The Queen of Sheba never arrived quite like this before. The Pantonic All Stars Steel Orchestra flooded the Albert Hall with infectious sound, delivering Handel’s classic with a precision worthy of the best.
For the opening night of the 21st Schools Prom, standards seemed higher than ever. Bradford Youth Brass Band kicked off with “Colonel Bogey”, played with unusual attention to dynamics. Later came the stylish Northamptonshire Schools Band with Gershwin’s “Strike up the Band”.
Exeter School and St Margaret’s combined forces in the first movement of Beethoven’s First Symphony. There was blues from Wrexham’s Groves High School Blues Band, a talented ensemble that writes its own numbers. Jazza Norfolk is an equally impressive group which can be heard at the 100 Club in London’s Oxford Street.
Children from Manor County Infants sang and acted the story of Noah confidently, needing no conductor even for the storm music, their own composition. Singers from Crosfields Preparatory School chose a demanding repertoire by Aaron Copland and John Clements. The Stokesley School Madrigal Choir ranged from the viruoso “Il est bel et bon” to the more reflective “Weep O Mine Eyes”. The Gampa Senior String Quartet from Gloucestershire played Shostakovich and Scott Joplin.
Birmingham Schools Orchestra taxed their string and percussion players in “Short Ride in a Fast Machine” and “Tybalt’s Death” from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet to round off an evening when it was often difficult to remember most performers were under 16.
The Schools Prom is sponsored by British Aerospace, Commerical Union, Glaxo Wellcome, Thorn EMI and the W.H. Smith Group, in association with The TES. Reviews of Tuesday and Wednesday evenings next week.
