Bubba. They finished off the gig with the Maynard Ferguson version of Hey Jude which gave the lead trumpet player, a former student of high note trumpet specialist Bobby Shew, a chance to show off his outrageous skills. This was a brilliant way to kick-start the new term.
Then came the eagerly anticipated QEGS Musician of the Year Competition in an all new format for 2016. With both the Intermediate and Senior Classes playing in the final it provided a feast of entertainment for the audience. Sebastian Lister, who played the third movement of James Rae’s Sonatina on saxophone, won the intermediate class in a very tight contest. Then came the big hitters in the second half; they provided a rather large headache for the adjudicator Dr Stephen Muir, Professor of Performance Studies at Leeds University. All 6 performances were of the highest quality but it was Isaac Cooper who eventually prevailed with his performance of Arm Arm Ye Brave from Handel’s great oratorio Judas Maccabaeus. The evening also saw the first performance of the new barbershop group set up by a group of Sixth Form boys which helped lift the tension before the winner was announced. A great evening of music making and the QEGS Music competition of 2017 is undoubtedly one not to be missed! This was swiftly followed by the Big Sing on Sunday 20th March. Held biennially, The Big Sing is an all-comers choir open to anyone who has a connection with the WGS Foundation - parents, teachers, pupils, governors, friends… the list is all-inclusive! This year, over 50 singers visited the world of the Musical and over the course of 5 gruelling two hour rehearsals during February and March,
ably directed by Mr. Meredith, they practiced songs from Sweet Charity, The Lion King, Chicago, Les Miserables and Me and My Girl. For many of the singers, their last experience of choral music was at school, and they have had to overcome many searching questions. Will I be good enough? Will I be brave enough? Will I be able to get child care? On the day, in front of a large and appreciative audience, the Big Sing choir were joined by the fabulous Hepworth Band (who have just won a coveted 3rd place in the Yorkshire area brass band championships) as well as Foundation pupils Hannah Thomson, Juliet Pepper, Charlotte Brown and Philip Schweidler who all gave confident and musically expressive performances as soloists. The choir gave a spirited and technically assured performance of the songs they’d studied, holding their own with the experienced banders and soloists and with many determined to continue their singing in the future. The next Big Sing event – ‘Music from the Movies’ - will take place in 2018; make a note in your diaries! A concert in Wakefield Cathedral was the first event of the summer term. The King’s Men, an excellent unaccompanied small male voice choir is made up of members of the word famous King’s College Cambridge choir. Critics from The Times, BBC Music and, the fiercest of them all, Mr Waters, have all given excellent reports of their “virtuosic and balanced singing.” We were very fortunate that as part of their tour they chose to perform to a packed Wakefield audience, in part because one of their number is former QEGS student - James Jenkins - who left three years ago and is now studying music on a choral scholarship at this illustrious college.
James is loving his singing more than ever and fondly remembers his time in the Music Department.
On the subject of Old Savilians who have played in the Senior Brass Group it has been a very good year for two of our former trombonists, Rory Ingham and Jacob Cooper. Jacob, after deciding physics wasn’t for him, has gained access to the Guildhall Conservatoire to study jazz trombone - a great achievement. Rory Ingham, who left QEGS three years ago, now studies Jazz trombone at the Royal Academy of Music and has recently been endorsed by Rath Trombones. Rath supply some of the world’s best trombonists, including Doncaster’s Dennis Rollins, so it is a great testament to Rory for getting this sponsorship.
And finally we move on to the summer concerts, which were oddly held at the end of April. The audiences were treated to a varied programme of music ranging from Bach to Bowie and Joplin to Jackson. These concerts were a tribute to the large cohort of Year 13 students who are leaving us to go and spread their wings. The Junior Swingband rocked the audience out with a selection of Michael Jackson songs and the wonderfully summery Foundation Chorus sang some of the Beach Boys best songs. The concerts were ended by funk band Fizzy Milk, directed by Henry Atkinson, who played the title theme from the film Whiplash to the delight of the crowd. The very difficult piece was the perfect way to end to concerts.
2016 | 15