Wednesday 4th December, saw the annual Christmas Concert by the Music Department after another term packed with weekly rehearsals from all ensembles, culminating in a brilliant display of musical talent. We invited all ensembles to perform, right the way through from our beginner brass group to our more seasoned ensembles, like the Senior Choir, Symphony Orchestra and Improv Group. There was such an array of musicality on stage, and it was clear that all the students thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the night - well done to everyone who performed, and a special thank you to everyone who was involved in the planning and running of the night. Have a listen to a few minutes of highlights here!

Mrs Eacott and Mrs Casling, Heads of Music

Thank you from the PA to our Year 11 musicians who performed at the Year 7 event. 

Mrs Casling, Head of Music  

Year 8 ~ Gospel Workshop   

In October, in line with Black History Month and their Blues diploma, Year 8 were offered an incredible opportunity to perform with gospel singers and instrumentalists from Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir. Each form had a 50-minute workshop with Clarence, the vocal leader for the day, and was taught one part from an uplifting song. The Senior Choir and members of the ACS were then given an extended workshop in the afternoon and together, with Year 8, a massed performance was put on in assembly the very next day. The sound was incredible and the enthusiasm of some of the students was infectious. 

Congratulations to Senior Choir!    

I just wanted to say a huge congratulation to Senior Choir and Rob Humphries, who did the school proud, performing 6 times over the course of the three open mornings. Well done to all of you, you sounded great!

Year 7 concert   

October 23rd saw the first of the music department concerts, with the whole of Year 7 performing once again as an entire year group. With the usual medleys bookending the concert and some excellent class performances, we were spoilt with such a lovely array of singing, all of which was accompanied by our Year 10 band. In between the performances, we had three brave soloists - Aryan Garg, Isida Manolakou and Imogen Liddington - who each performed beautifully to the 450-strong audience in the room. Well done to everyone involved!

Mrs Eacott, Head of Music

What a show!

Congratulations to all the cast and crew on an amazing 4 nights. The quality of the performances was simply amazing, and we are still receiving compliments from audience members about just how amazing it was.

All the hard work paid off! The Mayor of Bexley who attended the Gala Night performance had nothing but high praise for all involved and the final night was full of heartfelt messages to and from our Year 13 leavers.

Now... what shall we do next year?!

Click on the link here to view the Legally Blonde Photo Gallery. 

Mrs Casling, Head of Music

Wow, what a night! We were so privileged as a music department to be able to invite back so many alumni students, past staff members, previous heads - as well as our current students and staff - to give Mr Laing the fitting send off his 27 years at Bexley Grammar School deserved. After weeks of planning between Mrs Casling and Mr Laing, the concert was opened up by Mrs Eacott with a few numbers from Tour Choir and one specially written song that encompassed as many music department-related anecdotes about Jez as we could squeeze in! The tour band followed shortly after under the baton of Miss Todd, with hits from the movies and audience-based participation in ‘Tequila’.

Then the jazz began. An epic three hours of repertoire, rehearsed and performed separately by Junior Jazz, Big Band and Improv Group. The talent displayed on stage was astounding and the joy that the students felt was evident in their playing; they were exuding musicality! And it didn’t stop there, with the final numbers being performed by a hybrid of past and present students all performing at once (at one point, we didn’t know whether we would have enough amps or music stands to go around!) The sound was incredible and fully appreciated by the pizza-eating audience that had gathered to support this event. It was hugely memorable and both highly enjoyable and sad in equal measure for those who have worked closely with Jez. His presence will be missed dearly but his legacy and all that he has done in the music department - and the school as a whole - will live on! Thank you for everything.

Mrs Eacott, Head of Music

On Monday 18 March, the music department students came together for our annual Spring concert. Many of you will remember last year’s epic ‘Out of this World’, and this year our theme was ‘BGS in Technicolour’. The whole concert was themed around pieces linked to colour, and along with a fantastic lighting design provided by Rob Humphreys and Mr Asker, we were thrilled to present our programme to the audience.

The Samba Band started with a drumline composition, ‘Cadence 24’, and showed even more excitement and development of their skills as an ensemble. They worked hard with Mr Pack, our drum teacher, and it was a rousing start to the programme. KS3 Orchestra followed, with a collaboration with St Stephen’s Catholic Primary School with ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’, followed by Stravinsky’s ‘Firebird’. Rob Humphreys, Year 12 music prefect, conducted the collaboration and was excellent in his debut. Clarinet Choir, led by Mr Cooper, performed ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, with Max Jansen performing the iconic opening solo. Chamber Choir followed, with Mrs Casling directing ‘Grace Kelly’ and ‘Big Yellow Taxi’. Chamber Choir will soon be performing at Bexleyheath Christchurch with Grace Kelly in April. We will confirm all the details soon - please catch them then!  Junior Jazz performed Green Onions and Blue Train with Mr Laing, followed by Flute Choir and Mrs Casling performing ‘Colours of the Wind’ and ‘Ecstasy of Gold’. The final performance of the first half was with Junior Choir, where they performed ‘True Colours’ and ‘Firework’ enthusiastically to see us out.

The second half was introduced with the Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mrs Casling, with performances of ‘Mr Blue Sky’ and highlights from ‘Wicked’. Having just returned from a trip to Wicked as well, you couldn’t stop some of our students from joining in singing. The String Group with Miss Todd performed ‘Greensleeves’ and ‘Seven Nation Army’, with Rock Band under Mr Ross following up with Led Zeppelin’s ‘Black Dog’ and Rainbow’s ‘Since You Been Gone’. Senior Choir allowed a moment for reflection with ‘Fields of Gold’ before ramping up the temp again with Pink’s ‘So What?’, featuring soloists Emily Chan, Teondra Imurni and Holly Kinsella. Improv performed Happy Purple and Blue Sky’s, followed by Big Band’s ‘Afro Blue’ and ‘Tangerine’, featuring Zara Warren singing. The evening concluded with a massed ABBA Gold medley performance, with all the audience invited to participate.

Every Spring Concert is a chance for us to thank our Y13 students for all their hard work and contributions over the years. We wish you all success in the future and keep in touch. We also announced our fundraising drive for a new acoustic piano. Details of the fundraising drive have been shared with you all on ParentPay, and we hope that you can help us in improving our piano stock across the department over the next year.

It was a privilege to see all of our performers on stage and enjoying what they do best - making music. We still have many more events to come, including the KS3 Showcase, Legally Blonde and Jazz Evening - keep an eye on the newsletter for further information!

Click on the link here to view the Spring Concert 2024 Photo Gallery.

Mrs Goddard, Head of Music