Spring Up! Instrumental Concert

Headington’s annual Spring Concert took place in the wonderful venue of St John the Evangelist on Iffley Road on Thursday 28th March. Renowned for its excellent acoustics, this was the perfect location to feature instrumental music performed by musicians across Headington’s Prep and Senior schools. The audience was treated to some Romantic repertoire from the Symphony Orchestra (movements from Tchaikovsky’s 5th and Dvořák’s 8th Symphonies), a Takarari folk melody from the Prep string ensemble, a Tudor dance, ‘Pastime with Good Company’ from the Junior Brass Group and a movement from Kodály’s first quartet by the Heliotrope Quartet. There were also two pieces performed by Stringendo – the ‘James Bond Theme’, followed by Telemann’s ‘Viola Concerto’, featuring soloist Aoife.

The second half was equally varied. Sinfonietta (a combined orchestra of musicians from U3, L4 and the Prep School) played a rousing version of the ‘March and Habenera’ from ‘Carmen’, with the String Orchestra performing Handel’s ‘Concerto Grosso in G’, followed by Karl Jenkins’s ‘La Folia’ for solo marimba and strings featuring soloist and Music Prefect Jemima. The Senior Brass Group performed Speer’s ‘Die Bankelsangerlieder’ from the gallery above the screen, and were followed by the Alamaro Trio with a movement from Schubert’s ‘Trio in B Flat’.

Director of Music Mrs Aimee Jamison said: “A huge thank you must go to all students as well as to music staff from the Prep and Senior schools for a memorable and highly enjoyable evening.”