Our music and singing students had the privilege of sharing the stage with the British director and composer John Rutter, at a magnificent concert which took place last weekend, at the Santa María parish church. The event, which was also attended by the British Ambassador, Simon Manley, ended with a standing ovation for all those performing and also some words of congratulations from the Master, for our students and their amazing talents.
The concert was an incredible feat of harmonious musicality and incredible tone, with the School's Choir putting on an absolutely sublime performance of the highest quality and interpretation. It was very exciting to see the look of joy on our students' faces, as they were being brilliantly directed by John Rutter. At the end, the Master was effusive in his praise and acclamation for the School and the work we are doing with our Music students. He also remarked on the pronunciation and very good level of English spoken by all of our students.
Music is very important for the School, not just as a way of academic learning, but also because of the many different values it promotes in students. We try to highlight the importance of Music in the school academic programme because it helps to develop memory, confidence, discipline, coordination, creativity and teamwork. That's why, on this occasion, we would really like to acknowledge the efforts of Eric Peters, Rupert Damarell, Marcelino López and Álvaro Vaquero, all part of the team which helped to make the Concert such a success.
John Rutter studied Music at Clare College, Cambridge, and started to become known as a composer during his time there. Between 1975 and 1979, he was the Director of Music at his alma mater and also directed the University Chapel Choir, for many of its' recordings and broadcastings. Since 1979 he has divided his time between directing and composing, and his works have been interpreted around the world, and even played at both of the last English Royal Weddings. Amongst his works, is his incredibly emotional Requiem, one of the pieces played at the Concert, which everybody loved.
We will always be left with a great memory of such a marvellous joint performance. The noticeboards in Primary and Secondary continue to have posters of the Concert, all signed by the great Music Master that is John Rutter.