Wyvern Cluster Vocal Festival 2024

The Vocal Festival 2024 was a fantastic celebration of music and singing and it was wonderful to see our Wyvern cluster schools come to together for a unique performance.

The theme this year was ‘Rivers and Oceans’ and songs included a range of styles, cultures and traditions. The evening began with ‘Funga Alafia’, a lively Nigerian welcome song, performed by all 200 singers who had learnt the song on the day.

The infant choir then performed three songs they have been working on ‘Dance to Your Daddy’ a traditional sea shanty, ‘Over the Deep Blue Sea’ complete with choreography, and ‘Under the Sea’ from Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

The Junior choir then took to the stage with three contrasting songs ‘The River’, ‘Learn to Swim’ with actions, and finishing with ‘Just Around the Riverbend’ from Disney’s Pocahontas.

All performed brilliantly and demonstrating the choirs ability to sing some more challenging repertoire in more than one part. The senior choir then performed four songs, the traditional ‘Skye Boat Song’ which was sung A Capella, followed by ‘The Water is Wide’ another traditional folk song sung beautifully in 3-part harmony with a solo from Ella in year 7, a gospel arrangement of ‘Wade in the Water’ and finishing with an energetic performance of ‘Hold Back the River’ with a solo from Millie in Year 11.

The finale of the evening included all of our choirs together on stage performing a song they had learnt on the day ‘O River’ sung A capella with overlapping parts and harmonies provided by the senior choir, followed by a powerful arrangement of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ by Simon and Garfunkel, and finishing with an enthusiastic performance of ‘Umbrella’ by Rhianna.

The evening was extremely special and one which will be remembered by all involved. Huge thanks to our fantastic vocal coach, Paula Thomson, who led inspirational vocal workshops on the day, adding the magic and performance quality to the show, and for leading the choirs in their final performances.

Thank you to all our cluster school teachers and singers from Fair Oak Infants, Fair Oak Juniors, Stoke Park Infants, Stoke Park Juniors, Durley Primary and Upham Primary schools. And finally thank you to our fantastic Wyvern Singers and brilliant Vocal ambassadors.