Impressive Percussion Performances
Published by The Cathedral School on Tuesday 21st of March 2023
Orchestral Percussion has always been an area of particular strength within the Music Department, our portfolio of instruments steadily expanding over the years to what has now become a very comprehensive and impressive collection indeed, championed by our percussion specialists, Mr Bradley and Ms Porter.
It was fabulous last Thursday to be able to enjoy a complete presentation of high-quality performances given by a team of nearly 40 orchestral percussionists, featuring individual contributions from our Year group ensembles in Year 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 . Individual percussion lessons are certainly very popular at CSL; however pupils’ enjoyment of Percussion and their developing musicianship is greatly enriched by joining one of our dedicated percussion ensembles – each comprising around five to ten players, rehearsing on a weekly basis.
Performance standards were universally impressive, underlining the intrinsic value of regular, disciplined rehearsals and the strongly motivational effect of learning exciting repertoire. It was clearly evident that pupils enjoyed their musicmaking and took immense pride in working together as a team to achieve genuinely impressive results, with a foundation of rhythmic precision, ensemble empathy, dynamic control and a strong stylistic delivery.
Repertoire included the following: Year 6 - Believer (Imagine Dragons) ; Year 7 – C-jam blues (Duke Ellington) & Uptown Funk (Bruno Mars); Duet (Charlie B & Nathan C) – Cross Fire (Chris Stock); Year 8 - Inspector Gadget Theme (Shuki Levy) & Take on Me (A-ha); Year 9 – Living on a Prayer (Bon Jovi); Solo (Jack L) – with Marimba Quartet – Jovial Jasper (George Hamilton Green); Year 10 – Cantaloupe Island (Herbie Hancock) & Happy (Pharrell Williams); Advanced Group (Y11 ) - Super Mario Bros. Theme (Koji Kondo) & Let Me Entertain You (Robbie Williams)
Enormous congratulations to our pupils and teachers on producing such an impressive and thoroughly enjoyable evening of percussion music, the likes of which one might well experience as part of a County ensembles concert, but rarely achievable by just one School. For more photos, click here
