Sixth Form Concert – Tuesday 5th May ‘26

On Tuesday 5th May, our 6th form students treated us to an evening of glorious music with a mixture of vocal and instrumental solos and ensembles. Traditionally, this concert is informally billed as a ‘music farewell’ for our Yr13s, as it is their last opportunity to perform on the AC stage before their A-level exams start in earnest. And what a treat that was!

The concert started off with a finely tuned and rousing a cappella performance by our Yr12 vocal group (Stevie B, Juliet B, Bella K, Beatrice McN, Anna R-B) singing ‘Mama Who Bore Me’ from the musical Spring Awakening. Saskia C. took to the stage next, giving a heartwarming and emotionally charged rendition of ‘Stars and the Moon’ from Songs for a New World. Following on, it was the turn of Eve C, Maya HM and Sophie W.’s vocal trio, who performed with fluency and ease ‘Soft Place to Land’ from the ever-popular musical Waitress. Ariella B. and Sophie W. followed that up with lyrical renditions of ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’ and ‘Thank You for the Music’ respectively by Andersson and Ulvaeus, aka ABBA. For the next number, Saskia C. returned to the stage alongside Yasmine O., this time to sing the beautifully arranged vocal duet ‘City of Stars’ from the musical La La Land. Two elegantly interpreted solos, one by Lauren A. on voice singing ‘Bridges’ by Milova and the other by Catherine S. playing a guitar arrangement of ‘The Sound of Silence’ by P. Simon, marked the halfway point of this special concert. Next up, Phoenix M. gave a characterful vocal performance of ‘500 Miles’ by H. West, followed by Yasmine O., who returned to the stage as soloist to interpret the soulful number ‘A Couple Minutes’ by O. Dean. The concert progressed with Elise C. playing sensitively on the piano ‘Clair de Lune’ by C. Debussy, and Maya H-B giving a stylish vocal performance of O. Dean’s ‘Dive’. Next, it was the turn of Eve C. and Mei-Xing L., who treated us to an emotional vocal duet arrangement of ‘For Good’ from the musical Wicked; it is fair to say that there were a few tears in the audience by this stage, given the significance of this concert which, for many of our pupils, marked the end of a musical journey at Channing. Then followed Anna G. with a confident and flawless vocal performance of ‘Slow Down’ by Laufey/Fenn/Stewart. The next item in the concert – ‘La Campanella’ by F. Liszt – was delivered by Maika P-Y on the piano, which included some musical pyrotechnics; this is a fiendishly difficult piece to play and Maika gave a courageous performance, displaying jaw-dropping facility in places. This was followed by Teresa G., who treated us to an elegantly sung aria ‘Non So Piu’ from Le Nozze di Figaro by W. A. Mozart. Next, we had another round of musical pyrotechnics – title of the piece ‘Pequena Czarda’ by Iturralde – this time on the saxophone, dispatched with aplomb and impeccable musicality by Kezia C. The musical baton was passed on to Molly S. and Elizabeth S. next, who performed their solo items with equal self-assurance, style and poise; Molly sang ‘Always Starting Over’ from the musical If/Then, and Elizabeth played on the violin the ‘Adagio’ from Sonata no. 3, op. 108 by J. Brahms. The concert came to a close with a beautiful trio arrangement of E. Elgar’s ‘Salut d’Amour’, performed with elegance by Hana D. on the viola, Eve C. on the d. bass and Mei-Xing on the piano.

We wish to congratulate all our students who took part in this concert. To our Yr13s, we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for all their hard work, dedication and commitment to the musical life at Channing. Over the years, they have played a big part in Channing’s musical offerings, and we could not do it without them; we will miss you greatly!

A final thanks must also go out to the dedicated music teachers who prepared our students for this concert, and to Mr Boxall for his piano accompanying for some of the items.