November 12, 2009
Performing Arts are taking a group of 50 1st year pupils to the Scottish Youth Theatre in Glasgow to see ‘Pobby and Dingan’ on Thursday 18th March.
Apart from the play itself, the 1st years will also have the opportunity to take part in two Scottish Youth Theatre workshops in school. If parents would like their child to have an opportunity to take part, please return the tear off slip on the letter which was sent home before Friday 27th November.
March 24, 2009
The Performing Arts Faculty are holding a Spring Concert to be held in the school Games Hall on Tuesday March 31st. Here you can listen to the School Concert Band, Junior Band, Choir, String and Saxophone Group whilst relaxing with something to eat and drink.
Pupils have worked exceptionally hard within their bands and ensembles and we thought this type of concert would be an ideal opportunity to showcase their talents.
Tickets are £4 for adults, £2 concessions. Doors open at 7pm for prompt 7.30 start. Tickets can be purchased from the Performing Arts Faculty.
February 27, 2009
Report from Stephanie O’Raw
Friday 6th February, midnight. Our double-decker coach departs Our Lady’s High School and we’re off to London! However our excitement soon turned to exhaustion a few hours into the journey and almost everyone was fast asleep.
In what really seemed like no time at all we had our last service station stop and were now keenly looking out for our first glimpse of a famous London landmark. The coach turned a corner and in front of us was Trafalgar Square. It now truly felt like we’d finally arrived in London! We then started to recognise many of the street names from the monopoly board, Park Lane, Oxford Street, Strand….
Our first stop was Covent Garden. At nine o’clock on a Saturday morning many vendors were setting up their stalls for a busy market day. We were intrigued by the old toy shop and a brilliant cake shop with cakes so colourful and perfect it was hard to tell if they were plastic or edible.
A short while later, after lunch, it was time to regroup and head to the “Queen’s Theatre” for our matinee performance of the longest running musical in the West End, Les Miserables. The show takes place during a revolution in France and has wonderful special effects, lighting and scenery but for some of the group it was a rather scary experience, not due to the realistic battle scenes recreated on stage, but because we were seated in the “God’s” and vertigo was kicking in. However, they soon recovered and after a wonderful performance we headed to an Italian restaurant, La Locanda, for dinner and then, as we were all completely shattered, we went straight to the Hotel Ibis and it was off to bed.
It really was a shock to our systems when the alarms went off at 7 o’clock on Sunday morning and bleary-eyed, we headed down to breakfast. Today, we were going to Madam Tussauds. On arrival, to our delight, we discovered there was a Big Brother Diary Room so we all piled in to sit on the chair and talk to Big Brother and receive one of his notorious tasks. We then had hours of fun posing with the life-like waxworks including Leonardo DiCaprio, Tiger Woods and Shrek. Next, we explored Madam Tussaud’s dungeon (not for the faint hearted like myself) which was a dark room emulating an old prison but there were live actors lurking behind every corner ready to jump out and terrify you. The only plus side of this part was they were preparing us for what we would experience on Monday in the London Dungeons!
After Madam Tussauds, we got back on the bus and made for Oxford Street. Everyone, particularly the girls, were really excited about this spot of retail therapy and driving down Oxford Street, enroute to our bus stop, to our great delight, we passed a huge Primark bigger than the Debenhams in Glasgow… Shopping Heaven!!!
At four o’clock, we all regrouped to compare bargains and walked down to the Hard Rock Café for dinner. The Hard Rock Café is decorated like an old American Diner with lots of Rock “n” Roll antiques hanging from the walls. We hungrily munched into our burgers and expressed our anticipation for the next activity, a night flight on the London Eye. As we boarded our pod we could see the Houses of Parliament lit up and tried in vain to spot Buckingham Palace. We also “spied” the MI5 building. The view down the River Thames was truly breathtaking.
Monday was our last day in London and a scary ordeal faced us in the form of the London Dungeons. This truly terrifying, but somewhat educational, tour takes you through London’s history including a “haircut” by Sweeny Todd, a trip through the wreckage of the Great Fire of London and the notorious murderer Jack the Ripper even makes a brief appearance. Thanks to Mr Millar being found “guilty as charged” in The London Dungeon’s courtroom, we were all sentenced to a trip to the torture chamber which ended with a backwards boat-ride to the east-end of London.
After the dungeons it was back to Oxford Street for some last minute shopping and then we headed to Pizza Hut for an all-you-could-eat feast. Our last stop was the “Apollo Victoria Theatre” for what truly was the highlight of our trip, a performance of the musical “Wicked”. This prequel to the Wizard of Oz had everyone cheering as flying monkeys, broomsticks and a spectacular bubble blowing swing flew across the stage before our eyes. The music was amazing and Elphaba’s (The “Wicked Witch of the West”) rendition of “Defying Gravity” is something many of us will never forget. We were all, even the boys, queuing up to buy the soundtrack at the interval. After a standing ovation, our time in London was almost over.
We went back to our hotel for the last time to pack up our stuff and get a, ahem “good night’s sleep” before getting back on the bus at nine o’clock the next morning to head back home to bonny Scotland.
December 8, 2008
Our Lady’s Christmas Reflections concert took place 9th December in Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral, Motherwell, in front of a packed audience, including invited guests from local parishes, Chief Executive of North Lanarkshire Council, Councillor Jim Logue and other local councillors, representatives from Learning and Leisure Services, Our Lady’s Parent Council and PTA, headteachers from our associated primaries, and Mr Derek Hannan from Braidhurst HS.
Christmas cards for sale!
Pupils braved the cold of the entrance to sell Christmas cards to the audience as they arrived. All of the cards were designed by S1 as part of their Art and Design work.
After a welcome from PTs Performing Arts, Mrs Mitchell and Mrs Glover, the Senior Wind Band performed Classical Christmas, followed by With each sunset, a gorgeous melody which the band had recently played at the National Concert Band Festival event in RSAMD, Glasgow.
Our Lady's Choir and Senior Wind Band
The Flute Ensemble played a beautiful, spine-tingling rendition of Away in a Manger, followed by the Saxophonists’ cheerful Santa Baby, and the String Group’s lovely Winter Song.
The Clarinet Group provided a funky Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer, followed by another Away in a Manger, this time with the Vocal Group singing the carol to a different melody, accompanied by flute soloist, Claire Friary.
Twelve Days of Christmas
The Senior Wind Band reassembled for an amusing take on the Twelve Days of Christmas. Emily, played by Stephanie O’Raw, is charmed, frustrated, and finally driven to extreme measures by the unusual gifts, with musical interpretations to match. It certainly caused smiles and laughter in the audience (and a few members of the band got the giggles as well).
More music from the Guitar Group’s Secret Agent and the Saxophone Quartet’s Christmas Medley, followed by the Junior Band playing Pachelbel’s Christmas, which featured Pachelbel’s Canon, played behind a medley of Christmas songs.
Choir and French Horns
The French Horns then played When a Child is Born, after which the entire choir assembled for a truly haunting O Holy Night, followed by Somewhere in my Memory, with a solo from Stacey Tollan, and solo glockenspiel from Lucy McCarron. Absolutely stunning.
The choir was then joined by the whole Senior Wind Band for Silent Night. The concert ended with Hark the Herald Angels Sing, choir and band accompanying the whole audience.
Well over a hundred Our Lady’s pupils took part in the concert, with many other staff and pupils providing assistance with transporting and setting up equipment. Mr Love’s vote of thanks commented on the huge amount of work and effort that had gone in to the event, noting how the beautiful surroundings of the Cathedral added a special sparkle to the pupils’ performances. Special thanks to Canon Carey for allowing the use of the Cathedral.
Most importantly, the stars of the show:
Many thanks to all the staff who helped with rehearsals, preparations and organisation of every kind, including Bothwellpark High School, Mrs Anderson, Mrs Clements, Mrs Cooper, Mr Couper, Ms Dysart, Mr Fairley, Mr Findlay, Mrs Glover, Mrs Johnston, Mrs King, Fr Miller, Mr Miller, Ms Miller, Mrs Mitchell, Mrs Mulholland, Ms Murray, Ms Murray, Ms Steinert, Mr Woods, Ms Waddle, Mrs Zambonini, the school admin team and the janitors.
If anyone’s name has been missed out, please report it to Mrs Macfadyen, either in person or by adding a comment on this website (click on the word Comments at the top).
November 21, 2008
A report on the school band’s trip to Germany has just been added to the school website. Click here to read. Feel free to add your own comments about the trip by clicking on the word “Comments” above.
November 11, 2008
Our Lady’s is receiving visitors from our associated primary schools on both Tuesday and Wednesday this week, and they are incredibly excited to be here! The pupils are having classes around Our Lady’s, finding out a bit about life in secondary school. In the LRc, for example, the P7s had a look at the blog and the website.
All P7 pupils are welcome to leave their thoughts about Our Lady’s here, by clicking on the word, “Comments” above, and filling in the form.
October 24, 2008
Our Lady’s High School’s Wind Band is off to Aberfoyle on Friday 24th October for a weekend of intensive rehearsals in preparation for the National Concert Band Festival to be held on the 9th of November at RSAMD in Glasgow.
October 24, 2008
Report by Lauren Donnelly
A group of S3-S6 pupils ventured down to the Civic under the watchful eye of Mrs Mitchell for a workshop with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, which resulted in a recording of the pupils playing the Kaiser Chief’s “I predict a riot”.
We arrived at the Concert Hall to see another school was taking part: Braidhurst had their own clothes on while we were in our uniforms!! However we were quickly mixed together and set up tolook like a real ensemble so we didn’t dwell too greatly.
The day started with some laid back rhythmic games with our conductor, Greg. He was possibly the most eccentric, excited guy I’ve ever met, but a good laugh.
After the games we tuned our instruments, which ranged from saxophones to trombones, clarinets to trumpets and flutes to percussion. We then sight-read our parts for the arrangement and started tackling the piece.
After not too long, we broke for lunch. While we eat, Rory, the recording guy, and pupils from St Andrew’s, Coatbridge, set up the recording equipment.
After lunch, we tackled the remainder of the music and went for a first recording (which unsurprisingly wasn’t good). A second go went much smoother and sounded much better, and our third run through topped the lot, much to the delight of Greg!
As I write, our recording is being made with a CD, which we will all get a copy of as a souvenir of the day.
It’s amazing how quickly the day went. Time flies when you’re having fun! Ha!
September 4, 2008
Members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra held a workshop for Lanarkshire pupils at the Motherwell Civic yesterday. Instrumentalists from 3rd-6th year attended the sessions, at which the Orchestra played selections from Mama Mia and Pirates of the Caribbean, assisting and encouraging the younger players to join in.
A second workshop is taking place on October 10th.
August 18, 2008
Think you’re a decent composer? Could you give Mozart or John Williams a run for their money? Then this is the competition for you.
The Sibelius Student Composer of the Year challenges you to compose a short piece of music; either to accompany a one-minute film clip or a short Classical/Contemporary piece or a Jazz piece.
The prizes: A masterclass with one of the star judges. Screening of your entry at the BFI Southbank, London. Sibelius 5 with all add-on software. £500. Pro Tools LE, an Mbox and DV Toolkit from Digidesign.
For more information go to the Sibelius competition website by clicking here.
