Summer Serenade Concert - May 16th

Date: Saturday 17 May 2008

It is a racing certainty that, when the summer term concert is scheduled to take place, it will be a grey and miserable evening with a hint of rain in the air. Such was the case yesterday, but, fortunately, this year's 'Summer Serenade' took place in the Concert Hall, rather than in the open air on the terrace.

This was St Edmund's music at its most light-hearted, with the emphasis placed on the popular end of the spectrum, with well-known and hummable melodies being the order of the day. The Symphony Orchestra took to the stage first with John Williams' 'Olympic Fanfare' - penned for the opening of the Los Angeles Games of 1984, which they followed with a medley of Paul Simon favourites, from 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' to 'Feelin' Groovy' via 'Mrs Robinson' and 'The Sound of Silence'. The Brass Ensemble had two quick bursts of Purcell - well-known - and Janacek - unknown! - between which the Braddy Band (String Orchestra) gave us the beautiful 'Wind Beneath my Wings'. The first half ended with the Chamber Choir in good voice in 'You Raise Me Up', and 'Disney Dazzle', a compendium of more recent Disney songs.

After Pimm's and strawberries - mulled wine might have been a better choice - the full audience welcomed the Big Band, which spotlighted many of its leading leaving members - Suzy Jackson, Hugh Saffrey, Josh Magill, et al - and Chloe Portman's vocal rendition of the John Mann arrangement of 'Valerie'. An unexpected insert was then a reprise of Thursday lunchtime's piano duet (Barnes and Payne) playing the Overture to 'The Pirates of Penzance'. It was not just as Sullivan wrote it - there were far too many 'Have a Bananas' for the Victorian maestro's liking!

The Chamber Choir returned with an arrangement of 'Mack the Knife', and a choral medley from 'West Side Story', before the Symphony Orchestra turned its attention 'Hits from Grease' - 'Summer Days' and 'Greased Lightning' demanding audience participation. After Chris McDade had paid due tribute to the major contributions of this year's leavers, and his own departmental colleagues, the evening ended with a roof-lifting rendition of 'Jerusalem', in true St Edmund's fashion.

How they - the Music Department - do it is beyond me. With minimal rehearsal time, and inhibited by clashes with every other school activity, they poduce term in, term out superbly attractive music in nearly every genre. Well done, thank you, and more power to your collective batons!