Felsted student in gig of her life at London 2012 opening ceremony

A TEENAGE musical maestro was rocking all over the world last Friday after she sang at the highly-acclaimed opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Esme Smith, 17, from Great Dunmow, welcomed the Olympic flame into the stadium singing Caliban’s Dream – a track written by her father Rick, who is one-half of the British electronic music duo Underworld.

The group, who scored a series of hits in the 1990s, were appointed as musical directors of the three-hour extravaganza by creative mastermind Danny Boyle.

Felsted sixth former Esme said: “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and the crowd were absolutely amazing.”

Esme’s mum Tracy told the Broadcast she was “extremely proud” her daughter got to take part in the historic ceremony.

“We had to keep her appearance secret for weeks,” Mrs Smith said. “It was fantastic to see her perform in front of billions of people.”

Esme accompanied acclaimed percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie and Alex Trimble, lead singer of Two Door Cinema Club, to mark the final journey of the flame before it came to rest in the stadium.

Caliban’s Dream was a joint effort between the 17-year-old and her father, with Esme composing the choral element of the track.

The youngster is a music scholar at Felsted and recently starred in the private school’s opera production of Trial by Jury, as well as a musical theatre production of Secret Garden. She has also achieved grade 8 on the piano and in singing.

A number of other Felstedians were also invited to attend the ceremony as former Olympic athletes, including David Jones (4 x 100m relay, bronze medal – Rome 1960) and former master John Cockett (hockey, bronze medal – Helsinki 1952 and 4th place – Melbourne 1956).