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