On Monday 23rd October, six of our present pupils – James Hunter, Daniel Campbell, Carter Gibson, Jay Gibson, Deacon Warry and Joel Baker and four of our past pupils – Marcus McCullough, Daniel McCalmont, Jackson Allen and Preston Parke joined together with members of North Belfast Youth Choir from Mercy College and Hazelwood Integrated College to make their journey to London.
The choir had been invited to perform at Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London. The Lady Mayoress hosted a ‘Musical Feast’ on Tuesday 24th October when North Belfast Youth Choir performed with six other invited music groups. The majority of Tuesday was spent in Mansion House rehearsing for the event that evening. The pupils performed a selection of songs including:
Media Vita – Michael McGlynn
I Will Walk with my Love – arr. Saoirse Bodley
Cradle Song – Poem by Frank Ormsby, Music by Neil Martin
Over the Rainbow – arr. Joanna Forbes
The Parting Glass – arr. Robert Couture
Their performance was well received by the audience, and everyone was suitably impressed by their singing. The choir also met the acclaimed, Oscar nominated local actor, Ciaran Hinds who came backstage. Thanks so much to Ciaran for his lovely words of praise and encouragement.
On Wednesday we started the day with a lovely breakfast in our hotel followed by a tour and talk by the Worshipful Company of Plaisterers. We then made our way to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where we observed a vocal work performed by students and then enjoyed a vocal workshop ourselves. We made time for lunch and then travelled by tube to the Embassy of Ireland for a short rehearsal before another performance that evening. This performance proved to be even better than the previous evening and the pupils definitely did themselves proud in the standard of singing they displayed to an audience of very prestigious guests.
On Thursday morning we enjoyed some sight-seeing including Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. We finished our trip with a visit to Victoria Palace Theatre to see ‘Hamilton’ the musical – this was thoroughly enjoyed by all and was a fantastic reward for all the hard work and commitment shown by all of the pupils in the choir.
We would like to thank Mrs Montgomery for all of the time she gives to supporting the choir and promoting it to the pupils in BBMS and we would like to thank both Mrs Montgomery and Mr McClelland for their support in coming to hear the choir perform in London.
The biggest thanks must go to those pupils who represented Belfast Boys’ Model in being part of North Belfast Youth Choir. Your contribution was exceptional, and we really appreciate the time and commitment you give to attending rehearsals. We look forward to many more opportunities to perform at prestigious events – thank you to each of you!
