After last summer’s downpour, caused entirely by Dr Foster’s choice of repertoire (Land of the Mountain and the Flood), the music department decided to play a bit safer this year and hold the Summer Bandstand in the ABB garden, with plans to have the audience inside the building if it poured again. Mr Slade, one of OHS’s two flute teachers and coach of the flute ensemble, secured the weather for us (just!) by choosing a fantastic arrangement of George Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’ for the ensemble to play.
The Concert Band set the tone of the evening perfectly with some ABBA songs. There were two groups run entirely by their members: a Year 10 group performing Golden Hour by Jvke, and Year 9 group Midnight Borealis performing Déjà vu by Olivia Rodrigo and I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift. The latter song confirmed our long-held suspicion that Mrs Gardiner Legge is most definitely a Swiftie; she knew all the words perfectly.
The clarinet ensemble, conducted by the wonderful Ms Cockburn, played a fun arrangement of Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely and the percussion ensemble, conducted by Mr Fairbairn, gave us Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid, and Happy, by Pharrell Williams.
The big band, Funkem Maximam, concluded the evening’s music by playing danceworthy pieces by the likes of Henry Mancini, Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman, which did indeed get the crowd dancing. The catering team did an amazing job with the refreshments and everyone went away happy and full of food and drink.
