Following the success of the inaugural Teatime Concert in March, the second such event took place last Friday. Over sixty parents and staff attended the concert, at which about thirty boys performed.
The food was, befitting the Music Department, abundant, and included a huge variety of delicious baked goods. The table on which they were served was bedecked by tablecloths which, following concerns that when last used they were not starched, had been masterfully washed and starched by none other than Dr Stubbs. On the gleaming tablecloths were placed all manner of goods. Mr Couldridge baked some blueberry muffins, elegantly displayed on a tiered cake stand. Mr Tonks’s signature brownies delighted boys and parents alike, and proved immensely popular. He also made an enticing tarte aux framboises. Miss Isham, an honorary member of the Music Department, offered some delicious chocolate chip cookies. Miss Martin made some delicious Mars bar squares, and Miss Shepherd brought along some Brazilian brigadeiros. Notwithstanding the usual culinary mishaps for which he is in some parts known, Mr Hill offered up some tea bread and some flapjacks. Somewhat of an interloper, Mr Hill brought along a traditional ginger cake too. Having remembered that teenage boys are wont to eat all food within a five mile radius, biscuits were sought for the boys to eat, thereby saving the cake for parents and staff. The Master of Coffee, Mr Tonks, administered the brewing thereof with characteristic precision, with weighing scales playing a prominent part in the preparation thereof. With his arsenal of cafetières the audience was adequately, nay abundantly caffeinated.
The concert began with the Recorder Consort playing Three Scottish Dances arranged by Tom Johnson. This spritely arrangement was a splendid opening to the concert. The concert featured several solo guitarists, Benedict B, Yaneth W, Aaditya B, and Adam H. Other ensembles also performed in the concert: the Percussion Ensemble as usual delighted the audience both musically and visually, with the vast array of instruments which were played. Having performed at lunchtime, the Taylors’ Funk Society — which, incidentally, is yet to be heard playing funk — gave an assured performance of Sinatra’s Fly me to the moon. Two arrangements from Bizet’s popular opera Carmen were played, the first by Thomas B (4ths) on the trumpet, and the second by Alexander B on the violin. A miscommunication had meant that Yugo F was unable to play at the previous Teatime Concert, and we were delighted that he was able to do so this time, playing Orlando Gibbons’s The King’s Juell. Josh S was one of three solo pianists whom we heard, and he played Chopin’s so-called Revolutionary Etude in C minor. The concert closed with Aarnav H’s performances, one from Bach’s St Matthew Passion, and another from Delibes’s Lackme.
It was at the suggestion of Aryan D that a concert be organised to raise money for Movember. At such short notice it was not possible to organise a separate event, but instead the decision was made to use an existing event in November at which monies could be raised for the charity. The Teatime Concert was the chosen event, and with a good-sized audience this proved to be a great wise decision. With thanks to Mrs Hall, we raised about £300 for the cause (including funds raised at other events during the day).
