Christmas 2007 at Aston
| Home (Aston) | Index (Aston) |
This year's Christmas Concert in Aston parish church was much better supported than last year. But the standard of music wasn't nearly as good. Quite a few musical 'stalwarts' had left, and their absence was noticeable. This is an inevitable feature of school life, with its annual turnover of students.
The programme of fourteen items was performed by seven different ensembles, reflecting the continuing huge interest in music at Aston. This was opened and closed by traditional carols, sung very half-heartedly by an audience mainly of parents.
As always, there were moments of humour, whether by design or accident. At one point there was a slight hiatus caused by the discovery that page 2 of the bass player's music had gone AWOL! Aston's dedicated Director of Music, Huw Daniel, told us that the lads had turned up for rehearsals at Aston parish church, while the minibus carrying their instruments had gone to another church!
At the end of the 90 minute programme, the audience appeared to respond generously to the charities for which the church was seeking support this year: Tearfund's work in cyclone hit Bangladesh; and Birmingham Diocese's ongoing support for Anglican schools and hospitals in Malawi.
My unfamiliarity with the play, the absence of a programme and the modern obsession with 'doing Shakespeare differently', made it very difficult for me to enjoy this year's production of 'Macbeth'. It may be unfair to expect young people to project their voices and to face the audience but these, and a reluctance to 'declaim', made it very difficult to hear, and therefore enjoy, their efforts.
But these grumbles should not diminish the huge effort made by the participants, though I still cannot get used to the idea of Banquo being a girl! The students, of both Aston and Handsworth, are nevertheless to be congratluated on all the hard work which was so evident in what they portrayed. Even this year's producer was a student - Kieran Aldred.
Just before the play started, the Headmaster said to me "I'm not sure what we are letting ourselves in for, but I believe there is plenty of blood - and the weather is right for the occasion". (It was hissing down with rain as he spoke.) He was right!
Coming barely a week after the Christmas Concert, the school's 'Music and Mince Pies' evening can be little more than a reprise of the former's repertoire, though in a more convivial and relaxed atmosphere. So this year, my second experience of same, I could not help but notice other aspects of the event.
Judging by audience reaction, the highlight of the evening was the performance of the Training Band, under the leadership of Edward Sturgess. It was clear that he had many enthusiasts among his contemporaries, as he led Aston's youngest musicians through the 'Mission Impossible' theme, and the timeless carol 'Holy Night'.
The evening's differences lay in: the fiendishly difficult quiz devised by 6th form music students; the presence in the audience of one of my old teachers, Harry Jessop and his wife; a new conductor for the Little Big Band, this year's musical tyro, Andrew Williams - the only performer with the courage to wear a Santa Claus hat; the appearance of a guest performer with the slightly too long Jazz Ensemble - last year's 'tyro', Nick Solly, now a physics undergraduate at Corpus Christi, Oxford; a first appearance, at this event, of the Sixth Form Chamber Choir; and the constantly changing shirts of performers, dependent on which of the ten ensembles they appeared with.
When they did emerge in school 'uniform', I found the array of ties on display bewildering. The 'house' ties from my own era, and the red and blue ties were familiar. Less so were the 1st Rugby XV ties, and completely unfathomable was one with a white stripe in it.
Ties and quizzes notwithstanding, the evening ended on a vigorous note with the Big Band's enthusiastic renditions of Rocking around the Christmas tree; the Muppets theme; Hallo Dolly and finally, Jingle Bells. More than a hundred students took part in what was a monument to organisation, hard work, application and dedication by both teachers and musicians alike. Aston's musical tradition thrives.