On the evening of Friday 3 May, the School held its annual Soloists' Recital in the Great Hall.
From vocalists to pianists and violinists, the College’s musical variety was certainly on display. The evening began with an introduction from our Graduate Music Assistant Mr Slade, who opened the performance by introducing L Holland to the stage. He sang On My Own, from the popular musical Les Misérables, with confidence and all the gusto of a West-End actor!
Year 7 pupil L Slowikowski was next up, and his accomplished piano recital of Mier’s Red Rose Rendezvous helped the audience to imagine themselves at a Jazz Club. B Atkin, who won last year’s solo round of the House Singing competition, was next to perform and beautifully sang Skylark by Hoagy Carmichael. This is his penultimate public performance at the School, he has sang and played the drums and guitar since he arrived at the school in 2014.
Next up was our first violinist of the evening, as H Wood performed the third movement of Seitz’s Violin Concerto No. 2. The Year 9 pupil has been practising for months, and this was his first solo performance at the College.
H Groves-Raines was next to take the stage and performed John Frith’s Jiggegy Jig. The upbeat trumpet piece had toes tapping and heads bopping, before J Miller’s moving and sobering performance of I Dreamed a Dream, also from Les Misérables.
Classical Gas by Mason Williams was E Overton’s song of choice to perform on the classical guitar, and certainly brought a Spanish summertime feeling with him. Following him was P Kenny, winner of this year’s solo round of the House Singing competition. He sang two pieces; starting with Aaron Copland’s At The River, and drawing to a close with Younger Than Springtime by Rogers & Hammerstein.
D John-Vallee performed the first movement of Seitz’s Violin Concerto No.5 in what was an inspiring performance. Next came B Howard-Jones, who trumpeted the first movement of Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto. His trumpet can often be heard at our seasonal concerts, and he led BHJ Brass in their performance of War at the recent Spring Concert.
Mr Slade organised this year’s Recital, and accompanied many of the pieces on the piano. He said, "Friday evening's concert presented an enjoyably eclectic journey from Haydn's Vienna to Broadway. It was the ideal showcase for Shiplake's talented musicians, who performed with admirable composure and confidence. Although we'll miss our departing Year 13s, the future of musical performance at Shiplake seems as bright as ever."
Well done to all of our performers and thank you to all who attended. We look forward to seeing you at Shiplake Rocks on Thursday 20 June 2019.
