A musical tour for Year 7 pupils – from Norway to the Caribbean

Year 7 boys were treated to a musical tour de force by older boys who performed at a special concert. The event in the School’s Shearly Hall combined full orchestral pieces with spoken introductions to, and musical demonstration of, individual instruments.

“The concert was a wonderful success,” said QE’s Director of Music Kieron Howe. “It gave the Year 7 cohort the opportunity to see and hear a wide range of orchestral instruments played live.”

The aim of the concert was to build the Year 7 boys’ skills to identify aurally the orchestral instruments, whilst at the same time introducing them to the range of extra-curricular opportunities available in the School.

The central ensemble was the School’s Symphony Orchestra, which performed Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King – from the Ibsen play Peer Gynt, based on a Norwegian folk-tale. The orchestra then split into the string, woodwind and brass families for the boys to be able to hear these instrumental families on their own.

The concert also included a performance of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody by the 90-strong Choir. After a short percussion demonstration by Jamie Mui of Year 12, Janan Sathiendran of Year 13 and Year 10’s Anhad Arora, the Symphony Orchestra came together again to perform the final piece, an arrangement of music from the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

“The boys of Year 7 left the concert thrilled and exhilarated to have had the opportunity to hear all of these instruments played live, just for them,” said Mr Howe.