We had a very enjoyable choral and orchestral concert in school last night. The Wind Band started with the ‘Lake Superior Suite’ by Cait Nishimura, a contemporary Canadian composer, which involved a wide range of tone colours with six percussion players and the full timbre across the 33 woodwind and brass in the ensemble. The performance captured the themes of nature and spirituality very well. Schubert’s ‘Shepherd on the Rock’ followed this, with soloists Sophie (soprano) and Rachael (clarinet) accompanied by Mrs Harrison-Ledger. This was a very special performance, with accomplished solo singing and playing and some beautiful lyrical phrasing. To conclude the first half Charlotte played Glazunov’s ‘Saxophone Concerto’ with our String Orchestra. This work is technically demanding for both the soloist and the ensemble, splitting into 10 parts at times, and Charlotte produced a really musical and stylish performance with brilliant support from the orchestra. My sincere thanks to my colleague Iain Harrison, who conducted the ensembles in the first half and to my colleague Keith Wright for his detailed work with the soloists on the Schubert and with the orchestra for the Glazunov.
In the second half, we moved through to the Chapel for an uplifting performance of Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’ with the Chapel Choir and Choral Society. It is a well-known and much loved work and the choir produced a buoyant and warm sound with memorable solos from Beth, Miranda, Tania and Sophie.
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