One thousand people waited expectantly in the Sports Hall on Sunday 7th, February for an evening of "inspiring music, faultless dedication and unmissable entertainment" that we have all come to fondly know as The Mair Cup.
Mr Day’s speech speculated whether, or not, Fry could repeat their historic win from last year. He was also surprised that one House’s preparation for the competition was so intense that it required a special ‘Waitrose’ diet!
The Judges were very impressed with the quality and sheer number of excellent individual musicians on display and, consequently, awarded a record number of Commendation Certificates this year. Two Commendations were awarded for Kett’s Instrumental Ensemble. One was awarded to James Myers for his flute playing and another to Penelope Carter for her arrangement.
Cavell was awarded 4 Commendation Certificates for performers in both the Instrumental Ensemble and Small Ensemble. Mollie Narayn picked one up for her directing and violin playing. Robert Peck took another for his virtuosic Saxophone improvisation. The last two went to Georgie Hoare for her arranging skills and vocals and Tim Weber for his vocals and charisma.
New Hall was noted in the Commendation prizes for 3 of their male singers in the Small Ensemble – Jack Evans, Harry Evans and Matt Nelson.
Kett won the best Small Ensemble prize with their arrangement, by Felix Faire, of Butterfly by Mia Makaroff. The Judges acknowledged that this was the best performance of the evening.
New Hall claimed the Instrumental prize with another composition from Tom Richardson and Marcus Verrell entitled Jam Origins, following on from their success in the previous year. The Judges loved this piece for the quality of the ensemble playing and the atmosphere created with a bedside lamp.
Fry took the best Large Choir certificate with Never Forget by Take That. Kati Lines was deservedly awarded a commendation certificate for her accompanying of all of Fry’s entries on keyboards.
New Hall, under the direction of Charlotte Evans and Tom Richardson, won the Mair Cup trophy overall because the judges felt that, out of all the Houses, they produced 3 consistently good performances on the night. If this was not enough, the evening had a special additional extra in the interval when all the Music Captains performed their rendition of REM’s classic Everybody Hurts to help those whose lives have been devastated in Haiti. The generous donations of our packed audience came to £500, which I am sure will be warmly received. It is not only good to think that so many people had such an enjoyable evening here in Norfolk, but a lot of good came out of it for those in need further afield.
Mr Day
Director of Music
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