Issue 43 Spring 2012
Highlights Keys
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ST ALBANS SCHOOL
Music Success
In a major boost to the Music Department, the School has taken delivery of eight new Steinway pianos, to become only the second All-Steinway School in the country. All piano-playing students in the School will benefit from the new instruments, which include seven upright pianos in the practice rooms on the top floor of School House. A Steinway Model ‘B’ Grand Piano is now housed in the School Library, where it is used in concerts. A grand inaugural concert featuring the grand piano took place in the library on 17th November, featuring professional soloists Alissa Firsova and Anna le Hair as well as pupils and staff. The audience thrilled to two Poèmes by Scriabin, perfor med by vir tuoso pianist A l i s s a F i r s ov a , a n d t o a fi n e interpretation of Fauré’s Nocturne Alissa Firsova performs in the Steinway Inaugural Concert No. 6 by Anna le Hair. Home-grown talent also demonstrated the huge expressive potential of this splendid instrument. Nick Fleet gave a nuanced performance of Debussy’s Valse Romantique and David McConnell a fresh approach to Rachmaninov’s C# minor Prelude. Hugh Myers and Alex Shavick drew tones of controlled but heart-felt melancholy from the instrument in pieces by Chopin. All performances were highlights, though Oliver Ng’s and David Cartwright’s performances of the faster and more fiery Grieg Holberg Prelude and Chopin Fantasie Impromptu also deserve mention.
Woollams on Film Woollams has performed a starring role in a series of internet films which provide advice for groundsmen of cricket clubs. Woollams has been the home of the ECB’s Pitch Consultant Chris Wood for the last three years, so the School’s grounds, which have frequently won plaudits in groundsmanship awards, were a natural location for the films. As the NatWest Cricket Club’s Pitch Doctor, Chris Wood provides a series of video guides for groundsmen, covering everything from marking out a pitch at the start of the season to putting the pitch to bed in the winter. He is assisted in the films by the School’s groundsmen, who maintain Woollams in perfect condition. The films can be seen on the NatWest Cricket website, and may be released later as a DVD.
Poets’ Success Four Fifth formers will soon be published poets, with their work appearing in a national anthology. David Cartwright, William Beynon, William Barnes and Shahir Ali were successful in the national Express Yourself poetry competition, organised by YoungWriters.Young people across England were challenged to write a poem of no longer than 30 lines on a theme of their choice. The four winning entries were inspired by Ted Hughes’ Tales From Ovid, and will be published at the end of March in an anthology of winning entries from Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
Writer Talks Writer Joe Craig came to talk to First and Second form boys about his career. The author of the Jimmy Coates books and the thriller Lifters gave a very entertaining talk about his early experiences and choices he made which led to his work as both a musician and a writer.