The music department had an extremely busy week last week at Ballyclare Music Festival. It was wonderful to see so many pupils take part and here is a summary of the results.
Day 1
What an amazing start for us today at Ballyclare Music Festival. First up were the Solo String classes. We are delighted that Ella Kidd was placed 2nd in the Year 8 class with Amelia Brown coming a close runner-up in 3rd place. In a very competitive Year 9-10 class Oleh Donstov received a well-deserved 3rd place while is brother Sviat was placed 1st in the Year 11-12 class, with an excellent performance of Meditation from Thais, followed by Annabelle Brown in 2nd place and Lois Bell in 3rd. In the Year 13 and 14 class Lewis Clark gave a great performance and was awarded 2nd place. In the string ensemble class, there was stiff competition, but we rose to the challenge, and we are delighted that the Senior Strings were given 1st place.
Next up was the school orchestra who were awarded 1st place for a great performance of the traditional March ‘Killaloe’ featuring two of our Pipers and an arrangement of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’.
Later this afternoon, it was the turn of our pianists. We had 5 pupils take part in the Year 9 to 10 class and they all performed well, but a special mention goes to Faith Hamilton who was awarded 1st place and Sarah Lapsley who received 2nd place. Well done to Nathan McAuley who was awarded 2nd place in the Year 11-12 class and Lucy Spence who followed closely behind in 3rd place. Finally, the day was brought to close with the Year 13-14 class in which Elspeth Purdy was awarded 1st place. What a wonderful way to finish our first day at the festival.
Well done to everyone who took part today. We are proud of all of you, and you are a credit to yourselves and our school.
Day 2
Another amazing day full of great performances at Ballyclare Music Festival. Today it was the turn of our brass and vocal students. The day started off with great performances from our brass students with Lily Lorimer and Holly Hamilton both being award 2nd place and Ben Purdy just behind them in 3rd place in the Year 11-12 class. This was followed by the brass ensemble who gave a wonderful performance of a Star Wars Medley which gained them 1st place. Amazing results and we are proud of everyone who took part.
In the Year 9-10 vocal class Lucy Bingham was awarded 2nd place and Phoebe Johnston gained 3rd place. This was followed by the Year 11-12 solo class in which Shannon Dougherty was also awarded 3rd place. The day was brought to a close with the Year 13-14 class. This was an extremely competitive class where all participants performed to a very high standard. We were delighted that Erin Ashe was awarded 2nd place closely followed by Connie Taylor in 3rd.
Again, many great performances today and we are so proud of everyone who took part. Well done everyone!
Day 3
What another amazing day for all our pupils at Ballyclare Music Festival. Today it was the turn of our woodwind and traditional performers. First up was the Year 8 class in which Eevie Steed-Oliveria gained 2nd place and Emma Hegarty was awarded 3rd place. The 9-10 class was very competitive, and we were delighted that both Bethany Douglas and Grace Martin were awarded 2nd place. Next was the turn of the Year 11-12 pupils in which Abi Caldwell was awarded 2nd place for her performance of Forlana and Ryan Edward's was closely behind in 3rd place. In the final solo class Emma Taylor gave a wonderful performance for which she was awarded 2nd place.
In the woodwind ensemble class, the clarinet group were awarded 1st place with a lovely jazzy arrangement of 'Amazing Grace' and our flute ensemble came in a close 2nd.
Next it was the traditional class in which our pipers and drummers dominated. Amazing results with Scott Simms, William Currie and Oliver McIlwaine all being awarded joint 2nd place and Isaac Wylie was placed 1st. Our piping and drumming ensemble brought the day to a close with an amazing performance which led to a well-deserved 1st place.
Again, well done to everyone who took part in the festival today. Regardless of the outcome we are so proud of all of you for taking part and thank you for all your hard work and commitment to the Music department.
Day 4
Friday was our final day of Ballyclare Music Festival. Both the senior and junior choirs performed to a very high standard but unfortunately it wasn't enough to bring home the silverware this year.
We were delighted, however, to find out that the school orchestra received the award for the best instrumental ensemble of the festival, and Erin Ashe was awarded best overall vocal performance of the festival with a bursary of £50. This is an amazing achievement, and we are very proud of you all. Well done!!
Finally, we would like to thank all of those who volunteered during the week, the festival committee and particularly Anne Purdy for organising the event and her wonderful accompanying skills. The festival is a great opportunity for our children to showcase their talents and get valuable feedback from the adjudicator.
