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QE’s first concert of the year delivered a “very high standard” of performance from both pupils and staff, including the School’s new Director of Music, Ruth Partington.

The programme featured well-known items from the classical repertoire – a Chopin Nocturne and an excerpt from Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words, for example – as well as several lesser-known pieces.

Soloists included sixth-former Drew Sellis, who was celebrating the news that he had won an Organ Scholarship at Jesus College, Cambridge, for next year. Drew, one of the School’s leading musicians pictured here with his saxophone, played the piano at the concert, performing Dussek’s Sonata in Bb Movement I.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “This was a splendid evening, with a great deal of talent in evidence from boys who played to a very high standard. My congratulations go to all involved, and especially to Drew upon his very special achievement.”

Drew is to be the first Oxbridge organ scholar from the School since Peter Yarde Martin (OE 2002-2007), who attended Pembroke College, Cambridge, and provided advice to Drew as he prepared his application.

With nine pieces played in each half of the concert held in the Main School Hall, there was variety a-plenty, from Year 13’s Mubin Kazmi’s rendition of Grammy Award-winner Steve Vai’s Die to Live on the electric guitar to Year 12 cellist Karan Zakharia’s performance of Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 Prelude and Sarabande.

Entitled Senior Concert, the event in fact featured not only older boys but pupils from throughout the School; they were selected according to their seniority in terms of talent and proficiency.

Alongside the boys’ performances, there were also pieces from several members of staff. Miss Partington and another newcomer, Caroline Grint, QE’s new Music Graduate Assistant, brought out their clarinets in their first QE concert, playing Mendelssohn’s Concertpiece No. 2 Movements II and III. Peripatetic teacher Tadashi Imai accompanied them and other musicians during the evening, but also played two piano solo pieces, Debussy’s Feux d’artifice (Fireworks) from Preludes Book II and Chopin’s Heroic Polonaise.

Ensembles taking part included the Celli, playing Fauré’s Fugue in A minor Op.84, and the Brass Ensemble (Zingarelli’s Adagio and Presto), while the Chamber Choir opened the evening with John Ireland’s The Hills.

Society and the mass media are the source of stereotypes that lead to prejudice and discrimination, an LGBT activist told QE’s senior pupils.

Jessica Amery, from Haringey-based charity Wise Thoughts presented an assembly on LGBT issues to Years 11-13 in the Shearly Hall.

She told the boys that although she had a transgender parent, she nevertheless faced homophobia when coming out as a lesbian.

And she pointed out the ways in which LGBT people’s mental health is at risk. According to research, she stated, schoolchildren hear ‘that’s so gay’ every 14 minutes: “Every time it’s said, it’s like a little stab to the LGBT community.”

Wise Thoughts’ website says that it “creates dynamic local, national and international arts initiatives and delivers services that help address social justice issues for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex (LGBTQI+) and black, Asian & minority-ethnic (BAME) communities”. The charity runs the GFEST (Gaywise FESTival), which starts next month on the theme of #QueerQueeries.

Jessica began her talk by asking the boys to take 10 seconds to think about how comfortable it is to talk about LGBT. Then she asked them to take another 10 seconds to discuss stereotypes, explaining that stereotypes are defined by ‘putting someone in a box’ – for example, ‘you are gay if…’

Such phrases create fear, making people feel it is unacceptable to hold hands or touch those who are gay, she stated, adding that stereotypes result in segregation. Stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination are thus all part of the same picture, she said.

Some 50% of LGBT people experience bullying, which Jessica defined as including texts, social media messages, people ignoring you or making comments. LGBT students have the highest rate of truancy and homelessness, and their education also suffers disproportionately, she said.

Headmaster, Neil Enright said: “This was an important assembly on tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic language. There will be some pupils for whom this is deeply personal, whilst for others it is about understanding the lives of those with different experiences to them and being tolerant, supportive members of the School community and wider society.”

Year 10 pupil Dylan Domb’s dedication to art and to the work of one of the greatest 20th-century British artists won him a prize in an international drawing competition.

After starting a sketch in class towards the end of last term, Dylan completed it at home and duly submitted it to the Henry Moore Drawing Competition run by the Henry Moore Foundation.

The drawing, a pencil sketch of Dylan’s own Moore-inspired sculpture produced at School, took third prize in the secondary-age category of the competition. At 14 (at the time of drawing), Dylan was younger than both the category winner and the runner-up.

His untitled artwork is on display until 1st November at the Visitor Centre at the Henry Moore Studio and Gardens in the Hertfordshire hamlet of Perry Green.

Art teacher Jillian McAteer said: “Dylan is an incredibly committed student whose attention to detail and refinement of work regularly sets him apart from his peers. He is also quite independent, pursuing ambitious personal projects and extending class work.”

In Year 8, Dylan was part of the annual QE visit to the Henry Moore Foundation. In that year, his class were set the task of producing their own sculptures that ‘responded’ to Moore’s famous large, biomorphic landscape sculptures.

Dylan then based his sketch – started for a drawing exercise set towards the end of Year 9 – on the sculpture he produced.

“Not all were able to finish this before School ended for the summer, but Dylan developed the drawing independently at home. It is a stunning photorealistic drawing; he achieved a very high standard,” said Mrs McAteer.

The drawing competition, which drew almost 500 entries, was organised as part of the Henry Moore Foundation’s 2019 season celebrating the drawing practice of the artist, who died in 1986. He was a prolific and talented draughtsman, producing nearly 7,500 drawings during his career.

Entries were required to reflect themes in Moore’s art: reclining figure; mother and child; natural forms, or life drawing. They had to be submitted on paper or card, with the majority of the work being drawn, not painted.

The judging panel was led by Foundation’s Head of Collections and Exhibitions, Sebastiano Barassi.

Dylan went to the exhibition opening and took photographs of his work on the wall.

A-level Politics students had the chance to see the reality behind their textbooks on a trip to the Houses of Parliament.

Their visit gave them a vivid experience of Westminster life inside and outside the House of Commons chamber, including the opportunity to see leading politicians at first-hand, to watch demonstrations by campaigners on both sides of the Brexit divide and to observe lobbying by former employees of Thomas Cook.

And during an education workshop, the Year 12 boys also had a chance to try their own hand at law-making.

Politics teacher Liam Hargadon, who organised the trip, said: “We have been living through turbulent times, with greatly increased public attention to developments. Much has been said about how important the views of young people should be. It’s vital they understand the opportunities to make their voices heard.”

The weekday visit provided boys with the opportunity to tour the Central Lobby and committee rooms, as well as the public gallery of the House of Commons.

“We saw Theresa May make her first speech in parliament since standing down as PM, talking about legislation to limit abuses within families.”

Others in the Commons chamber included outgoing Speaker John Bercow and Dr Liam Fox, Secretary of State for International Trade until July this year, while among those the boys saw in the precincts of the Palace of Westminster were former Chancellor Philip Hammond and former Labour Cabinet Minister Lord (Peter) Hain.

“The reality of Parliament was on show to the boys; outside Parliament, both sides in the Brexit debate were seeking to make their presence felt. In addition, about 50 members of staff from the recently crashed Thomas Cook travel firm were seeking to lobby MPs,” said Mr Hargadon.

In the workshop, the boys were given the chance to propose a law. They suggested a bigger police presence in schools, partly to provide greater re-assurance and security, but also to help break down barriers between police and young people.

Countless hours spent jamming with friends in the Music block at QE sowed the seeds of Sergio Ronchetti’s career as a composer and sound designer for video games and films.

Returning to the School to deliver a careers lecture to Senior School pupils, Sergio (OE 2004–2011) recalled that when he decided to go into music instead of taking a place at university, everyone around him said he was making a mistake.

But, he told the boys, he had no regrets about his chosen path, since it had put him in control of what he was doing. He loves practising music six-to-eight hours a day as he finds it therapeutic and it gives him direction. He had been true to himself, his career giving him opportunities to learn from, helping him to mature and making him happy. “It’s more about the journey, rather than the end game. Every day I get a little bit better at something, I progress.

“Give yourself time to make decisions – meditate and do something productive,” he advised the boys gathered in the Shearly Hall. “If you don’t know what to do for a career, take a year out, work, take a course. There’s no rush!” Just as in rugby, you must actually take steps forward in order to achieve your career goals, particularly if those goals are ambitious, he said.

Sergio spent the first four years after leaving QE as a professional musician, culminating in the release of a full-length album. During this time, he achieved several accolades, including an artist endorsement from ESP Guitars and Laney Amplification, while also performing at major festivals and at sold-out shows in both UK and mainland Europe.

He did eventually go to university – but in his own time and as the next logical step in his career plan. Although he came from a rock background (influenced by his uncle’s heavy metal collection), he decided to eschew a possible future in a touring band playing guitar, because he “wanted to be a part of something bigger”. He loves the indie game scene and says his ambitions include working on “the biggest video game in history”. Asked what his ten-year goals were, Sergio staed: “I would like to score a couple of good jobs in film – possibly become head of a music production department”.

Thus, in 2016, in order to facilitate this burgeoning ambition to become a film and game composer, he went to Goldsmiths, University of London, to study Music, from where he graduated with a First.

Today, Sergio works as a freelancer, describing himself on his own website as a ‘composer/sound designer’. His recent work on the indie game Eldest Souls was showcased at E3 Los Angeles, the premier trade event for the video industry.

He is a regular supporter of the School and gave a presentation on sound design in video games at last year’s Year 11 Careers Convention.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Sergio’s story is a very interesting one – through a combination of determination and talent, he is successfully forging a career in a highly competitive industry. Of course, unlike him, a very large majority of our boys do go on to university immediately on leaving the School or after a gap year, but we are keen to make sure that pupils are fully informed about all the different options available to them so that they can make the choices that are best for them.”

Sergio advised any boys interested in following in his footsteps not to rely on making money from such a career in the beginning. “Freelance work takes a while to build up. Do it as a hobby first. You don’t have to spend a lot of money, either; you can use your laptop or iPhone.”

Sergio was happy to dispense a little technical advice – he suggests Logic or Ableton software for music production, using Logic himself, while Pro Tools is good for film-editing.

Asked about the skills required for a career similar to his, Sergio urged the boys to be open to possibilities and to be prepared. “If someone comes to you and says ‘are you ready to mix this album?’ you need to take the challenge.” He does not believe in luck: “It’s all about work ethic and discipline.”

There were also questions about the UK grime & rap industry and whether it incites violence. Sergio said he believed not; artists were merely expressing the violence going on around them. He added, however: “As a musician you do have a level of responsibility and need to be aware of what messages you’re spreading.”