Christmas With The Arts
On Monday 18th December, Ysgol Greenhill welcomed members of the community to their annual Christmas with the Arts concert. There to welcome them was the compere for the evening, Mr. Lloyd Evans, the AoLE lead for Expressive Arts in the school, who after a brief introduction, handed over to the first performer of the evening. To start off the concert, Year 11 student Ella Bromby treated the audience to a rendition of the Christmas favourite “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. It was the perfect way to start off a magical evening, full of Christmas spirit.
Next up there was a change of pace as the two Greenhill Rock Bands took to the stage. First up were Adia Jones, Willis Reilly, Iestyn Barrellie, Corey Stephens, and Seren Barrett performing two Christmas classics – “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Slade, and “Last Christmas” by George Michael. The second group, made up of Mia Young, Pearl Black, Sophia Cole and led by Gethin Jones, then brought us right up to date with “Santa Tell Me”, by Arianna Grande, and “Sofia” by Clairo.
The School Choir is always a much-anticipated part of any concert, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Conducted by Mrs. Sarah Rapi, they treated the audience to three pieces: “Winter Wonderland” by Bernard/Smith, “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King, and a version of “This is Me”, arranged for choir by Mac Huff. The vocal music continued with a solo performance by Ella-May Mumford, singing “You Say” by Lauren Daigle, before being joined on stage by Jasmine Gwyther for a duet version of Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe”.
The next solo performances showcased two of Ysgol Greenhill’s talented instrumentalists, who recently had great success in the annual Valero Pembrokeshire School's Music Festival. Iestyn Barrellie gave a virtuoso performance of “Andaluza” by Granados on the piano, and this was followed by Sophie Gilmartin on Clarinet, with an excellent rendition of “The Spy Who Went Out to the Cold” by Paul Harris.
The first half of the concert ended with a performance from the Ysgol Greenhill Wind Band. The Wind Band is made up of some of the youngest members of the music department and has been going from strength to strength under the expert directorship of Mr. Colin Barrett. This time, they played two cinema inspired pieces; “Highlights from Shrek 2”, arranged by Michael Brown, and “Christmas at The Movies”, arranged by John Moss. The two pieces are great fun to play, as evidenced by the big smiles on the players’ faces and both were thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. It was a perfect way to close the first half of the concert. As the audience began to make a move towards the half-time refreshments, they were kept entertained by a performance of Laufey’s “Christmas Dreaming” sung by Mia Young.
With everyone now refreshed and settled back in their seats for more festive fun, the second half of the concert kicked off in style, with Willis Reilly giving a breath taking performance of the Guns N’ Roses classic “Sweet Child of Mine” on Electric Guitar. This was followed by two classical ensembles, the Clarinet Trio and String Quartet. The Clarinet Trio, made up of Sophie Gilmartin, Jed Cox, and Emily Dickinson, performed two pieces; “Down by the Riverside” by Louis Armstrong, and a traditional arrangement of “Drunken Sailor”. The String Quartet - Ella Bromby, Bronwyn Clissold, Poppy Evans, and Emma Nicholas, then followed this up with the festive “Holly Jolly Christmas” by Johnny Marks.
The concert came to a close with a performance by the Ysgol Greenhill Orchestra, conducted by Mrs. Caroline James. They started their segment with an old favourite, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” which had been arranged for them by a former teacher in the department, Mr. Neil Martin. This was followed by two new pieces for the Orchestra, “Star of Bethlehem”, arranged by Robert Longfield, and “St. Elmo’s Fire”, arranged by Andreas Losiewic. To end the evening’s entertainment, and to make sure everyone was sent home in a festive mood, the audience was invited to join in with the Orchestra for a singalong of “O Come All Ye Faithful”.
The Expressive Arts AoLE would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make the evening happen. A special mention must go to the peripatetic music teachers from the Pembrokeshire Music Service. They work tirelessly behind the scenes helping our students to prepare for the concert, and their support on the night assured that everything ran smoothly and was a great success. Thank you to everyone who came along on the night to support our students. They have worked incredibly hard this term in rehearsals, and it means a great deal to them to have your support at what was a fantastic night of festive entertainment.
