On Tuesday 3 March Dame Alice Owen’s School headed to the South Bank in London to take over the thrilling venue of the Royal Festival Hall for a remarkable celebration of the school’s 50 years in Potters
Bar. The performances brought together 450 performers from Owen’s students past and present.
The striking opening of Carl Orff’s ‘O Fortuna’ featuring the 120-strong Symphony Orchestra and Massed Choirs of over 250 singers sent shivers down the spine, opening a programme that positively revelled in the joy of collaborative music-making, as nine different conductors directed musicians from at least ten
different school ensembles, with the added excitement of alumni musicians joining to enrich the experience. Featured ensembles included the Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ms Bamber and
alumnus musician Sam Scheer; Senior Strings conducted by Mr Widden; Massed Winds, made up of Concert Band and Second Band, conducted by Mr Kelly and Mr Crossley; Massed Choirs, bringing together the Junior Choir and Junior Chamber Choir, the Senior Choir, Senior Chamber Choir and Close Harmony Group, along with an instrumental band, and percussion conducted by Mr Southorn, Mr Page and Ms Makepeace-Lott, with Ms Sutherland as Junior Choir trainer and Ms McChrystal directing the percussion, plus as accompanist, our very own alumna pianist, Jade Brooks; the cast, chorus and band from the winter musical production of Annie conducted by Mrs Brady with cast and chorus direction from
Ms Makepeace Lott and Ms Govier; Soul Band 2 and Soul Band 1, incorporating members of Senior Strings, directed by Mr Crossley and Mr Page.
Following the massed opening, the compère for the evening, Radio 3 broadcaster and former Owen’s
parent, Ian Skelly, introduced the Symphony Orchestra’s next piece, Handel’s joyous ‘La Rejouissance’
from Music for the Royal Fireworks before alumnus conductor, Sam Scheer, joined the orchestra for the
famous ‘Montagues and Capulets’ movement from Prokofiev’s ballet suite, Romeo and Juliet.
The set finished with a thrilling performance of ‘Jupiter’ from The Planets by Holst. The Senior Strings
continued the programme with a sweeping performance of the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s
Serenade for Strings before a complete stage change ushered in the Massed Winds. They began their programme with Concert Band’s brilliant performance of Transcendent Journey by Rossano Galante. This was followed by ‘1926’, a composition by alumnus musician Seb Skelly. The first half ended with an Owen’s concert tradition (as established by Owen’s musical legend and former Concert Band Director, Mr Bernard Bean) with ‘The Final Countdown’ by Joey Tempest.
The second half of the concert began with the Massed Choirs’ items, first of all the Close Harmony Group’s suave performance of ‘Nobody Does it Better’ by Carly Simon, with their forces then being swelled by the Senior Chamber Choir for a captivating performance of ‘Measure Me, Sky!’ by Elaine Hagenberg. Following this, the stage was then packed with the full Massed Choirs and the instrumental band as Hassan’s lone recorder solo opened a powerfully moving performance of ‘Sail On Boys’ from the musical Operation Mincemeat. The following performance of African songs from Zimbe by Alexander
LeStrange began with a beautiful Alleluia, moving to end with the joyous ‘Freedom is Coming’, with Ms
McChrystal’s devised percussion parts bringing the choir items to a thrilling climactic ending.
Then the stage was set for the cast, chorus and band of Annie and we were treated to a revival of three songs from December’s stage show: ‘N.Y.C.’, ‘It’s a Hard Knock Life’ and ‘I Don’t Need Anything But You’. Following this, the Soul Bands took to the stage, with Soul Band 2 confidently taking us into the realm of soul with a medley of songs by KC and the Sunshine Band. A medley of Robbie Williams’ songs, arranged
by Mr Page and Matthew Gearing (Y13), united Soul Band 1 with the Senior Strings and the dancers choreographed and trained by Ms Locke and alumna Gemma Campbell. With the massed choirs also joining in to sing the chorus, this was a spine-tingling and thrilling performance that had the audience dancing in the aisles! Then came the point when the celebrity alumni joined the band: Gary Kemp and Steve Norman of Spandau Ballet, who were students at the school 50 years ago when it moved from Islington out to Potters Bar. With Gary Kemp sharing a microphone with Soul Band 1 singer, Theo, and Steve Norman’s saxophone solo leading to an exchange with Matthew on the congas, they really did become part of the Owen’s band for a joyous celebratory rendition of their own song, ‘Gold’. As Mrs
Nemko joined the Spandau Ballet alumni, Ms Bamber returned to the stage with her baton, and the concert ended with the inevitable rousing rendition of the School Song reminding us all to ‘Strive With a
Will’!
Our thanks to the immense team behind it all, including: the amazing extended Music, Drama and Dance staff team who collaborated, created and supported with such expertise and inspiration; our wonderful and extraordinary Event/Stage Manager, alumnus Sam Levy, along with his family team of
Maz Bryden and James Levy; Miss McClean and Mr Fry for their point-perfect (cheerfully patient) logistical precision in the weeks leading up to and right throughout the night itself; Mrs Acosta for her tireless,
expert coordination of the event as Concert Manager and for enabling so many happy alumni to join us; Mrs Doust for always being there as another pair of hands; and an enormous team of Owen’s staff who showed up at various points throughout the day, looking after performers, driving vans, loading and
unloading equipment. And, finally, to Mrs Nemko for dreaming big, and driving the whole event to bring about this privileged, unforgettable experience.