I have been lax in my posting again – for which I am truly sorry.  I don’t really know where the time has gone. Work has been a bit haywire.  Anyway, back to normal, except I won’t be posting on Thursdays, it will be at the weekends.

Now back to the theme of this week’s blog…  The Carol Service at St Joseph’s.

St Joseph’s is a beautiful Catholic church, about halfway up Highgate Hill.  La Sainte Union is a Catholic School in Highgate Road, and St Joseph’s allows the school to use the church for its annual carol service.

It was an amazing service.  A first for me, the service wasn’t led by a priest, but by the pupils of the school, who, along with one of the parent governors, took it in turns to do the readings, play the music and sing.  It gave the whole thing a very different feel.

LSU has an incredibly talented group of young ladies.  I’ve known for some time that, somehow, this school either attracts or nurtures or both musical talent, and I’ve seen its fantastic gospel choir in action on more than one occasion, but this was my first time of seeing the musicians.  Even Ms Williams, the Head Teacher, commented that the current Year 7 (it was the younger girls who dominated this service) has a higher than average talent pool.

The service started with the Brass Group and ended with the congregation and the choir singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing.  In between there were pieces by the Strings and the choirs, as well as a couple of carols sung by the congregation.  The beautiful “Hymn to the Virgin” was sung by the choir which was separated into two sections so the descant could be clearly heard.  Ms Harris conducted a fantastic arrangement of The Carol of Bells and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.  I won’t list all the carols and music but it was a really good evening.

I take my hat off to the teachers as well, Mr Dobney and Ms Harris in particular, who conducted the choir and bands, played and sang, but they are all hard-working and dedicated.  Praise too, to Ms Williams, for keeping the ship on an even keel.  If I had a criticism of the evening, it’s that there was no CD produced.

©Susan Shirley 2014