Handel's Youth Messiah 2018
On Sunday 2 December, Sidcot students made their way to the Royal Albert Hall in London to perform in Handel’s oratorio, The Messiah. Sophia Cuckson (Lower Fifth), William Munro-March (Upper Fourth) and Henry Williams (Third Form) give their reviews of the day:
Leaving school at 6.00am, we set of for the Royal Albert Hall, London. With one stop on the way to get breakfast and stretch our legs, we arrived outside the venue at 10.00am. We then split into our groups of soprano, alto and bass and found our door. Unfortunately, we had to wait outside in the cold for it to open, but soon we were able to enter. When we went inside, we had to find where we were supposed to sit, once we had found our seats, received our scores and settled down. We were able to admire the enormity of the Royal Albert Hall and begin to feel very excited as we waited for the other schools to find their places. We started the day with a few warm ups conducted by Ben Parry, before launching into a full rehearsal of Handel’s Messiah with the amazing orchestra. The sound was amazing, thousands of students and a full orchestra made a wonderful sound as we sang one of Handel’s greatest music. After the rehearsal, we were allowed to eat our lunch in our seats and have a short break. Shortly after lunch, the audience began to arrive and we were ordered back to our seats. Once the audience had settled, the orchestra came back on along with the soloists and our conductor Ben Parry. The performance started with a speech about the charity that this event was supporting, which was water aid. Then the orchestra started with the overture followed by the tenor soloist. As we had not heard the soloists yet, we watched with wonder as they sang. Each of the soloists had incredible voices and it was wonderful to listen to them. Our choruses were interspersed with the different solos, we luckily were not singing all the time. However, when we did, we sang our hearts out! When it came to sing the Hallelujah chorus, the audience stood up and sung it with us, the atmosphere was amazing. The performance finished with thanking our brilliant conductor, soloists and orchestra, and a very loud applause from the audience. Leaving the Albert hall, we climbed back on the coach feeling exhausted but happy, as we started the long journey home, back to Sidcot and to bed! It was an unbelievable experience and definitely one to repeat. – Sophia
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I signed up to sing Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall, but it turned out to be an unforgettable experience that I’d highly recommend. It was an early start to the day and the coach left school at 6am but the 3.30 hour journey to London flew by as I chatted to friends and watched films on the coach. As we drove into London, our driver pointed out some places of interest and I learnt some fun facts along the way. We stopped for a group photo outside and then I got to go into the Hall ….. It was beautiful and I was amazed by the architecture and sheer size of the organ. There were hundreds of children from all over Europe and when we started the rehearsal the sound that came from us all, was incredible. We were accompanied by an orchestra which made our singing more powerful and I could feel the adrenalin pumping. After lunch, we sat and waited for the audience to spill in. We didn’t know it, but we were going to be joined by 4 professional singers during the main performance and their voices were spectacular. I can’t describe the feeling I had when I was singing, but I know it left me speechless. I was sorry when our performance ended but I know that the audience enjoyed it because they clapped for a long time afterwards. On the journey home, I got to see some of the Christmas lights in London and we stopped at the services for a well-deserved tea. We didn’t get back to school till 8.15pm and we were all tired, but I will definitely being going again next year, and it would be great if you could come to. – William
Around thirty students all ages got up at five in the morning to take the four hour bus ride to the spectacular location of the Royal Albert hall in London. Handel’s Messiah is a two hour long piece of music that tells the story of Christ through music. There are four parts, sopranos, Altos, tenors and Bases. We performed a shortened version of the Messiah. There were fifteen hundred students there all ages from seven to eighteen. Performing in such an incredible building like the Royal Albert hall, you really feel the sheer size and also it is amazing how many people have been there and how hard it must have been to build. The standard of the singing was excellent and it is an unmissable opportunity and when you are there, a massive privilege. It is a truly great day. – Henry
