Music

The Dyne House Music Project and Highgate School Music Department

The Dyne House Music Project has been a very valuable addition to the Music Department of Highgate School. Since the rooms were made available for use in September 2010, they have been used for a wide variety of purposes. There are daily rehearsals of ensembles in the Rothenberg Recital Room (RRR) and the Dyne House Auditorium (DHA), some of which involve more than 60 pupils. During academic lesson time, the RRR is used for instrumental teaching, whilst the Auditorium is used for academic teaching and lectures. Additionally, there are 5 practice/teaching rooms, providing significant extra capacity for the work of pupils in the department; already on average, three are used daily for teaching, the others being left available for practice by sixth-form pupils.

Since the large spaces are all designed with the needs of music in mind, they are very superior to the spaces previously used. This is principally apparent in their acoustics. In the RRR there is a special uneven acoustic wall and adjustable curtains. The Auditorium has a Virtual Acoustics Processor (VAP) installed, designed by “xlnt” of Utrecht; this is a highly sophisticated electro-acoustic enhancement system which allows the acoustic of the room to be adjusted to imitate those of certain famous performing spaces throughout the world, such as the Mozart and Schubert Halls in the Vienna Konzerthaus, the main hall of the Schloß Eszterházy in Eisenstadt (where Haydn worked for 29 years), the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, the Concertgebouw Hall in Amsterdam and Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The rooms are also very practical for musical use, with a large and flexible floor space, with plenty of storage available. All rooms in the area are acoustically isolated from each other.

Below are listed some examples of the kind of events that the spaces have been used for this year:
•   Concerts and recitals involving between seven and 145 pupils;
•   House Music Vocal Competition Heats, involving participation by 350 pupils in the top five years of the senior school;
•   Lectures given by the History, Physics and Music Departments to whole year-groups, usually involving external speakers or performers, often exploiting the VAP acoustic system;
•   School Assemblies;
•   Rehearsals, masterclasses, commercial recordings and concerts given by the school’s ensembles-in-residence;
•   Concerts given by the Junior School and the Pre-prep School;
•   Academic Music and Drama lessons;
•   Drama rehearsals;
•   Lectures given as part of the Knowledge Curriculum programme; and
•   Rehearsals throughout the week for A Cappella, Brass Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, Chapel Choir, Chorale, Concert Band, Concert Choir, Jazz Orchestra, String Camerata, String Sinfonietta, Symphonic Band, Symphony Orchestra, and numerous Chamber Groups.

The pupils have already grown to love and appreciate the new rooms, and are aware of how the excellent facility will enhance their musical performance standards.

Summer Music Festival 2010

The 2010 Festival took place on 21st-23rd June. There were three fun-packed days of workshops and concerts much enjoyed by all the pupils who took part.

Monday 21st June: The morning session was taken up by Peter Willcock and Vicky Wright’s Woodwind and Voice Improvisation Workshop. Pupils learnt the art of story-telling through vocalisation, performing sections of Cathy Berberian’s “Stripsody”. The session concluded with a lunchtime concert in the Undercroft.
The Junior Ensembles Evening Concert took place in the Dining Hall. The first time the location was used, it proved to be a fine acoustic for the mix of ensembles, many of which were shortly to go on a tour to France. The Junior String Ensemble began with “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” by Handel, followed by the String Sinfonietta’s performances of the March from “Scipio” (also by Handel) and three pieces by Lully.

The Concert Band performed an arrangement of four pieces made famous by Count Basie and his Band, and a medley of film themes by John Williams. The Chamber Choir (consisting of six pupils in Year 8) then sang an arrangement of Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, followed by the Junior Choir’s performances of “Jazz Gloria”, Cy Coleman’s “The Rhythm Of Life” and Lionel Bart’s “I’d Do Anything” from “Oliver!”. The evening was enjoyed by all present and was an excellent example of the kind of music-making that will be seen on the tour.

Tuesday 22nd June: The morning session was dominated by a brass workshop given by tuba-player Mike Poyser. There was a mixture of free improvisation, structured improvisation, ensemble-playing from score and solo performances. Once again, the pupils demonstrated what they had learnt in a lunchtime concert (on Dyne House terrace) after the workshop. The afternoon saw 40 singers come together for a workshop on a variety of different choral styles, from rounds to spirituals to close harmony. A fine set of performances was given afterwards in the Undercroft.

Wednesday 23rd June: The final day began with a Jazz Workshop given by Alan Hardiman, the school’s jazz trombone teacher and director of the Jazz Orchestra. As with the brass ensemble the previous day, the pupils worked on a variety of improvisation techniques, including responding during performance to Mr Hardiman’s suggestions of riffs.

The final event of the Festival was a highly popular Picnic Pops Concert on the playing fields outside the Dining Hall. The evening began with items from the morning’s Jazz Workshop, followed by a set performed by Dynasty Jazz, a very promising group of five pupils in Years 8 & 9. The Jazz Orchestra then played three numbers: “Poultry in Motion” by Chris Berg, “Pick up the Pieces” by Roger Ball and Isaac Hayes & David Porter’s “Soul Man”. The A Cappella ensemble sang a nine-part arrangement of Max Martin’s “…Baby One More Time”, with Joanna Siddall (13GH) standing in for Britney Spears. For the finale of the event, a special Pops Orchestra was created, performing extracts from “Chicago”, “Phantom of the Opera” and “Star Wars”, as well as Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No.1. As an additional surprise, there was a special appearance by West End and “Bad Girls” star Siobhán McCarthy, singing “I Dreamed A Dream” from “Les Misérables”.

House Music Competitions, 22nd September & 2nd March

This year’s vocal competition in September was won by Eastgate singing their own arrangement of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under The Bridge”, admirably led by Robin Sheffield (EG13). The instrumental competition was won by The Lodge for the second year in a row with a performance of Brahms’s Hungarian Dance No.1. The adjudicators were Richard Mayo, Director of Music at Dulwich College (vocal) and Dr Sinan Savaskan, Deputy Director of Music at Westminster School (instrumental). Other high-placed houses in the competition were Kingsgate, Northgate, School House and Westgate. The standard of performances was very high from all houses, with pupils keen to demonstrate their skills.

Chapel Services throughout the year

There have been nine Sunday-evening choral services in Chapel this year, with the boys-only Chapel Choir, the mixed Chorale and A Cappella putting on a wide range of music from orchestral performances of Vivaldi’s Gloria to Byrd’s unaccompanied Ave Verum, all under the guiding hand of Miss Price. The services are dominated by the traditional Choral Evensong from the Book of Common Prayer, and feature the best of the Anglican Choral tradition. Additionally, the Chapel Choir sang Choral Evensong in Southwark Cathedral on a Wednesday in February, and were warmly welcomed and much congratulated by the cathedral clergy and staff.

Music Competition Week, 11th-14th October

The third year of the Music Competition Week was a great success. Pupils competed as soloists in one or more of four section competitions (Wind & Brass, Singing, Strings and Piano) at either Preliminary, Intermediate or Advanced level (depending on ability) on four successive afternoons. The top three at the Advanced level in each of the four sections went through to the Grand Final, an evening event on the last day. There were 130 separate entries for the week’s events. The overall winner was Baichuan Li (11SH), performing Ballade by Frank Martin on the flute. Runners-up were Anna Lowenstein (13FG) and Lulu Little (13SH), both on the violin. The adjudicator of the Grand Final was Alex Caldon, a professional trumpeter.

Year-group concerts throughout the year

There have been a number of concerts during the year given by individual year groups. These consist of solo and chamber performances by members of Years 7 to 10.

Rothenberg Recitals throughout the year

These concerts (previously known as Performance Platforms) take place in the Rothenberg Recital Room on Thursday afternoons and number around six to eight per term. Any pupil of any standard is encouraged to perform at these events and there has been a large uptake of interest among the pupils. More recently, concerts have occasionally focussed on particular areas of the Department’s activities (such as a particular instrument), and have been very useful as an occasion on which pupils who have to perform for a practical or academic Music exam have a chance to try out their programme in a less pressured setting before the real event.

Rothenberg Recital Room Opening Concert, 18th November

A special concert was staged for the first inaugural event of the Dyne House Music Project. Fourteen of the school’s best musicians shared a programme of chamber music with one of the school’s most prestigious musical OCs, pianist and conductor Howard Shelley OBE. Mr Shelley has made well over one hundred commercial recordings and has performed a very wide range of repertoire worldwide. After the formal opening ceremony presided over by the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Governors (Bob Rothenberg MBE, after whom the Recital Room is named), there were expert performances by pupils of Mozart’s Divertimento in B-flat major for string quartet, Schubert’s Piano Trio in B-flat major and Gounod’s Petite Symphonie pour instruments à vent. The second half consisted of Howard Shelley and the London Chamber Players’ very engrossing performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.12 in A major.

Dyne House Grand Festival Opening Concert, 1st & 3rd December

145 pupils ranging in age from 11 to 18 took part in the second inaugural event of the Dyne House Music Project. The Auditorium was officially opened by Richard Kennedy (the former Head Master) and the concert began with the Symphony Orchestra’s riveting performance of Mussorgsky’s orchestral showpiece “Night on a bare mountain”. The Chamber Orchestra continued with Janáček’s challenging “Suite for Strings”, followed by the String Camerata (a group consisting of pupils in Y7-11) performing Purcell’s “Chacony”. There followed a carefully nuanced performance by the Symphonic Band of Rachmaninov’s “Symphonic Dance No.1. The concert concluded with two pieces for chorus and orchestra: the première of “Bolts of Melody”, a setting of an Emily Dickinson poem in praise of Music especially composed for the event by Mr Steuart Fothringham, and two movements from Mendelssohn’s celebratory Symphony No.2, “Lobgesang”. The Concert Choir and Symphony Orchestra squeezed onto the Auditorium stage to perform these two works, bringing the concert to a rousing conclusion. It was an event enormously enjoyed by all, and the whole concert was repeated two days later to accommodate the strong demand for tickets.

Rush-hour Concert, 7th December

This concert, taking place at the new time of 5.30pm, gave the chance to perform in the new Auditorium to a variety of chamber groups and large ensembles of younger pupils a week after its formal opening. There were performances by 79 pupils in total: the Percussion Ensemble (Gershwin’s “Fascinating Rhythm”), Concert Band (Calvin Custer’s “Festive Jubilee”), Fournier Cello Ensemble (Haydn’s Divertimento in D), Saxophone Ensemble (Vivaldi’s Concerto in D minor), Brass Ensemble (Sweeney’s “Black Forest Overture”) Saxophone Choir (Chris Gumbley’s “Break Out”), Reiche Brass Quartet (J. S. Bach’s “Sheep may safely graze”), Fourmeau Saxophone Quartet (Singelée’s Quartet No.1) and the String Sinfonietta (a Suite by Handel). The full width of the stage was exploited by having the various groups placed in different areas and individually lit up as they performed.

Carol Services, 12th-17th December

The traditional three carol services in St Mark’s, Dalston and St Michael’s, Highgate. The Junior Choir, Chapel Choir, Chorale and A Cappella all contributed to the music of the service, ably assisted by the Brass Ensemble and the Chamber Orchestra, all under the direction of Miss Price. The musical highlight of the service was an orchestral performance of the chorus “For unto us a Son is born” from Handel’s “Messiah”. Additionally, there was the traditional performance of carols in Pond Square for the local community; the Christmas spirit was enhanced by the pupils’ performing in the falling snow.

Prism Concert, 2nd February

This was the first of two concerts which took place in early February in Dyne House Auditorium in aid of The Irene and Henry Retford Fund. The Fund has been set up by Ronald and Sabine Austin in memory of the late Irene and Henry Retford, music publishers resident in Highgate, to give financial support to potentially talented musicians at Highgate School whose families would not otherwise be able to afford to develop their abilities. Over 140 pupils from all year groups took part. There were performances from the Junior Choir, Saxophone Choir, Saxophone Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, A Cappella, Jazz Orchestra and Voisin Brass Quartet playing mostly light and jazz repertoire, bookended by celebratory music from the Concert Band and Symphonic Band.

Charity Musical Soirée, 8th February

The second of the concerts in aid of The Irene and Henry Retford Fund took a complete performance by the Chamber Orchestra of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” as its main focus. With a very skilled and numerous group of violinists in Y13, the solo roles were divided among six pupils: Talia Caspi (13NG), Benjamin Gerrans (13KG), Lulu Little (13SH), Anna Lowenstein (13FG), Holly Thomas (13WG) and Oliver Zeffman (13TL). The pupils, led from the front by the enthusiastic violin-playing of Mr Murphy, were performing with special Baroque-period bows (kindly donated by the Friends of Highgate School) and showed a strong ability to play with imagination and verve. As a counterpart to this string music, the first half of the concert was dominated by vocal and wind groups. A Cappella sang a humorous performance of “I’m A Train”, made famous by the King’ Singers, followed by Bill Withers’s “Lean On Me”, sung by the younger Sutherland Dectet. Baichuan Li (11SH) followed with a spectacular performance of the highly virtuoso solo flute part in Julius Benedict’s “The Carnival of Venice”, sensitively accompanied by the Symphonic Band under Mr Stewart.

Spring Concert in St John’s, Smith Square, 29th March

The Chamber Orchestra, Concert Choir, Symphonic Band and Symphony Orchestra (99 pupils in all) performed a concert at St John’s, Smith Square in the heart of Westminster. The Symphony Orchestra opened with Beethoven’s whirlwind Overture from “The Creatures of Prometheus”; the Chamber Orchestra continued with Elgar’s “Introduction and Allegro” for strings. This was a very assured performance, led by the Barbirolli Quartet, the school’s String Quartet-in-Residence, and all the more impressive in that it was performed without a conductor. The Symphonic Band closed the first half with a superlative performance of “Bolero” by Ravel; the piece gave an excellent opportunity for individual pupils on woodwind, brass and percussion to demonstrate their soloistic skills, as well as displaying the impressive ensemble of the full band at the climax.

The Concert Choir and Symphony Orchestra were joined by three vocal soloists (Sarah Vivian, Angela Henckel and David Revels, all singing teachers at the school) to perform the extensive choral finale to Mendelssohn’s Symphony No.2, “Lobgesang”. The pupils gave a very spirited performance of the four main choral movements, with the intervening solo movements delicately accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra. The audience much appreciated the high quality of the event, and the new venue provided a fine setting for the music.

Easter Holiday Tour to Venice, 14th-18th April

During the Easter holidays, 47 of Highgate's musicians visited Venice for a concert tour. An early morning flight on Thursday 14th April, from Gatwick touched down at Marco Polo airport in time for the first espresso of the tour and the excitement palpably grew as the pupils caught their first glimpse of Venice from the ferry to the hotel on the Lido di Venezia, the base for the five-day tour.

The following day featured the first two of the five concerts. The first was at a secondary school in the Santa Croce district. Then after a quick trip back across the lagoon in a private water taxi to the Lido, the second concert took place in the Instituto Sorella Della Misericordia Carlo Steeb, a rest home for the elderly. The residents of the home gave the pupils a rousing ovation at the end of the hour-long concert of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, his “Gloria”, and choral and wind music by Tallis, Reicha and Byrd. Many of the residents were moved to tears and genuinely touched by the quality of the music-making on offer.

Saturday was to be the busiest day, and the day of two of the most prestigious performance opportunities. To warm up for these, the groups entertained passers-by in the first of two impromptu open-air performances in one of Venice's most beautiful squares, the Campo San Angelo. There was an early-evening bite to eat near the Piazza San Marco to prepare for accompanying the 6.45pm Palm Saturday Mass in the world-famous St Mark's Basilica. The choir sang beautifully, but with a 9pm concert to give they had to rush immediately across town, with the twenty or so accompanying Highgate parents who visited Venice to support, to Venice's jewel of Renaissance architecture: the Chiesa Santa Maria Dei Miracoli. This second concert of the day thrilled the audience, including former Highgate bursar Sean McGeeney and his wife Wendy and current governor John Claughton, with performances of Vivaldi's “Four Seasons” and “Gloria” and works for wind by Reicha and choral music by Tallis. After a hasty exit, the enthusiastic but the extremely well-behaved pupil-musicians made their way back to the Ospedale Vaporetto stop to meet the private taxi for a high-speed (and high-spirited) trip back across the dark and choppy late-night waters of the lagoon to the hotel for a celebratory gelato!

Sunday was welcomed with a brief lie-in before the water taxi at ten: destination Zattere. The second impromptu performance of the “Four Seasons” in the Campo Santa Margherita was a very special moment, watched in the wonderful early-morning sunshine by a large audience of tourists and worshipers holding palms and olive branches making their way home after early morning mass. Free time to visit the Peggy Guggenheim Art Gallery, the Frari to see the stunning Titian altar-piece, or to play a game of football with the locals in the Campo San Polo followed. The final concert of the tour in the Chiesa Santa Maria Nova was performed to a packed house and was the perfect way to conclude the musical side of the tour.

Monday, the final day, was set aside for relaxation: half the group made their way back into Venice, leaving the remainder on the Lido to visit the beach for a game of beach football and to soak up the spring sun.

The tour was organised and led by Mr Murphy and accompanied by Miss Price, Mr Hanson, Mr Stewart and Mrs Brunner. The pupils were always in good humour, were very helpful and demonstrated exemplary professionalism, whatever the circumstances; their consummate musicianship made the tour a pleasure.

Concert of Highgate pupils with Nicola Benedetti, 24th May

International superstar violinist Nicola Benedetti, winner of BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2004, came to perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in Dyne House Auditorium, accompanied by the Highgate Philomusica, an orchestra with 25 Highgate pupils and 25 pupils from other London schools, conducted by Mr Murphy. The visiting pupils were organised by Oliver Zeffman (13TL) and Anna Lowenstein (13FG). The orchestra had had an intensive afternoon of rehearsal two days previously, and Ms Benedetti rehearsed with them on the afternoon of the performance. She was very impressed by the standard of the orchestra, and the pupils very much enjoyed performing with her. She was friendly and relaxed with the pupils, happily posing for photographs and signing autographs after the event. The performance itself wowed the capacity audience; it was an event that none of the pupils involved will ever forget.

Y7-9 Musical: “Fiddler On The Roof”, 25th-27th May

32 pupils in Y7-9 were on stage for a three-night run of the music “Fiddler On The Roof”, accompanied by a band consisting of a further eleven pupils with staff, and supported by a crew of pupil technicians. Sario Watanabe-Solomon (9FG) shone in the leading role of Tevye, with Charlotte Brocklesby (9MG), Beth Chalmers (9NG), Isabelle Jackson (9NG) and Matilda Smith (9MG) all singing and acting skilfully in their roles. The event was sold out, and the pupils received many plaudits for their performances after all the work they had put in to their five-month rehearsal period under Mrs Brunner (stage direction and choreography) and Mr Hanson (musical direction).

Ensembles-in-Residence

The school has expanded its roster of Ensembles-in-Residence this year to include Majestic Brass as its Brass Quintet-in-Residence, the International Baroque Players as its Period Ensemble-in-Residence and Lontano as its Contemporary Music Ensemble-in-Residence. It has continued its collaboration with the Barbirolli Quartet and the Calefax Reed Quintet. The ensembles have participated in chamber-music coaching and masterclasses throughout the year, and most have given open rehearsals and performances to pupils during the school day or in the evening. The Barbirolli Quartet led a joint performance of Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro for strings at the St John’s, Smith Square concert in March. Instead of performing with Mr Murphy conducting as usual, the quartet’s leader, Katie Stillman, lead the performance from the violin, with the quartet playing the solo string quartet part Elgar included in his score. Majestic Brass gave a well-received evening performance in February after two days’ work with the pupils, while in May the International Baroque Players performed to all Junior School pupils in Y5 as well as string-players in the Senior School. Also in May, Lontano opened the ears of pupils in Y7-10 to contemporary music in a morning workshop and open rehearsal, with composer Robert Keeley explaining his music with great lucidity.