Music Review of the Spring Term

The spring term got off to a great start with a joint concert between Symphonic Wind Band and the RAF College band from Cranwell, with the theme ‘A Night at the Movies’. Following a visit to RAF Cranwell earlier in the month, the pupils had the opportunity to play challenging and exciting repertoire alongside experienced musicians. The concert was a great success, raising over £400 for the RAF Music Charitable Trust.

There have also been two Loughborough Schools Music Presents concerts, which each showcase a different faculty in the music department. This term we had the guitars and harps, and the strings and orchestras concert. These involved pupils of all ages from across the foundation, and even included a piece for all age strings composed by Mr Thompson.

A choral highlight of the term was the Oxbridge Evensong, which included Cantilena and Burton Consort. The service took place in the historic Trinity College Chapel in Cambridge and featured music by Stanford and Attwood.

This term also saw the continuation of our music competitions, with the woodwind, brass, singing and strings competitions taking place. The competitions were a great success, with entries from all across the midlands and pupils performing at a very high standard. Winners from the high school include Josephine, who won the 15 and under category for singing(Music scholar Ailsa was also highly commended in the senior strings class).

Our biggest concert this term was the Spring Concert at De Montfort Hall, with performances from Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Band, Percs 1, featuring soloists from the high and grammar. The evening concluded with a grand finale of Vivaldi’s Gloria, sung by the liturgical choirs, Loughborough singers and plenty of year 7 pupils from across the Foundation.

The end of March saw the annual Senior Musician’s Dinner and entertainments, an evening of food and music for 6th form musicians, teachers, and other associated staff. Highlights included a giant Kahoot, a rendition of Britney Spears’ ‘Oops I did it again’ from the staff brass quartet, and guest soloists (Mr West and Mr Thompson) playing on year 2 string instruments.

Jazz Night on Wednesday 3 April rounded the term off in style, and was a joyful celebration of music making combined with good food and company. We look forward to another busy term in the summer.