13 October 2022
Last Friday, Abingdon School hosted the first Twinning Association Concert – an event designed to broadcast the musical talents the town of Abingdon has to offer to our Twin Towns. It featured performances from schools and musical organisations in and around Abingdon including: Abingdon School, Larkmead, St Helen and St Katharine, Radley College, Abingdon Concert Band, Abingdon Town Band and Abingdon Operatic Society and was streamed to audiences in Sint-Niklaas, Lucca, Schongau, and Argentan.
The concert opened with a brief talk from Nick Marsh and Stella Carter, Chairman of the Abingdon and District Twin Towns Society on the importance of twinning in the present day, before handing over to three Abingdon students, Fab Dal Ben, Rudolph Flossmann and Julien Rohart, to deliver a short welcome in Italian, German and French respectively.
The first half featured band performances from Abingdon Concert Band, the big band of St Helen and St Katharine, and Abingdon Town Band, featuring our very own Ben Simmons (Head of Physics) on the tuba. The bands all sounded excellent and the excitement for their music making was palpable in the audience.
The second half opened with Abingdon School’s Piano Trio, featuring Ryan Ng, Thomas Zhang and Yubo Gao, and Chamber Orchestra who gave a polished performance of a tango and some evocative pieces by Peter Warlock respectively. Thereafter, we had some stunning piano and vocal performances from Larkmead School and Radley College. The concert closed with an enthusiastic performance of the Finale Medley from the musical Me and My Girl by Abingdon Operatic Society.
All in all there was a real sense of enthusiasm across the concert. Our thanks must go to all those who offered their various performances, the Abingdon and District Twin Towns Society, our Theatre Team, and to Jason Preece, for organising the event.
