Students at the David Nieper Academy in Alfreton have been joining in on the recent Derbyshire Big Sing.
Miss Crisp at the academy said: “Following on from the success of last year, ten DNA Voices’ students, ranging from Years 7-11, attended the second Derbyshire Big Sing event at County Hall in Matlock recently.
“The second event of its kind was organised by the Derbyshire Music Hub, and DNA Voices was joined by other secondary schools in Derbyshire on the night: Tupton Hall, Chesterfield Studios, and Highfields School.
“DNA Voices has been rehearsing for this event since the start of the academic year, and everyone was really pleased that we were finally able to attend the event and meet with other schools. The event was compiled of individual items performed by soloists or groups from each school (through a video audition process) and four joint numbers performed by 100 plus students from all schools involved.
“Once our singers had arrived at County Hall and settled down, we headed to the members room to watch all the solo performances and then come together with the other schools for our first and final rehearsal with Emily Morris, the event organiser, before performing to an audience.
“Despite not having practiced with Tupton, Chesterfield, and Highfields before the day, the four-part harmonies from the schools blossomed into something truly special that would later be heard by an audience later that evening in the member’s room.”

Miss Crisp continued: “The night began with an African Welcome Song arranged by Emily Morris, followed shortly afterwards by DNA Voices’ individual item ‘Edge of Great’ from the Netflix show Julie and the Phantoms. Alongside the piano accompaniment by Miss Crisp, the performance also included overlapping melodies and some wonderful harmonies throughout.
“After listening to some more amazing solos from other schools, Blake White volunteered to lead the joint choir with a lovely rendition of ‘Don’t Stop’ by Fleetwood Mac before the students sang their hearts out to ‘Somebody to Love’ by Queen.
“Later, the sing-along massed choir reunited to end the night with ‘Make the World Listen’ by Nathan Grisdale and ‘From Now On’ from the hit film musical The Greatest Showman.
“What made ‘Make the World Listen’ even more special was our student, Ellie Farndon, who was invited to stand at the front and perform the song in British Sign Language and made the event fully inclusive for all. The performance by Ellie and the choir was recorded and sent to Nathan Grisdale, who sent our students his best wishes for the concert earlier in the day via audio message.”
The organiser of the event, Emily Morris, commented: “DNA Voices were an absolute dream to work with. I was so proud of Blake for stepping forward and doing that solo, and Ellie blew me away with her performance of British Sign Language. They all did amazingly.”
Year 9 student Summer Stone said of taking part in the event: “I enjoyed the big songs a lot and the activities we did throughout the day. The event was great for us to collaborate with other local schools and for us all to sing together in unison.”
Meanwhile, Isobel Ellis and Ellie Gould, of Year 7, said: “We really loved how we were all singing together, and the African welcome song made it a very surreal moment for us. We can’t wait to do the next one.”
Miss Crisp added: “The students thoroughly enjoyed performing in the concert, and we were pleased to see so many parents come along and support DNA Voices on the night.
“Thankfully, no storm stopped our singers this time around, and I am very proud of every single student who confidently sung their hearts out and perfectly demonstrated the talent amongst us here at the academy.
“Congratulations to all those involved.”

To read more Spirit of Alfreton articles about the David Nieper Academy, go to here

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