Mayfield girls in fine voice at St Mark’s Cathedral in Venice

Date: 07/04/09

TWENTY-six talented musicians from St Leonards-Mayfield School were given the honour of performing evening Mass in the prestigious cathedral of Venice, Basilica di San Marco over the Easter holidays. The girls from Mayfield were enjoying their first-ever international concert tour of Italy. 

The four-day tour, organised and led by the school’s Assistant Director of Music, Miss Heather Woodruff, and supported by Director of Music, Mr Peter Collins, also saw the pupils perform at the early Renaissance church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, the Basilica San Giovanni and the oldest high school in Venice, Liceo Foscarini.

Mayfield’s principal choir, Schola Cantorum, its chamber orchestra, and several soloists were all on display during the trip, performing pieces by Handel, Talemann, Poulenc, Faure and Strauss.

Miss Woodruff commented: “The girls have been building their repertoire over the course of the school year and have attained a standard of excellence suitable for performing in such well-known venues as St Mark’s Basilica. The girls already perform to an exceptionally high standard in Mayfield’s own chapel but this was a fantastic opportunity to showcase their talents to a far wider audience.”