This year’s St Cecilia’s Concert was held at St John’s Smith Square, one of London’s great concert venues, to mark the 430th anniversary of the foundation of the school.
We welcomed over 400 guests, many of whom were OEs, to enjoy a celebration of the superb musical talent within our pupil body. We were joined by the Berkeley Ensemble, a professional octet based in London, and five of our pupils (Emilia, harp; Tallulah, clarinet; Maisie, flute; Kate, orchestral percussion; and Sean, voice) had the opportunity to perform a solo accompanied by these musicians.
Some of the highlights included the Symphony Orchestra’s rendition of Vaughan-Williams’ English Folk Song Suite, the Senior Strings playing two movements from Holst’s St Paul’s Suite, the Concert Band playing two movements from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, a fully orchestrated version of the Emanuel School Song (during which some of the OEs in the audience joined in!) and a medley from ‘Phantom of the Opera’ featuring the school choir, organ and orchestra.
Congratulations to all pupils involved!