Over the half term, a choir of 40 girls and six staff sang in two wonderful concerts and a mass service in a four-day choir tour of Padua and Venice in Italy.

The gem of Renaissance architecture, Santa Maria dei Mircaoli provided a wonderful setting for the choir’s first concert in Venice itself. The choir performed from the distinctive steps that lead to the raised altar and the choir’s sound resonated around the distinctive marble interior of this beautiful church. The fantastic soloists, Olivia, Amber, Milly and Ayesha, adapted perfectly to singing in different churches with large domes and sang their solos beautifully.

The choir performed under the large dome of the Basilica of Saint Anthony in Padua during morning mass service. The mass was in Italian and the choir cues were prompted by a very engaging friar! Olivia translated the psalm setting for the Alleluia into Italian and led the choir and congregation in the response.

The final concert was in Chiesa del Sacro Cuore in the spa town of Albano Terme where we performed to a large and appreciative audience who gave the performance a standing ovation. Girls, from LIV – UVI, were fantastic and were great ambassadors for FHS.

Thank you to the fabulous team of Ms Hack, Ms McBurney, Ms Grant, Ms Firth and to Mr Mingay-Smith for accompanying the choir and soloists.

It was an absolute delight to see how girls gained in confidence throughout the tour and this bodes very well for a bright, musical future at FHS!

Miss Murphy, Director of Music