News

On the 19th of November the school was visited by the Southern First Brigade army band. The band was conducted by Captain Michael Prendergast. All the school, from first to sixth year was persent at the performance in the gymnasium. The band played a wide variety of pieces that appealed to all of the audience. The concert began with a typical rousing march and led on to the toreodors fanfare and march from the opera ‘Carmen’ by Bizet. After these initial pieces that grabbed our attention the concert took a more mellow line of thought. Some of the older members of staff were reminded of popular Beatles songs such as Here There and Everywhere and Penny Lane. However, the conductor also demonstrated the various sounds of some lesser known instruments, that the non-music students of the school were, perhaps not familiar with. These included the tuba ,(largest and deepest sounding brass instrument), and the piccelo, (higher version of the flute). We also heard two songs, sung by members of the band. A song from the musical Chess and a Jazz standard captivated our imaginations. The concert concluded with a Michael Jackson medly that was enjoyed by all, so much so that after lunch off tune reditions of Bille Jean and Beat It could heard throughout the school. After the concert head boy Sean O’Regan and Senior Day girl Laura McPadden presented Captain Prendergast with a crest of the college as a token of our gratitude. The band in the past have performed for Pope John Paul, Presidents Kennedy and Regan. It was therefore an honour to have such a prestigious group of musicans perform at our school.
_Matthew Wilson (Form VI)