Friday's St Cecilia Concert impresses audience

Friday was our first concert as part of the St Cecilia weekend which featured a programme primarily selected by our students.

The concert featured performances by many of the school’s leading ensembles beginning with the superhero inspired repertoire of the Concert Band conducted by Katy Landon and culminated with Holst’s impressive and majestic, Jupiter written for the mythical King of gods, performed by the Symphony Orchestra, conducted by myself as a finale.

Following the impressive performance by the Concert Band which provided a dramatic, yet musical starter, the brass ensemble performed confidently without the need of a conductor in their fabulous account of the jazz inspired Canis Major, a piece that showcased the full range of brass instruments.

To keep the brass theme going, Sam H (I, UVI) took to the stage accompanied by the Wind Orchestra to give an incredible performance of Horovitz’s Euphonium Concerto, particularly impressive when you realise that Sam only started playing the Euphonium in June!

Their second piece, The Year of the Dragon by Philip Sparke provided another opportunity for the brass players to demonstrate their skills; the dramatic opening certainly set the scene for the rest of the first movement which was contrasted by the delicate tones of the woodwind section, featuring splendid solos for Cor Anglais - Benedict F (Rb, III) who was only presented with this instrument in week 3 – a superb achievement, Joyce L (M, UVI) on Flute and Godwin (SH, UVI) on Oboe.

Keeping with the smaller ensembles, the string orchestra was on fine form performing three movements from the Holberg Suite by Edvard Greig. David Joyce, Head of Strings skilfully directed the ensemble and the players responded in their customary professional and sensitive manner. Max H, violin (Rt, UVI) and Jay Wu, viola (SH, UVI) delighted the audience with solo fireworks in the last movement, Rigaudon.

The concert finished with the incredibly impressive Symphony Orchestra, beginning with the Meistersinger Overture conducted by Richard Stafford and culminating with Mars and Jupiter from The Planets by Holst conducted by myself.

The orchestra were on exceptional form, performing to a superb standard, even a critic would have been truly impressed. The whole orchestra demonstrated huge amounts of professionalism, musicality, and showed a real desire to play with passion, conviction and enthusiasm! Wow!

Maria McKenzie

Director of Music 

You can watch Friday's St Cecilia Concert here: