Each year, our talented musical students attend the Eskdale Festival of the Arts. The festival is held in Whitby and is one of the largest gatherings for school musicians in the region. Mr Richardson, Coordinator of Junior Music, organised the College’s attendance at the event, and has written the following blog about the experience and our outstanding results.
Our first appearance at Eskdale in 2025, with a small initial cohort to get the festival started for us. Emily, Y7, was our first performer of the day, performing a piano solo in the Year 7 and under category. Her performance of the Allegro from Cimarosa’s Sonata in C minor earned her an early first place finish. Emily appeared twice more on the Thursday, with two more first place finishes, but on these occasions performing in year 9 classes.
Next up was Layla, in the Piano Solo for Year 8 and under category. She produced a confident performance of Waltz by Edvard Grieg, which earned her a well deserved first place.
Aryana, Y9, appeared in two year-11 classes. She stunned the audience with her performance of Elegie by Rachmaninov, earning her the “performance of the week” from the adjudicator, and securing a further two first-place finishes.
Kevin (Y12) showed amazing grit and determination performing in difficult circumstances. His performance of the popular River Flows in You by Yiruma earned him his first award at Eskdale this year, with a second-place finish. He is set to appear in two more classes on Friday.
A rather cloudy drive over to Whitby today. This was to be our main ‘senior’ competition day with students competing across a wide range of classes.
Mia (Y8) started proceedings in the Flute Solo Class for students in Year 9 and under. Her rendition of We’re Off To See The Wizard earned her a creditable 3rd place to get the ball rolling.
While we continued with woodwind classes, Dexter (Y9) sailed straight into 1st place with his clarinet solo, the Prelude from The Victorian Kitchen Garden Suite by Paul Reade.
The drama for today started with Y10 William’s performance of Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Despite dropping a stick half way through the piece William managed to continue playing the kit with his bare hand to achieve another 1st place to add to our ever expanding collection.
Kevin made his second appearance on the Festival stage for this week, playing Adventure of a Lifetime by Coldplay on electric guitar, followed by Come Together by the Beatles on drum kit. Another two 1sts. Well done Kevin.
Now came the time for a plethora of singers!
Ellie (Y10) delivered a crystal clear performance of Domine Deus from Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’. The 1st position was never in doubt.
Y11 student Joseph performed in the boys class for students in Year 11 and under. His dramatic delivery of Stars from ‘Les Miserables’ added yet another 1st to the tally.
Ellie returned to show her versatility by singing Requiem from ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ (1st place) and followed with a duet with Blossom (Y9). Laudamus Te, the sixth movement from the aforementioned ‘Gloria’ by Antonio Vivaldi earned another 1st.
Ben (Y11) ended our morning session with his own composition, Looking Back. Our final 1st placing for this session.
The afternoon saw a lot of vocal soloists. We had now moved down the age groups slightly to feature students in Year 9 and under. We were treated to a broad cross section of musical genres, from classical repertoire, through songs from the shows, right through to rock and pop.
The top two places in the girls class were taken by Molly (Y8) singing Matchmaker from ‘Fiddler On The Roof’ (2nd place) and Blossom with a stunning performance of 7 Nation Army by The White Stripes (Post Modern Jukebox arrangement) – 1st place. Credit should also be given to Emily, Betsy (Y8) and Layla, who made the adjudication process particularly difficult with their performances in this class.
The boys followed, with Toby and Ryder (both Y7) gaining 2nd and 3rd place respectively with their performances of Round Shouldered Man from The Secret Garden and Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
“Songs from the Shows” is always a keenly contested class as the boys and girls compete together in this field. Blossom did well to gain a 3rd place with her rendition of Summertime from George Gershwin’s ‘Porgy and Bess’. Toby was also awarded a ‘Highly Commended’ in this class for his delivery of Giants In The Sky from the Stephen Sondheim musical ‘Into The Woods’.
Our Friday afternoon concluded with Emily gaining another 1st in the Folk Song class with The Water Is Wide. Finally, Toby and Ryder went head to head in the Vocal Recital Class, achieving 1st and 2nd respectively.
The Scarborough College ‘medal’ tally is looking pretty healthy so far.
Well done to all our senior students for their outstanding work. Let’s see if the juniors can achieve the same level of performance next week….
Thick fog to accompany the journey to Whitby today.
Our Guitar ensemble, featuring Elliot, Gregor, Brandon Young (all Y4), Alex and Toby (both Y5), started a new week by winning the Guitar Ensemble Class with their wistful performances of Icarus by Kurg Kindle and Arietta by Joseph Kuffner.
Gregor and Brandon went on to win 1st and 2nd respectively in the Guitar Solo Class for those students in Year 6 and under. Gregor playing Zoo Blues and Brandon with a lovely rhythmic version of Meet the Flintstones.
The piano classes followed for the remainder of the morning session. Brandon, having a bit of a busy day today (!) featured in the Year 4 and under Piano Solo Class with Sparkling Splashes and Smooth Water by Barbara Arens, gaining a 3rd place against some stiff competition.
Following lunch, it was the turn of the Year 6 and under students. Hollie and Liam from Y6 were there to represent Scarborough College. Hollie opened the Year 6 and under Piano Solo Class with a very intelligent interpretation of Miroslav Gasieniec’s Hansel and Gretel. Liam followed immediately after with The Entertainer by Scott Joplin. They scored another 2nd and 1st respectively.
The afternoon session concluded with Hollie and Brandon taking to the stage yet again for the Piano Recital Class for Years 6 and under. It was good to finish the day with a joint 1st for this class – the adjudicator simply couldn’t split them!
A rather damp start to the day with some blustery showers and a fairly ‘lively’ sea in Whitby!
We started the morning session with Aurelia (Y6) featuring in the Drum Solo Class for Year 6 and under. A great rhythmic interpretation of Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars saw Aurelia sail into 2nd place here.
All of the children in Years 1 to 6 were transported to Whitby for a battle of the choirs later in the morning! We have a reputation for being top of our class in Eskdale Festival and this year was no exception. The Prep School Choir roared into 1st place in the Recital Class, followed by the Chamber Choir being placed 1st in both the Folk Song and Sacred Music classes.
For the first time in our Eskdale Festival history, our Infants (children in Years 1 and 2) were entered into a competitive class. Usually we sing in the Non-Competitive class, but we thought we might just step it up a bit this year! They sang in a class for children in Year 4 and under…..and won! Well done everyone.
The afternoon session saw our infant and junior solo vocalists take to the stage. Alice (Y2) started proceedings with a word perfect delivery of My Favourite Things from ‘The Sound of Music’. Yet another 1st…….!
CeCe, Raffety (both Y3) and Georgia (Y4) competed in a heavily populated Year 4 and under Vocal Solo Class. CeCe managed to gain a creditable 3rd in a very closely fought session. This was a busy class!
Georgia took to the stage for the third time today to sing in the Recital Class for Year 6 and under, entertaining the audience with Over The Rainbow from ‘The Wizard Of Oz’ and Naughty from ‘Matilda’. Another 1st to add to the junior haul.
Georgia rounded off the day by competing in another large class for Songs from the Shows for children in Year 6 and under – so, competing against students two years her senior! This was certainly a crowd pleaser, featuring pieces from ‘Oliver’, ‘School of Rock’, Mamma Mia’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Wicked’ and ‘Cats’. A well deserved 3rd in this class brought our overall medal haul total to;
