Truly Madly Deeply: We Love House Music!

The School’s love of the inimitable event that is House Music reached new heights on Thursday 21^st March as the 2019 competition was enthusiastically contested by the four Senior Houses, School, Grove, Field and Reckitt.

Described as a cross between a rock concert and a rugby match, and requiring a few folk to consider the merits of earplugs as the crowd roared, bashed pans, blew trumpets and banged kitchen utensils delightedly between sets, the overwhelming ethos of the event is one of support and community. As one member of the audience described the evening: “The most impressive element of the entire evening was the spirit in which it was performed. The noise was one thing, the competition clearly fierce and full of rivalries, but the support that the entire community gave to each performance was incredible.  If a performer faltered, it wasn’t just their own House that encouraged them, it was everyone.  The Fryers were cheered more than any other house in order to embrace them into the LP culture.  The support was phenomenal.  Across Houses, across age groups, across genders and cultures.”

As is traditional for this popular annual event there were four categories and an entry was put forward by each House for Soloist, Original Composition, Small Ensemble and Large Ensemble. With pieces ranging from Nikki’s operatic vocals soaring a glorious ‘Una donna A Quindici anni’ by Mozart to Olly Murs’ ‘Dance with me tonight’ from the costumed and choreographed Field House Large Ensemble, there was an eclectic and entertaining range of performances. One of the instruments unfamiliar to many in the audience was Wallance’s Chinese Erhu which is fascinating to watch being played and secured Reckitt victory in the Soloist’s category.

The Original Compositions were all incredible; our talented students should all be so proud of their creativity, musicality and confidence in sharing some unique and brilliant pieces with the School community. It’s hard to believe the judges had to pick out one winner.

The judges were an esteemed group as ever, drawing on decades of professional music experience between them and presided over by Head, Matthew Judd, who was encountering the phenomenon of House Music for the very first time. Paul Cosh, Brass instrument guru and industry legend, returned to Leighton Park as a House Music adjudicator for the third time, he likes the competition so much! Paul was joined by first timers, saxophonist Otis Lawrence who has worked with Celine Dion, Beautiful South and Britany Spears, Andy Piecy who has toured with ELO, Van Halen and Queen and supported high profile evangelical work through music, and Freddie Gavita, winner of British Jazz Awards ‘ Best Trumpet of 2017’ and a member of the Ronnie Scott’s Club Quintet. We hope they enjoyed it enough to come back again too!

The Small Ensembles feeling like a gig at an intimate venue and the Large Ensembles, involving all members of each House, are perhaps the two categories which really show the commitment of the Houses to their rehearsals. With three of the Houses performing impressive medleys there were a variety of lyrics and transitions to master, not to mention the dance moves! The staff performances by Tom, Kate, Jez and Pablo, together with the fabulous Fryer Voices kept the audience entertained whilst the judges deliberated.

Sixth Formers, Emily and Ethan, Heads of House for Grove, who won this year’s competition were beaming with pride at their victory: “It was absolutely amazing to win House Music! We couldn’t believe we actually won and I was delighted by how our house came together and gave it their all. A special mention needs to go to Eloise’s incredible winning composition, which she admirably stepped in with at the last minute, as well as Tom’s magnificent vocals in our small group piece ‘Feeling Good’ which one of the judges described as his ‘personal favourite of the night’. Thank you to everyone who participated. We might not have thought we would win but somehow we pulled it off because of the hard work and determination of everyone in Grove – Thank you all so much!”

One member of the audience summed it up for all the parents irrespective of the House their child is in: “You should be so proud of what you are achieving with these young people.  They are receiving an education that is like no other and I am so happy that my kids have had the opportunity to be part of it.”

We are looking forward to 2020 already!