highest level.
Pupils in Years 3-13 were invited to record themselves at home, playing and singing pieces that they have been working on in recent weeks. We were thrilled to receive over 120 performances, a remarkable display of musical talent and the product of diligent practice; how wonderful that so many pupils felt able to take part and were keen to present their achievements! Separate concerts are arranged according to year group, organised as a balanced musical programme. All concerts can be found on our Senior and Primary Firefly pages.

CSL is well-regarded for the strength of its percussion teaching and resourcing. Opportunities to play as part of a group are extensive and we are proud to have maintained this tradition, even during the complexities of Covid-19 regulations. Towards the end of last term, pupils produced two pieces at school; each pupil recorded his/her own part individually by playing against a backing track. The resultant videos have been multi-tracked in software (an incredibly demanding process in itself), to produce a virtual ensemble and we are so pleased with the results!

Finally, whilst live choral singing at school has been virtually impossible for over a year now, we have really enjoyed experimenting with multi-tracked singing projects, producing various pieces since the start of the pandemic. Most recently, we have developed a culture of virtual hymn singing; ostensibly for use in assembly but also for promulgation on our SoundCloud platform. To finish the term in style, we challenged ourselves to put together a virtual hymn with video in addition to audio, and which afforded an opportunity for some harmony singing. We hope that you enjoy Shine, Jesus, Shine – arranged and mixed by the Director of Music, featuring 27 pupil voices, 24 of whom also supplied video.

This is a wonderful time to reflect on the positives that learning an instrument or singing can bring and to highlight the joy that is achieved through music. Well done to all of our musicians and we hope you enjoy watching them!

To watch the virtual concerts, please visit the Senior and Junior Firefly pages at:

Senior Firefly - https://cathedral-senior.fireflycloud.net/music/lent-term-virtual-concert-2021
Junior Firefly - https://cathedral-junior.fireflycloud.net/junior-music/lent-term-virtual-concerts---2021