Perse musicians stage stunning symphonic concert
The Perse’s talented musicians and singers returned to Saffron Hall for the first time in three years to perform a special classical concert.
Due to the Covid pandemic, the school’s annual symphonic showcase at the prestigious Saffron Walden venue had been put on hold since 2019.
However, Perse musicians made up for lost time with a stunning concert, entitled The Isle is Full of Noises, celebrating British music old and new.
The recital featured excellent performances by the school’s Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Wind Band 1, Senior Voice and Senior Brass Ensemble, with a programme featuring works by the likes of Rutter, Finzi and Gordon Langford.
The Symphony Orchestra gave a wonderful rendition of Elgar’s Enigma Variations, while the 150th anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ birth was honoured with performances of two of his pieces, The Wasps: Overture and Three Shakespeare Songs.
Perse Director of Music Ben Wingfield was elated that the school’s senior ensembles had the opportunity to play at Saffron Hall once more.
He said: “This concert was the first school event to be cancelled in 2020 when Covid hit, so it felt like we had come full circle where we were now in a position to play here again.
“The most wonderful thing was the pupils really enjoyed performing in a different venue. It’s testament to the pupils because they worked so hard and showed so much determination to see it through. You could feel that it was pretty electric and there was quite a buzz in the rehearsal and the concert itself.
“Music is such a social thing and working together as a team to create something greater than the sum of its parts was denied to us for quite a long time, so it was lovely to make music on that scale again and have an audience there to enjoy it.”
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