South Bank Multi Academy Trust ArtsFest at Barbican

Pupils from across York-based South Bank Multi Academy Trust (SBMAT) celebrated the arts at the trust’s second ArtsFest on the evening.

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Pupils’ families and friends were treated to an evening of art, song, dance and music at York Barbican. After spending the day in workshops and rehearsals, the children from SBMAT’s six schools joined together for the final show where they celebrated each other’s artistic achievements.

During the evening, Carr Junior School’s band gave a fantastic rendition of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida, whilst Knavesmire Primary School pupils roused the crowd with their steel pan drums and dance performances.

South Bank Multi Academy Trust held their ArtsFest at York Barbican (Image: DYLAN ADAMS)

Performers from Woodthorpe Primary sang and danced beautifully, treating their families to an energetic routine to Fleur East’s Sax.

Meanwhile students from Millthorpe School and York High School performed a showcase from their school productions, Elf and We Will Rock You, and also wowed the audience with their bands and dancers.

The last school to perform was Scarcroft Primary who showcased their Samba Band and choir, before musical duo, Juno and Sam took to the stage to perform Teardrop’s Massive Attack and This Is Me by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Sam and Juno were previously in the news in May when they secretly raised funds for their school library by busking in York city centre.

ArtsFest culminated in a grand finale with pupils from all six schools joining together to perform Sing by Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The event was compered by sponsors York Mix who made sure the evening went off with a bang. ArtsFest was also made possible with sponsorship from York Music Hub, Gear 4 Music and Rocksteady Music.

In the lead up to the event, pupils at Carr Junior School were supported in their preparation by The Richard Shephard Music Foundation and as last year, Helen Brown from Kinesis Dance worked with children from all of the schools to help them develop their own routines while learning new and exciting skills. Helen also worked with the children at the Barbican throughout the day of ArtsFest, teaching them a brand new dance for their finale performance.

Clare Hardy, SBMAT’s Associate Director of Personal Development and event organiser said: “The SBMAT pupils have not only sung, danced and played their hearts out at ArtsFest, but they have worked so hard in the run up to the evening.

"The show was incredible and I am very proud of each and every one of our amazingly talented pupils. As a trust, we have a strong focus on collaboration and community, so ArtsFest gives us the perfect opportunity to bring our family of schools together for an evening of performance and fun! The success of the event is testament to the hard work of colleagues in all our schools, their pupils and everyone who contributed to ArtsFest.”

Chief Executive of SBMAT, Mark Hassack said: “I didn’t think ArtsFest could be better than last year, but the pupils have absolutely blown us away with their performances this year.

"We have some remarkable talent in our schools and through collaborative events such as this, we can quite literally give children the stage on which to shine and showcase their creativity. I’m immensely proud of everyone who took part; they all performed brilliantly.”

Pupils put on a great show (Image: DYLAN ADAMS)