Pitch Perfect; A Cappella Success!

Stellar singers, The Sons of Pitches, winners of BBC2’s ‘The Naked Choir’ and a phenomenal five-strong a cappella group, were welcomed to Leighton Park as judges in our latest singing competition. Nine schools joined two of our a cappella groups for the inaugural Independent Schools Association (ISA) A Cappella Competition on Friday 28^th February in Main Hall.

With participants from prep school through to Sixth Form the range of performances was varied and eclectic, but the characteristics that they had in common were the effort they had put into their preparation and their commitment to giving their delivery absolutely everything on the day.

Musicals were a popular choice for several groups and some had adorned their usual school uniforms with some spangly stagewear. The programme was fast-paced and four of the nine schools brought along a second vocal ensemble for the competition, which extended the programme to lunchtime.

After lunch, there was a stunning performance by The Sons of Pitches, which was met by enthusiastic applause from a delighted audience before the judging and feedback commenced.

The Sons of Pitches declared Leighton Park’s ‘Les Tres Belles Clefs’ the winners of the Barbershop category saying, “We loved this performance. It had a huge amount of energy. It was fun and clever and it made us laugh. It also impressed us with its musicality.” Reflecting afterwards on the award offstage, judge Josh, added, “Their tuning was immaculate so that was a stand out thing. It’s also very hard to sing and engage with the audience at the same time and they did this very well. They were extraordinarily charismatic.”

Nikki (Upper Sixth), who holds an offer from the Royal Northern College of Music, exclaimed, “It was terrifying!” but agreed with her co-singer, Megan (Upper Sixth), who added, “It was terrifying but it was also really nice to do as a group. It’s the first competition we have done like this and there is  a distinct style. You appreciate what the other groups are doing because you have tried to do it yourself.” Tisa (Year 11) was equally thrilled by the win, “I’m very happy, it’s really good to be part of this group and especially since we have Year 11 and Year 13s singing together.”

Director of Music, Rosemary Scales, commented, “What a great event: I really hope it’s the first of many! So many Leighton Park students are involved in a cappella singing and events like this will encourage even more to join in. I was so proud of both of our groups as they really rose to the occasion and sung their hearts out amongst lots of really talented groups from the other schools. “

The runners up in the Barbershop category were Derby Grammar School,  with HawleyHurst School taking second place in the Ensembles category, closely beaten by Adcote School for Girls with their performance described as ‘spine-tingling’ by judge Josh.

Trish Lopes, who brought a group from Hemdean House School, Caversham, enthused, “It’s been great fun and an amazing experience for the children. It’s good for them to see the older ones sing too as it shows them what they could do too.”

ISA Event Organiser, Marie-Ange Moncey, commented, “From our perspective today was really successful. The school’s communication was helpful in advance and the venue was great. There is so much here. We need to see what feedback we get from the schools before we decide whether to run it next year but the feeling is very positive.”