Double wins for QE musicians

Both junior and senior boys enjoyed success in this year’s 10th Anniversary Spring Grove Festival, with the Junior Saxophone Quintet and the Purdy Barbershop Group picking up first prizes in their categories. 

The barbershop singers’ victory meant that QE won the Senior Popular Category for the second consecutive year and for the third time in four years.

Congratulating the QE ensembles, QE’s Director of Music, Kieron Howe, said: “This is a prestigious competition which attracts entries from a high-quality field across London including Dame Alice Owen’s School, St Paul’s, Henrietta Barnett, Haberdashers’ Aske’s and Hasmonean High School.

“I am very happy for our boys to have the opportunity to perform at this event and also to be able to compose music to be performed live. I hope all they have learned a great deal from the experience.”

The festival in Hampstead is divided into two age groups: Senior, for Years 11-13, and Junior, for Years 7-10.

The Purdy Barbershop Group of Anhad Arora, Daniel Cheung, Jamie Mui, Kavi Pau, Simon Purdy and Varun Vassanth achieved their success among the Seniors with their rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water by Paul Simon, arranged by pupil Kavi Pau.

The Junior Saxophone Quintet, comprising Rufus Kent (alto saxophone), Philip Mahboobani (tenor), Sanjeev Menon (alto), Drew Sellis (alto) and Mark Thomas (baritone), won the Junior Popular Category with their performance of Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror.

The Senior Saxophone Quintet were placed second in the Senior Popular Category. Tom Archbold (baritone), Kieran Eatough (tenor), Nikhil Patel (alto), Pranay Shah (soprano) and Kian Yarand (alto) presented PR Girl by Andrew Tweed and Funk Dunk by Karen Street.

In the composition category of the festival, QE’s Senior Sax Quartet performed fellow pupil Mital Dodhia's piece, Stumbling Robots, taking second place. Having reached the finals, the quartet, made up of Tom Archbold, Kieran Eatough, Pranay Shah and Kian Yarand, were narrowly beaten into the runner-up spot by a Fugue for String Quartet written by a pupil from Dame Alice Owen's School.