Queen Elizabeth’s School ended the term on a festive note, with the annual Charity Christmas Concert, a number of smaller charity performances and the traditional Service of Nine Lessons & Carols. All featured high standards of musicianship from QE boys.
Members of the Choir and Top Brass performed carols in the Spires shopping centre to raise money for the Cherry Lodge Cancer Charity. On the same day, other Choir members sang at the Old Fold Manor Golf Club to entertain residents and staff from the Jesus Hospital Charity, while on the penultimate day of term the Saxophone Quartet, together with five Choir members, performed at the Ravenscroft Nursing Home.
This year was the 18th annual Charity Christmas Concert, which the School organises in association with the Rotary Club of Barnet. Money raised at the event in QE’s Shearly Hall will be used for the Christmas Day party for elderly people in Barnet who would otherwise be on their own and to support the Rotary Foundation’s international efforts to eradicate polio.
This year’s Rotary President Scott Maclachlan spoke of his pleasure in the continuing association with QE and related to the audience some of the work that the club undertakes, including providing a day out at the zoo for local, disabled, children.
QE’s Director of Music, Kieron Howe, said: “We are very glad of the on-going association with the club and pleased that we are able to help raise money for the many good causes in the local community and further afield.
“I would like to thank the directors of the ensembles, and also the boys themselves, for their continued hard work and dedication throughout the term,” he added.
The concert featured a varied programme, from seasonal standards by Handel and Tchaikovsky, to Christmas favourites from Howard Blake, Irving Berlin and John Rutter. Following performances by the Chamber Choir, the Senior String Orchestra, Camerata, the Concert Band, Choir and Symphony Orchestra, the audience were invited to join in with traditional carols including O Come All Ye Faithful and The First Nowell.
The School’s Service of Nine Lessons & Carols held at St John’s Parish Church featured readings by QE pupils of all ages, including the School Captain, Nathanael Jackson, and by members of staff. In addition to the congregational carols, the Chamber Choir performed the Magnificat from Evening Service in C by Charles Villiers Stanford.
In continuation of a School tradition, the ninth and final reading, from St John’s Gospel, was given by the Headmaster, Neil Enright. He was undertaking this duty for the first time, rounding off his first term as Headmaster.