Springtime Music

The DRT was rocking on Thursday evening to the sounds of jazz ensembles and rock bands.  Celebrating the “lighter side” of music, the evening was a real chance to celebrate the significant and diverse talents of our musicians.  The first half focused on four of our smaller jazz ensembles who have been working on making their own “on the fly” arrangements of jazz standards, exploring different interpretations (including Take 5 in 4 time!) and developing their improvisation skills.  It was great to see the confidence with which they perform and the fluency of their improvisation.  Fast Track Band made its debut performance; established to train young wind and brass players for Concert Band, their performances of Skyfall and Soul Bossa Nova were lively and the players were clearly enjoying playing as an ensemble. Students’ Collective ended the first half with a virtuosic display of ensemble playing, including breaking out in 4-part a cappella barbershop in the middle of their set! 

This year has seen a real growth in the number of pupil-led rock bands, and it was fantastic to hear four of them. The four groups each have a distinct identity, sound and style which it is great to see and hear developing. With strong vocals all round and impressive improvising these performances  had the audience joining in as well!

Two trombone quartets followed the bands with confident performances of pieces with demanding ensemble skills.  The evening closed with hugely impressive performances by Big Band. Tackling some really challenging repertoire the band gave swinging performances of Ja-Da, When Sunny Gets Blue (featuring beautiful vocals from Eleanor M) and ending with Count Bubba. This Gordon Goodwin chart requires real precision from every single player and this performance really brought the house down.

Thank you to all our performers and the Music Department team for such a joyous evening of music.

Also this week, the Chamber Choir joined with Prebendal School Choir for Evensong in Portsmouth Cathedral. Our association with Prebendal School, the choir school for Chichester Cathedral, goes back a long way. The annual evensong we sing with the Prebendal Choir is always a lovely occasion, and on Wednesday evening their choir of 24 soprano and treble voices joined Chamber Choir in Portsmouth Cathedral to sing Sumsions quintessentially English setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis along with If Ye Love Me by Philip Wilby.  This large group of singers made a magnificent sound and the blend of these voices was impressive on just an hour’s rehearsal.