2011's Music Festival Week started with a stunning set of performances on Monday 21st March at the Musical Showcase. Students from years III to Upper Sixth performed a diverse range of pieces from Monteverdi's Lasciatemi Moire! to James Rae's Rachel and the Boys. From vocal pieces to strings, wind instruments to the piano the performances were of the highest quality and a sign of the wonderful week of music to come.
Tuesday 22nd March saw the Field Quartet – a local string quartet - come to school, as part of Music Festival Week. They demonstrated their talent in a performance held in chapel to an appreciative audience of teachers, parents and students. After a brief introduction from Mr Bowyer on the history of the pieces, the Field Quartet performed a Novelette by Glazunov which makes extensive use of folk tunes and is one of his most instantly appealing compositions.With Mr Bowyer having taken his place at the piano, the Field Quartet began to play their second piece: Schumann’s Piano Quintet. The piece is in four movements, in the standard quick-slow-scherzo-quick pattern: the first movement is the Allegro brillante, followed by In modo d'una marcia, then Scherzo: Molto vivace and finally Allegro ma non troppo.We were really lucky to have the opportunity to hear such an excellent selection of musicians and a diverse range of music. Both pieces were fabulous and the evening was thoroughly enjoyable. Thank you very much to Mr Bowyer for arranging this concert; we look forward to the next appearance of the Field Quartet at QM!
Report by Flora Bowring.
On Thursday evening, Queen Margaret’s school Duncan’s school band and choir visited us and gave us a wonderful performance. They performed “the pirates of the Caribbean”, and “the Simpsons” theme song, it was really interesting, and everyone loved it. There was also a joint performance with our chamber choir at the end and it was amazing too. After the concert, some girls stayed and chatted with them, and know more about them. They were all really talented, very nice and all of us got on really well with them. We really hope we can have a chance to visit their school or have another joint concert again in the future.
Report by Sarah Chan
On Saturday March 26th at approximately 7pm, the Centenary Building was overrun with screaming girls, glowsticks, wristbands (courtesy of QMPT) and glow-in-the-dark facepaint. It could only mean one thing… Battle of the Bands was back!
This once-yearly event is held in the theatre (miraculously transformed into a venue to rival the likes of the O2 arena) and features bands from around the country, as well as providing an opportunity for our own QM talent to shine. Despite its misleading name, Battle of the Bands takes the form of a rock concert with each band playing for about 25 minutes – no on-stage battle required, much to the relief of Health and Safety officials! This year we were fortunate to welcome six bands from other schools, as well as one featuring QM girls from Year 5. The bands travelled varying distances, from York to Ripon to Leeds and even Edinburgh to perform to a very appreciative audience of girls from Year 4 to Upper Sixth as well as members of staff.
QM’s own band, Scarlet Stone, kicked off proceedings and certainly got everyone into the spirit of the event with their own versions of “Do It Like A Dude” by Jessie J and “Make Me Wanna Die” by The Pretty Reckless, amongst others. Well done to Aidina Brownlow on the keyboard, Rosie Haggas on percussion, Dixie Taylor on guitar, Penny Thompson on bass guitar and Natalie Sandi and Grace Hammond on vocals. It was a great performance, especially as it is not easy to open a show in front of about 200 people!
A three-piece band called Braveface from Ripon Grammar School followed Scarlet Stone, maintaining the high standard set by the QM band. They performed several of their own songs, bringing a fresh slant to the concert. Battle of the Bands veterans, The Weeknights, (also from Ripon Grammar) made a reappearance for their third and final year, also performing their own material.
We were also fortunate to have two bands from Leeds Grammar School, both making their QM debut. Frozen Flame and The Usual Suspects both impressed the audience with their combinations of their own songs as well as the classic “Feeling Good” performed by The Usual Suspects. The Usual Suspects proved the adage “the show must go on”, performing excellently with two band members missing… I certainly couldn’t sing, play the keyboard and play the bass guitar at the same time! We were left in no doubt that both bands have great things ahead of them, and hopefully we will see them back next year…
Local group Puppets from St. Peter’s School in York were next on, and certainly were well supported by the crowd! Their set was the longest of the night, and it was testament to the charisma of the three band members that no member of the audience lost interest. They performed all of their own songs, and maintained the high level of musical talent set by all the previous bands.
From the most local band to the most travelled band… the show was closed by Fluorescent Heights, who had made the effort to come all the way down to Escrick from Loretto School in Edinburgh to play for us. Finishing the concert with four well-known songs, such as “Many of Horror” by fellow Scottish band Biffy Clyro and “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” by Artic Monkeys ensured the event finished on a high, and special thanks to all four band members for such an amazing end to a great night.
None of this would be possible without the help of the staff, so a big thank you must go to Mr Locke, Miss Proctor, Dr Mackenzie and all other members of staff who were involved in the organisation and execution of this event and helped it run so smoothly. Thank you to Dr Silverwood, Mrs Cameron and Mr Bowyer for allowing us to hold this unique event once again, and thanks to the Catering department for effortlessly feeding 60 odd extra people on site for tea on Saturday. Of course this event would be nothing without the bands, and I’m sure I speak for everyone who attended when I say it was a truly fantastic night, and a massive thank you to all who took part. Thank you to QMPT for supplying glowsticks and wristbands to really add to the rock concert atmosphere – also a special mention must go to Trexy Lee in Upper Sixth who designed the Battle of the Bands T-shirts and posters completely of her own volition. And last but by no means least, thank you to everyone who attended; you were a great crowd and most definitely helped make my last Battle of the Bands one to remember!
Report by Zoe Gilbert