A Singing Day with schools in Northampton

Members of the Choir, in conjunction with the David Ross Education Trust, visited Northampton recently to sing with six local choirs drawn from the Northampton area.  We first visited Cedar Road Primary School during assembly, where we performed John Tavener’s ‘The Lamb’ and The Monkees’ ‘I’m a Believer’.

Following our performance at the primary school, the Choir led a boys’ singing workshop for over 100 pupils from six of the Trust’s schools at Northampton’s St Matthew’s Church. Throughout the session, pupils had the opportunity to perform and learn pieces such as Nardone’s ‘I Give to You a New Commandment’, Piers Connor Kennedy’s arrangement of ‘Walking in the Air’, and Parry’s ‘Hear my words, ye people’.

Andrew Nethsingha, our Director, said: “It was a great experience for the Choir to go and sing with lots of young singers in Northampton. What wonderful receptions we had at Cedar Road Primary School and from all the choirs which assembled at St Matthew’s.

“Singing can be such a joyous part of people’s lives, but it is sad that there is less and less provision for singing in most schools. The work of the David Ross Education Trust in promoting music in schools is an excellent initiative. It was a privilege to share our gifts with other sets of children and to try to inspire them to do even more singing in the future. I hope the choirs in the Trust’s schools will go from strength to strength.”

Rebecca Steed, Headteacher at Cedar Road Primary School, commented: “This was an amazing chance for our pupils to perform alongside one of the finest choirs in the world. They all sang with such pride and enthusiasm, and it is already having an impact on the way in which they engage with music at school.”

Simon Toyne, Director of Music at the David Ross Education Trust, said: “This visit has proved inspirational for our pupils; as a result, we have been able to form the first ever boys’ choir within the Trust, at Cedar Road Primary School, as well as inspiring our existing school choirs to greater musical heights.

“The Cedar Road Boys’ Choir will give its first public performance on the main stage of the Royal & Derngate in our Primary Music Festival at the end of March, and the early signs from rehearsals are that it will be something special.”

About the Trust:

The David Ross Education Trust is a network of unique and diverse academies, committed to becoming the top performing multi-academy trust in the country. The Trust works with 34 primary and secondary academies across the East Midlands, Yorkshire and the East of England. The schools range from smaller rural primaries with around 50 children, to much larger secondary schools in the centre of urban areas.