Last week, Wilmslow Prep students and staff were delightfully entertained with a series of musical workshops by Victoria Longdon, an alumni of Wilmslow Prep School. Victoria (also known as Tori) graduated from Form 6 at the Prep in 2002 before she attended Withington Girls School and then Durham University, where she received a 1st class honours in English Literature.
You may also recognise her as one of the judges on Gareth Malone’s BBC2 hit show ‘The Naked Choir’.
Tori was invited to come back to the School to conduct 3 musical workshops, designed to teach the pupils about using different voices, singing to a beat, harmonising, following a rhythm, playing musical games and having lots of fun!
Tori commented on her return to the School, saying “Just a quick note to say thank you for inviting me to come and work with the Prep today. As you could probably tell, I was delighted to be back, and to reminisce about all the very happy memories from my time as a pupil at WPS.
“I expected the groups to be attentive and well behaved, but they all exceeded my expectations. They were polite, enthusiastic, willing to have a go and there were a lot of sharp minds and beautiful voices emerging from all age groups. It was a real pleasure to work with them.”
Kathy Rundell, Director of Music, also enjoyed Tori’s workshops. She said, “It was delightful to spend the morning with Tori during her most engaging and fun workshops. She was excellent with all of the children, and we will definitely be playing some of the musical games she taught us. We learned some new songs, too, and I am looking forward to singing them again with our pupils!”
Currently Tori is studying for a Master’s in Choral Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music with Patrick Russill. Tori has a fascinating portfolio of experience and directs a variety of ensembles including the Templar Scholars, Hertfordshire Youth Choir and the High Wycombe Youth Choir in venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Bridgewater Hall, Southwark Cathedral and Wembley Arena.