From the Principal, Andrew Parkin

It was a great privilege to take representatives from our College Choir to our partner school, Dwight Englewood, in New Jersey.  It was a busy 5 days culminating in a fantastic concert at The Riverside Church on the upper West Side.  ‘From Baroque to Blind Bug’ enraptured an audience of 300 parents and friends of Dwight and the performers were given a standing ovation at the end of the concert. 

Speaking afterwards, the Head of School, Dr Rodney De Jarnett, lavished praise on the students of St Dominic’s describing them as ‘inspirational musicians that helped to build the special relationship between the two schools’.  Overall it was a most memorable experience for all concerned and we look forward to welcoming the students of DWE next summer term here on The Hill.

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A Student Perspective - Noah Goddard and Tabatha Crook

Our five days in New York began with a sunny afternoon in New Jersey, as we met our host families for the first time.  We were all ecstatic to be in the USA, most of us for the first time, and we were determined to make the most of it.

One of the most interesting and fascinating parts of the trip was the three days we spent in Dwight Englewood, a High school in New Jersey. All of us tried to fully embrace and immerse ourselves in their school day, even with a full-on jetlag;  a few of us even ended up taking part in a music video for a photography class and playing a very intense version of ‘tag’ in PE (or 'gym' as they called it). 

On the third day, we travelled to New York and spent the remainder of our trip there, visiting tourist attractions like Times Square, Broadway, Soho, and the Rockefeller Tower; it was amazingly fast and lively.

Our trip was soon coming to an end as we performed at the  Riverside Church with our friends from Dwight Englewood. They had an excellent full orchestra and band which Noah and Carla played in while the rest of the group sang in their large choir. Our journey was truly inspirational, and it was a wonderful chance to really see what it is like in the States.

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From Abi Gorton, Director of Music

We have just returned from a whirlwind tour to New York where our choir performed at the iconic Riverside Church in Manhattan, alongside Dwight Englewood School. This is our third visit to the school and as always we were made to feel most welcome.

Our students spent two days taking lessons in this lovely school, lessons in print making and photography, advanced hand-bells, literature of the Harlem Renaissance, Science and Maths. Our students stayed with host families and some, I am sure, made friends for life. We also took in the sights: Harlem, Times Square, Rockefeller Tower, the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, there is so much to see, and of course, much shopping was done. The highlight for me was the performance of Ellington's Night Creature with combined stage band and orchestra (featuring two of our students) in a most lively and upbeat rendition.  I am most grateful to John Littlefield, Director of Music, for this continued collaboration and belief in this project and to his whole team of inspirational instrumental music teachers.  Thank you!

To read more about the Riverside Church and Dwight Englewood School, please click on the names above.