Chamber Music Evening, Thursday 12th March ‘26

On Thursday 12th March, the annual Chamber Music Evening event took place at Arundel Centre. Over ten instrumental ensembles and a choir of various sizes and instruments performed a wonderful array of repertoire ranging from Baroque music to late contemporary and folk.

The Brass Consort kicked off the evening with an exuberant Monteverdi fanfare – a Toccata from his opera ‘L’Orfeo’ – followed by the Brass Ensemble who played evocatively an arrangement of a French traditional Shepherd’s Song. Up next was the Yr10 String Trio who gave a stylish rendition of the first movement of Haydn’s London Trio, no. 1 in C. The Intermediate Flute Ensemble took to the stage next giving us a Latin flavour with an energetic arrangement of Buenos Dias Muchachas! followed by the Cremona Strings – our youthful string orchestra – who performed fluently and with conviction Sibelius’ Andante Festivo and switching things up with an arrangement of The Wellerman, a well-known sea shanty. Up next was the turn of our middle school String Quartet who performed with panache an excerpt of Schubert’s String qtet no.10, op. 125, 1st movement. The evening progressed with the Senior Flute Ensemble playing an arrangement of the ever-popular S.Joplin’s ragtime dance The Entertainer, followed by the Chamber Choir who gave a poised performance of two songs: an a capella arrangement of the English trad. song The Water of Tyne, and Give Us Grace by Forbes & L’Estrange. The evening came to a close with two final numbers: one played by the Mixed Septet – they performed Hummel’s Military Septet no.2, op. 114, 1st movement – and the final one played by the Mixed Sextet who performed Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes, op. 34.

It is always wonderful and heartwarming to see so many of our pupils enjoying performing music as members of one of our Chamber Music ensembles/choirs. Engaging in chamber music making is often described as ‘having a musical conversation with a fellow musician’, which is much harder to experience when you play with a large orchestra or sing in a big choir.

We would like to thank our visiting music staff – Mr and Mrs Dodds, Miss Thomas, Ms Newton, Mrs Jolly, Miss Bacon – for preparing the various items for the evening, and all our pupils for working tirelessly and attending weekly rehearsals in preparation for this amazing concert. Keep up the good work everyone! Do listen to the whole evening HERE.