Belhaven Hill's Summer Concert Reviews
The Pre-Prep Concert, Art and Design Exhibition, Friday 15 May
A packed Music School audience of Pre-Prep parents, grandparents and boarding houseparents eagerly awaited their charges’ performances as 2pm on Friday 15 May ticked ever closer. Treated to homemade popcorn as they entered, the audience were introduced to the creativity of the Pre-Prep with ‘The Chilly Sheep’, a stop-motion animation story based on Form 6’s work with Mrs. Haddon in their Art lessons. You can watch this brilliant 3-minute production below.
Then we were into the music as first the Pre-Prep Choir and then a group of Form 6 soloists led the way. A chanter group followed by solo guitar, violin, drum, harp and piano showed the range of musical talent in this group, who were followed by our first ever contribution from Reception. ‘Charlie Over The Ocean’ was brilliantly performed and even included some grandparent audience participation – always a treat!
Form 7 demonstrated their love of learning the violin before we heard their soloists: vocal, piano and clàrsach performances of great quality suggested great things to come. As with their Form 6 elders, the soloists introduced themselves and their piece, settled themselves and then played with great composure before acknowledging their applause with a bow. After an emotive Form 6 Leavers’ song - ‘Oh, Form 5’ - the choir returned to the stage for some new numbers and the return of an old favourite - ‘Purple Gecko’ - with a new friend, Strawberry, who has joined him on the ceiling!
Form 7 demonstrated their love of learning the violin before we heard their soloists: vocal, piano and clàrsach performances of great quality suggested great things to come. As with their Form 6 elders, the soloists introduced themselves and their piece, settled themselves and then played with great composure before acknowledging their applause with a bow. After an emotive Form 6 Leavers’ song - ‘Oh, Form 5’ - the choir returned to the stage for some new numbers and the return of an old favourite - ‘Purple Gecko’ - with a new friend, Strawberry, who has joined him on the ceiling!
The final element of a wonderful set of performances was a piece of physical theatre devised by Mrs. McGrath called ‘The Rainbow Fish’. Giving a platform to the dancing skills of Beatrice and the expressive teamwork of this talented group of 15, it was a great way to conclude the performance.
Tea and cakes accompanied the Pre-Prep Art exhibition, and it was lovely to see everyone marvelling at the quality and maturity of the work elicited by Mrs. Haddon’s gentle encouragement. Her final Pre-Prep Art exhibition was undoubtedly the best so far. Well done to all of the Pre-Prep for some fantastic work and for the courage, creativity and courtesy to produce such a great afternoon’s entertainment.
The Prep School Summer Music Showcase, Thursday 21 May
A recent article, published in the Maltese Times, states that learning to play an instrument is one of the most complex, and therefore best, things that the brain can do. The younger that you start, the more beneficial it becomes. What the article states as the ‘continuous interaction of perception and action’ is the key to this stimulation of the young brain, and it is this accelerant of the executive skills that makes the learning of music from the age of 3 so advantageous. This is our belief at Belhaven and it is why we continue to invest in our music provision. The Prep School’s Summer Showcase demonstrated that when you promote ensemble playing and encourage listening skills alongside the discipline of practice and the pressure of performance, you can produce results of great quality.
The concert opened with a full blast from the Pipe Band. They certainly demand attention! It was brilliant to see so many pipers, joined later by the future of the band as the chanters joined them, backed by a phalanx of drummers excited to be looking forward to the arrival of the new drums: the sound of ‘Brown-Haired Maiden’, ‘Highland Cathedral’ and ‘Scotland the Brave’ and echoing around the Sports Hall was impressive and emotive. It is important to note the contribution of Pipe Major Geordie Gladstone and Drum Sergeant Lukas Atkins at this juncture – they have given so much time and support to the Pipe Band during their time at Belhaven and both will be considerable assets to the Oundle and Radley bands as they move on.
The quality of the singing, throughout the evening, was fantastic. Whether it was the powerful solos in the Chamber Choir’s ‘California Dreamin’, Petra’s guitar and vocal combination in ‘Waka Waka’, the Italian lilt of the Junior Choir in ‘That’s Amore’ or the collated girl power of ‘Hit the Road’ with the Rock Band, there was confidence and joy in the singing and a spread of talent across the year groups. Well done and thank you to Beatrix, Iris and Gabrielle for maintaining their commitment to the Chamber Choir in their final year.
There were several new additions to this year’s programme. The Wind Band, organised by May Thompson, played their two pieces - ‘The Vicar of Dibley’ and ‘The Bear Necessities’ brilliantly – trombones, cornet, French horn and saxophone together for the first time at Belhaven, which was great to see. Another new feature was the String Quartet, run by Claire Davis, and what an incredible sound they made. It was great to hear that the focus had been on playing together, because the timing at the start and end of each piece was beautifully judged. I was delighted to award Music colours to Tommy this morning for his leadership of string playing throughout his time at Belhaven – how well he played last night.
The highlight of the evening for many were the two Samba performances, led by Jordan Ferguson, who has been working with Forms 3 and 4 during our Performing Arts Friday sessions since the start of 2026. Both year groups produced an incredible sound with an extraordinary degree of precision and accuracy: this was musicality at its most inclusive, with an instrument for everyone and an obvious relish amongst the performers!
The Drum Corps’ salute is a more traditional feature of our concerts in recent times but the ‘Soul Bossa Nova’ soundtrack – Austin Powers to those of us from a certain era – created some pretty spectacular stickwork and it was completely mesmerising to watch the concentration on each face as they put in a flawless performance. Thank you to Lukas and to Bertie, two stalwarts of the Drum Corps – Bertie's award of his Music colours this morning was recognition not just of his contribution to the Pipe Band, but to life in general at Belhaven.
‘Castle Dangerous’ and ‘Flower of Scotland’ gave the younger members of the band a chance to get a taste of the action, and the future of the Pipe Band certainly appears strong, despite the departure of Geordie, Lukas, Tommy, Wilbur, Bertie and Will. It was not all about the ensembles, however, with a brilliant cello solo from the talented Innes D providing further evidence of the quality of the string playing currently at Belhaven.
This quality was, it has to be said, diminished by the appearance of the Headmaster at the keyboard for ‘Chariots of Fire’. Taking on the role of Rowan Atkinson at the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, he bashed away repeatedly at a high D whilst music carried on around him before retreating to the safety of the back of the auditorium to nurse his index finger.
The Finale, a joyous rendition of that great Coldplay anthem ‘Viva La Vida’, was a sight and sound to behold. With strings and rock band uniting on stage, fronted by guitars and flanked by vocalists, it was brilliantly choreographed and incredibly effective. The general feeling is that this was one of the best concerts seen at Belhaven for many years, despite the best efforts of the Headmaster. Well done to Mrs. Scott and to the team of VMTs – but most of all, well done to all of the children who performed so brilliantly.
