By Lesley Cairns 6.12

Once again, on Monday 17 December, Greyfriars Kirk was filled with the musical talents of both the Junior and Senior School for the annual Christmas concert. However, this concert was special because it was both a first and last for the new look Music Department.

For Mrs Lovell of the Music Department, it was the first of many concerts to come in which she successfully led the two Senior Choirs and the Second Orchestra. Sadly, it was also the last Christmas concert to be held in Greyfriars Kirk, so a great big thank you to them for their continuing support for the past few years. On the upside, it’s back to the home of the Heriot’s Christmas concerts next year, the Usher Hall.

The evening started with a bang as the Pipe Band paraded through the aisles of the Kirk. The audience were treated to a colourful array of pieces including the Mingulay Boat Song and Mhairi’s Wedding. Mrs Lovell then transported us into Christmas with the sounds of the strings of the Second Orchestra playing Jingle Bells. Mrs Cantlay’s Girls Choir was next up and they turned in a spotless performance with an a capella performance of In Dulci Jubilo as the highlight of their repertoire.

The evening was packed with talent and the Concert Band most of all. They gave a fantastic rendition of the theme to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, entitled Moments for Morricone. Finishing off with Prokofiev’s Troika, credit has to be given to Mrs Donoghue who took over from Mr Brownlee as the conductor of the Concert Band this session.

Both the Senior School Choirs gave wonderful performances with the catchy You Needed Me from S1-3 and Faure’s Cantique de Jean Racine, from S4-6. Two veritable successes for the work put in by everyone especially Mrs Lovell.

The pieces from both the Flute Ensemble and the String Quartet showed off the individual talents of the school’s musicians. The three trombone soloists from the Junior Concert Band showed an extreme amount of promise for the future as they led the band through Mondo Glissando, conducted by Mr Ironside.

If the applause for this did not raise the roof of Greyfriars Kirk then it nearly did for the fantastic performance of the First Orchestra. Conducted by Mr Brownlee with Ruth Rimer of S4 debut-ing as Leader, they played their way through a piece that got the crowd clapping along, Eightsome Reels and, to finish, Tchaikovsky’s Festival Coronation March in D.

Overall, the concert was both a fantastic welcome to a new era in Heriot’s Music Department and the perfect goodbye to Greyfriars Kirk for the Christmas concerts.