An annual school concert has helped to raise £1,500 towards the cost of staging Wales’ National Eisteddfod, which comes to Monmouthshire in July.
Spellbinding performances by 250 musicians from Monmouth School and Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls captivated a packed audience at the Wyastone Concert Hall last night.
The performers, including all Year 7 pupils from both schools, played and sang music by Copland and Poulenc, as well as James Bond themes and the Cantina Band number from Star Wars.
French Soprano Héléne Le Corre, who trained in Paris and sings regularly in the Opera Houses of Europe, was a guest singer.
She said: “This kind of concert, with so many young musicians performing such challenging music, would never happen in a French school!
“Music in UK schools is much more ambitious.”
And Monmouth School’s Director of Music, David Lawson, said: “We like to challenge our pupils, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun along the way – and they always rise to the occasion.”
A total of £1,500 from ticket sales is to be donated to the costs of staging the National Eisteddfod in Abergavenny.
