CBSO Concert Trip
On Thursday 25th June 2015, 20 avid music students, ranging from Year 8 to Year 10, accompanied Mr Ward and Ms Vaughan to Birmingham Symphony Hall to enjoy a concert conducted by the assistant conductor, Alpesh Chauhan. Alpesh was once a student at our school, so it was a privilege to meet with him before he was due to conduct at 2:15pm
We were treated to a very interesting and diverse choice of pieces on the program that afternoon, including some pieces that you would not expect. We were introduced to the concert with ‘Richard Stauss’ Suite in B flat major for 13 wind instruments, a very calming way to start the concert. The suite was divided into four movements. We were then treated to Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony in C, played by an ensemble of string.
After a short interval the concert continued with Steve Reich’s Music for pieces of wood, a most peculiar piece. It had a solid, complex rhythms performed by 4 players tapping wooden claves. It was greeted by an enthusiastic, albeit slightly sarcastic, ‘Bravo!’ We then heard John Cage’s First Construction in Metal. Although it was a crowd pleaser for us students, it undoubtedly shook some of the older audience members who clearly took a dislike to the unique piece we had heard.
We them concluded the concert with Mussorgsky’s famous Pictures at an Exhibition, featuring the graceful, slow then brisk, reoccurring theme, ‘Promenade’. We enjoyed the 10-movement suite immensely.
I would like to thank Ms Vaughan for organising the trip, and Mr Ward, Head of Music, for accompanying us to this trip. I’m sure that if an opportunity like this came up again, we would all like to go. I would also like to thank Alpesh Chauhan for coming to meet us before the concert and treating us to this concert. We all wish him good luck continuing as assistant conductor and perhaps one day, become principle conductor!
Brandon Masih 9H
