Category: Music
Our annual Gala Concert takes place on Sunday 26 June at Ipswich Corn Exchange, with over 130 performers (including our parent choir) coming together to perform Faure’s sublime Requiem!
Rehearsals are in full swing and as part of our lead up to the event we recently met with our piano soloist Etiane (Y13), who talked about being part of this wonderful musical delight.
“Mrs Kent approached me last year and invited me to take part in the Gala Concert, offering me the piano solo for the event. I’m going to be playing the Piano Concerto No. 23, KV488 by Mozart; the second and third movements. I knew that I’d probably never get another opportunity like this in my life, to play at the wonderful Corn Exchange with the orchestra – there was absolutely no chance of me not taking this opportunity. I’m incredibly excited to be part of this.”
Etiane has been playing piano since she was four years old, achieving her Grade 8 at the age of 14 and is now playing to Diploma standard. Etiane also plays the cello and will be leading the cello section of the school’s Symphony Orchestra for the rest of the programme.
The Gala Concert is certain to be a night of splendor, and all conducted by our Director of Music, Mrs Emma Kent. Do join us, you can get your tickets directly from the Corn Exchange Ipswich at www.ipswichtheatres.co.uk.
Last week the Music department was buzzing as staff and students prepared for the Woodwind Workshop. Students from all year groups took part in what was the first workshop of its kind – and it was an incredible turnout from Senior as well as Prep School students.
It’s fair to say it challenged a few students in terms of keeping up, but the overall experience was positive and the collaboration a great success.
Quite an achievement overall as the range of abilities varied from some very new starters to those musicians now post Grade 8.
Looking forward, staff and students are excited to showcase what was learned and practiced during the workshop, at our upcoming Evening of Woodwind which takes place Thursday 19 May from 6.30pm in our School Hall.
With everyone welcome to come along it’s sure to be a super event and it looks certain that the workshop will continue throughout the School years ahead.
Head of Music Mrs Kent described this year’s inaugural Music residential trip to Bawdsey Manor as, “an extraordinary weekend!” Here she reports on the weekend’s events.
75 students from Years 7 to Year 12, and 9 members of staff, spent three days making music, bonding and taking part in outdoor activities – but mostly having an enormous amount of fun!
Spending three to four hours each day performing music, climbing Jacob’s Ladders, scrambling through courses, swinging on a giant swing, zooming down zip wires and competing in wacky races and sung (or rather shouted!) themselves hoarse around camp fires for 55 hours straight.
Bawdsey Manor is an idyllic setting with beautiful sea views, immaculate grounds, a Great Hall much like something out of Harry Potter, with excellent food and the most incredible support on-site staff – huge thanks to PGL Bawdsey for their warm welcome and energy throughout.
The cherry on the cake was the ‘Prom’ concert held in School Hall and the Tuckwell to an appreciative audience of 200 plus friends and family who were treated to a concert band, string orchestra, rock band, freeform guitar/singing/ukulele ensembles, a ‘Happy’ choir and of course the combined symphony orchestra and symphony choir version of ‘Dry Your Tears Afrika’ by John Williams from the film Amistad.
Thanks to all the students for working so hard, making us laugh and feel proud of them all weekend.
Join us next year for BAND CAMP 2023 – Around the World in 80 hours.
Spring heralds new shoots of growth and so it was an apt time for us share our musical new shoots of growth with the wider community at St. John’s Church in Woodbridge last Friday evening. A packed church was treated to upbeat band based numbers from the Concert Band, Training Band, Samba Band, Percussion, Single-reed Ensemble and Swing band – all of which got our toes tapping and the students dancing and whooping in the gallery. But it wasn’t all funk, soul and tangos, there were more tender moments provided by Cellisti and a fun little duet on the Marimba of the Mario theme tune from our faithful Y13 percussionists Will and Tom. If you weren’t one of 120+ audience do not fear because you can catch up here.
On Tuesday 8 March, Woodbridge School held An Evening of Vocal Music at St Mary’s Church in the town; and for the first time in nearly two years the Church was filled with an unlimited audience.
The amassed choirs of Woodbridge Prep and Senior Schools provided an exceptional evening of song, directed by Miss Weston and Miss Barnes, accompanied by Christine Stafford.
The senior Chamber Choir set the bar high with an uplifting rendition of Finzi’s ‘My Spirit Sang All Day’ to begin the concert, and thoroughly deserved the rousing applause they received for ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’.
The Prep School Chamber Choir was perfection itself as they told the story of David and Goliath, and no-one could deny that the Vocal Fellas showed true unity in their moving performance of ‘Fix You’.
‘You Raise Me Up’, performed by Vocal Bellas, brought many a tear for our wonderfully warm audience who seemed to enjoy the wide and varied programme.
Chorum fought against the odds of being down by two members to give a moving and poignant performance of ‘Home to You’.
The evening finished with every single student performing ‘Down by the Riverside’; the words, “I’m going to lay down my sword and shield” fitting words for such challenging times.
No one could deny the evening was one of musical celebration and fantastic performances and this was shown in a full standing ovation for the students – high praise indeed.
Mr Ray Travasso commented on the evening, and so we summarise in the words of one of our parents, “What an amazing concert!!! Thank you so much for putting on such a beautiful evening at St Marys Church yesterday. Your passion, enthusiasm and connection with the students was so lovely to witness. The repertoire was incredible and provided a meaningful response to everything that is going on in our world right now. It takes hard work, commitment, patience and years to get the students to the point at which they arrived last night. Thank you.”
The Pro Corda Chamber Music Festival, a national festival which exclusively promotes and celebrates chamber music within schools, took place this week and Woodbridge fielded four teams from across year groups.
The Glam Quartet – Iris (Y12), Asmee (Y12), Oliver (Y11) and Jasmine (Y11).
Brass Attack – Margot (Y8), Lara (Y7), Alice (Y9), Noah (Y9) and on drums – Joe (Y8).
Tono Trio – Lily (Y8), Lyrah (Y8) and Alex (Y8)
Burkitt Trio – Georgia (Y9), Will (Y9) and Oscar (Y8)
Set in a recital room and the beautiful barn, which were not only an acoustic treat but visually very impressive, each of the groups performed really well. Adjudicator, Mr Quatermaine, provided each team and student with valuable feedback, giving our young musicians lots to think about and consider. It was a truly affirming experience for all who took part, congratulations to all of them, we look forward to hearing if any of our teams have been invited to the semi-finals.
Listen to a snippet from the Glam Quartet here.
There has been a hive of activity in our Music department at School recently, from Lunchtime Live to a trip to Aldeburgh to enjoy the delights of the De Beauvoir Trio. We’re also looking ahead to the National Pro Corda Chamber Music Festival which is taking place next week on 8 February. Director of Music Emma Kent reports for us here:
Lunchtime Live
This week saw our third Lunchtime Live performance of the academic year, and what a delight it was! With 19 separate pieces played by a variety of students playing at different levels on different instruments such as violin, piano, double bass and trumpet, our virtual audience were treated to a number of pieces from the James Bond theme tune to more traditional Mozart an Verdi. Students performing as part of Lunchtime Live have the opportunity to experience live performing, which is an important part of learning and playing any instrument. We were extremely proud of all those who took part – well done everyone!
De Beauvoir Trio
Last Friday, 28 January, 11 music scholars and GCSE musicians had the opportunity to travel to and experience what can only be described as a jaw dropping performance and example of immaculate culture from De Beauvoir Trio at Aldeburgh’s Jubilee Hall. The trio comprises young, upcoming musicians, sponsored by Britain Arts, our Next Generation artists. It truly was a masterclass in performance and we felt extremely lucky to have experienced it. The bus journey back from the event was buzzing, our violinist particularly discussing the different bow techniques use and demonstrated to perfection!
Pro Corda Chamber Music Festival
Next week on Tuesday 8 February, four groups from School will be competing in the National Pro Croda Chamber Music Festival being held at Leiston Abbey. Our four groups include:
- Glam Quartet (string quartet): Year 12’s Iris and Asmee and Year 11’s Oliver and Jasmine
- Brass Attack: Year 7’s Lara, Year 8’s Margot and Joe (on drums) along with Year 9’s Alice and Noah
- Tono piano trio (violin, cello and piano): Year 8’s Lily, Lyra and Alex
- Burkett piano trio (violin, cello and piano): Year 9’s Georgia and Will, and Year 8’s Oscar
We wish them well and look forward to them possibly going through to the semi-finals!
Music students travelled to Snape maltings with our Director of Music Mrs Kent and Miss Barnes our Singing Teacher last weekend, to see and experience the Sinfonia of London with pianist Pavel Kolesnikov performing live. Year 12’s Lucy provided a delightful report.
On Saturday evening we were treated to a live performance by the Sinfonia of London and the incredible pianist Pavel Kolesnikov, who played his debut of the Britten Piano Concerto at Snape Maltings. We were even given the chance to meet Pavel during the interval and ask some insightful questions about his experiences as an international pianist.
We heard pieces from John Ireland, Benjamin Britten and Ralph Vaughan-Williams. Britten’s Piano Concerto especially gave Pavel the change to showcase his incredibly talent – all were amazing to listen to and experience his spell-binding live performance.
It was a real education for us to see how a professional orchestra operates, as well as witness the synchronicity and team work required to not only play together well, but convey the emotions of each piece with depth and emotion.
Overall, (other than a bumpy bus ride over the speed bumps for those of us sat at the back) the trip was inspiring and great fun – it’s great to be able to see and hear live music again!
Lucy
On Thursday 7 October, around 40 children from a number of local primary schools visited Woodbridge School to take part in our Orchestral Enrichment Day held in the Music Department to enjoy a jam-packed day of musical delights!
A chance to not only visit the Music Department but to see and experience Woodbridge! The day started at 9.30am with children introduced to some warm-up music games to help focus them ahead of their day and break the ice! This was followed by a read-through session then a well-deserved morning break where freshly baked cookies, fruit and squash were enjoyed by all.
The children then participated in sectionals, where they were split into different focus groups and were coached on the music for the afternoon concert. There were two pieces: Minuet by Woodhouse and Caribbean Delight, a lively Calypso piece with lots of complicated rhythms to get their teeth into.
Enjoying a full day at the School meant the children joined the rest of the students for lunch, and then some well-deserved supervised play ensured everyone was relaxed and refreshed ahead of the afternoon’s concert.
Rehearsals continued after lunch, and then after the final break parents began to arrive ahead of the concert held in the Tuckwell Room.
It was a full day and it’s fair to say the children were tired as they left later that day, but they were all happy, excited and extremely proud of what they had achieved, and so they should be. Everyone was waved off gifted with a music-themed goody bag and encouraged to visit the School again soon.
Mr Streat reports – A concert – live – with an audience! Oh unbridled joy!
Well, there was certainly an expression of unbridled joy on the faces of Mrs Barnes and her samba group as they opened the evening, from outside no less. The roll of drums, the call of the whistle, and the crescendo as the group trouped through St Mary’s ancient archway… had it ever resonated to the like before? I had the best view of all (I was at the door…), watching Mrs Barnes reverse faultlessly up the aisle with the biggest smile imaginable… and then the moment of genius that took the modern into the ancient as the drum beat was picked up by the symphony orchestra for Rameau’s Dance of the Savages.
What a start!
Mrs Kent then welcomed us all, with another smile so radiant we could not fail to be excited for what lay ahead…. Which was, without further ado, a beautiful rendition of Schubert’s glorious Unfinished Symphony. How on earth have our children managed this? Rehearsals so fraught with restrictions and complications, and yet a performance delivered with the most astonishing virtuosity and emotional impact. I was tingling – I suspect I was not alone in the audience. I suspect the performers were tingling too… it was a truly magical time.
And then more to savour. Cellisti – our cello section in its full unfettered glory under Mrs Alzapiedi, gavotting in style, and then all dreamy over their Mancini Moon River. So lovely.
Next was Nathaniel’s moment in the spotlight as soloist in Philip Glass’s First Violin Concerto, movements 1 and 2 (the latter Mrs Kent’s all-time favourite). Here was haunting lyricism – the pull and push of anguish and emotions at once exposed and explored. It is an extraordinary piece, and Nathaniel’s exquisitely nuanced performance earned him, and the orchestra, prolonged and justified applause.
And so ended the instrumental half of the evening.
We returned after the interval to Miss Weston’s Chamber Choir with chamber orchestra for Rutter’s sublime and emotionally charged Requiem. With the choir stretched from Altar to central Nave by the needs for distancing, and with the orchestra nestled within, the staging itself made for a remarkable performance. Add to that the breathtaking solos by Ella and Esme which resonated magnificently into the furthest recesses of St Mary’s, and an intimacy between performers and audience through this strangely stretched proximity… and the sum total was profoundly moving, exciting, and truly beautiful.
What a way to close.
Our deepest thanks and congratulations to all the performers and conductors for making life glorious once again.
You can watch it all again below!