First Year Informal Concert a Triumph

At the heart of St Bede’s School lies the ethos that every young person has something wonderful, and unique, to offer. We are all different and one of most important philosophies of the school is that we rejoice in each other’s differences at every moment of every day.

This ethos and principle was demonstrated superbly in our First Year Concert on Wednesday, 3rd February. This year at St. Bede’s, we have what is possibly the most talented group of First Year musicians ever.

The evening began with the very talented Shona Wedner-Ross playing a heartfelt and sensitive rendition of Vivaldi’s Sixth Cello Sonata. We then were treated to Mozart’s L’ho Perduta from le Nozze di Figaro sung by Cristina Ruffle. This young girl has much to offer vocally, and we look forward to witnessing her growth over the coming years.

Bethany Davidson-Bowman then gave us a beautiful interpretation of Telemann’s definitive Flute Suite in A; this is somebody who has not performed extensively in public before and Bethany is to be congratulated that she has been given her performance wings and we hope will go from strength to strength.

Our young piano maestro, Lazar Liebenberg, gave us a masterful performance of Beethoven’s Adagio from the Sonata in C, WoO 51. This is clearly a talent for the future and one certainly to watch.

Then it was the turn of young guitar virtuoso, Ed Stokes. His talent and abilities are indication of a mature and sensitive musician whose interpretation of Jason Mraz’s I’m Yours held us all on the edge of our seats.

It is not every day that one hears a bass guitar solo (normally heard in the context of a background bass-line in a Jazz or Rock standard) but Charlie Petherbridge treated us to Steely Dan’s Peg. Charlie is one of our finest young bass players in a long time and we are very lucky to have a young man at St Bede’s with such flair and enthusiasm for concert performance.

The vastly talented Georgia Ellis sang like an angel in John Ireland’s Spring Sorrow. We could have heard a pin drop in her beautiful and thoroughly polished performance. We look forward to a very fruitful career here for this most affable of young musicians.

Then it was on to Luther Vine. Luther’s performance was nothing short of extraordinary. He is a remarkable young trumpet player, playing Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E flat. He played with style, technical perfection and interpretative maturity for one so young. What a sheer delight to have this most wonderful young musician in our midst.

Finally, the evening ended with the First Year band, headed by Ed Stokes. Giving us two superb performances of Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke and Tracey Chapman’s Revolution, this was a wonderful finale to a successful evening.

Robert Scamardella, Pianist in Residence at the school, said: ‘The aim of the evening was to afford an opportunity for our First Year students to gain experience on the concert platform and to play in front of an appreciative audience. Some of these students will undoubtedly excel at GCSE and A-Level and we are extremely proud of these incredibly talented young musicians. We shall look forward to hearing some outstanding music-making in the years to come’.

Pictures taken at rehearsal