It was such a joyful and musical day on Wednesday, hosting the Joint Prep School and Senior School Musical Workshop and Musical Showcase. In the beautiful setting of St Mary’s Church, Year 5 and Year 6 from Francis Holland Prep joined the musicians of our KS3 cohort for a joint rehearsal and workshop session.

Particular highlights included the Year 9 Steel Pan Band, bringing Latin America to Belgravia, as well as some stand out solos from the Prep Fanny Davies Winners, alongside Lily in Year 9 treating us to a mature and brilliant rendition of a Mozart aria. Of course, both of our schools love to sing and this was on full display. It was particularly enlightening and enjoyable to listen to and learn from the performances of one another’s choral ensembles. It was heartening to see all students relishing the opportunity to critically listen to each other, and to perform vibrantly and demonstrate the great musical effort that has been put in over the past few months.

Collaboration was the word of the day, showcased brilliantly by our joint Orchestra session. Francis Holland Prep have been valiantly working on an excerpt from Vivaldi’s stunning Four Seasons, full of Baroque daintiness and lightness. We were delighted to offer orchestral players from the Senior Orchestra, with instrumentalists from Years 7, 8 and 9 playing alongside younger counterparts. We were so impressed to see the older girls coaching their peers so maturely, while being excellent role models for the Prep School to play and learn alongside.

After a successful workshop afternoon, we were delighted to have some parents join us for a short Musical Showcase after school. What a treat to share the musical talents and expertise across Years 5-9 in such a fantastic setting. The highlight of the day was the joint Massed Choir performance, with the Lower School Choir and the Chamber Choirs of Lower School and Prep joining forces to raise the roof. It was so warming to hear almost 200 excellent voices being raised in stunning harmony and this was the perfect culmination of a great day of collaboration and love of music-making together. Thank you so much to the staff from both Francis Holland schools, Prep and Sloane Square, to all parents who have supported their children and, of course, to the students for their brilliant work and efforts towards a brilliant day.

Mr Mercer, Director of Co-Curricular Music