CHRISTMAS CONCERT | PG 20

What happened in Big School on Monday and Tuesday was an embodiment of can-do spirit, determination, hard work and a passion for music. Led by the exceptional Mr Buxton, our outstanding musicians marched on in the face of adversity. They showed us yet again that come cold (last year ’ s Christmas Concert), rain (the possibility was there in the summer) and even COVID-19, they will turn up and perform with style and skill. We learnt on Monday morning that, because of the Omicron variant, the concerts would have to take place without an audience, through a livestream (Monday - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiJ1GbiKQDQ and Tuesday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbzM6jxUYjI).

We commenced with a rousing fanfare followed by a calming rendition of Silent Night, sung by Ethyn James 11W and Bethan Parri U6. Next was the Guitar Ensemble, led by Mr Noble, who played Star Gazing - D Cracknell, a piece characterised by its title and Daphne - D Reinhardt, an upbeat tune. The Senior Orchestra treated us to an excellent arrangement of Music from Wicked - S Schwartz whilst the Guitars dispersed, making way for the Junior Choir. They sang A Holiday Road of Carols, an amusing combination of several of our favourite Christmas songs but all slightly altered in separate ways, by pitch, rhythm and tempo. They were followed by the school’ s brilliant Brass Band, who, in Mr Buxton ’ s words, is in serious competition with the school’ s premier ensemble, the jazz band Funky Bishops. They performed the invigorating ‘The A Team ’ and ‘Nightmare Before Christmas ’ by D Elfman, a piece they had only seen 3 weeks ago. After another scene change, we saw the Junior Percussion Ensemble play Rhythm Rocket with an intriguing and frankly ‘ cool’ setup of dimmed lights and illuminated drumsticks. The Senior Orchestra were back with another medley, based on the popular band ‘Queen ’ . It was a great mixture, beginning with the stirring ‘We Will Rock You ’ , transitioning into Bohemian Rhapsody and ending with We Are The Champions. The interval consisted of a playing of ‘Coventry Carol’ by the Flute Quartet.

The second half began with the wonderful Funky Bishops who played Take the A Train, with a solo from Matthew Whitehouse U6, the slow number No Hay Palabras with a guitar solo by Julianne Peralta U6 and lead alto sax from Alex Dixon U6, the fast-paced Sir Duke, also containing a solo from Matthew Whitehouse before rounding up their work for the night with the popular and energetic Megalovania with solos from Jack Woodham U6 and Alex Dixon U6. We then had our Junior Orchestra play the rhythmic Wellerman and Thriller, an enjoyable composition. More singing followed with the Senior Choir singing ‘This Little Babe ’ and ‘Mary Did You Know ’ , fantastically directed by Mr Lenthall. It was the Senior Orchestra ’ s turn again, this time conducted by the “brainchild of the Music department” Matthew Monaghan U6. He oversaw the grand arrangement ‘At the Movies with Danny Elfman ’ before Mr Buxton took back over for the crowd pleaser ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ’ . The Junior Orchestra then joined them for ‘Here Comes Santa Claus ’ who were then accompanied by the choirs for a sing-along to the Senior Orchestra ’ s take on Pentatonix ’ s interesting version 12 Days of Christmas. They made up for the lack of a crowd who would’ ve certainly sung their heart out! The finale concluded with the joyful ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas ’ and the Year 11 Rock Band, Plastic Fiction, made up of Charlie Ward 11B, Sunny Joshi 11B and Benedict Smithson 11G, performing a triplet of War is Over, Last Christmas and Merry Christmas Everyone.

Tuesday

’ s concert kicked off in the same fashion of Fanfare and Silent Night, this time Jeevan Braich 11P with the lead singing. The Keyboard Ensemble, led by Mr Ross, came next with ‘Hoe Down ’ and ‘Wonderful Christmastime ’ . The Senior Orchestra played the wonderful ‘Music from James Bond’ , consisting of a whole host of all-time favourites, including the James Bond Theme, Skyfall and Goldfinger. We then had appearances from the Junior Choir and Brass Band with a repeat of their pieces from the night before. Next up were the Senior Percussion Ensemble who smashed their performances of Tico Tico and Santa Claus is Coming To Town. We went into the interval with the afterglow of the Senior Orchestra ’ s wonderful ‘Queen in Concert’ .

The final quarter of the 2 nights opened with Funky Bishops once more, who played Sir Duke, No Hay Palabras and Take the A Train. After the double of Wellerman and Thriller from our Junior Orchestra and the Senior Choir ’ s beautiful Little Babe and Mary Did You Know, we heard Rudolph from the Senior Orchestra and then Here Comes Santa Claus with their junior counterpart joining in. We were treated to the entertaining 12 Days of Christmas once more, followed by We Wish You a Merry Christmas and our talented rock band, Plastic Fiction with their trio of Christmas songs to culminate another outstanding concert delivered by the magnificent Mr Buxton.

The age-old saying, “The show must go on

” , was proved yet again by our cracking concerts that were sell-outs albeit they went virtual. A massive thank you to everyone involved and played a part in this success: the S4E Music Service ’ s peripatetic music teachers for their remarkable teaching, parents for supporting our musicians and also cheering us on in the concerts, Mrs Buxton, Cameron Bailey U6 and Charlie Butcher 10W for their tremendous work behind-the-scenes, the students themselves for diligently attending rehearsals and their commitment to music and finally, the extraordinary Mr Buxton whose ability to put on such fabulous concerts despite all the challenges he faced is utterly incredible.