Pupils Shine at House Music Festival

House Music Festival 2023 was a celebration of all things musical at Pocklington. Across two nights each house presented four acts made up of an ensemble, partsong, solo and finale. Judging considered the performances from both evenings to award a trophy for Best Individual Item and the overall House Music Trophy. Each house approached the challenge with strong will and determination and displayed an outstanding range of musical talent.  

This year the ensemble pieces came from a range of different genres, spanning jazz, musical theatre, rock, and film music. This breadth led to a varied and captivating ensemble section.  

The four soloists left the audience spellbound and included a spectacular drum solo, piano solo and two beautiful vocal solos of Mozart and Puccini, all of which demonstrated the diverse musical range of our talented Pocklington pupils.   

Each house also took on partsong, which is a set-task to sing part of a song in their own unique way, rather like the technical challenge in the television programme, ‘Great British Bake Off.’ This year, the song was ‘Oklahoma’ by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Each house had a different ‘take’ on the interpretation, and all delivered strong performances.  

In the finales, the houses took on some classic and retro tunes such as Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ by Dolman, and Abba’s ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’ from Wilberforce. The finales were a feast of joy, laughter, and spirit, celebrating the pupils’ hard-work, participation, and collaboration.  

Sam gave thanks to the competition judge, Dr Samantha Horseman, who is an esteemed musician, composer and Director of Music at Queen Margaret’s School in Escrick. Dr Horseman gave some congratulatory closing remarks to the pupils before awarding the best individual item to Jack Dicconson with his piano performance of Chopain’s Nocture in E♭ major (Opus 9 no. 2) and awarded Dolman the House Music Cup for the first time in 11 years. Congratulations to all!  

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"I must commend the pupils for the way they approached House Music, showing compassionate leadership, friendly competitiveness and a desire to succeed."

Sam Austin,
Director of Music at Pocklington School