As regularly as Easter Eggs, Guy Fawkes Fireworks and Christmas Trees, the Junior Choir Prom comes round. This year, the grown-ups had shown us how it’s done with a glorious piece of Haydn as the anthem, and we bolted our coffee, grabbed a biscuit, and made a dash to find a seat.
Do our Junior Choir just do singing? Certainly not. We had instrumental interludes as well. We started off with two of their party pieces – ‘Ave Maria’ by Caccini and ‘Wash me throughly’ by our very own David Moore. Impressive to see Victoria singing from memory in the Ave Maria! The kids managed the runs very nicely – nobody at this stage expects them to throw them off like Aidan or Nick – but it worked very well with the breathing. And there was Alex Saikia (of whom more later!) conducting!
There could be a nice soprano coming along when Lindsay Fitzpatrick sang ‘Down by the Salley Gardens’. Not an easy song, and quite a long test at her age.
Bring on the Brass! Wilfred Griffin, 11, is tackling the trumpet. A nice bit of Purcell did us all good. My work at the Royal Academy of Music Museum has soon made me find out what a fine and very friendly bunch the brass players are, so keep going, Wilfie!
Max Bell is 8. He is a pro. I’d spotted this already, last year. Playing ‘Gaiamente’ by Glier with the demeanour of a seasoned performer, he convinced us that here is a pianist to watch. Even if we have to watch for quite some time!
Clara Bove is 10. Her very pretty voice and the charm of the traditional song ‘The Oak and the Ash’ convinced us that this country maid really wanted to go home.
It is always a pleasure to see kids starting out on proper instruments, particularly as so few get the chance. Here was James Crick, 8, playing Dvorak, no less, on the violin, and I’m sure the composer would have been very happy to see the very young tackling his music.
I had a bit of a weakness for Clark Fitzpatrick, 9, and ‘Sam’s Boogie’. There’s a really mean jazz pianist coming along there! And, returning to the R.A.M, the Jazz course is highly selective, and taken properly seriously.
Evelyn Fitzpatrick, 14, accompanied sister Louise, 13, when she sang. It’s nice to see family music-making, so beloved of the Victorians, is still around in 2015.
Respect to Inigo Saikia, 11, for singing a Christmas carol in German!
I always look forward to hearing Victoria Scott-Linden sing, and this was proper repertoire. The much-loved ‘Pie Jesu’ from Fauré’s Requiem showed she already has quite a powerful voice. She coped well with the long phrases, and as she gets older, she’ll cope better still.
And then, a surprise. Alex Saikia is 17, but he rolled out the famous bass aria from The Magic Flute ‘O Isis and Osiris’ and he hit all the low notes! I know he studies German at school – and, boy did it show! Good luck, Alex, with your Choral Scholarship applications!
Louise Fitzpatrick put on her soloist’s hat to play the first movement from a Sonata by Krebs. You can always learn – I hadn’t heard of him!
The concert ended with another ‘Ave Maria’, and ‘The Lord bless you and keep you’ by John Rutter. He can be sentimental, but this avoids it, and the kids obviously love singing it. I’m sure every time I hear it anywhere I think of the Junior Choir!
The Junior Choir Prom – Review