A long standing ovation from hundreds at Guildford Cathedral ended a remarkable evening of music-making in a recent concert featuring the College's Concerto Competition Winners and Choral Society. The first half of the evening formed the prize for the Concerto Competition, held in January at the Royal Academy of Music, where second year student Max Pemberton (piano) and first year student Charlie Rothwell (saxophone) were announced as the winner and runner-up respectively. Charlie performed first, playing Eric Coates’ Saxo-Rhapsody, while Max’s chosen work was Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor. Both students performed their pieces with a full symphonic orchestra. Charlie and Max left the audience in awe at their expertise, professionalism, and musical communication.
It was delightful to return to Guildford, this time with a 150-strong chorus, made up of not only Farnborough students, but also pupils from Weydon, St Nicholas’, Hawley Hurst and Calthorpe Park schools. The singers in the school choirs represented innocence in a work by Jonathan Dove, entitled ‘For an Unknown Soldier’, which is a contemporary setting of poems written about World War II. Farnborough singing teacher, Richard Robbins, was the Tenor soloist.
The evening was a tribute to the hard work the students put into preparing for the concert. First year student Josephine Connor said, “The concert was an incredible experience. Singing alongside like-minded, talented and passionate musicians was astounding, especially in such a wonderful venue. The concerto performances were inspirational, both to myself and to all those around me. An unforgettable evening.”
Competition runner-up, Charlie Rothwell, summed up the evening by commenting, “I am very grateful for having the opportunity to perform in such a magnificent venue. The overall performance of both the soloists and choir sounded incredible and I'm very thankful to the College for allowing such a huge amount of pupils to not only enjoy, but also perform there.”
Singing with a full, professional symphony orchestra, the College’s Choral Society amazed the audience with the power, conviction and quality of their singing. Second year student Emily-Claire Donaghue commented, “Singing as part of the choir for "For an Unknown Soldier" was an absolute honour and an amazing experience, emotionally as well as musically. The music by itself expressed, to me, the feelings that must be felt by anyone involved or affected by war; it goes beyond anything words alone could say.”
Harry White, Curriculum Manager for musical performance said, “This astonishing music department has played witness to a number of very special musical moments throughout the last decade. I cannot remember, however, an audience response with such emotive charge as we have experienced tonight. Dove's music is full of power, tenderness and terror. It is difficult to overstate just how tremendously challenging this huge choral work is, and for Choral Society to not only learn it in a matter of weeks, but sing with such maturity and conviction, is nothing short of miraculous. The fact that we also shared this with the beautiful voices of many of our Partner Schools makes it all the more special. Those young people have tonight experienced what can be achieved in a place such as this, which engenders aspiration for all. It was a homage to the power of music, and one that will live long in the memory.”
