St Mary's School Calne

St Cecilia's Concert

The annual St Cecilia’s Concert took place in the Chapel on Friday 16th November, with many parents taking the opportunity to hear the various musical groups of St Mary’s.

The Orchestra began a wide ranging programme with Handel’s famous Arrival of the Queen of Sheba. The LIV and MIV Form Choirs joined forces in Al Shlosha D’Varim by Allan Laplan which they sang in Hebrew, and by contrast, the Foggy Birthday Shuffle by Stephen Hatfield with its catchy jazz rhythms and experimental vocal effects.

The String Quartet gave an assured rendition of Boccherini’s Minuet and the Opera Group, with several new younger members, performed the Finale from Mozart’s Magic Flute with great gusto!

There were two solos from members of the UVI Form: Sophie skilfully demonstrated the saxophone’s role as a serious classical instrument through J.S. Bach’s Sonata in G minor and Beatrice on the piano earned rapturous applause for her mastery of Chopin’s virtuosic Ballad in G minor.

The concert concluded with two contrasting items from the Chamber Choir’s repertoire – Rêve d’amour by Fauré and, on a (much) lighter note, an arrangement of the Britney Spears’ song Baby One More Time.

A retiring collection made a very useful contribution to the fund for a new Chapel piano, for which any contributions will always be very gratefully received!