Senior Assembly.

The Senior Assembly on Friday 20^th November was a feast of music to celebrate St Cecilia’s Day, the Patron Saint of Music.  Organised by Lower IV Aleph,  it featured the musicians in the class with performances from Niamh playing the violin,  followed by Ivy playing the flute and then Caitlin playing the piano.  Beautifully presented by Tamara, Fernanda, Donya and Sophie the Assembly featured an interview with professional singer, Roxy Rizzo, who shared her experience of the music industry and her thoughts on the power of music.

After this, there was a powerpoint featuring an interview with The Guardian held with one of our past pupils, Hannah Kendall, a successful professional composer.  She spoke about diversity and gender in the music industry:

“… the challenges you might face as a woman are different from those you have as a result of coming from a minority background. It’s across all aspects of life, and can’t be reduced to specific examples. We have to dispel the myth that prejudice is always there in front of you. It’s not. It all overlaps. The term “intersectionality” expresses it best.”

When asked by the interviewer what can be done, beyond the good learning and participation programmes that arts organisations have, Hannah replied:

“These are good – and certainly audiences at the theatre are more diverse, in a way they’re not at concerts. We have to look around and ask how we can be more inclusive. It’s thinking about how to make our work relevant…This morning on Spotify I was listening to Stormzy. He’s amazing. I’ve been thinking about how we can collaborate…”

Hannah’s latest opera, ‘The Knife of Dawn’, was staged at the Royal Opera House in London a couple of weeks ago and is still available to watch online on the ROH website.

After the powerpoint came the glorious culmination of the Assembly, when the whole Form erupted in a wonderful blast of drumming, playing ‘Sunrise over the Sahara’ in praise of St Cecilia.  A wonderful way to begin a Friday morning!