Sixth Form Showcase Sounds
The annual Sixth Form Showcase concert took place in Perrins Hall on Thursday evening this week. Ably organised by the Year Twelve Music Scholars, and superbly compèred by the inimitable duo of William Hulbert and Luke Jones, the full-length concert gave students in both Upper and Lower Sixth a performance platform at the start of this academic year.
Six pianists took to the ivories to perform music in a variety of styles. There was elegant Baroque playing from Callum Lockett and Lydia Jackson, performing work by J S Bach and Thomas Arne respectively, with ‘Romantic October’ by Tchaikovsky from Ben Weller and delicate French impressionism from Toby Butler who performed Debussy’s ‘Rêverie’. Luke Jones opened the second half with Grieg’s ‘Beautiful Nocturne’ and Noah Davison performed Helen Hopekirk’s ‘Lyrical Air’.
A good number of singers also performed, starting with Aoife Smith who sang the haunting ‘Agnes Dei’ from Bach’s Mass in B Minor. Martha Burdon’s rendition of Dowland’s ‘Flow My Tears’ was poised and sensitive, whilst theatre songs from Olivia Sireshuk (‘Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again’ from The Phantom of the Opera), Charlie Raven (‘Joanna’ from Sweeney Todd), Lilia Young (‘She Used To Be Mine’ from Waitress) and Isla Tallon (‘Someone Like You’ from Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical) gave us a flavour of the West End.
The brass section was represented by Will Hulbert, nimbly performing Mozart’s elegant ‘Rondo in Eb major’ for French horn, and Eleanor Hinds playing a spirited bass trombone solo entitled ‘Father Neptune’. Anna Jobes performed Kit Morgan’s ‘Mind the Gaps’ on the drum kit with precision and spark, with George Laney’s rendition of Steely Dan’s ‘Home at Last’ on the drums also proving very enjoyable.
Violin solos came from Menna Sutton (playing Johan Svendsen’s ‘Romance in G, Op. 26’), Catherine Broadbent (performing the second movement of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto) and Poppy Wood, who played a spirited ‘Tambourin’ by Grétry. These three violinists were joined by Toby Butler for a Violin Quartet performance of Gershwin’s ‘The Man I Love’ to open the concert, whilst another ensemble – the Sixth Form band, Halcyon – closed the concert with their version of 5:55’s ‘Slow Down’.
Overall, the Showcase was just that: a fantastic showcase of the talent of our Sixth Form Musicians, enjoyed by a healthy and appreciated audience of parents, fellow students and teachers. I thank Mrs Spencer and Miss Amos for accompanying on the piano, and of course the Sixth Form students for their organisational and performing talents.
Mr Jonathan Soman, Director of Music.
