Music in Quiet Places

Music in Quiet Places – 26^th November 2009

This is an annual concert which takes place in a different village church to include soloists or small ensembles of students who have perhaps not performed before. This year the concert was held in the small, pretty village of Granborough and included pupils from Year Six through to Year Twelve.

Ones first impression when walking into the venue in the evening was BRRRR!! It was an extremely cold night, and the beautiful small 14th Century Church had a 14^th Century November temperature to suit its surrounds! The fires were soon lit and it eventually became a cosy evening.

The concert opened (as the clock was tunefully striking Seven in the Key of D minor) with the String Quartet playing Mozart’s Ave Verum. Leon Greedy, Millie Greedy, Joshua Gentry and Thomas Johnson played beautifully, and it was a peaceful start which hopefully warmed the audience!

Leonora Gill then performed for the first time in a public concert on the violin. The Vivace by Teleman was an energetic performance and extremely impressive. Eleanor Haigh then performed Eternal Flame perfectly, bringing happy looks of reminiscence to the adults in the audience.

Molly Suthers sang Bunclody like an angel. The cold did not seem to affect her voice, and her soft vibrato and pure tones echoed around the church. Ashaleigh Robinson played Andante by Haydn on the cello producing a warm rich sound. Charles Metcalfe performed Ballade by Burgmuller - a piece which he succeeded to represent an approaching thunderstorm and elves and sprites dancing.

Jade Thomas and Chloe Miller cheerfully played a very fun flute duet with a rather strange title of Boccy Chiccy, followed by Georgie Chapman beautifully playing Moon River on the violin.

Francesca Clements sang The Greatest Love with her strong voice that would have made Whitney a tad jealous. This was followed by Alexander Sexton playing The Elephant (that is the title, not the instrument!) by Saint Saens on the piano, captivating the style and character of this music.

Charlotte Hulbert was one of the youngest performers but still performed like a professional, and Wondrous Love sounded lovely on her violin. This was followed by Amelia Barnes demonstrating character in music by playing a bouncy piece on the oboe called Harvest Time, and then Zoë Lowes sang The Ash Grove; a gorgeous traditional Welsh Tune which she performed very well.

Max Thiriot played a half-size Double Bass which was still bigger than him! He played My Little Snuff Box which was arranged for this instrument by Miss Bailey’s double bass teacher and she even remembers playing it herself as a small child.

Alicia O’Malley then cheered the younger members of the audience by singing The Bare Necessities, followed by Chloe Cook playing Old Joe Clark perfectly on the violin.

Jemima Penfold played the piano – a disco-style piece entitled Chocolate Car Park. This piece did not represent cars getting sticky, but Jemima gave it energy, accuracy, and it was a tremendous performance. Thomas Johnson then expressively played Sometime Maybe on the ‘cello showing emotion and again demonstrating a warm, rich tone.

The String Quartet returned to finish the concert playing a fast exciting rendition of Jenkins’s Palladia and it was easy to believe we were in the Albert Hall at a Prom as the standard was fantastic!

All performances were amazing; a wonderful fifty minutes of stunning performances. I enjoyed accompanying on the piano as not only could I hear the high standard of all the students, but also feel the thrill they were experiencing as they performed.

I’d like to finish with a quote from Dr Grundy as he spoke at the end: After   thanking the Music Department, the Instrumental Teachers, and the Accompanist, he then praised the students saying “I was told this concert was for the up-and-coming students, but I think we’ll all agree they are there now”.

And he is quite right. Well done to everybody. We are all very proud!

Natasha Cuin (Music Teacher and Accompanist