Great music by great musicians

The extraordinary renaissance of the performing arts at Hurst shows every sign - almost impossibly it seems - of gaining further pace. The quality of our student performances and the number of students taking part (across all year groups) grow with the days. It is a virtuous circle; real quality attracts attention and admirers and at Hurst, with the wealth of help and support available, admirers quickly begin to participate and, once hooked ...

On this page you will find the two poles of our great musical tradition - performances by our Chamber Choir and our rock and folk musicians playing their own compositions - in between which there thrives a world rich in music and laughter and fun.

Rock and Folk first, because this 'live gig' has only just taken place but if A Little Jazz Mass is more to your taste then click here but don't forget to come back to the top of the page and listen to just a little of Hurst Unplugged.

Hurst Unplugged

16^th March saw the birth of what must become a new College musical tradition - Hurst Unplugged. It was an extraordinary and impressive concert in which Hurst students from Year 9 to the Upper Sixth performed (mostly) acoustically in front of an enthusiastic - and deeply impressed - audience of fellow pupils, parents and friends

Pictures below but first you have a taste of what we all enjoyed so much. Three performances by Hurst musicians of their own, original compositions.

To see and hear Richard Hadfield and Miles Borrett sing their composition Together Forever, pass your mouse over the video box below and click on the start button when it appears

 

To see and hear Dominique Hawken sing her untitled composition written in memory of, and as a tribute to, her grandmother, pass your mouse over the video box below and click on the start button when it appears

 

To see and hear Tom and Jenna sing their composition Made my Day, pass your mouse over the video box below and click on the start button when it appears

The legendary Derek Austin, mastermind behind this event writes:

"Performing 'acoustically' is the most challenging of all, akin to classical recital in the 'exposure' the performer endures as a soloist. There is no band/orchestra to hide behind, and the many who took part showed great courage. Some, I know, were literally 'quaking in their boots', but they went out there and gave it their best shot; and they were good, they were very good.

"Performing live in this sort of environment is a huge confidence booster, and gives our students a great 'life lesson' for the future and terrific confidence for so much that they must face in the future, not just musically but in life from public speaking to having the confidence to express your views in a meeting."

 

 

Hurst College Chamber Choir perform Bob Chilcott's A Little Jazz Mass

as a prelude to Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace performed by the Hurst College Choral Society and The Kent Sinfonia (Leader James Widden) with Harriet Sykes - Soprano and Nicholas Warden - Baritone. Conductor: Neil Matthews

A Little Jazz Mass

After life as a Chorister and then a Choral Scholar at King's College, Cambridge, Bob Chilcott sang and composed with the King's Singers for over a decade. He is now a full time composer but continues to work with choirs through his composing and workshops.

Below - The Hurst College Chamber Choir sing the Little Jazz Mass

His Little Jazz Mass is a fresh and original setting of the Latin Missa brevis which he interprets using a variety of jazz styles. The result is a short, engaging musical entertainment that the Hurst College Chamber Choir (above with Neil Matthews at the piano) clearly enjoyed performing to a delighted audience.

To see and hear excerpts from A Little Jazz Mass, pass your mouse over the video box below and click on the start button when it appears

to return to Hurst Unplugged, click here

to return to the top of the page, click here

Wagner's overture to Die Meistersinger von Nuremberg

and The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace

Below - The Hurst College Choral Society performing The Armed Man

After the trials and tribulations of the previous week's snow and ice, it was heartening to see so many filling the chapel for the Hurst College's Choral Society and Kent Sinfonia's collaborative concert on Sunday. The first part of the concert warmed everyone up with the Sinfonia's performance of Wagner's rousing overture to Die Meistersinger von Nuremberg, followed by the Hurst College Chamber Choir giving a delightful, almost laid back rendition of Chilcott's A Little Jazz Mass.

After a brief interval, the audience settled down for The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. Originally commissioned by the Royal Armouries Museum for the Millennium celebrations, composer Karl Jenkins created a powerful and thought-provoking piece. It weaves together the traditional elements of the Catholic Mass and dramatic, stark illustrations of the menace of approaching conflict, the horrors of war, the aftermath of battle and the hope for peace for the future. Starting with the 15^th century French folk song, L'homme Armé, which called upon the audience to fear the coming of war, the piece moves on to the Islamic Call to prayers, a sound that certainly has not resonated around the Hurst College chapel on many occasions in its 150+ year history.

Somewhat surprisingly it did not sit uncomfortably with the penitential Kyrie Eleison, sung ethereally by Upper Sixth Former Harriet Sykes in her debut solo performance with an orchestra, before being taken up by the Choral Society singers. The drama of the psalm, Save me from Bloody Men followed by the Sanctus and Hymn Before Action set the scene for the impending action which took the audience through a dramatic journey from Charge! through the nightmarish images of Angry Flames, sung together by baritone Nicholas Warden and Harriet Sykes and then to the poignancy of loss and mourning in Now the Guns Have Stopped which Harriet Sykes again sang beautifully. The music returned to the theme of the L'homme Armé and this time rather more optimistically, with peace the theme rather than war. How optimistic that view is, some 10 years after the piece was written, is a matter of some debate. The Sinfonia musicians were stunning and the insistent drum beat which ran through so many of the sections of the peace evoked a military feel alongside a sense of impending doom. The soloists were outstanding and the Hurst Choral Society clearly enjoyed themselves and, just as importantly, entertained the audience with a very polished and professional performance.