Another very busy and successful year in the music department is almost over, and as usual we rounded off the summer term in toe-tapping with jazz on a summer’s evening, a celebration of music in a wide variety of popular styles.

The first half of the concert showcased many of our ensembles; items included the Big Band playing the challenging ‘Blue rondo à la Turk’ by Dave Brubeck, the wind ensemble performing Glen Miller’s ‘In the Mood’, and ‘Cantaloupe Island’ by Herbie Hancock played by a saxophone quartet. Our brass ensemble continues to go from strength to strength, and now includes students from Year 7 to Year 13; their performance of Ray Davies’s 1970s hit ‘You really got me’ coincided with his 80th birthday! The Chamber choir sang the gospel number ‘Going up a yonder’, and were joined by the full Upper Voices Choir and Changing Voices choir to perform the Duke Ellington classic ‘It don’t mean a thing (if it ‘ain’t got that swing)’.

The weather was kind to us and the second half of the evening proceeded in the area of the Activities Space, with wonderful outdoor refreshments. A very large number of students sang vocal solos - the repertoire included ‘Girl on fire’ by Alicia Keys, ‘Angel’ by Sarah McLachlan, ‘Fearless’ by Taylor Swift and ‘At last’ by Etta James. A particular highlight was four of our boarding students performing ‘惦惦的夢 (Worried dream)’ by the Taiwanese soft-rock band The Chairs.