Cookstown High School students chime in spring with a concert

Time to overcome, time to flourish and time to perform.

For Cookstown High School’s musicians, the climax of a year’s worth of preparation, dedication and hard work was showcased at a vibrant Spring Concert.

This year, Cookstown High School’s annual Spring Concert featured a variety of genres and styles, from the fine work of Mozart, to traditional pipes and drums, a stop in the coarse, dissonant jazz scene to the delightful, fictitious Disney realm.

Many young performers took to the stage for the first time, showing their determination, skill and sheer nerve.

Junior soloists Katie Hammond and Alice Bowden delivered a heart-warming interpretation of well-known musical theatre songs, while Ava Cleary-McGuffin and Lydia Mitchell exploited the resonant sounds of the flute and piano.

Joshua Dripps raced us quickly through time to the familiar Rock and Roll era and showcased his skills on the Drums, performing a well-known Rolling Stones’ cover, My Generation. The junior choir and concert band were led by Mr McKeown. The junior choir of Year 8-9 girls sang When I grow up from the newly adapted musical Matilda - their sweet sounding voices were a treat to the audience.

The school band opened the concert with the Apollo 13 film theme, and later performed Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Go, Go, Go Joseph.

Following two commendable performances, each of the band members would like to thank Mr McKeown’s hard work and relentless enthusiasm.

This year, the concert had a retro, jazz theme (no matter how hard Mrs Gormley tries to deny it!) and each of the senior choirs were accompanied by the house band, as were many soloists.

The band filled the school hall with a cool vibe providing an enjoyable, jovial spirit as the senior girls’ choir and the chamber choir belted out numbers like One Day by Kodaline.

The concert concluded with a performance of The Prayer by Zoe Seymour and James Marks.

Being an active member of the music department, I can relate the handwork and dedication required to make the Spring Concert possible.

On behalf of the students in Cookstown High School’s music department, I would like to thank Mr McKeown and Mrs Gormley for their dedication.