By Neil Hornsby, Head of Contemporary Music
Photo by Abby Hilton, 6.1

The Thursday before half term saw a wonderful musical collaboration between Bedales, Dunhurst and Dunannie in the third annual Three Schools’ Concert. A packed Lupton Hall witnessed a night like no other with 83 students taking part, ranging in age from seven all the way up to 18.

There were performances featuring each school, including Head Girl Lara Rippinger’s take on Esperanza Spalding’s I Know You Know, Group 3 Dunhurst student Eliot Santos’ show-stopping performance of Karl Bohm’s Perpetual Motion and the Dunannie Year 3 choir’s wonderful performance of Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid.

However, the highlights of this memorable evening were the incredible collaborative efforts between the three schools. These included a haunting performance of Goodall’s The Lord is My Shepherd by the Bedales and Dunhurst Chamber Choir, led by Bedales Director of Music Doug Mcilwraith; an amazing collaboration by the Bedales and Dunhurst Orchestra performing Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5, wonderfully conducted by Dunhurst Director of Music Ben Harlan; the Bedales and Dunhurst string orchestra (plus woodwind) accompanying 6.2 student Safi Kazim on a beautiful rendition of Clown by Emeli Sandé; and a virtuosic performance by the Bedales and Dunhurst Scholars’ Ensemble of excerpts from Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns, directed by Will Lithgow.

This was all topped off with six singers from Bedales and Dunhurst – who were joined by the Three Schools’ Choir and Bedales House Band – bringing the night to a close with Stevie Wonder’s As.

The incredible technical team made up entirely of students Tom Bonnar, Sam Coleman, Oliver Jones, Tashi Feinstein and Joe Wilson ran the concert with an extreme level of professionalism that contributed immensely to a very special event.

We are looking forward to many more collaborations between our three schools in the future!