Xaverian’s year has been topped off with the Chamber Music at the Church and Summer Concerts and the energetic XBand concert night. Talented music students from across the College, on A Level Music and Xtras music enrichment, came together to display their talents by performing in front of live audiences in a range of music genres and styles.

The Chamber Music at the Church concert was held in St Edward’s RC Church on 23rd June and directed by Xaverian alumni, Asta Lai, with assistance from Khrystyna Halatiuk and Charlotte Philpotts. The concert included a wide range of musical works from western classical pieces to film music.

The evening was a great success with high-calibre performances from the mainly student-led ensembles. Their passion, technical proficiency, musicianship, wonderful phrasing and sweet tones filled the whole church.

XBand continues to serve up a menu of diverse and entertaining music with a night filled with live performances from a wide range of musical genres. Xaverian’s annual band night on 26th June didn’t disappoint with memorable performances from Xaverian’s Soul Band, Gospel Choir, Jazz Bands and Balkan Band, along with sets from The Coverups, One More Time, The Low Dimes, Watchlist and Youse.

The summer concert followed on the 1st July, with the Xaverian Big Band setting a high tempo with a Latin/jazz influenced piece, ‘One More Once’ by Michel Camino. The piece was distinguished by impressive solos, particularly from the percussion section. The first half featured repertoire selected by Xaverian peripatetic staff, who led ensembles which were artfully performed by the students. The Latin Percussion Ensemble was joined by the Balkan Folk band to perform ‘Combiner Harvester’ folk song, led by University of Oxford-bound, John Liddel. To close the half, the 100-plus student concert choir performed Zadok The Priest, directed by Juan Ortuno.

The second half of the concert featured student-led ensembles ranging from piano trios to violin duets. The concert closed with the orchestra performing rousing film music, including ‘Jurassic Park’ and a medley of pieces from Disney’s ‘Aladdin’.

Andrew Levendis, Director of Music at Xaverian, said: “The students performed to an exceptionally high level, both in rehearsals leading up to the event and on the night. The evening was full of notable collective and individual performances that wowed the audience, and the concert concluded with a well-deserved standing ovation. The students’ musicianship was commendable, and they should all be elated with their contribution to the success of the evening.”

The audio recording of the Summer Concert can be found here.