A truly feel-good occasion. (Review by Keith Millar)
Huge congratulations to Reddam House School, Umhlanga who last Saturday pulled out all the stops in a glorious celebration of youth and orchestral music with their magnificent Side by Side Symphony.
Unable to stage their Side by Side Symphony for the past two years (we all know the reason for that), they decided to make up for it this year and produce a festival of music which can only be described as a concert on steroids.
Reddam House has a very strong and active Music Department under the leadership of Russell Scott. There were performances from their Senior Preparatory and College Orchestras and choirs along with music from the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Orchestra and the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Wind Band.
Playing alongside them and mentoring the youngsters all the way were the professional musicians of the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra.
The concert culminated with all these ensembles together on stage, a total of 250 musicians, performing with gusto and jubilation. They played Baba Yetu by Christopher Tin and the gorgeous Concert Celebration arrangement of Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s music by Custer and Brymar. It was beautifully performed, and the sound was momentous. I’m sure the experience will live long in the memories of all who were present.
Earlier, the concert got under way with a well-received appearance of the Reddam House Marimba Performance Band. This group, under the direction of Evan Roberts, played Titanium (Sia), Doo Bee Doo (Mahola) and Children of the Sun (Baron) with great enthusiasm.
The Reddam House Senior Prep Orchestra (average age 9) performed A Viking’s Tale (Thomas) while the College Orchestra played Adagio from Symphony No.5 (Tchaikovsky).
Both were conducted by Russell Scott. They then combined to play Accents (Frost).
The Senior Prep Choir conducted by Taryn Madurai then offered Just Sing from Trolls.
The wonderful KwaZulu-Natal Youth Orchestra under the baton of Lyk Temmingh performed Capriccio Espagnole (Rimsky- Korsakov), Dance of the Knights (Prokofiev), Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen), The Greatest Showman (arr. O’Loughlin) and Tequila (arr. Holloway).
The KZN Youth Wind Band conducted by Russell Scott contributed the Festive Overture (Shostakovich), Disney at the Movies (arr. Higgins) and Military Goes African (arr. Pienaar)
The Reddam House College Choir was also heard - with a rousing rendition of Vivaldi’s Gloria, while the winners of the school’s inter-house music competition composition, Ohlanga House, got to perform their entry Uxam (Madakane).
The Side by Side Symphony was without a doubt an XXL concert. Wonderful music played with enjoyment and exuberance by the very-talented youngsters and greatly enjoyed by the audience.
A truly feel-good occasion. – Keith Millar
For more information on Reddam House visit https://www.umhlanga.reddamhouse.com/
Posts
