Winter Concert 2024
Big School proved to be a great venue for our Winter Concert this year. At the beginning of December, I was disappointed to discover that the boiler in St. Mary’s Church was broken. I had hoped that the repairs could be done over the weekend preceding the concert, but this was not possible. Changing the date of an end-of-term concert, especially at short notice, is particularly challenging. However, the staff, parents and students were all able to accommodate this change.
The Winter Concert this year involved more than 70 students, and the boys performed to an audience of 170. There were solo items from Dhanveer Mahal (dhol), Kieran Hay (classical guitar), Rayhaan Hussain (trombone), Johan del Rosario (euphonium), Hardev Manku (violin), Tiziano Pasqualini (saxophone), Stanley Todd (piano), Sukhmandeep Sanghera (trombone), Hrithik Bansal (violin), Enzo Lee (piano), Billy Wells (voice and guitar), Daniel Alloh (saxophone), Amitoj Saggu (piano), Abel Shaine (violin), Joshua Holdsworth (guitar), Ziona Paulson (flute) and Teghbir Singh (tabla). The ensembles performing included: Upper School and Lower School Woodwind ensembles, Brass Band, Jazz Band, Dhol ensemble and the School Orchestra.
There were a couple of moments for ‘audience participation’ in the form of singing ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’ and ‘Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.’ Singing was one of the great successes of the evening, with Billy Wells and his friends in year 10 delivering a memorable performance of ‘Last Christmas.’ The fabulous talent more than compensated for the disappointment of not performing at St. Mary’s. As with all large-scale events, it requires the help of many, so thank you to all the staff that made this a night to remember, and well-done to all the performers who played so well.
