The annual Summer Music Concert has always been one of the highlights in our school calendar – the sounds of our orchestras reverberating from the windows of our Great Hall on a summer’s evening really is wonderful to experience – whether you are strolling past outside or in the audience.
Restrictions this year, meant that we had to rethink how to host such an event, and thanks to the creativity of our music department, they have come up with something which will go down in the history books.
As it was not possible to bring all the boys together for a live event, we instead filmed each year group bubble during their rehearsals. Music teachers were keen to give the boys an experience to remember. So, all boys were brought together outside on the school field, with all appropriate social distancing observed, to have one final run through of the piece that they had been rehearsing in their separate year groups.
All rehearsals have been filmed and are currently being edited into a ‘Summer Music Concert’ highlights video for everyone to enjoy. This should be ready next week, so look out on the school’s social media channels and website for the link.
Director of Music, Jonathan Sanders, said, “Both boys and staff were obviously disappointed when it became clear that it was not going to be possible to bring all of the separate year group bubble ensembles together for a combined performance in the Great Hall at the end of term. It was quite an experience to have boys spread out across the grass in front of the main building playing extracts from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition – possibly a first for Bedford School! Members of the Chapel Choir also gathered on the Chapel steps to sing together for one last time before the end of the academic year. Extracts from these two events plus footage from recent rehearsals will be included in a highlights video which the Music Department will be releasing on social media channels next week.”
