Choral and Orchestral Concert – Thursday 20th March – St Joseph’s Church

We had our second visit of the year to St Joseph’s Church for our annual Choral and Orchestral concert. This year, it was the turn of our Channing Community Choir—which included parents, friends, siblings, and staff—to sing alongside the Centemus Chorus and Conabor Choir in a performance of Fauré’s Requiem, accompanied by our own Symphony Orchestra.

The concert started with an electrifying and arresting brass fanfare by Malcolm Arnold, led by our Head of Wind Studies, Mr Patrick Dodds, before we then relaxed into Bruch’s Romance for String Orchestra and Solo Viola, directed by our Head of Strings, Mrs Laura Dodds. Our viola soloist, Zoe Q in Y13, played with real expression throughout, with a sensitive accompaniment from the Senior Strings.

The Symphony Orchestra then took to the stage for Massenet’s Meditation from his opera Thaïs, with violin soloist Natalia B in Y13. This very famous piece of luscious romanticism left the audience spellbound, with those gorgeous sweeping melodies played by Natalia with such musical poise and delicacy.

The Symphony Orchestra then played the 1st movement from Brahms’ 4th Symphony. This ‘tragic’ symphony, with its weeping melodic opening and its fanfare-like second theme, was a seriously ambitious piece for the orchestra to tackle, but they rose to the challenge and gave a magnificent performance of this iconic piece of Brahms.

We then had a short interval whilst the stage was reset and our choirs assembled, ready to sing Fauré’s Requiem. This is a sublime and intimate work, and our performing forces gave their all in this moving performance—from the lyrical Kyrie, to the mysterious Offertoire, with a lovely semichorus from the Chamber Choir (coached by our Head of Vocal Studies, Miss Jenny Bacon) singing the Hostias section. The ethereal Sanctus, with harp accompaniment, followed, and the fireworks erupted in the glorious Hosanna.

Evie M gave a stylish and exquisite rendition of the famous Pie Jesu. The Community Choir’s performance of the Agnus Dei was beautiful and a prelude to the uplifting Libera Me, also with a semichorus from the Chamber Choir. Excitement returned in the central section with the highly passionate Dies Irae before a triumphal return of the opening melody, giving a true sense of freedom. The paradisical final movement, In Paradisum, was sublime.

To finish, our singers and instrumentalists gave an electrifying performance of several songs from Les Misérables, with a stunning climax in the final bars, bringing an end to a wonderful evening of music-making.

Our thanks to so many of the music team who worked so hard to produce a memorable event for our students, parents, and friends.