High schools get musical in borough’s first singing showcase

Siddal Moor Vocal Group

A musical singing showcase set up to get more high school pupils involved in demonstrating their talent saw soloists, bands and choirs from Cardinal Langley, Siddal Moor, Holy Family, Kingsway Park and Matthew Moss high schools taking part.

Siddal Moor Vocal Group kicked the showcase off with a mix of pop and classical, including hit numbers from Coldplay and Lily Allen. The songs were followed by solo drum performances, a series of duets that featured John Legend’s ‘All of Me’ and a solo pianist performance of the hit Titanic song, ‘My Heart Will Go On’.

Many students performed solos during the evening, highlights included ‘Listen’ by Beyoncé and Sam Smith’s ‘Too Good at Goodbyes’. Bands were also in action at the showcase too covering ‘Dani California’ by Red Hot Chilli Peppers and ‘Hurt’ by Johnny Cash.

Rochdale Youth Choir closed the showcase with three of their favourites, ‘The Call’ by Regina Spektor, ‘If You’re out There’ by John Legend and Michael Bolton’s ‘Lean on Me’.

Councillor Donna Martin, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “This is a great idea and I hope it grows with more schools getting involved. There is a fantastic range of music on offer from rock to choir and everything in between so I would really encourage others to get involved. Our children and young people are extremely talented and events like this give them an excellent platform to be celebrated.”

Joanne Astley, organiser of the showcase from the council’s music service, said: “Our aim was to increase the number of schools and pupils involved in singing and we have done this already, but we can still achieve so much more so it will be an exciting time for high schools with the return of the showcase each year.”