Kimbolton School’s Winter Concert took place on Monday, 17 November in the Lewis Hall, bringing together over 100 pupils from across the Senior School for a lively and varied evening of music: from Beethoven to Aladdin, there was something for everybody.
The evening opened with the 45-strong School Orchestra performing the arresting first movement of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony; led by Lower 6th-Former Georgina A., the string section brought a strong foundation to the performance with lovely touches of colour from the woodwind and brass, including the hauntingly beautiful oboe solo, delivered with poignancy by Sophie T.
The first movement of Holst’s St Paul’s Suite, performed by the String Orchestra followed the Beethoven – the Holst is a challenging piece but their performance conveyed so much energy and exploited the wonderful contrasts between the driving dance and lyrical descant.
The Clarinet Ensemble’s performance of Mozart’s Divertimento No. 1, with beautiful clarity in the classical textures, followed, along with Brass Groups bright arrangement of two movements from Aladdin, while the Junior Choir charmed the large audience with two songs – the first, Randy Newman’s touching When she loved me from Toy Story 2 and a rendition of Silver Bells, complete with handbells, that tugged at all the heart strings.
The first half was rounded off by a stirring performance of Carnival by Karen Street, performed with drive and lovely touches of colour and contrast by the school’s Saxophone Ensemble.
In the second half, the School Choir presented classics of the repertoire in the form of two motets by Anton Bruckner – Os justi and Locus iste – along with Brahms’ sumptuous Geistliches Lied, which was accompanied by a string sextet of students and organ. The counterpoint of the strings, intertwined with the choral lines, drew a performance of great power and left the audience visibly moved.
The Guitar Group changed the mood with their rendition of All Star by Smash Mouth, before the Chamber Choir followed with another nod to the season in an a cappella arrangement of It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, crooned perfectly by the ever-smooth voice of Toby T., with extra sparkle provided by Lucy R. on the glockenspiel.
The evening was then round off by the Big Band, who performed two classic standards: Car Wash and Gospel John, with a chance for all the band principles to shine.
Reflecting on the evening, Mr David Gibbs, Director of Music at Kimbolton School, said:
“It was wonderful to see so many pupils from across the whole school performing with such enthusiasm and commitment. Our Winter Concert is a real team effort and a showcase of the rich talent of musicians at Kimbolton as every ensemble rose to the occasion.”
