Christmas Concert - 2025
On a mild Wednesday evening in December parents, carers, students, staff, alumni and other members of the Olavian community took their seats in the Great Hall for the annual Christmas Concert.
The concert opened with the combined forces of Concert Band, Chamber Choir, Doug Blew on the organ and the audience themselves heartily joining in for the carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". The festive theme continued with Chamber Choir's a capella items, including a particularly moving version of "Silent Night". The recently formed sixth form viola quartet, comprised of Becca Wells, Florence Lall, Priya Selva-Radov and Thomas Blew, performed a delicate and poised arrangement of the traditional French hymn "Quelle Est Cette Odeur Agreable?" (translation: "Whence Is That Goodly Fragrance?") The first half concluded with the second community carol of the evening, "O Little Town of Bethlehem".
The PA were on hand during the interval to supply food and drink with some seasonal goodies, including mince pies and mulled wine.
The second half opened with Improvisation Ensemble, directed by Sam Bullard, playing Ellington's "C Jam Blues" that morphed into "Jingle Bells" at the end, allowing for more audience participation. Chapel Choir, led by Thomas Blew, sang more unaccompanied choral works, including the lesser known but sprightly "Up! Good Christen Folk, And Listen". The audience were given another opportunity to join in during String Orchestra's performance of "Sleigh Ride"; while Mrs Attwood made a guest appearance providing the percussive sleigh bells part, the audience were encouraged to supply the whip part with claps and/or foot stamps! The Year 9 band, featuring Leonardo Anderlini on vocals, Avighna Malampathi on 'cello, Elias Reimers on piano and Jayden Aisabokhale on drumkit, took the penultimate performance slot, mixing things up with their adaption of The Weeknd's 2020 hit "Save Your Tears". The programme was rounded off with the third and final carol, "O Come, All Ye Faithful".
Our sincere thanks, as ever, go to all our talented performers, our dedicated ensemble leaders, the PA for providing refreshments, Eiara in Reprographics for the printed programmes, the premises team and the audience for their continued support at school music events.
