Junior Concert 2015

The Junior Concert on  the night of Wednesday 18 November provided a platform for the younger boys at Habs to showcase their abilities to an appreciative full house in the Seldon Hall. With a record nineteen boys performing solo items, from Schubert Impromptus on the piano to Deep Purple on the electric guitar, and six ensembles this was an evening full of treats and delights for all present.

The evening started with the FT Band, conducted by Steve Byron, playing Sausalito Sunshine by Jerry Williams. The Fast Track Band is the most junior of the wind ensembles here at Habs but in a polished performance there were signs of great things to come and many of these boys will soon be moving up to more senior ensembles.

Following this were a series of solo performers performing, many from memory, with real style and great assuredness. The next ensemble was the String Orchestra, conducted by Mr Muhley, who played two pieces by Sheila Nelson, Serbian Kolo and Starseeker Variations, with an untempered enthusiasm that is bound to serve them well as they become more advanced players. More solos followed and the first half concluded with the Junior Percussion Ensemble playing Soul Limbo by Booker T and the MGs which, as the director Jonathan Ormston pointed out, was famously used as the theme for Test Match Special. With many of these boys only in Year Seven the level of virtuosity on show was very impressive and provided an exuberant finale to the first half.

The second half began with the massed guitars of the Junior and Intermediate Guitar Ensembles directed by Ursula Galuszka who led them through three songs. Habs traditionally has a very strong guitar section and the signs here are that this is set to continue for some time to come.  The horn ensemble was our penultimate ensemble and they gave a heartfelt rendition of A Whole New World from Aladdin.

The final item was the Jazz Band, conducted by Malcolm Pritchard, who played a medley from Chicago that afforded eight boys the opportunity to play an improvised solo. To improvise as confidently and musically as was on show here is impressive regardless of age, but with these boys being still juniors it was a really breath taking end to the evening.
The talent on show tonight shows that the future of the music at Habs is secure for the foreseeable future and bodes well for those taking ABRSM exams in the next few weeks.