22 March 2019
The Choral Evening is one of the highlights of the academic year at Abingdon, it is a time where all the choirs can come together to celebrate their achievements. This year was no exception.
The Gospel Choir started the concert, performing Wade in the Water and Don’t nobody bring me no bad news. These were two wonderfully joyful renditions, with Ashwin Tennant playing superbly on the piano for the later piece. A hugely uplifting start to the concert.
Then it was the turn of Chapel Choir, performing two early works, If Ye Love Me (Thomas Tallis) and Dum Transisset Sabbatum (John Taverner). The interweaving melodies of the Taverner, engulfed the school chapel with beautiful sonorities, weaving around the baritonal plainchant. The Tallis is a favourite for many choral musicians, and the chapel choir did not disappoint.
Abingdon Academicals then gave a truly stunning performance of And So It Goes, a King’s Singers classic, with Alex Glover taking the lead role. This was followed by a sombre Traditional African piece Meguru. Finishing their set with the Bette Midler song The Rose, with Aidan Chan singing the solo, which was both an emotional and thoughtful performance.
The ladies from St Helen’s and St Katharine’s joined forces with four of our senior boys in the Joint Chamber Choir. The beautiful sounds of James MacMillan’s O Radiant Dawn were followed by an arrangement of The Start of County Down, in which David Bicarregui and Aidan Chan took the lead.
The concert was drawn to a close with Aidan Chan singing the solo in Otto Olsson’s Jesu Dulcis Memoria, a stunning piece of homophonic choral writing with a solo Baritone soaring above.
Our thanks to all the school choirs for a truly inspiring evening of choral music.
