Autumn Showcase 2020
For obvious reasons, it is with sadness that I am unable to host my planned Christmas Concert this year. I felt it important, however, that we had the opportunity to share and celebrate the work in progress from some of the sixty students who are in receipt of instrumental lessons at The Hollins. Over the course of this final week of the Autumn term, a variety of recordings will be shared with you every day, including recordings of pieces that students have been working on in their lessons in preparation for entry for exam grades, and recordings of pieces to celebrate the time of year. I am sure that you will agree that it shows how hard the students have been working in their instrumental lessons and I am proud of what they have achieved.
Mr Parker
Finlay (Year 11): Merry Christmas Everybody
Our final performance for the Autumn Showcase 2020 comes courtesy of Finlay. Finlay has been having bass guitar lessons for little over a year (after picking the instrument up to work on a class performance of The Beatles’ classic ‘With a Little Help From My Friends‘ in his GCSE class. If I inform you that Finlay is about to take his Grade 5 bass performance exam, it will underline what a musical talent Finlay really is. Here you can enjoy him playing the bass to a backing track of the Slade’s ‘Merry Christmas, Everybody‘
Olivia-Layla Year 7): Jingle Bell Rock
Olivia-Layla has been having guitar lessons at The Hollins for five weeks. After watching her performance of ‘Jingle Bell Rock‘, I am sure that you will agree with me when I say she is going to be an absolute superstar. Well done Olivia-Layla; to produce a performance of this standard after such a short time is magnificent.
Mark (Year 9): Passion Fruit
Mark has been having drum lessons since the beginning of Year 8 and has worked hard to develop his drumming skills through lockdown and into this academic year. Mark is working towards taking Grade 2 with Rock School, and this is a performance of one of his pieces, ‘Passion Fruit‘.
Finlay (Year 11): Hard To Handle
Finlay has been playing the drums since Year 8 and as you will see later this week, he is as versatile a musician as he is talented. You may also recognise Finlay as the drummer from the showband from last year’s performance of ‘Grease’. Finlay is making preparations for his Grade 5 Rock School Drums exam later in the year, and this performance showcases one of his pieces, ‘Hard to Handle‘.
Liam (Year 9): Twist and Shout & Jingle Bell Rock
Liam has been playing the guitar since Year 7 and as the result of dedicated practice, resilience and hard work, he has really progressed over the course of 2020. , Liam has been preparing his pieces ready for his Grade 2 guitar exam, and even found time to practice the odd Christmas tune or two. It has been quite difficult to decide which piece to share with you, so in this video you can watch both a magnificent performance of the classic ‘Twist and Shout’, followed by a performance of ‘Jingle Bell Rock’. I hope you enjoy them both.
Abigail (Year 10): As Long As He Needs Me
You may recognise Abigail as the very talented ‘Patty Simcox’ from The Hollins’ performance of ‘Grease’ in December 2019. Even though she has been in several performances outside of school, Abigail only began singing lessons at the beginning of Year 9. You can see just how much her singing has developed during 2020 with this exceptional performance of ‘As Long As He Needs Me‘ from the hit musical ‘Oliver
Kieran (Year 8): Deck The Halls
Kieran first picked up the clarinet back in primary school, and after having a year having piano lessons with us at The Hollins, he has recently been fortunate enough to resume playing the clarinet once again. This half term has been spent getting back up to speed with one of our newest tutors, Mr Irwin, and if this performance of ‘Deck the Halls‘ is anything to go by, it won’t be long before Kieran will be a firm presence on the stage and a regular at concert performances in and out of school.
Daniel (Year 11): Silent Night
Daniel has been playing the guitar since Year 7 and this term has been spent been readying his pieces ready to take his RGT Grade 3 Acoustic Guitar exam in the Spring. As well as this, Daniel has kindly taken the time to learn to play a lovely rendition of the carol ‘Silent Night‘.
Charlotte (Year 9): Castle on a Cloud
As well as being a keen dancer, Charlotte is an enthusiastic singer and is also part of the choir. Charlotte has taken the time to give a performance of one of the pieces she is working on ahead of her Musical Theatre singing exam, ‘Castle on a Cloud‘ from the hit musical Les Misérables
Ellie (Year 8): Let It Snow
Ellie has been learning the guitar since primary school and has been having lessons with us since joining The Hollins last year. Ellie is currently working towards taking her Rock School Grade 2 guitar exam, but in the last few weeks she has also been working on a much-loved Christmas favourite, ‘Let It Snow‘. In this video she is performing with Mr Norton (our guitar tutor)
Sophia (Year 7): My Favourite Things
Sophia joined us in September and started singing lessons with us shortly after. Sophia has taken part in a choir at her primary school and judging by her performance of ‘My Favourite Things‘ from The Sound of Music, you can see that she is going to be a star of the future.
Kaleb (Year 9): Summer of ’69
Kaleb has been having lessons with Mr Norton (our guitar tutor) since the beginning of Year 8 and in that time has tried his hand at ukulele, bass guitar and electric guitar. This recording of Bryan Adams’ hit ‘Summer of ’69‘ is the end result of only two weeks practice!