Concert embraces Christmas season
Sleigh bells rang out in the Dining Hall as the festive season was embraced at the Christmas Concert.
The concert featured performances from VOX, String Orchestra, Brass Ensemble, Concert Band, Junior Chamber Choir and First Orchestra – all comprised of pupils who have been hard at work honing their musical skills.
VOX opened the concert with an uplifting performance of ‘Climb Higher’ (PinkZebra) which raised the spirits of the audience. Then followed slower songs of ‘Give Us Hope’ (Papoulis & Nunez) and ‘Believe’ (Lin Marsh), which featured wonderful solos from our singers.
Mrs Matthews led String Orchestra through beautiful performances of ‘Adante Festivo’ (Sibelius) and ‘Here We Come A-Wassailing’ (arr. Martin).
Before the interval, it was the turn of Brass Ensemble. After performing ‘Seasons of Love’ (arr. Johnson) and the traditional pieces ‘Angels, Sing Again’ and ‘Praise Ye The Lord’, Mrs Johnson soon devised a way to get the audience involved in the performance.
During ‘Schneewalzer’ (which translates to Snow Waltz) the audience joined in by swaying, forwards, backwards, and side to side which brought the spirit of Bavaria to the Dining Hall.
After a short break (and maybe a mince pie or two), Concert Band kicked off the second half of the show with their performance of ‘The Midnight Hour’ (arr. Vinson) and Elvis’ hit song ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ (arr. Sebesky).
An upbeat song followed with ‘African Festival’ (Hilliard, Elledge and Pearson) and a performance of ‘Soul Bossa Nova’ (arr. Vinson), which was made festive with sleigh bells performed by our Head of School, May Nassar.
Mrs Matthews also led the Junior Chamber Choir through some amazing pieces including ‘Confitemini Domino’ (VC Johnson), ‘Ad Astra (To the Stars)’ (Naverud) and ‘All On A Silent Night’ (Slagle Mayo).
Concluding the concert was First Orchestra, who performed medleys from musicals ‘Guys & Dolls’, and ‘Chicago’ (arr. Custer and Lopez respectively) before bringing in the festive cheer with Anderson’s hit song ‘Sleigh Ride’.
Mr Dow once again enlisted the audience’s help through clicks and claps which represent the iconic whip crack which is heard after the chorus.
We enjoyed welcoming our audience to school and are looking forward to the Carol Service which will take place at St George’s Church on 18th December.
