As the year draws to a close, the Lower School Musicians’ Platform concert was an opportunity to witness and celebrate the breadth and depth of talent amongst our younger students.

To a large audience of parents, friends, boarders and members of the local community was presented an eclectic and exciting programme of solos and small ensembles showcasing some of the school’s finest performers. Singers featured particularly, many trained by the inspiring head of singing Anthony Dawson, and it was fantastic to see several of these performing solo for the first time. For some, this was the ideal opportunity to try out pieces that they will be taking on the Chamber Choir tour to Toulouse and the Luchon festival in July.

Striking throughout the evening was the freshness and vitality of the students’ interpretations, from Elizabeth Shaw’s tranquil poise in Saint-Saëns ‘The Swan’ to the humour and lightness in Johan Clubb’s performance of Kreisler’s ‘Sicilienne and Rigaudon’. Barnaby Sandeford shone in a captivating performance of Satie’s elegiac ‘Méditation’, a piece that surely surpasses the more famous Gymnopedies, and Alex Maguire delivered an assured and stylish performance of Haydn’s Konzert in C.

In the last fortnight of the term, it is tempting to look back on a momentous year with nostalgia and dream of the rewards of a long summer holiday. However, conversation over a glass of prosecco in the beautiful surroundings of the Performing Arts Centre after the concert was full of expectation and excitement about the year to come, enthused as we were by the promise and potential demonstrated in such a fine night’s musical entertainment.