Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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22 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE Christmas Entertainment For the first time in about ten years, a Carol Service was held, without plays. However, it still measured up to the high standard achieved in other Christmas Entertainments, thanks to the hard work of Mr. Phillips and the choirs. The Service opened with the singing of Once in royal Davids City , the first verse being a solo by Bobby Tennant. Then followed the Form B choir. The boys sang carols Bethl'em lay a-sleeping , When the herds were watching , and Snowy Flakes are softly falling . The high standard of singing showed how much work had been done by Mr. Phillips. The first lesson followed-St. Luke 2:l-7. Robert Diez read the passage clearly and expressively. Forms Al and A2 sang three carols: Away in a Manger , See amid the Winter's Snow and 'Twas in the Moon of Wintertimeu. The soloists were Richard Fox, Andrew Kerr, Grahame Hodgson, Michael Warwick and Freddie Cowans. The choir showed good unity and excellent tone, and the soloists were also very good. Gordon Norsworthy read the passage from St. Luke 2, verses 8-20. His reading deserves a great deal of praise. The choir from Forms IA and IB sang four well-known carols: Villagers all, this frosty tide , Sans Day Carol , What Child is this , and On this Day the Lord was born . The soloists were Robert Seely, Billy Boggs, David Fuller, Stephen Leopold, Brian McKenzie, Robert Shaddick and Timothy Frueh, The choir and soloists are to be congratulated for some really excellent singing. Then followed the carol singing of While Shepherds watched their flocks by Night , in which the audience joined. The choir from Forms IIA and IIB put on an excellent performance, singing Carol of the Drum , When the crimson sun had set , A Joyous Christmas Sang and Sleep, my Jesus, sleep . lan Dobell, with his drumming, added greatly to the effect of the Carol of the Drum . Per Amundsen sang his solo in A Joyous Christmas Song in Norwegian. Other soloists were Jan Wyllie, John Kent, Gregory Weil, Michael Culver and Charles Gurd. All these boys are to be highly commended for their fine singing. The third lesson, read by Jon Scott, was taken from the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter I, verses l4l2. He, also, read excellently. Form lll choir sang four carols: Past three o'clock , 'The Seven Joys of Mary , O Nightingale, awake! and 'The snow lay on the ground . The soloists were Peter Rider, Maynard Davis, Pembroke MacDermot, John Molson, Jody Allison, Rory Forbes, Jimmy Brunton and Bobby Tennant. The choir and the soloists all sang very well indeed. The First Nowell was then sung by all the people. The Service closed with the singing of l wish you a merry Christmas , sung by all the choirs. In closing, l would like to thank Mr. Moodey for his efforts in lighting the gymnasium, and the office staff for decorating it. We are most grateful to Mr. Phillips and the choirs for making this Carol Service such a success.

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24 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE The Choh We were very happy to have Mrs. Tester to iudge the singing Competition last June shortly before her retirement from the School. Mrs. Tester, who had taught singing in the Junior School most effectively for many years, gave some wise counsel to the contestants and stressed the fact that in this field as in all others success does not come without serious eFfort. The test pieces were Handel's How beautiful are the feet for the Senior prize, and the lovely melody Afton Water for the Intermediate. James Brunton and Rory Forbes were placed first equal in the Senior bracket, and Jan Wyllie first in the Intermediate, with Ian Robson second. These boys are to be congratulated for the high standard which they achieved. The performances of the School Choir of 45 picked voices at the Prizegiving in June, and of the five choirs which sang at the Carol Service, are commented on elsewhere. lt will be of interest to note, however, that T67 boys took part in the Carol Service, and that for the first time, a choir was formed from Bl and Bll and made a most favourable impression. We are very happy to have in the new school building a music room of our own in which to practise. This room in the tower is excellent both acoustically and in size, and we hope that it will always be available for our use. F.G.P. Debahng This year's Selwyn House Oratorical Society was given the name Rho, because this is the seventeenth year of its existence and because Rho is the seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet. The officers of the society were elected at the first meeting of the year. Gordon Norsworthy was elected president, Christopher Hoffmann vice-president, and James Brunton secretary-treasurer. Meetings were held fortnightly, usually on Friday. The meetings featured three minute speeches, prepared and unprepared. Refreshments were served after each meeting. This school year of l96l-T962 has been a very successful one for the society. We are very grateful to Mr. Speirs for supervising the meetings and giving us his advice on public speaking.