The Big Sing
A chorus of girls, staff, parents and alumni raised the roof for a very special Spring Concert.
Named The Big Sing, the concert on Thursday 27th March differed from previous concerts, with a traditional first half featuring ensembles and orchestras, and a second half featuring a massed community choir and orchestra.
The programme began with a bang as the Big Band took to the stage with two classic pieces: Randy Newman’s ‘Almost There’ and ‘Mercy, Mercy, Mercy’.
The Prep Chamber Choir then delighted us with the brilliantly uplifting ‘Find Your Light’, delivered with energy and passion and were followed by a pared-down senior orchestra performing the first movement of Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto.
The soloists were Ellie and Florence:, Year 13 leavers who have been very active musicians throughout their time at HRO.
Mrs Aimee Jamison, Director of Performing Arts, said: “It was a treat to hear them perform together, accompanied sensitively by the orchestra under the baton of Mr Penman.”
Jumping from the senior musicians to the Lower School, the Sinfonietta were next, with an elegant performance of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Sleeping Beauty Waltz’, arranged and conducted by our Music Graduate Assistant, Miss Katrina Bedford.
To end the first half, the Percussion Ensemble dazzled the audience with a high-energy performance of Kazuhiro Mamada’s ‘Visional Train’ – a driving and virtuosic ensemble number featuring a range of pitched and unpitched instruments, including the gong!
The second half was opened by the community orchestra performing Mozart’s ‘Overture to the Marriage of Figaro’ – this dextrous and light-hearted piece was the perfect introduction to our programme of choral works performed by the combined community choir and orchestra.
The community choir began with Handel’s majestic coronation anthem, ‘Zadok the Priest’, followed by Vivaldi’s exuberant ‘Gloria’, both of which showcased the power and enduring popularity of Baroque choral music.
In contrast, Puccini’s beautiful ‘Humming Chorus’ from the opera ‘Madame Butterfly’, was a moment of stillness and restraint before the peace was shattered by Orff’s dramatic and devastating ‘O Fortuna’ from ‘Carmina Burana’.
Moving on to the genre of musicals, the Prep Chamber Choir were invited up on stage to swell the chorus size even further, launching into a fantastic arrangement of Lionel Bart’s ‘Who Will Buy?’ from the musical ‘Oliver!’
The Prep Chamber Choir took the part of Oliver, with members of the Headingtones and Chamber Choir performing the roles of the street sellers.
The finale was the rousing chorus from Les Miserables, ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’ in which the audience were invited to join in for the final refrain.
Mrs Jamison: “The sound produced by this wonderful team of pupils, staff, parents and alumni was truly inspiring, and a reminder of the great benefits – physically, socially and emotionally – that making music together across all age ranges and backgrounds can bring.
“A huge thank you to all involved across the Prep and Senior schools, and look forward to more community music very soon!”
