A Spring in Music's Step

March 29th 2023

I really don’t think that we could be prouder of our KES Musicians this term. It has been so exciting to see them rehearsing, organising themselves and performing with such enthusiasm, polish and maturity in this first return to a full Spring Music Festival since 2019. We’ve been particularly impressed with our outgoing Year 13 Music Prefects and Music Mentors, who, despite not having had the benefit of observing several years of senior pupil role models thanks to the pandemic, have proven to be highly skilled, positive, committed, reliable and mature leaders and, importantly, an inspiration to our younger musicians. They will be a hard act to follow!

We have been fortunate to enjoy a fabulous array of performances in our Spring Term 2023 Music Festival. It started with a flourish of fine solo platforms. A heart-warming lunchtime concert (10th January); possibly the most inspiring Upper Strings masterclass to date with our partners Bath Philharmonia, thanks to the legendary violinist, Rafael Todes (10th March); 20 stunning performances in what was widely acknowledged to be our most accomplished ever flagship Soloists’ Concert in the Holburne Museum (7th February), followed on the 23rd February by the hugely impressive KES Spring Colours Concert.

If that was Act 1, Act 2 saw the focus shift to our KES ensembles. The Senior Orchestra enjoyed an inspiring day of orchestral workshops on Sunday (5th March) with five section principals/tutors from our partners, Bath Philharmonia, helping our pupils to develop important technical and ensemble awareness skills. These were quickly put to the test not only by the Senior Orchestra, but by KES Steel, KES Brass, KES Wind and INTER-KES (our intermediate orchestra), who together gained four wins/trophies in the Mid-Somerset Festival (MSF) Competition Bands and Orchestra Classes on Tuesday 7th March, with the Senior Orchestra winning against the prestigious Bath Schools’ Philharmonic Orchestra.
The MSF Choral Day, held the following Thursday (9th March), saw the KES Senior Singers and KES 24 gain two more distinction awards and trophies for their superb choral skills in the Popular/Show Song and Unaccompanied Madrigal Classes.

This year’s Orchestral Gala Concert (14th March), the showcase of our Side-by-Side Project with Bath Philharmonia, was nothing short of astonishing. Despite perhaps the most challenging programme yet tackled, with unabridged scores by the likes of Mussorgsky and Villa-Lobos, as well as our composer in residence, Mark Boden, there wasn’t a moment when our KES musicians seemed out of their depth. The combined sound was electrifying, the concerto soloists’ performances awe-inspiring (Gil Nowak, Dillon Hodge, Emma Hocking & Dotty Hodge), the cohesive and sensitive musicianship on display thrilling, and the inclusion of dance choreography for the rousing finale - Uptown Funk - sealed the evening’s success as a lasting, and treasured musical memory.

The following day saw four more ‘distinction’ certificates and one ‘outstanding’ certificate awarded at the MSF in the Chamber Ensembles evening in the Citadel in Bath. Well-rehearsed and confident performances by our KES Baroque Group, Advanced Flute, Percussion Ensemble, Clarinet Ensemble and Saxophone Ensemble impressed the adjudicators and audience, further showcasing KES’s breadth and depth of provision and talent.

Once again, the Music department played a pivotal role in the annual KES Unite Charity Concert to raise funds for Moving Mountains. After a fun first half that showcased solo singers and dancers, our wonderful KES Soul brought a cool vibe to the second half of the evening, with some great playing of a wide range of funk and soul numbers that royally entertained the audience.

The end of this memorable Spring Term was celebrated by our KES Senior Singers and B’Rock Group, who raised the Sports Hall roof during final assembly with apt numbers from The Greatest Showman and Guns N’ Roses. This followed hot on the heels of an exciting music trip to London, organised by Mr Riordan, for 41 of our pupils, to go backstage at the Royal Albert Hall, visit the vaults of the Hard Rock Café and to watch Les Misérables!

The above is just a snapshot, with many more of our KES musicians enjoying personal successes in the solo performance classes at the MSF. In addition, classroom musical performance has thrived, and A Level recitals were timed to enable our pupils to peak at just the right moment! You can gain more of a visual and audio picture via our @KESMusic twitter feed, and we now eagerly await Act 3 – the Choral Extravaganza Concert on the 19th April.

Rupert Drury, Director of Music

Flickr album: The Bath Orchestral Gala Concert 2023 | Height: auto | Theme: Default | Skin: Default Skin