Our final concert of the year featuring the larger classical ensembles took place in St. Michael and All Angels’ church in Heavitree on Wednesday evening.
For the Upper Fifth it will be the last performance before study leave, whilst for our many Upper Sixth pupil musicians, the occasion marked their last performances with groups including Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Choir and Senior Brass. The concert was a further milestone, as Mr Fryer has been a member of staff supporting the pupils by playing viola in the orchestras for 40 years. His dedication was recognised and applauded by all.
The charity being supported this year was Azuko, a small charity whose vision is to create a world without housing poverty. Middle Fifth pupil Connie researched several charities and then the performers were asked to vote on the cause which would benefit from profits made – grateful thanks to Connie for her work co-ordinating with the charity.
Read more about the charity here
Musically, the concert showcased the broad range of talent of Exeter School’s many senior instrumentalists and singers. Chamber Choir, featuring around 60 singers, provided two sets, the first a selection of pieces by English composers and the second being two favourites from musicals. Our two smaller senior choirs were also on stage – Vocal Ensemble, singing two of their best-loved repertoire pieces, The Way You Look Tonight and Bridge Over Troubled Water, and Belles Canto, with the classic jazz standard Moon River, followed by a foot-tapping Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, featuring Imogen on the trumpet.
Our two brass groups were in fine form, with Maxi Brass featuring players from all the orchestral brass family and ranging in age from the evening’s youngest performer, French hornist Nathaniel in Lower Two, through to several Upper Sixth players. Senior Brass built on the success of their performance of Gabrieli in the Founders’ Day service in March and repeated it for the many parents who attended on Wednesday, playing in three separate groups to produce the intended antiphonal effect.
Wind Ensemble returned to Hanmer’s Spinning Wheel which was very well received in the school’s first concert of this term at Sidbury, and once again was an enjoyed by all. A group which has really developed in the last year is Concert Band, and includes pupils from across the age-range in the senior school. Their rousing performance of Creed offered a great contrast to the Boys’ Barbershop subtle renditions of traditional spirituals Steal Away and Joshua Fit.
Both Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Mr. Tamblyn, also delivered notable performances. Chamber featured soloists Joshua and Tristan in the slow movement of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante and reduced to just strings for Elgar’s Serenade for Strings. Symphony selected three crowd-pleasing pieces which were played with great vigour and enthusiasm and provided a spectacular end to the event.
Musical performances take a break during the exam period, however there is the Jazz Supper on 1 July and the Budleigh Lunchtime Chamber Concert on 2 July still to come this year, whilst around 50 musicians will be going on tour to Italy at the very end of term.
