Contemporary Music Showcase impresses
On Thursday 21st March and Friday 22nd March, 130 Headington musicians performed to sell out audiences in the second Contemporary Music Show, ‘ELECTRIC!’. The show celebrated music in the 20th and 21st century which was inspired or enabled by the discovery of electricity. The main School Hall was transformed beyond all recognition with dramatic staging, lighting and projections to suit a wide variety of performances, from Punk to Soul.
Soul Train sang in harmony with huge enthusiasm for a variety of pieces, including songs by Coldplay, Queen, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Ariana Grande and Robbie Williams. The contrast in their performances ranged from sheer excitement and energy to beautiful and sensitive harmonies.
Headingtones, likewise, gave stunning performances of ‘Hallelujah’ and ‘Space Oddity’, with lighting that captured the atmosphere of each song perfectly. Their fun version of ‘Salve Regina’ from ‘Sister Act’ was popular with the audience.
All of the songs were accompanied by the Big Band and core Rock Band, with ‘Tears of a Clown’ and ‘Thriller’ both featuring the Big Band to dramatic effect.
Other highlights of the show included fantastic performances by the Dance Scholars, smaller groups and lots of incredibly high quality solo singers. Kristin’s own punk song ‘Feelings of 17’ was received with rapturous applause by the whole audience and the singers. Both nights came to an explosive finish with Hannah singing ‘Let Me Entertain You’. This performance was backed by the entire 130 strong cast singing and dancing along until the whole hall was buzzing, with Hannah even performing a disappearing trick on stage mid-song!
The whole evening was full of energy, dynamism and contrast from start to finish, with the audience equally engaged.
Head of Contemporary Music Mr Tom Anderson said: “All of the musicians have worked extremely hard in rehearsals over the last six months. They put on an incredibly energetic and truly professional quality performance on both nights. It was such a pleasure to work with them all on the show and to witness their huge determination and contribution.”
