The Wykehamist The Wykemamist Common Time 2017 No. 1474 | Page 9

The musical calendar kicked off with Chamber
Music I. Both Kieran Mackison (E) with a
collection of three songs by Vaughan Williams
and Angus Robertson (B) with a selection of
Finzi songs around the theme of summer, sang
very well. Tsutomu Miyano (I) and Jacob
Nathenson (B) gave an impressive performance
of Bernhard Crusell’s ‘Clarinet Duo no. II’.
Finally Joseph Zubier (Coll) sang, wonderfully
as ever, four Richard Strauss songs. The next
chamber concert was Chamber Music II on
Sunday 12 th February. Once again, all the
performances were of an extremely high quality
showcasing a range of genres. Samuel Morton
Morris (G) began with a lovely collection of
songs by Mozart, Schubert and Debussy.
Memorable performances were also given by
Joseph Zubier (Coll), this time on the cello.
Harvey Starey (B) sang and so did Christopher
Cheng (Coll), giving his debut chamber music
performance.
The Ensemble Concert featured an excellent
range of music. It varied tonally, from the
elegantly beautiful ‘Nocturne’ (Borodin) to the
haunting ‘Sabre Dance’ (Khachaturian).
‘Sabre Dance’ opened the concert with a
hurried, menacing series of notes. It was
followed by a rendition of ‘Lego House’
(Sheeran), specially arranged by our own
Tarney and Gillthorpe. Voces were able to
combine passion with a less harsh style. In
terms of sheer dexterity, the guitar ensemble
was supreme, shifting seamlessly from Handel
to the Beatles to film music (Karas). Such a
transfer is never easy, but it was made to
appear simple. Brass featured heavily: there
was the Junior Brass playing a majestic ‘See
the Conquering Hero Comes’ (Handel), a
trombone quartet and a brass quintet. The
concert was rounded off with VoxSoc, an
acappella group, singing ‘Blackbird’
(Lennon/McCartney arr. Runswick) and
‘Greensleeves’ (Trad. arr. Chilcott).
‘Blackbird’ featured a strong sense of energy
and beat, which was juxtaposed with a lovely
legato present throughout ‘Greensleeves’. The
concert ended with a gorgeous wordless
harmony.
The Concerto Concert on Sunday 22 nd
January featured the Symphony Orchestra and
two of the college’s finest soloists performing
at their very best. The concert began with Max
Cheung (Coll) and the orchestra performing
Dvořák’s Cello Concerto. The beautiful
interplay between orchestral accompaniment
and virtuoso solo playing was seamlessly
brought to life by the conductor, Adrian
Adlam. The cello was struck with poise and
purpose, creating tones that encapsulated the
audience and left the listener on the edge of
their seat. Max expressed his satisfaction and
gratitude to The Wyk ehamist: ‘It was one of
the best musical experiences I’ve ever had;
thank you to all the players in the orchestra
and the teachers who made it so.’ After being
stunned by a technically flawless and
emotionally exhilarating Cello Concerto, the
bar had been set sky high for the evening-but
the audience wasn’t going to be disappointed.
The school’s top pianist, Victor Lu (I), and the
orchestra performed Rachmaninoff’s Second
Piano Concerto. Considered one of the most
difficult pieces in the piano concerto
repertoire, any performance of it would have
been commendable for such a young group.
Instead, what the audience heard might just as
well have been from the Proms. With Victor
playing on the Steinway D Concert Grand
Piano, a gift from a generous Old
Wykehamist, the audience was exposed to
classical music at its very best. Victor Lu on
the performance: ‘What I would like to say is
how spectacular an event the Concerto Concert
was. Every single note felt alive with a sense
of wonder at Rach's genius. It is a great
privilege to have collaborated with the
Symphony Orchestra and I am very thankful
for the time and effort everyone spent into
making Sunday evening so stupendous.’
On the cold evening of Sunday 5 th February,
the school made its way over to New Hall for
the annual House Singing Competition.
Sitting down in rows, pupils waited
expectantly for the first house to process down
9