This week, one of our partner primary schools, St James the Great (STJTG) based in Thornton Heath, has released its first-ever original Christmas single, ‘Joy on Christmas Day’, produced in collaboration with Trinity staff and students.
The joyful single features the angelic voices of STJTG’s young chamber choir, recorded in Trinity’s music studio, with a melody by their Choir Director Mr Khwiss, music composed and arranged by our Mr Holdsworth, instrumentals from our students and staff, and skilfully mixed in the studio by Mr Pettitt and Mr Galloway.
The result is a catchy festive piece, surely in with a shot at the Christmas Number One spot – who needs Sabrina Carpenter? It was released on Spotify this week and you can stream the full track here: Joy on Christmas Day.
The story started when Mr Khwiss sent us a recording of his choir singing a Christmas song he’d written, asking to record it in our professional studio.
“We had the idea of recording the song when members of the choir simply posed the question ‘Can we sing something new?’ So, I thought, absolutely! I wrote the song, and they learned it in one session,” says Mr Khwiss, Choir Director at St James the Great.
“St James is based in an area of high deprivation, and I wanted to show our students that with talent, dedication and passion, all things are possible; they too can take their creative ideas and make them a reality.
“It’s been incredible to see how our young singers and the Trinity Big Band have come together to create something special. The children have learnt so much about the creative and technical aspects of music production, and we’re all so proud of the final result.”
The STJTG pupils came in to record the melody back in October, which was a fantastic day and a lot of fun for all involved. Mr Pettitt then enlisted members of Big Band 1 and some Music staff to help: Upper Sixth student Jasper played the drums, bass and guitar; Fifth Year Ben played the trombone, Fifth Year Gabriel and Mr Todd, Head of Brass, played trumpet; and Head of Woodwind, Mr Lawrence, played the saxophone. A true team effort!
As all parts were recorded separately, Mr Pettitt and Mr Galloway – assisted by Lower Sixth student Georgina – then spent time in the studio mixing it together.
Here’s to many more musical collaborations!
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St James the Great, in Thornton Heath, is one of our Trinity Partner Primary Schools – a small group of local state schools who have access to engaging activities to complement their curriculum learning throughout the year. We offer opportunities for them to enjoy the facilities we are lucky enough to be able to share, and their teachers can take advantage of CPD sessions run by our teaching staff.
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