5 March 2010
Abingdon School's Singers' Platform gave the senior boys, among a small army of boys who take singing lessons, to show their mettle in a solo context. The boys were magnificently supported through a feast of solo and ensemble singing by their singing teacher, Andrew Yeats, who accompanied them at the piano throughout the evening.
The items covered the full range of voices from bass (Otta Jones in Sarastro's aria, O Isis and Osiris from The Magic Flute), through baritone (Caspian Mitchard in Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel) to tenor (John Carter in Vaughan Williams' Blake Songs) and countertenor (Lewis Spring in Handel's O Death, Where is thy Sting?). The repertoire ranged from Handel and Bach, Mozart, Schumann, Brahms through Quilter and Britten to Music Theatre (Henry Jenkinson in Lowdermilk's Run Away with Me).
Whilst all the performances were truly impressive, there were some that really stood out. Humphrey Thompson's baritone/tenor was remarkable from a 15 year old in Bach's Grosser Herr from The Christmas Oratorio for the quality and projection of the voice, as was Robert Brooks in Handel's Why do the Nations for its professional maturity and sheer performance instinct. The second half of the concert included a tranche of arias and duets from The Messiah including Adrian Lo in The Trumpet Shall Sound. The concert concluded with the Bass duet, The Lord is a Man of War from Handel's Israel in Egypt where two evenly matched voices made a huge impact.
A number of our singers have come to us from chorister backgrounds such as Magdalen Oxford, King's Cambridge and St George's, Windsor. But there is no doubt that Abingdon benefits hugely from it's Special Relationship with New College, Oxford - we currently have ten former choristers and the two current Head Choristers have been awarded music scholarships to Abingdon next year. Equally, Abingdon is very fortunate to have a superb singing teacher in Andrew Yeats who works his magic with the boys as they navigate the voice change, often soon after arriving with us. Many of the pupils then go on to a choral scholarship at the next stage, some, like Guy Cutting, returning to their Alma Mater - in his case as a tenor Academical Clerk at New College.
The audience at The Singers' Platform was left in no doubt that singing is thriving at Abingdon. The next project will be a return visit of the internationally famous, Sir Robert Tear, to take a Singing Masterclass in the Michaelmas Term 2010.
Michael A Stinton MA(Oxon), LRAM, ARCM
Director of Music
