Following selection as a finalist in the Creative Arts School of the Year Award last year by Independent School Parent, Music continues to thrive at Canford with individual pupil successes and a varied programme of concerts and performances.
In the latest external music examinations, 90% of entries were at merit or distinction level, including three pupils awarded distinctions at the ARSM level which is beyond Grade 8 standard. Many congratulations to Eliana (cello), Lucy (flute) and Amanda (singing) on this exceptional achievement. We also celebrate rising star Hugo Svedberg who is certainly one to watch for the future – current music scholar, a member of the National Youth Orchestra, Gold winner in the London Young Musician Competition and Most Promising Young Musician in the Haslemere International online string Competition. He is entering the prestigious Young Musician of the Year 2022. A cellist since the age of 6, he has taken part in masterclasses with cellists including Johannes Moser, Natalie Klein and Joely Koos and is performing at the 2022 BBC Proms. Most recently he was the soloist at the Dorset Chamber Orchestra concert, performing Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C.
On Friday 11th March, the Friends of Canford Music were delighted to be able to once again hold their popular Jazz Concert in person and the evening did not disappoint, with toe tapping tunes performed by the Jazz Band and a combined Wind Orchestra and Concert Band accompanying accomplished individual singers. The audience of parents and friends delighted in a programme of fourteen pieces including Don’t rain on my parade (Jules Styne), Hawaii Five-O (Mort Stevens) and the Duke Ellington classic It don’t mean a thing (if it ain’t got that swing).
It was wonderful to follow this with a very different, but equally inspiring, concert at Christchurch Priory on Tuesday 22nd March which saw over 100 Canford musicians from the Chamber Choir, the Chapel Choir and the Orchestra showcasing the huge range of musical talent we currently have at the school. After so many online performances over the past two years, including the disappointment of this annual concert just days after the first lockdown, it was a very special evening for everyone involved. The programme opened with a moving performance by the combined choirs of All Wisdom Cometh from the Lord (Philip Moore) followed by Hear my Prayer (Felix Mendelssohn) and O Thou the Central Orb (Charles Wood), The Chamber Choir followed with Faire is the Heaven (William Harris) and Crucifixus (Antonio Lotti). Orchestral performances of Symphonic Suite (Howard Shore) from Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring and Symphony No. 3 ‘Organ’ (Camille Saint-Saëns) brought the evening to a memorable close.