Ruth Partington, Canford’s Head of Woodwind:

On Tuesday 30th September I was lucky enough to be invited to attend an orchestra rehearsal at Forres Sandle Manor Preparatory School. I was very impressed by the facilities and atmosphere in the music department and absolutely amazed by the enthusiasm and standard of playing. The main purpose of the visit was to prepare a selected group of wind and brass players for a concert the following week where they would be joining forces with the Canford wind bands. We spent an enjoyable half hour on how to create animal noises with mouthpieces, practising clapping rhythms and eventually learning some music!

The following week (Tuesday 7th October) Canford School hosted the group of 25 young musicians. After a brief and not altogether un-chaotic rehearsal Canford Junior Band ably took our guests for a brief tour of the school before introducing them to the delights of a Canford Supper.



The first item in the concert was Canford Junior Band, numbering 25 Shells and performing together for the first time. They gave a lively rendition of Soul Bossa Nova by Quincy Jones, perhaps better know as the soundtrack to Austin Powers. We were then treated to a aria by Zara Aiken, an ex Forres pupil who, with her lovely singing, more than demonstrated the great heights that can be reached from within Canford Music Department. The next item was Canford Big Band, showcasing the jazz side of woodwind and brass playing in the department.
After a small amount of stage reorganisation we were finally ready to begin the joint items. Senior Band (numbering 47 musicians) and Forres Sandle Manor together played Night Safari by Adam Gorb. Written in 2006 this piece tells the story of a journey through Singapore’s Safari Park which can only be visited at night - we certainly heard elephants, hyenas, snakes and various birds in this performance.

Next, the penultimate item in the concert was two movements from The Big Easy Suite by Martin Ellerby. For this the audience was treated to the combined sound of Canford Senior Band, Canford Junior Band and the musicians from Forres, a grand total of 97 musicians all playing at once!