Springwood students Walking In The Air following Snowman ovation

Springwood students were 'Walking In The Air' after receiving standing ovations to their live orchestral performances of The Snowman on Saturday

Musicians at the King's Lynn high school, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, performed the soundtrack to the classic animation live in the school’s Peter Hopkin’s Hall in what was thought to be a first for West Norfolk.

---

Springwood’s Director of Music, Robin Norman, explained: “The film was shown with the musical soundtrack provided by live musicians from Springwood and narration read by drama teacher Mrs Burchell. 

“As far as we are aware, this was the first time that an event of this nature had been undertaken in King’s Lynn, and it came not only on the 40th anniversary of The Snowman film, but also as a fitting tribute to Raymond Briggs, the original author, who sadly passed away this year.” 

There were two, free-of-charge performances of the family-friendly show, retelling the much loved story of James and his adventures with a snowman that comes to life.

Highlights included the film’s ‘Walking in the Air’ theme tune, which was first popularised by singer Aled Jones and which was sung at the performance by three Springwood students.

Springwood’s orchestra also performed other Christmas classics such as ‘Here Comes Santa Claus’ and selections from Frozen in the hour-long show, which was conducted by Mr Norman and featured around 30 students aged 12 to 18.

Mr Norman continued: “I wanted to give our students the experience of performing to film and also to present a memorable Christmas event for the people of King’s Lynn – something to really raise the festive mood after a difficult few years, a real feel-good experience.”