Curtain up on school choir competition

Cumbernauld Primary School’s choir have been very busy, juggling preparations for the competition alongside preparations for the school show. Depute head Bernadette Hunter has been leading the choir, with P2 class teacher Linzi Brophy providing choreography.

Mrs Hunter said: “We’re doing Superstitious Goat which combines Stevie Wonder with the Sound of Music and adds some rap elements. It’s a piece we’ve brought our own style to.”

Mrs Hunter added that the school had gained a lot from taking part in the concert.

Whitelees Primary School Choir say the technical aspects of their performance have proven challenging. Depute head Marie Oliver, said: “When I read the list of available songs to the pupils Walking on Sunshine was the one they chose. At first I thought it would be fairly simple, but it’s a very, very quickly-paced song. Still, we’re hoping to have it nailed in time for the concert.”

Whitelees Primary will be represented by around 28 pupils from Primary 3-Primary 7. Marie added: “We’ve been running the choir as an after-school club and the pupils have enjoyed themselves a lot. We’ve been very well supported by the parents too.”

Ann-Marie Steel, a P1 teacher at Condorrat Primary, said their choir has been coming along well. While the bilingual school has an established Gaelic choir, the kids competing are from all age groups. Their song of choice is Marry You, by Bruno Mars.

“We wanted to tell a story with our performance,” she said. “As this is the first year of this competition we’re a bit worried that we don’t know the standard of the other performances, but we’ve all enjoyed it and hopefully this experience will cause some pupils to take an interest in joining our choir.”

The concert is in St Mungo’s Church on Friday, May 18 starting 6pm. Tickets, £3-£5, from the News office or any of the participating schools.