Performance is key for Kings’ students
KING’S students have been sharing their artistic talents to the delight of their audiences.
Teenager Ciara Allen gave a winning performance at the Cheshire Poetry by Heart competition, and the school’s bands performed at a packed out gala concert.
Ciara Allen, 15, was among 40 of the top young readers of verse nationwide to compete in the blue ribbon event at the British Library winning her own county title.
King’s student Ciara, who starred in the school’s production of The Kinder Transport last year, chose ‘Remembrance’ by Emily Bronte in the pre 1914 section and ‘Originally’ by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy in the post First World War category.
She said: “I chose poems which touched me personally, particularly the Carol Ann Duffy piece, which is all about leaving your home and feeling out of place in your new surroundings.
“I remember feeling like that when we left Holland when I was aged nine and it did take sometime to get used to my new home. Now I love where we live, but for a while it was confusing.”
Ciara, who wants to study English Literature, Psychology and French in the King’s Sixth Form, said: “You have to live the emotion in both your voice and your facial gestures.
“It’s not about making dramatic gestures as though you were on stage, but evoking the meaning and emotion of the words, as if a camera was on your face.”
The King’s School’s Big Band and Jazz Band celebrated the bands’ 25 year history with a gala concert.
Playing to a Main Hall packed full of parents, grandparents and visitors, the 22 piece Big Band with the 20 piece Jazz Band reeled off a succession of classics from the 1920s up to the 1950s.
Conductor Kevin Dearden runs The King’s Big Band alongside fellow teacher and professional musician Gareth Brown, who is also in charge of the Jazz Band.
He said: “We want to provide an alternative to the music the pupils study in lessons and give them something a little more spontaneous they can work with in rehearsals.
“The play list is broad and offers something for everyone, from the year seven pupils up to the Sixth Form students.”
“All the pupils work very hard individually to hone their talents and we practice together for two-and-a-half hours every week.”