GAMPA end of term gala

A couple of weeks back GAMPA celebrated their end of term summer concert at John Mac Hall with a packed programme of songs, dances and musical performances, with a well curated list of popular classics and tunes from the musicals, which challenged and showcased their talented choral students across all age groups.  

This year the show was pared down slightly in content as their orchestra was not onstage and there were less instrumentalists performing. Fear not, it was a considered decision by the organizers, which paid off, as the streamlined concert elevated all the performances that we enjoyed and rewarded individually and, at the end of a glorious hour, with a sustained standing ovation.  

We have come to expect no less from the Gibraltar Academy of Performing Arts. The wow factor was high throughout and one cannot praise enough the commitment to hard work from the teachers and students. They always strive for excellence and achieve spectacular results across the board. Academy Principal Tania Santini McClelland compered the show with off- stage announcements and each entry and exit of performers was slick throughout the concert. 

The Gibraltar Youth Choir, thirty strong, kicked off with a tune from the musical Pippin. ‘Corner of the Sky’ provided them with plenty of opportunities for harmonies and an impressive finish, which they followed with ‘Speechless’ from the musical Aladinn (2016). The vocal arrangement for this one was by Jeremy Perez and the GYC performance can only be classed as stunning. 

The infants (from 4 upwards) performed ‘Better when I’m Dancing’ and they did both. Singing and cute dance moves, which brought cheers at the end of their song. They were followed by the GAMPA Children’s Choir who sang two songs. ‘Birds of a Feather’ a beautiful song from Billie Eilish and ‘A Head full of Dreams.’  Their performance of both songs provided us with a joyful experience and kept up the wow factor which engages the audience. 

Miguel Monge was on Piano for the vocal duet which followed, featuring Luna Lee and Hayley. It was a spellbinding ballad called ‘What about Love.’ (Heart) Both singers gave their best performance and interacted with each other in the musical question and answer of the lyric. Their impressive rendition was cheer-worthy as everyone agreed that they had witnessed something really special. 

Yara Matos was the first instrumentalist of the evening and she played Clarinet for ‘King’s Parade’ with Miguel Monge accompanying on piano. Lovely tone and execution on this one. A children’s dance group (8 girls) performed Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’ and they were the precursor to the ‘Teen Dance Group’ of three older girls who took on a powerful Tango-like version of The Police’ hit  ‘Roxanne.’ They had chairs as props which they soon discarded to showcase their individual high energy moves. Impressive! 

 We had reached the halfway point in the programme and the second instrumentalist to feature  was Jade Fortuna on saxophone. She played Stevie Wonder’s ‘Don’t You worry about a Thing’ which showed her competence and a flowing technique on a spirited song. One to watch out for in future as she had style. The Gibraltar Youth Choir followed on for ‘Always starting Over,’ (Broadway musical ‘If/Then’) with a challenging vocal arrangement by Jeremy Perez providing the choir with rich harmony lines to impress with. They certainly did that. 

The evening’s second high profile vocal performance, featuring Adele Caetano on vocals for ‘Astonishing’  (from the Musical ‘Little Women’), also saw Miguel Monge supplying piano backing for her. Adele has unmistakeable star quality which left her mark on a great song  providing us with another highlight to ponder upon. 

GAMPA Senior Vocal Quartet came on next, featuring Abba’s monster hit ‘Waterloo’ and they nailed the harmonies and some Abba moves as well. This was a classy performance with all the bells and whistles. The concert was now reaching a climax and ‘Teen Singing Choir’ were on next for two offerings. ‘Easy to fall in love’ and ‘I Just Might’ are both great songs requiring big performances to bring them off. This group saw the audience go wild in appreciation. I noted them down as a highlight among the other highlights enjoyed that evening. 

The ‘fin de fiesta’ was provided by the Gibraltar National Choir and two K-pop(Korean Pop) hits arranged by Miguel Monge. ‘Golden’ and ‘What it Sounds Like’ were powerful, energetic and stylized vocals both cleverly choreographed (by Erica McGrail). Two showstoppers which saw the GNC bunch at their best. All their hard work and dedication paid great dividends in these two blistering performances. They had the audience on their feet at the end. So impressive and infectious this finale, as it continued with all the performers filing out for the curtain call.  

 I usually end my GAMPA reviews saying that this Academy has secured the future of local performance arts. It’s a high benchmark that they have set and one which currently sees former pupil Gino Ochello in the leading role of touring UK musical of ‘Karate Kid.’  We can all be well proud of the choreographers, the vocal coaches and the music teachers who help our talented youngsters achieve greater things.  

Hard work and commitment always shine in their youthful performances and that is a credit to GAMPA.  May their blueprint for success endure for many years to come, and continue to enrich our youngsters build a musical legacy that they will be proud to uphold. As always ‘you killed it guys’ so thank you!