SCHOOL NEWS
STAFF LEAVERS
all. He corralled all this vocal potential
in the school chamber choir whose
performances at the services of Nine
Lessons and Carols in Pock Church at
Christmas became more ambitious,
challenging and rewarding. Word
spread and the choir was in demand
for the Macmillan charity carol service
at Beverley Minster. I am sure many
recent OPs will have fond memories
of “Whence is that Goodly Fragrance
Flowing” reverberating around the
mediaeval stonework.
MARTIN KETTLEWELL
He’s doing that smile again. I can tell
he’s in his element, standing in front
of the Swing Band, arms going up and
down, that little curve in the corner of
his mouth giving away how much he’s
enjoying himself. I remember that cute
smirk when he came for interview,
way back in the last millennium when
I played bass guitar with the band.
We played “Star Wars” (not exactly
a swing number!) and the boy from
Batley first got the band to improve
some technical details about the piece.
Then, more importantly, he conveyed
to the musicians, with that smile, the
pleasure there is to be experienced from
performing. This has been a constant
characteristic that Martin has expressed
through his enthusiasm and energy
during his time as Director of Music at
Pocklington School: the most important
thing about music is that everyone is
enjoying themselves!
It wasn’t long after his appointment that
Martin had his first challenge to prepare
for: a service at York Minster, no less,
in which a choir from Pocklington
School was invited to sing an anthem.
Courageous or foolhardy, maybe, he
took it on. So began MK’s Music Society:
an invited group of eager parents and
staff complementing the school choir, as
we took on the appropriate “Achieved
Is The Glorious Work” from Haydn’s
Creation.
He took the Music Society that had been
crafted by his predecessor and shaped
it into a new, enlarged vehicle which
anyone with a zeal for singing or playing
could jump on board and experience
the thrill of a “big concert”. And what
concerts! There were Requiems by
Mozart (definitive - every singer should
perform it at least once!), Verdi (massive
- with its off-stage trumpets in the new
balconies at Pock church), Fauré (classic
- so much so we did it twice, second time
for Martin’s swansong last term) and
Duruflé (sublime - my personal favourite
for its fabulous organ part). There were
Masses and other large scale works for
choir and orchestra, even a Passion by
Bach in his 250th memorial year. Music
Society also included entertaining and
social evening rehearsals, renowned
for extended coffee and biscuit breaks
(always some chocolate digestives!) and,
of course, MK’s famous crazy warm-ups.
Martin’s passion for singing was clear
in other ways soon after he arrived. He
was swift to appoint a peripatetic singing
teacher at school and the list of pupils on
this timetable soon became the largest of
The school Swing Band had already
established itself as a popular ensemble
and had even ventured on tour to
neighbouring countries. In customary
fashion, MK took things further. The
pieces we played were more challenging
and the tours ventured further afield
to places like Romania, Spain and
Berlin. We attracted a team of overseas
“groupies” as many families of band
members arranged their holidays around
the tours and became our most vocal
supporters in venues such as Square Jean
XXIII round the back of Notre Dame in
Paris, Luxembourg’s Place d’Armes and
Piazza Navona in Rome.
That first overseas foray to Romania was
also the beginning of a decade of Silvestri
Music Scholarships that Martin oversaw,
making annual trips to attend auditions
and interviews for some awesome
scholars who came to study in the Lower
6th at Pocklington for a year, motivating
and inspiring the students around them.
Perhaps a notable annus mirabilis of
THE POCKLINGTONIAN
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