28 June 2022
After a gap of two years, it was wonderful to be able to arrange, once again, a live and full end of year Summer Concert. The large audience that attended our concert at the Amey Theatre suggested that there was a great appetite for this amongst our parents and friends, too.
The first half started with our First Orchestra in a performance of Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in Eb. The performance was given by three soloists, who each took a movement in turn – Laurence Peverall, Lachlan Keene and Oliver Hobbs. Each soloist played with accuracy and artistry of a high order and each played on a different Eb trumpet which had been kindly purchased over the years by the School’s Music Society.
Our Chamber Orchestra played next – first a pair of arias from Handel’s Messiah sung by upper sixth bass soloist, Jamie Robson, who sang with great conviction and musicianship. He was soon followed by Oliver Glover who played Gabriel’s Oboe, a famous melody by Ennio Morricone from the film, The Mission. We marvelled at the beautiful quality of Oliver’s sound and phrasing.
Concert Band, next up, gave us the opportunity to hear a group of rousing marches that had previous been played in the open air when we celebrated HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee just before half term. The band, under Mr Townsend’s direction, were in cracking form in The British Grenadiers, Scipio, Slaidburn and Rule Britannia.
Under Simon Currie’s inimitable leadership, the Big Band presented three tunes – Splanky (Count Basie), Blue Bossa (Henderson) and Feeling Good. It was great to hear some new soloists stepping up to improvise and, in the last item, to hear Upper Sixth vocalist, Aidan Chan, who was very much in his element and gave a fine performance.
After the interval we heard a mixed staff and jazz quintet who go by the name of Jazz Inc. The players included Josef O’Connor (sax), Felix Kind (trombone), Laurence Peverall (piano), Mr Barnes (drums) and Mr Windsor (bass). They played two numbers: Nostalgia in Times Square (Charles Mingus) and The Theme from Monsters Inc (Randy Newman).
Gospel Choir, under Dr Jason Preece’s direction, performed a couple of songs; Mr Blue Sky, and Time after Time. Accompanied by the staff ensemble, the choir sang with their normal palpable sense of enjoyment and, this time, touched with a tinge of nostalgia, it being for the Upper Sixth the last singing opportunity of their school career.
Unlike last year, there was no Year Group Bubble Orchestra as of the covid era. This time, Second Orchestra, as full an ensemble as ever, played Music from Harry Potter, Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Dance of the Tumblers. Ably led by Wyatt Ip, the orchestra played with confidence and panache.
First Orchestra concluded the concert. First, we heard Weber’s Bassoon Concerto (first movement) with soloist, Josef O’Connor. Josef stunned us with both his technical authority in this virtuosic piece and the rich quality of his sound.
Before the last performance we said farewell to a great group of leaving musicians and their parents, together with teacher and Chapel Choir Director, Mr Treadaway, who leaves us at the end of term for a new and senior post at Milton Abbey School in Dorset.
The final work was the first movement of Dvorak’s great Symphony No 8 in G. Joined by Mr Windsor in the double bass section and a couple of extra players in the horns, this was a triumphant conclusion to a really successful concert. We have a plan to reward our musicians with an exciting European tour to Abingdon’s twin towns in July 2023.
Congratulations to all involved!
