Hallé Orchestra Green Plant Concert

On 7th of March 2023, 15 of our Year 8 students attended a Hallé for Youth Orchestra concert at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. This was part of Mr Bromwich’s ‘Rock Challenge’, which encouraged students to seize the opportunity of learning a new musical instrument.

Prior to the trip, all Year 8 students were given pieces of card which were stamped every time they visited the Music Department to practice an instrument of their choice at either break time, lunch time, before school or after school. Students’ completed stamp cards were then entered into a raffle, and 15 students were drawn at random to attend the orchestra concert as a treat for their motivation and hard work. It was absolutely fantastic to see so many of our Year 8’s engaging with the Rock Challenge, and to see so many stamp cards completed in the raffle box. Students really pushed themselves to step out of their comfort zone and learn brand new instruments such as the guitar, piano or drums, and it made us feel so proud seeing their progress.

The lucky 15 students were absolutely brilliant from the moment they left the school site in the morning. The theme of the concert was “The Green Planet”, therefore all music played by the orchestra was related to each season of the Earth. Our students listened attentively to each piece of music played and fully immersed themselves into the concert experience. For some students, it was their first time ever seeing an orchestra play live, so we hope it was an enjoyable memory that they will never forget.

The students were not only respectful and considerate of others around them during the day, but they displayed huge amounts of responsibility and maturity. We are so grateful for their efforts to represent themselves and Mount St Mary’s in the best way possible.

Miss H Mulcahy
Student Advocate, Year 8