Professional Soprano Leads Vocal Masterclass

On Friday 3 March, RGS Worcester welcomed professional soprano Erika Mädi Jones for a Singing Masterclass and evening Vocal Recital. During the school day, pupils from Year Nine to the Upper Sixth attended the two-hour masterclass in Perrins Hall where Erika worked with five of our Senior singers.

Each singer spent twenty minutes with Erika, first performing their individual piece and then working on different sections, as guided by Erika, in front of the other pupils. All the pupils gained valuable insight into the art of singing and performance. Three of those who participated in the masterclass commented as follows:

Martha Burdon, Lower Sixth said: “Erika concentrated on the performance aspect of my piece during the masterclass and, as this is something that I don’t usually focus on, I found it interesting how much it seemed to enhance my delivery and I will aim to continue to work on this in future”.

Ben Sears, Upper Sixth commented: “It was very useful, especially as I learnt that I was pronouncing many of my words wrong! She taught me how to really communicate the story across to the audience despite the language barrier, which I felt massively improved my performance”.

Saffron Crump, Upper Sixth commented: “It was a pleasure to have a masterclass with Erika, whose knowledge, experience and natural talent inspired us all. The day was particularly enjoyable resulting in a beautiful evening performance“.

The evening Vocal Concert took place from 7.00pm in Perrins Hall. The first half featured songs from eleven RGS singers. Martha Burdon began with Mozart’s ‘Abendempfindung; with further German song coming from Saffron Crump (singing Bach’s ‘Blute nur, du liebes Herz!’ from the St Matthew Passion) and Brahms performed by Isabelle Jones and Aoife Smith. Edith Wise sang the English lute song ‘Flow My Tears’ by John Dowland, whilst Ben Sears sang Gabriel Fauré’s beautiful ‘Après un rêve’.

There were also several songs from musicals, beginning with ‘The Life I Never Led’ from ‘Sister Act’ performed by Elizabeth Kaleniuk and ‘Winters on the Wing’ from ‘The Secret Garden’ sung by Kieran Lilley and accompanied ably by Sasha Penlington on the piano. Anna Jobes sang ‘Still Hurting’ from ‘The Last Five Years’ and Isla Tallon performed ‘The Wizard and I’ from ‘Wicked’ before Olivia Sireshuk sang the final show song: the well-known ‘Bring Him Home’ from ‘Les Misérables’.

After the interval, Erika took to the stage and performed a thirty-minute recital of the highest quality. German song by Schubert, Schumann and Wolf was followed by English art song by Gurney, Britten and Rebecca Clarke. Some popular classics followed, beginning with Puccini’s ‘O mio babino Caro’ and Lehár’s ‘Vilja’ from ‘The Merry Widow’ before the recital with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘If I Loved You’ from ‘Carousel’.

The whole day was a celebration of solo singing at RGS Worcester and showcased the talent of our solo singers. It was a joy to hear them sing solos, and for all of us to enjoy Erika’s coaching and performance. I would like to thank Erika, Mrs Spencer for leading the day and all the students who participated so willingly.

Mr Jonathan Soman, Director of Music