King’s was pleased to welcome renowned choral conductor Dominic Peckham for a third visit to run a series of workshops beginning with a whole school assembly followed by sessions with the School Choir, Chapel Choir and Chamber Choir.

Once again Dominic delivered dynamic, energetic and entertaining sessions throughout the course of the day. In the School Choir session, Dominic worked the pupils hard on breathing, diction and making syncopation really tight and exciting in fun arrangements of Lullaby of Broadway and Joyful, Joyful. Dominic’s enthusiasm for choral music is infectious and all the pupils gave it their all to deliver impressive results. Dominic also worked on the music that the Chapel Choir are busy preparing for Choral Evensong at Tewkesbury Abbey on 1^st February. Particular attention was given to the balance and blend of parts and emphasis on the importance of shape and line of each vocal part and how they work and interact – at one point during the rehearsal the choir were spread around the entire room! There was a notable difference in blend by the end of the session and overall a hugely valuable experience in training pupils to listen and be aware of each other more. The Chamber Choir worked on Three Piece of Love: Love’s Philosophy by Alexander L’Estrange along with Durufle’s motet Ubi caritas. Dominic was hugely impressed by the level of musicianship shown not only by the members of the Chamber Choir, but of all the choirs and encouraged lots of pupils to audition for the National Youth Choir of Great Britain of which we already have three pupils who have successfully auditioned. Well done to all involved!

In the afternoon, Dominic continued the day with workshops involving pupils from Hazlegrove, Perrott Hill and Port Regis. It was great to see over fifty children enjoying singing so much. Activities included preparing three pieces for performance in a short concert to end the day. The pieces were hugely contrasting ranging from Swedish folk song to an American spiritual – with one piece that required creating a rain effect and with solos from Charlotte (Port Regis) and Edward (Perrott Hill) who performed brilliantly. There was also lots of energetic movement and some audition participation too. A gallery of photos from the day of workshops can be viewed below.

Ashley Marshfield - Director of Choral Studies