The fabulous Fine Arts Brass ensemble visited Sevenoaks on Friday 11 November and inspired a huge number of the school community with their technical wizardry and musicality. The five members of this internationally renowned brass quintet entertained, enthralled and educated all of  Years 7, 8 and 9, as well as all of the school brass players and visiting primary school guests, with a morning recital based on a theme of fanfares. Highlights included a spectacular arrangement of the James Bond Theme, demonstrations of a huge number of different trumpets, and ‘Happy Birthday’ performed for Hamish Thomas in Year 8 with virtuoso multiphonics on the tuba!

The evening concert saw the school’s own Choral Society, Parents’ Choir, Chamber Choir and Brass Consort combining with the visiting group to perform an amazing array of music. J S Bach’s 'Jauchzet, Frohlocket' was a great celebratory statement, accompanied by brass pyrotechnics, with the Choral Society and Parents’ Choir directed by Sam Gladstone. Clever baroque arrangements from the Fine Arts Brass themselves were then contrasted with a polychoral piece by Schütz, with choirs and brass placed in the galleries of the Pamoja Hall, performed by the Sennocke Consort under Christopher Dyer’s direction.

Fine Arts Brass proved themselves to be amazing musical chameleons, playing a commission by Philip Wilby in a totally different style – based on a series of Ansel Adams photos projected onto a screen above, this involved at times extremely quiet, subtle playing, with all sorts of interesting use of the instruments, and created a stunning atmosphere in the hall.

The second half began with every brass player in the school sounding the Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare – a tremendously powerful work for large forces, directed by Toby Carden. Following this, the concert hall was transformed into a jazz venue, and Fine Arts Brass were joined by a very talented rhythm section to perform a suite of Tin Pan Alley items. These toe-tapping numbers took the audience back to the dawn of the jazz era in early 20th Century America, and involved sensational plunger mute solos from trumpeter Simon Lenton, as well as a gorgeous sound and blend from the group as a whole. The finale was a selection from Duke Ellington's Second Sacred Concert, with dazzling instrumentals from Fine Arts Brass, a sultry solo from soprano Charly Solomou, and a great ensemble sound from the massed choirs, joined by the Chamber Choir.

At the end of a long day, the brass department were left with a huge amount of inspiration, and lots of things to think about! The choirs had had a great opportunity to work with the highest calibre of visiting musicians, and the concert audience, having been totally at ease with the group who introduced their items in delightful fashion, were treated to a rare evening of entertainment that will remain long in the memory of those in attendance.