Music Events in 2015-16 at the Vaughan

The year ahead looks set to be another very exciting one for the musicians at the Vaughan. 

It will see pupils performing at the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Opera House, the London Coliseum, the Royal Festival Hall, St John’s, Smith Square, Westminster Cathedral, Douai Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and many places besides.

The St Cecilia Concert in November will include music by Schubert, Bach and others, with the main work being a performance by School Choir of Carl Orff’s oratorio Carmina Burana.

After Christmas, School Choir will prepare a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, to be held at St James’s, Spanish Place in April. We will be joined that evening by a remarkable set of soloists, Sarah Fox, Diana Moore, Peter Davoren and David Soar.

The orchestral work of the older pupils will focus on Schubert’s Eighth Symphony this term and Dvorak’s Eighth Symphony the following term. The work to be performed side by side with Southbank Sinfonia this year in the amazing Tenth Symphony of Shostakovitch.

The Big Band is set to be busy too with gigs planned at the Bull’s Head, Barnes and Ronnie Scott’s world famous jazz club plus the annual Big Band Evening in January. 

Highlights for the Schola include a concert performance of the Mozart Requiem with the Orion Orchestra in October,  two performances of JS Bach’s St John Passion with the Belgravia Chamber Orchestra in March and an Evensong service at St Paul’s Cathedral in April.

Boys in the Schola will sing in English National Opera’s new production of La bohemé in October and November and in December will sing in the Royal Opera’s new productions of Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci. Later in the year boys will sing in the Royal Opera’s production of the rarely performed Oedipe by Enescu. The highlight for the boys may well be a return to the Royal Albert Hall as we perform the Danny Elfman soundtrack to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland as the film is shown on a giant screen.  The Schola is also going to record a new CD, of the music of Gabriel Fauré, including his setting of the Requiem.

The school year opens with the Schola singing in the London International Acapella Competition. This prestigious competition, created by the Tallis Scholars founder Peter Philips, brings together choirs from around the world to compete in a range of sacred music. As well as competing, the choir will also give a recital at St Stephen’s, Rochester Row and take part in a masterclass with Ghislaine Morgan.

It will make for a busy start to what promises to be an exciting year for the School’s musicians. We look forward very much to welcoming everyone back over the next few days.