Prep Musical Soirée

The Prep Musical Soirée took place on Tuesday 31st January 2023 in the Wallace Hall. The evening was a lovely way to wave off any January blues and an opportunity for our audience to sit back, relax and enjoy some inspiring music from our Upton children. Overall, 48 children from Forms 3 to 6 performed to an audience of almost 300 people; 120 watched live online during the event and a further 130 joined later. The event was viewed by the wider Upton family in the UK, USA, France, Morocco, Germany, Malaysia, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, United Arab Emirates, Sweden, and Finland. Traditionally, the Musical Soirée audience was only the parents of the musicians, typically 30 parents in the hall. This has now opened up to not only other pupils, inspiring them to take on new instruments, but also to the extended Upton family who have continued to enjoy the event: One month later we had accumulated 770 viewers from this dedicated audience.

The evening ran in age group order, beginning with the younger children in Form 3 and culminating in performances from our Form 6 children. Parents were entertained by a wide range of musical instruments including piano, violin, cello, cornet, guitar, flute and trombone and the instrumental pieces ranged from Happy Birthday on the piano through to a Grade 8 piece entitled Scherzo on the cello. From the Cranberries and Taylor Swift to Vivaldi and Schubert, all musical tastes were catered for. A huge number of singers performed renditions of songs from musical theatre shows such as Mary Poppins, Oklahoma and High School Musical as well as pop songs from Coldplay and Billie Eilish. This was the very essence of the soirée; variety and inclusivity. It was inspiring to watch so many young children, especially those performing for the very first time, being brave enough to perform in front of a live audience and the cameras in such a calm and measured way. The evening was extremely enjoyable and we are very proud of our performers, staff and music enthusiasts for enabling the gift of music to be shared between so many of us.