Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96gilberT riChards awards The Gilbert Richards Competitions exist to commemorate a former pupil of the school, who later became Chairman of the Governors. He was a great champion of public speaking and on his death his family asked that we institute annual reading competitions in his name. Prizes are not financially large but winners have the honour of appearing at Prize- Giving. The Year 7 competition is a Poetry reading and pupils, once selected from their form, take part in reading a poem of their choice and an unseen poem. This year’s winner was Priya Lalria, a worthy competitor with her reading of ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen. In Year 8, Emma Gibson won the prize. She read, with a wonderful sense of characterisation, a passage from Andy Stanton’s Mr Gum and the Goblins. In Year 9, Theo Bratton won the award for his reading of Hamlet’s soliloquy ‘To Be or Not to Be’. All of the competitors read beautifully and are worthy winners. major house musiC fesTival There was considerable excitement and anticipation in advance of this year’s Festival, with the respective Music Prefects having organised an extensive array of rehearsals across the preceding fortnight. It remains an amazing reflection on the students that this is all driven by them, with responsibility for every element falling on their shoulders. So how did they fare? White’s House - led by Alex Flinn- Shephard - started confidently with their orchestra featuring the strongest xylophone section ever seen! There was a great depth to the clarinet section which held the piece together well. Given the choir were singing a Beach Boys number, it was inspired to arrange the choir like a wave, and the singing was tuneful and committed. An amazing clarinet duet by Alex and Robyn Turner preceded the neatly arranged ‘Happy Ending’, with the choir arranged around the piano like a family (albeit a very large one!). Hales’ seemed to have stolen an advantage over the other Houses, with an apparent five senior students acting as leaders for the different parts. Would this strategy be “many hands” or “too many cooks”? The quality was evident in every piece, whether the clever harmonies of the chamber choir, the emphatic brass section of the orchestra, or Michael Pandya’s singing in the Blues and Jazz Band. Dharma Muthalagappan’s solo piano was deftly performed, given the trickery of the piece. Sherwyn’s were led by Sherena Masharani, who had worked hard to bring the traditional House qualities to the fore. Has there ever been ‘Town Called Malice’ performed with the organ before? Such was the drama brought to these performances. There was the hauntingly beautiful duet by Louisa Woolley and Daveena Mistry, and the effortless harmonies in the Girls’ Choir. Ally Whelan gave some fantastic guitar performing throughout the pieces, maintaining an edge to the pieces that impressed the audience. Finally Holland’s approached the stage knowing that something special was required. Zoe Nicolson had imagined how to best combine the classical and modern worlds, designing a programme that had something for everyone. Chloe Chung and Dan Brennan played a mesmeric piano duet, and then Becky Allen sang her heart out with the excellent Girls’ Choir. The juxtaposition of Chamber Orchestra with Rock Band drove the crowd wild, with Ryan Gidda performing the virtuoso role to perfection. It was hard to separate the Houses, since all had brought joy and entertainment to those watching. The adjudicator - Old Coventrian, Michael Dow - was fulsome in his praise for the Houses, and pointed out that his allegiance to King’s House left him unbiased. In selecting Hales’ House as the victors for a second year, he was able to present the trophy to Jaya Prabhakar and Clara Harris, who were rightly proud of everyone’s efforts. Well done to everyone who was involved with the evening, and thanks to the “crew” for their work on the sound and lighting. Mr Honey 2015 To 2016 | 37