The Friends’ Recital Hall and Music Rooms Opening Festival Wednesday 4th – Friday 6th May 2022
Welcome
From the Headmaster I am delighted to welcome you to this gala festival marking the official opening of The Friends’ Recital Hall and Music Rooms. Participation in extra-curricular music has reached fresh heights in recent years and these marvellous new facilities are a demonstration of the central place that music holds in the QE experience. They underline our commitment to providing the best educational environment for all our boys and, more specifically, to offering musicians at every level surroundings in which they can be inspired to learn and to perform. We hope these new facilities will enable even more involvement and spur boys on to still greater achievement as they experience the joy of making music individually and together.
I am grateful to the Foundation Trustees for funding our magnificent new Yamaha CF6 grand piano and to all who supported the fundraising initiatives around our virtual Founder’s Day last year to purchase the other pianos required. My thanks go to the School’s Governors and Trustees of the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s for taking the bold decision to press ahead with construction during the pandemic and to all the contractors and other partners who worked with us to deliver the project.
This festival celebrates the completion of a project that has been five years in the making. That we have completed it, and to such a high standard, is a testament to the support given by so many. The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s have raised the vast majority of the funds required, which means that we owe our new building in very large measure to generous donations from within the Elizabethan community, including many parents, as well as a number of old boys and other supporters of the School. The Friends’ Recital Hall and Music Rooms are thus justly named.
This opening festival promises to be a wonderful showcase of the opportunities that The Friends’ Recital Hall and Music Rooms present: I invite you now to sit back and enjoy the music!
Neil Enright Headmaster
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Introduction
From the Director of Music Our opening festival for The Friends’ Recital Hall and Music Rooms aims to provide a veritable feast of music over three days, giving as many boys as possible the opportunity to participate, and featuring diverse appearances from a number of professional musicians. The festival is, of course, also an opportunity for us to showcase these superb new facilities. The breaktime and lunchtime concerts thus feature QE’s regularly rehearsing large ensembles, while all our current chamber music groups are involved in the evening concerts, either as part of the main programme, or in providing entertainment before the start and in the interval.
Ruth Partington Director of Music
Friday night’s Festival Concert is intended to demonstrate the capabilities of the recital hall and of our splendid new Yamaha CF6 grand piano by exemplifying all that the venue and instrument will be used for in the future. The programme includes: large ensemble work; accompanying pupils; solo pupil performances; chamber music, and performances by guest professionals. The festival gives us the chance to thank all those boys who raised money through last year’s Pianoathon: their reward is participation in the festival masterclass being run by Harry the Piano, or free tickets to his Thursday evening concert. My colleagues and I are tremendously excited to have the opportunity to work in this inspiring setting. We would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to everyone who has contributed to the project. We hope you enjoy these festival performances and many other performances in the years to come!
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The new Music building is a great environment to practise and perform music. Shreyas Iyengar (Year 8)
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Project timeline
2017
June 2019
July 2019
Planning begins for the next major project in Queen Elizabeth’s School’s estates strategy, a state-of-the-art base for the booming Music department.
Good to go! After the Department for Education approves QE’s application for a £1.2m grant and £1m loan, the School announces that work on the new Music School will start in the summer. The first artist’s impressions show what it will look like.
Demolition of the old Mayes Building to clear the way for the new block gets under way.
Jan 2021
March 2021
June 2021
The School is quiet because of the lockdown, but construction continues apace, with the building’s steel frame in place and preparations being made for the first floor to go in.
QE representatives meet the contractors, architect and project manager for the traditional topping-out ceremony as the building reaches its full height. QE musicians Theo Mama-Kahn and Jao-Yong Tsai do the honours, climbing to fix in place a piece of roof timber signed by all present.
Founder’s Day fundraising focuses on the new pianos needed. After QE pianists visit Harry the Piano at Coach House Pianos in Chelsea to try out instruments, he returns the compliment, performing in the virtual Founder’s Day broadcast. The Houses battle it out in a Pianoathon and musicians also don hard hats and hi-vis to give the first-ever performances in the facility itself.
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Sept 2019
March 2020
Sept 2020
With demolition complete, a temporary playground is created on the cleared site, pending the start of construction work.
Updated artist’s impressions give a detailed view of how the interiors of the new facility will look.
Following a competitive tender process, TJ Evers is appointed as contractor and begins construction work in August. Selected staff and pupils gather in early September to celebrate a significant milestone – the first ‘concrete pour’ at the site.
Dec 2021
Feb 2022
Construction work is now complete, bar the ‘snagging’. QE’s leading pianists celebrate the delivery of new pianos by playing all 12 QE pianos in The Friends’ Recital Hall, while Years 10 and 11 enjoy their Christmas lunch in the complex’s Mayes Atrium Café.
Boys begin using the new building for Music lessons in the Spring Term. The Friends’ Recital Hall hosts its first-ever competitive event, a qualifying round for the national Pro Corda Chamber Music Festival.
Wonderful new hall and facilities! Andrew Quartermain, Pro Corda CEO and Artistic Director
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A great place to learn Our new building in context The Friends’ Recital Hall and Music Rooms, with the new Mayes Atrium Café, together comprise the latest in a series of projects at Queen Elizabeth’s School that have been enabled by donations to The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s charity. Other facilities provided under our estates strategies in recent years include the Martin Pool, Shearly Hall, Dining Hall & Café 1573, The Queen’s Library and the extensively refurbished Heard Building. Following the successful completion of the Music building, we have now begun fundraising for our next significant project: The Robert Dudley Studio. This 104-seat facility for drama, the performing arts and spoken-word activities, which will have its own landscaped external entrance, will be created from existing rooms in the Main Building.
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The new Music building has allowed me to fully enjoy the experience of performing and practising music both on-stage and off‑stage. David Wang (Year 10)
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Biographies Improvisor extraordinaire Harry the Piano has done it all – from solo cabaret at the Royal Albert Hall to playing with performers as diverse as Simply Red, Julie Andrews and Andrea Bocelli. Well-known for taking audience requests from any genre, Harry’s note-perfect knowledge spans tens of thousands of tunes. His festival appearance here is a welcome return: he contributed a video to QE’s 2021 virtual Founder’s Day. His greatest inspiration? The head of music at his school who allowed him to direct the school band in annual Christmas spectaculars.
Harry the Piano
Pianist and improvisor Czech-German pianist Béla Hartmann is a national and international competition prize-winner who has established a reputation for lively and individual interpretations of a wide repertoire, ranging from Rameau to Jörg Widmann. He is especially renowned for his performances of Schubert, Mozart and Beethoven. He has given recitals at prestigious UK, US and European venues. Béla is a keen musical essayist and has published on topics including performance practice and artistic identity.
Béla Hartmann Pianist Pianist Tadashi Imai entered Japan’s Toho Gakuen music school, aged 14, and then studied at Texas Christian University and the Royal Academy of Music. He has won international competitions, given more than 20 concerti with orchestra, and performed at venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Wigmore and Royal Festival halls. An Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, where he is a resident accompanist, he is a piano teacher both at QE and the Junior Academy.
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Rhys Bowden
Tenor Rhys Bowden is an Old Elizabethan (19962003) who read Music at Girton College, Cambridge. Subsequently, he joined the Royal Academy of Music’s postgraduate course in Vocal Studies, graduating in 2009 with distinction while also being awarded the Hilda Anderson Deane prize. As well as being a full lyric tenor. Rhys is an effective character singer, noted for his compelling acting. He was awarded a Gil Rodriquez scholarship for his portrayal of the mayor in Britten’s comic opera, Albert Herring, for Opera de Bauge. Rhys teaches singing at QE as one of our peripatetic teachers.
Tenor An alumnus of Queen Elizabeth’s School (2005–2012), composer Richard Collins studied Music at Durham before gaining a first-class Master’s degree in Composition for Film and Television at Bristol. He has worked on a broad variety of projects, including short films, documentaries and feature films: one recent example was Panasonic’s promotional film, Guardians of Ikigai, produced for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. In addition to his own projects, he has also written additional music and undertaken music-editing for others, including composers Patrick Jonsson and David Schweitzer.
Richard Collins Composer Violinist and QE old boy Simon Purdy (2009–2016) is a conductor at the North London Conservatoire and teaches violin at QE. He graduated with a first-class degree from the Royal Academy of Music in 2020. He was the resident leader for the London Lawyers’ Symphony Orchestra and National Youth String Orchestra, and has also led the Goldfinch Chamber and Brio Symphony orchestras.
Simon Purdy Violinist
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Programme Wednesday 4th May Breaktime performances Indian Ensemble
Gaanamurte by Tyagaraja (Raga: Gaanamooti)
Guitar Ensemble
Fade to Black by Metallica
Lunchtime performances Junior Jazz
All Blues by Miles Davis arr. Michael Sweeney Now’s the Time by Charlie Parker arr. John Berry
Jazz Band
Crunchy Frog by Gordon Goodwin New Rhumba by Ahmad Jamal Coconut Champagne by Denis DiBlasio arr. Victor Lopez
Old Elizabethan afternoon talks Rhys Bowden (1996–2003) Richard Collins (2005–2012) Simon Purdy (2009–2016)
F or GCSE & A-level Music students and selected musicians from other year groups
Acknowledgements Director of Music Ruth Partington Assistant Director of Music James McEvoy-Stevenson Teacher of Music Caroline Grint
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Thursday 5th May Breaktime performances Junior Strings
Basse-Danse and Pavane from Capriol Suite by Peter Warlock Groovy Strings by Tony Osborne
Lunchtime performances Junior Winds
In the Mood by Joe Garland arr. Paul Murtha Watermelon Man by Herbie Hancock arr. John Edmondson T he Incredibles (Main Theme) by Michael Giacchino arr. Paul Murtha
Senior Winds
Uproar by Michael Oare James Bond Suite arr. Frank Erickson
Afternoon masterclasses Harry the Piano For the 2021 Pianoathon winners and for members of Junior Jazz and the Jazz Band.
Evening Concert: Harry the Piano performs Also featuring:
Junior String Quartet
Pre-concert welcome music
Sax Ensemble
Interval music (The Friends’ Recital Hall)
Trumpet Ensemble
Interval music (Practice Room 1)
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Programme Friday 6th May Breaktime performances School Choir
Viva La Vida by Coldplay arr. Mark Brymer Seasons of Love by Jonathan Larson arr. Roger Emerson And So It Goes by Billy Joel arr. Kirby Shaw The Longest Time by Billy Joel arr. Roger Emerson
Lunchtime performances Orchestra Symphony No. 8 in B minor ‘Unfinished’ by Franz Schubert Movement I: Allegro Moderato Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz Movement IV: March to the Scaffold
Senior Strings Serenade for Strings Op.6 by Josef Suk Movement I: Andante con Moto St Paul’s Suite by Gustav Holst Movement I: Jig (Vivace)
Afternoon masterclasses Béla Hartmann Separate sessions for invited pupils at Grades 1–7 and for pupils at Grades 8 and above.
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The Festival Concert 6pm, Friday 6th May The Senior Vocal Group will perform during the Headmaster’s reception. The pre-concert welcome music will be provided by the Saxophone Quintet.
Jazz Band
Crunchy Frog by Gordon Goodwin
Piano duet: Noah Morley and Colin Copcea
Ma Mère l'Oye (for piano, four hands) by Ravel Movement V: Le Jardin Féerique
Soloist Jao-Yong Tsai, viola, accompanied by Mr Tadashi Imai
Sonata for Viola and Piano by Jao-Yong Tsai Movement IV: Allegro Appassionato
Soloist Shreyas Iyengar, piano
Jingo by Christopher Norton
Soloist Raphael Herberg, cello,
At the Fountain in D major Op. 20 No. 2 by Carl Davidoff
accompanied by Mr Tadashi Imai
Soloist Mr Tadashi Imai, piano
Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante Op.22 by Chopin
Interval
Interval music from the Senior Piano Trio in the recital hall and Senior Violin Trio in Practice Room 1.
Chamber Choir accompanied by Raphael Herberg
Verleih uns Frieden by Mendelssohn; words by Martin Luther
Junior Violin Trio
Hausmusik by Carl Bohm Movement I: Prelude and Movement II: Loure
Soloist Colin Copcea, piano
Nocturne in G minor Op. 37 No. 1 by Chopin
Soloist Conor Parker-Delves,
Carnival of Venice by Jules Demersseman arr. Frederick Hemke
saxophone, accompanied by Mr Tadashi Imai
Soloist Noah Morley, piano
Sonata in E major Op.14 No.1 by Beethoven Movement III: Rondo Allegro
Year 13 Flute Trio
Trois Aquarelles by Philippe Gaubert Movement I: Par un Clair Matin
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Performing ensembles Indian Ensemble Vocal Amit Ramakrishna Prasad Violin Keeran Prabhahar
Trumpet Zhuoer Chen Jamie Reeve Rei Lai-Fujiwara Stephan Tinss
Tabla Isher Jagdev
Clarinet Andreas Angelopoulos Oscar Kaltenbronn
Mridangam Vase Pardeepan
Double Bass Callistus Bhattacharya
Guitar Ensemble
Trombone Changming Liang
Drum Kit Sushant Deshpande Lead Electric Guitar Kirtinandan Koramutla Rhythm Electric Guitar Siraj Sidhu Ishaan Bhandari Rhythm Acoustic Guitar Aayush Shukla Shashank Pothuganti Trivikram Vunnam
Junior Jazz Tenor Saxophone Arjun Patel Alto Saxophone Avi Juneja Nikhil Mark Danyal Talha Nayaenesh Jeyabalan
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Electric Guitar Atul Kanodia Soham Kale Drum Kit Manthan Thakkar Percussion Arhan Panjwani Piano Aaron Rodrigo Keyboard Kostya Halushka
Jazz Band Alto Saxophone Suraj Cheema Nathan Woodcock Leo Sellis Tenor Saxophone Conor Parker-Delves Leo Dane-Liebesny
Baritone Saxophone Tharun Dhamodharan Trumpet Theo Mama-Kahn Keir Parker-Delves Chanakya Seetharam Trombone Ashwin Sridhar Electric Guitar Kirtinandan Koramutla Atul Kanodia Bass Guitar Sushant Deshpande Drum Kit Vasudev Chakadath Piano Rajveer Mukherjee Aditya Tiwary
Junior Strings Violin Ryuki Watanabe Saahil Shah Aditya Narayan Adithya Raghuraman Aarav Agarwal Ram Chockalingam Shourya Garg Alexander Ford Yash Kedia Sasen Kankanamge Don Shuban Singh Advay Bhat
Alex Kronabetter Bijan Alavi Rishap Mothi Sayeeram Vihaan Salunke Bobby Luke Kavish Jayasekera Soham Sapra Vu-Lam Le-Nguyen Tanuj Jeetun Chinmaya Dave Keeyan Shah Jamie Lam Krish Iyer Abisha Rupasinghe Akein Abeysinghe Parth Jain Zehao Wu Kevin Yang Lewis Wong Sebastian Rodecki Akshay Shah Danyal Rahim Ethan Yao Zain Islam Namish Thakur Viola Nafis Meah Cello Tristan Fink Jai Devchand Abhiram Korapati Double Bass Callistus Bhattacharya
Junior Winds Flute Binaga Solangaarachchi Siddarth Oruganti Richard Cheung Noah Morley
Abhinav Sandeep Jeevan Karthick Thiyagarajan Krishna Gajendra Abi Sivakaran Oboe Timothy Mok Vihaan Salunke Clarinet Andreas Angelopoulos Oscar Kaltenbronn Kayilai Dinesh Keon Robert Ishaan Agrawal Dev Malde Kiran Wright Baritone Saxophone Avi Juneja Tenor Saxophone Nayaenesh Jeybalan Alto Saxophone Nikhil Mark Danyal Talha Suren Fereydoni Yuvraj Patel Vyom Srivastava Trumpet Zhuoer Chen Jamie Reeve Rei Lai-Fujiwara Avan Khan Trombone Bb Changming Liang Percussion Vasudev Chakadath Rian Doshi
Senior Winds Flute Aadarsh Khimasia Sarvesh Sabale Sushant Deshpande Jeshvin Jesudas Krishna Shrivastava Aarush Shah Oboe Jude Hill Anban Senthilprabu Clarinet Om Deshpande Taro Niimura Alto Saxophone Conor Parker-Delves Leo Dane-Liebesny Tharun Dhamodharan Tenor Saxophone Suraj Cheema Leo Sellis Baritone Saxophone Nathan Woodcock Trumpet Theo Mama-Kahn Chanakya Seetharam Vijay Lehto Trombone Ashwin Sridhar Bass Guitar Keir Parker-Delves Percussion Olly Salter Felix Calder Ayan Hirani Kavin Thamotharan
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Sax Ensemble Arjun Patel Tharun Dhamodharan Aarian Hundal Ugan Pretheshan Rahul Belavadi Dilan Patel Alan Yee Kin Yan Avi Juneja
Trumpet Ensemble Zhuoer Chen Chanakya Seetharam
Junior String Quartet Ryuki Watanabe Saahil Shah CJ Okerago Tristan Fink
School Choir Arjun Anand, Sami Mammeri, Felix Chen, Gyan Nadhavajhala, Vivaan Modi, Raaghav Dhanasekaran, Joseph Donovan, Zi Feng Ong, Nikhil Francine, Rishi Sen, Rajvardhan Gavade, Avi Goel, Aathi Jeyanth, Param Kapadia, Zafir Khan, Jamie Lam, Ishaan Mutha, Parth Jain, Adithya Ananthakrishnan, Abishek Prenav, Aayush Shukla, Lathursan Sivakanthan, Sanjay Sivaraman, Abhinav Sandeep, Shrey Tokeria, Hemil Vaghasia, Krishna
Gajendra, Kiran Wright, Advay Zore, Kelvin Chen, Nitesh Elanchezian, Faaiz Adil, Bijan Alavi, Shin Gomes Sato Dos Santos, Kyle Goldband, Hardik Ingale, Shreyas Iyengar, Noah Morley, Nittant Moudgil, Nimesh Nirojan, Bhargav Pammina, Siddhant Pochalwar, Shashank Pothuganti, Hari Rathakrishnan, Keeyan Shah, Rishi Watsalya, Adam Liang, Simeon Bloom, Zhuoer Chen, Ram Chockalingam, Colin Copcea, Tolu Esan, Ishaan Ganatra, Shardul Gupte, Nayaenesh Jeyabalan, William Joanes, Sasen Kankanamge Don, Daniel Macholl, Muhamad Mohamed, Timothy Mok, Mukunth Natarajan, Donnelly Nortey, Arun Prasad, Jamie Reeve, Keon Robert, Leo Sellis, Saahil Shah, Vinujan Sivakumar, Binaga Solangaarachchi, Keshauv Sutharsaraj, Kavin Thamotharan, Nithushan Vaikuntharajan, Johnny Yassa, Augie Bickers, Anoop Donthireddy, Shrey Tater, Sushant Aryal, Rohan Varia, Jason Tao, Nikhil Mark, Girish Radhakrishnan, Akshat Bajaj, Shreyas Mone, Aaron Rodrigo, Arka Gonchoudhuri, Joshua John, Avi Juneja, Joel Swedensky, Krrish
Shah, Anban Senthilprabu, Pratyush Dutta Gupta, Dhruv Chadha, Ryan Samarasinghe, Thanus Palakumar, Arjun Patel, Seyi Esan, Tharun Dhamodharan, Tharan Sutharson, Alan Yee Kin Yan, Suraj Cheema, Ryo Sato, Antony Yassa, Anoj Rameshprabahar, Ruixuan Wu, Bhunit Santhiramoulesan, Olly Salter, Atul Kanodia, Purav Kerai, Shivas Patel, Manomay Lala-Raykar, Raphael Herberg, Aram Sarkissian
Orchestra Flute Aardarsh Khimasia Sarvesh Sabale Sushant Deshpande Krishna Shrivastava Oboe Jude Hill Anban Senthilprabu Clarinet Conor Parker-Delves Om Deshpande Taro Niimura Trumpet Theo Mama-Kahn Keir Parker-Delves Horn/Saxophone Nathan Woodcock Leo Sellis Timpani Olly Salter
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Violin I Andy Kwak Ben Yau Jason Tao David Wang Harrison Lee Ryuki Watanabe Amogh Somayaji Vaibhav Gaddi Violin II Ryo Sato Saahil Shah Jamie Lam Alex Kronabetter Bijan Alavi Yize Zhao Viola Jao-Yong Tsai CJ Okerago Cello Raphael Herberg Alex Woodcock Nivain Goonasekera Hyunwoo Kim Tristan Fink Double Bass Hayden Roskosch
Senior Strings
Hyunwoo Kim
Violin Andy Kwak Jiu Kim Ben Yau Amogh Bhartia Ryo Sato Frank Zhang Vaibhav Gaddi Seyed Jalili Harrison Lee Willis Lin Nikhil Mark Amogh Somayaji Jason Tao Sachin Thirukkonda Milan Vekaria David Wang
Double Bass Hayden Roskosch
Senior Vocal Group Shivas Patel Olly Salter Raphael Herberg Atul Kanodia Leo Sellis Antony Yassa Arjun Patel Suraj Cheema
Viola Jao-Yong Tsai Jai Akilesh Kaza Venkata Cello Raphael Herberg Aram Sarkissian Alex Woodcock Jules De Souza-Brazil Nivain Goonasekera
I have really enjoyed making the most of the new and exciting Music block, especially the new recital hall and its fantastic piano – it's been well worth the wait! Raphael Herberg (Year 13)
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Saxophone Quintet
Chamber Choir
Conor Parker-Delves Leo Sellis Suraj Cheema Leo Dane-Liebesny Nathan Woodcock
Treble Jamie Lam Parth Jain Aathi Jeyanth Ishaan Mutha Keeyan Shah Bijan Alavi Johnny Yassa Saahil Shah
Junior Violin Trio Violin Jamie Lam Alex Kronabetter Piano Shreyas Iyengar
Senior Violin Trio Zeyuan Wu Amogh Somayaji Harrison Lee
Alto Joseph Donovan Nikhil Francine Shivas Patel Tenor Kiran Wright Leo Sellis Joel Swedensky Dhruv Chadha Suraj Cheema Antony Yassa Joel Swedensky Rishi Watsalya
Bass Arka Gonchoudhuri Arjun Patel Olly Salter Atul Kanodia Raphael Herberg Purav Kerai Tharun Dhamodharan
Year 13 Flute Trio Flute Aadarsh Khimasia Cello Alex Woodcock Piano Raphael Herberg
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The new Music building is an amazing addition to the School that fosters a brilliant attitude toward learning, performing and enjoying music. Conor Parker-Delves (Year 13)
Personally, I find the new Music block to be an irreplaceable haven – truly a place for fostering musicianship. Jason Tao (Year 10)
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