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A major milestone in the project to build a new, multi-million pound Music School at Queen Elizabeth’s School’s has been reached, with the first ‘concrete pour’ at the site.

Selected staff and pupils were on hand to celebrate the arrival of the concrete mixer – the first of some 150 lorryloads due at the School over the coming months!

Headmaster Neil Enright, who was among the group witnessing the historic event, said: “It is exciting that the construction phase of this major project is now well and truly under way.

“While the Covid-19 pandemic has inevitably caused a few complications, we have been very keen to press ahead with this project: it represents not only a significant investment in our facilities, but is also a sign of our confidence in the future at this difficult time.

“Indeed, while we have extensive precautions in place to keep everyone here safe from the virus, we are trying, so far as is possible, to ensure it is ‘business as usual’ for our boys, our focus remaining firmly on providing them with the best possible education.

“If all goes according to plan – Covid-permitting! – we should be able to open the new building during the 2021 Autumn Term.”

The £3.5m-plus project received the go-ahead in 2019 after the Department for Education accepted the School’s £2.2m bid (comprising a £1.2m grant and £1m loan).

Completion will involve substantial financial support through the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s, thus continuing a long record of FQE backing which has been instrumental in ensuring the School has been able to open a succession of new facilities over the past 25 years.

The purpose-built Music School complex will provide essential support for QE’s booming Music department – until lockdown began earlier this year, there were more than 20 ensembles at the School, with over 160 boys singing in the Choir.

It will feature a new performance venue and a number of much-needed teaching and rehearsal rooms. In addition, the two-storey building will provide additional assembly space to accommodate QE’s lecture programme, as well as a covered atrium for boys to use at break times.

The School’s new Deputy Head (Operations), Tara O’Reilly, said: “The site has been ‘prepped’ and ready for building work to start for some time, so it is good to see the area now full of machinery and to be able to watch the construction team from our contractor, TJ Evers, who are all working hard to break ground and put in the foundations for the new building.”

Watching the concrete pour alongside the Headmaster and Ms O’Reilly were Director of Music Ruth Partington and Music teacher Caroline Grint, together with two of the School’s senior musicians, Year 12’s Raphael Herberg and Conor Parker-Delves, both of whom have just started their A-level Music studies.

Raphael said: “We are very excited about the new Music block,” while Conor added: “We are really glad this is happening for our Music Department, and that future QE students will get to enjoy it.”

When the emerging pandemic forced the cancellation of a concert at Abbey Ravenscroft Nursing Home, QE’s young musicians were determined not to let the residents down.

So, after boys from Year 7 through to Year 12 sent in a flood of videos of themselves performing at home, the Music department put together a special virtual concert, which was staged for the residents using YouTube’s Premiere function.

Head of Extra-curricular Enrichment Rebecca Grundy said: “We were delighted to reach out to the local community and help lift spirits at this difficult time. The virtual concert went well and the nursing home staff sent us their gratitude, saying that it was lovely to hear the boys’ music. They said we obviously have a lot of talented musicians.”

In fact, the initial concert only scratched the surface of the available material, as Miss Grundy explained: “I got such an amazing response from the boys that I sent the nursing home all of the recordings, so that they could do a series of concerts and choose the ones they wanted for each. They’ve got enough from the boys to keep them going for ages!”

Residents at the home, which has more than 100 rooms and is only a short walk from the School, will therefore be able to enjoy Music in a wide variety of genres played on a broad range of instruments, with an extensive repertoire ranging from a tabla accompaniment to Pharrell Williams’ Happy (played by Isher Jagdev, of Year 9) to the Étude in A Minor written for the piano by 19th century Danish composer Ludvig Schytte.

Other performances included Julius Ponen playing Scott Joplin’s much-loved 1902 ragtime piano classic, The Entertainer, and Year 11’s Shivas Patel who not only played Oskar Merikanto’s Valse Lente in Bb major on the piano but also sang Brahms’ Ständchen (Serenade) in German.

The School’s Saxophone Ensemble have been named among the 2020 Chamber Champions in the prestigious Pro Corda Music Festival.

After participating in a highly competitive semi-final at Westminster School, Nathan Woodcock of Year 9, Conor Parker-Delves of Year 11 and Ifeatu Obiora and Drew Sellis, both of Year 13, qualified for the final, which had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 virus restrictions.

Following the cancellation, the Pro Corda educational charity took the decision to name all the finalists ‘2020 Chamber Champions’, stating on its website: “It was one of the highest-standard festivals yet, so all the groups who reached the final pulled off a stunning achievement.”

Director of Music Ruth Partington said: “I congratulate the boys on this fantastic achievement, especially as this was their very first attempt in this competition.”

At the final, which was to have taken place at Sevenoaks School, the Saxophone Ensemble had planned to perform Sonata, First Movement by Phil Woods, arranged by Wilson.

The saxophonists comprised one of the three QE ensembles to reach the competition’s semi-finals, together with the String Quartet and the Celli Ensemble. Each of these ensembles had received expert feedback from the first round.

“All three ensembles took advantage of this advice to refine their performances still further and performed very well indeed,” said Miss Partington, adding that, although they did not reach the final, the String Quartet “played the best they have ever played”.

Established in 1969, Pro Corda provides musical training for a wide range of young people through ensemble training and performance, specialising in chamber music.

A capacity audience at QE’s Jazz Evening enjoyed debut performances alongside accomplished playing by some of the School’s more seasoned musicians.

There were ensemble and solo performances of works from classics and standards to new jazz-influenced compositions, as well as fusions of jazz with other styles.

Boys from Years 7– 13 enjoyed the opportunity to showcase their flair for everything jazz in the Main School Hall.

Director of Music Ruth Partington said: “The audience enjoyed a fabulous concert – a truly toe-tapping evening. The boys practised and rehearsed hard in the weeks running up to the concert and did not disappoint on the night, giving enjoyable and memorable performances.”

Symphonic Winds, performing for the first time in this annual concert, opened the programme with A Little Salsa Music by Adam Gorb and Jitterbug! by Robert Buckley. And Year 7’s Leo Sellis performed his first saxophone solo since joining the School in September last year, playing Sonata, Movement II by Phil Woods.

The QE Jazz Band played a number of sets, delivering, amongst others, the Theme from Hawaii Five-O by Mort Stevens and Cool from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein. “The Jazz Band proved themselves, once again, to be the backbone of the evening,” said Miss Partington. “The audience were continually impressed by their tight but exuberant playing. There were some excellent solos from all the instruments, with a special mention going to Conor Parker-Delves on tenor.”

The Jazz Lounge performed their own arrangement of George Michael’s Careless Whisper, while Friday Jazz took on jazz classic Birdland by Joe Zawinul.

“The audience enjoyed a real treat with the performances from Friday Jazz and the various Saxophone Ensembles, and were suitably impressed by the quality of the student-led groups, such as the Barbershop Group and QE Jazz Lounge. All the boys are to be congratulated for their enthusiasm and accomplished performances.” Miss Partington concluded.

Year 10 cellist Jules de Souza-Brazil played with some of Britain and America’s finest young musicians and performed in London’s famous Barbican Concert Hall during a special event organised by the National Youth Orchestra.

Jules relished the opportunity to take his place on stage with the specially formed Tuning into Change Orchestra and then to join a masterclass given by Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, during the maestro’s three-day Barbican residency.

Headmaster, Neil Enright, said: “I’m pleased to hear that Jules had an unforgettable experience playing with such a high-quality orchestra in a top London concert venue. It is always great to see our flourishing musicians extending themselves through out of School opportunities, as well as committing to our own programme of performance music.”

Jules is a member of QE’s Celli ensemble and has also played with the Sinfonia, Camerata and Symphony Orchestra. This week the Celli are taking part in the first round of the Pro Corda Festival, a national competition promoting and celebrating chamber music within schools.

His experience at the Barbican was the culmination of a National Youth of Great Britain NYO Inspire event. These are immersive orchestral workshops which provide black and minority ethnic musicians, and musicians who are state-educated or home-schooled, with opportunities to develop their orchestral playing with a full symphony orchestra.

Jules spent the Sunday before his day at the Barbican at an East London school, where he rehearsed with around 120 other young musicians, including some from the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) as well as musicians from the NYO.

The public event at the Barbican started with a performance of The Great Gate of Kiev, which is part of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

During the masterclass afterwards, Dudamel rehearsed Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, again with young musicians from across the UK, as well as YOLA and members of the NYO.

Queen Elizabeth’s School’s Service of Nine Lessons and Carols embraced the best of Christmas tradition, while several fresh touches added still further to the festive atmosphere.

This year, before the service began, Year 13’s Drew Sellis, who has won a Cambridge organ scholarship, took his place in the organ loft in Chipping Barnet Parish Church to perform pieces by Bach, Brahms and his own fantasia on Once in Royal David’s City.

After the organ voluntaries, there was a further innovation as the church was plunged into darkness for two minutes of silent reflection, with the lights remaining off as the Chamber Choir sang the antiphon and then a soloist performed the initial verse of the carol that Drew had already prefigured.

The carols and choral pieces throughout the service were interspersed with Christmas Bible readings from boys and staff, culminating in Headmaster Neil Enright’s reading of the prologue to St John’s gospel, with its themes of Jesus Christ as both the Word and Light of God.

Before the service, Old Elizabethans and VIP guests were invited to a reception at nearby Church House, at which they were entertained by the String Quartet.

Mr Enright said afterwards: “This was an excellent carol service and a fitting way to herald the start of the holidays. It is always a special occasion in a QE Christmas, and this year it was enhanced by the dramatic and symbolic shared experience of waiting in darkness for the light to appear.

“I was pleased to see so many governors, Old Elizabethans, former staff and other friends of the School. Our Year 7 boys always come to the carol service to round off their first term and it was good to welcome a good number of their parents, too. I commend our choristers, instrumental musicians and readers on their contributions to the evening.”

Mr Enright also thanked the Reverend Chris Ferris, officiating at his final service for the School. Mr Ferris, who has served as a governor while in post as Rector, moves on from the parish at the end of the calendar year.

The church was absolutely full, with some even having to stand at the back. The congregation joined in with the familiar carols, while the Chamber Choir sang Arvo Pärt’s version of Bŏgŏroditsye Dyevo and then the Chamber Choir soloists sang Rachmaninov’s version. The School Choir’s pieces included O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

In one of his final duties, 2019 School Captain Bhiramah Rammanohar read the story of the birth of Jesus from Saint Luke’s gospel. He was joined at the service by three of the last four School Captains, Norbert Sobolak (2015), Varun Vassanth (2016) and Aashish Khimasia (2018).

The Mayor of Barnet was represented by ward councillor (and former Mayor) David Longstaff. The Representative Deputy Lieutenant of the London Borough of Barnet, Martin Russell, was also in attendance.

At the conclusion of the service, Drew played again, first performing Widor’s Movement 5 (Toccata) from Symphony for Organ No. 5 in F minor, Op. 42, No.1, and then improvising again on one of the carols, this time Hark the Herald Angels Sing, which the congregation had just sung. Drew has an Organ Scholarship at Jesus College, Cambridge, for next year and is believed to be the first Elizabethan in living memory to have secured such a scholarship.