The Regent’s School Pattaya’s annual Summer Concert
was held recently at the Cholchan Pattaya Resort, with more than 100
students performing and displaying their musical skills. The fifty strong
Orchestra, the Regent’s most established group, led the way with a very
confident presentation of traditional and contemporary pieces. The Senior
String Orchestra followed, again showing versatility with ‘Green
sleeves’ and ‘Mango Walk’.
The
Regent’s Band plays the blues. (photo by Marcus Way)
The
Senior Choir harmonizes with “Wind beneath my wings”. (photo by Marcus
Way)
The school’s thriving instrumental programme is
reflected in the development and increasingly polished performances of these
core performance groups. The Junior Choir’s enthusiastic approach to
‘Train is a-coming’, complete with actions, showed just how popular this
group’s lunchtime singing sessions are. An ambitious ensemble piece with
the Junior String Orchestra, ‘Sound for us’, highlighted the great
progress made by the young violinists during the last year.
Next on the programme was an outstanding duet with
violinists Merle Laur and Miss Helen Eddis. This performance was all the
more remarkable because the composition, ‘The Bell Jar’, was written by
15-year-old Merle as part of her IGCSE course work. Making its debut
performance and completing the first half of the programme was the
school’s Training Band which is composed mainly of Primary students. Many
of the students have only been learning since January this year and their
very credible rendition of the more experimental piece “Mulford’s
Mayhem” bodes for well for the future.
The
Chamber Ensemble entertained in the lobby. (photo by Marcus Way)
While the crowd mingled happily in the lobby during the
interval, the musical nature of the evening was reinforced by the String
Quartet’s tuneful rendering of Bach’s ‘Air on a G String’.
The big sound of The Regent’s Band kicked off the
second half of the programme with their performance of “Blues Band’. The
Chamber Ensemble followed on closely with two pieces of vastly different
mood and tempo - first the more classical sound of Handel’s ‘La
Rejouissance’ and then a tune perhaps more reminiscent of tea dances, ‘A
Day in Majorca’.
Two young singers, Meike and Han Hui, stole the show with
their excellent vocals during the Senior Choir’s wonderful ‘Wind Beneath
my Wings’. And everyone in the audience wanted to sing-along with their
next song - the contemporary classic by John Lennon and Paul McCartney,
‘Yesterday’.
The ‘Trio Sonata’ by Telemann was played with great
panache by a talented threesome, Merle Laur on violin, Egle Pedak on piano
and Tim Wongnimmarn on flute.
The evening’s finale was provided by the Samba Band, an
18 strong group which has become known for its innovative inclusion of the
‘whistle’, played with great aplomb by Mr Goffee! ‘Samba Samba!’ was
a fitting end to a wonderful evening of musical entertainment provided by
students from the Regent’s School’s Pattaya campus.
The programme highlighted the breadth of musical
endeavour undertaken at the school, ranging from complex compositions
resulting from curriculum based work, to the nurturing of young
instrumentalists and the encouragement of singing through lunchtime choir
groups.
The increasing confidence and skill of those on stage is
a tribute to the huge efforts of the Music Department, a team made up of
Miss Helen Eddis, Miss Roxanna Gozzard, Mr Matt Goffee, Mr Matt Stockwell
and director of music, Mr Mark Bradshaw.
Mrs Patricia Metham, Principal of The Regent’s School, gave thanks to
all those involved and commended the music team in particular for the part
they had played in providing students with the inspiration needed to be part
of such a dynamic process.
