MUSIC COMPETITION PRIZE DAY Sunday 8th March 2015 This was a full day of music-making with four competitions (both junior and senior) and a prize-winners’ concert in the evening. The organ and piano prizes were judged by Jeremy Young (Head of Chamber Music at the Royal Northern College of Music). The Godber organ prize was won by Nathaniel Conte, the junior piano prize was won by Hoffer Tsang and the Tagore (senior) piano prize by Ruben Sharma. Professional singer Ben Thapa came to judge the singers’ prizes. William Hargreaves won the junior singing prize and Olly Bowes won the Osborn (senior) singing prize. Mark Townend (The Perse School) judged the brass prizes. Silas Sanders won the junior brass prize and Jim Cooper won the Crossman (senior) brass prize. J.M. Sanders
WIND QUINTET PLAYS AT PUTNOE PRIMARY SCHOOL Tuesday 17th March 2015 Mr Green took the boys in the wind quintet to Putnoe Primary School for a ‘wind masterclass’. Afterwards, their teacher, Victoria Booth, wrote to the school to say the following: ‘Thank you so much for the fantastic performance and talk we had from Malcolm and the young gentlemen in the quintet this morning. Our children have been heard out in the playground choosing which quintet member they want to be! For many of our children it is the first opportunity they have had to see and hear a live ensemble performance and having your young men come along will undoubtedly have made an impact on our boys particularly. The class teachers, too, thoroughly enjoyed your playing and have commented on how professionally you played and dealt with our children’s queries.’ J.M. Sanders
CHORAL SOCIETY CONCERT Sunday 22nd March 2015 The annual spring term Choral Society concert provided those present with a particularly enjoyable musical treat, and one which demonstrated the musical finesse and talent of three separate school ensembles. The concert opened with a performance by the Chapel Choir, who cut a striking sight robed in their red cassocks, and arranged in a semicircle around the small ensemble of violins (Derek Lam and Artem Skulimovskiy), cello (Nic Reay) and chamber organ (Jim Cooper). They gave a confident and energetic rendition of Monteverdi’s setting of Psalm 112, Beatus Vir. The vitality of the work and the enjoyment of the singers were communicated to the audience all the more readily thanks to the fact that the choir performed without music copies. There were some impressive and agile solos from Jude Sanders and William Hargreaves (trebles), Aidan Swain and Edward Wilson (tenors) and Olly Bowes (bass), while the overall clarity of diction from the choir was especially notable. The piece, conducted by director Mr Jeremy Rouse, proved to be a popular and impressive curtainraiser to the evening’s entertainment. The first half of the concert concluded with the Chamber Orchestra’s performance of Mozart’s Horn Concerto No 3 in E flat major.
The soloist was Sean Davies, whose assured performance was apparent from the first notes of the French horn solo. Sean was very ably and sensitively accompanied by the chamber orchestra, under the direction of Mr Bjorn Bantock, but it was Sean’s wonderful phrasing and mellifluous tone which really stood out. His apparently effortless legato playing in the second movement (‘Romance’) was a particular highlight, but he also captured the high-spirited mood of the two framing ‘Allegros’ with aplomb, earning a very well-deserved sustained applause from those present. After the interval, the Choral Society gave a very polished performance of one of Mozart’s most enduring works, his Requiem in D minor. Made up of singers from Bedford School, Bedford Prep School, Bedford Girls’ School and Bedfordshire Youth Choir, alongside staff, parents and friends of the school, the choir tackled the challenges of the piece admirably, presenting with equal skill a stirring and angst-ridden ‘Dies Irae’ alongside a more measured and heartfelt ‘Lacrimosa’. The balance of the parts was very good, with each section making their entries confidently and clearly; particular mention should go to the tenor section for their impressive handling of some challenging passages! Hannah Sandison (soprano), Fiona Mackay (alto), Ben Thapa (tenor) and Robert Rice (bass) were excellent soloists, and the whole ensemble was calmly and clearly directed by the Director of Music, Mr Joss Sanders. All three works complemented each other brilliantly, and provided the large and appreciative audience with a hugely enjoyable variety of ensembles and genres, all of which were equally impressive and demonstrative of the talents of the players and singers involved. A real musical treat, and a true highlight of the musical year! A.G. Tighe
THE MAGAZINE OF BEDFORD SCHOOL AND THE OLD BEDFORDIANS CLUB
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