The Junior School Summer Concert takes place on what is traditionally the hottest day of the year and this year was no exception! Fortunately, we were spared the sweltering heat of a marquee and instead had the beautiful surroundings of St. George’s Church in Beckenham, where all of the Junior School ensembles performed with aplomb.
From a large choir to our smallest ensemble, Flutie Toots, who played a John Williams piece, the baton was passed to Hit Men who performed a very atmospheric Harry Potter Theme by the same composer, using every percussion instrument known and some rarely seen. The sun coming through the stained glass windows and the backdrop of the organ pipes only added to the drama.
Grange Choir were next to take to the stage starting off with the first of five pieces from The Aviary, a suite by Richard Rodney Bennet, a C20 composer born a stone’s throw away in Broadstairs. The light mood of this was followed by a powerful rendition of Labi Siffre’s 1987 hit Something inside so Strong. Grange Choir concluded with the much covered Fields of Gold, made famous by Eva Cassidy and covered by Sting, amongst many other artists.
After a piece by John Dowland, Guitar Ensemble played Farruca, a traditional Spanish piece and concluded with another heat inspired piece, Solas Market, a traditional Jamaican calypso.
The temperature changed with Year 5 and 6 Choir singing Lin Marsh’s vibrant I am the Wind followed by a traditional spiritual, Wade in The Water.
The newly formed Junior Strings had their debut performance under the baton of Mr Bray, after only two terms of learning their stringed instruments, performing Cowboys in Space, showing great confidence and a real sense of ensemble. We look forward to seeing their progress over the years to come!
The church was filled with the stains of The Throne Room and Star Wars theme by Wind Band who passed the baton to String Orchestra with three contrasting pieces by Colledge, demonstrating a fantastic accelerando at the end of one piece!
Mr Thompson’s Brass Ensemble echoed through the nave with Mini March and Gospel Rock, concluding with the familiar Hawaii Five – 0.
Our diverse concert, in style, tempo and size, was perfectly rounded off by the improvisational style of Groovy Tunes’ Watermelon Man and the new classic, Happy by Pharrell Williams.
