Young people from across Lewisham wowed the audience in a performance at the Lewisham Summer Gala held at the Royal Festival Hall on Tuesday 20th June 2017.
The performance was put together by Lewisham Music, the newly established charity to provide music education across the London Borough of Lewisham. Lewisham Music is based at The Green Man Hub in Bellingham, hosted by Phoenix Community Housing Co-op.
Phoenix Co-op board member and local Councillor, Alan Hall said: “It was a great pleasure to see the young people of Lewisham shining brightly on one of the nation’s most famous stages. The pleasure and self-assurance it gives them will help them grow in confidence and develop as adults. I am sure they will remember it for the rest of their lives.”
The programme included the full range of Lewisham schools. The gala concert opened with Rathfern Primary School’s drummers and ‘Toque de Male de Bale’ and the ‘Rathfern Rhythm’ followed by another primary school and the Edmund Waller School Orchestra. Their ‘Mexican Hat’ included a distinctive whistle and put a smile on the audiences’ faces.
Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham College String gave an accomplished rendition Prokofiev’s March, Opus 65 amongst their repertoire.
More contemporary songs by Greenvale and Bonus Pastor College with Coldplay and Snow Patrol. The Lewisham Schools Concert Band played Earthdance by Michael Sweeney. The first half concluded with a bravura set by Vocalize – Sedgehill School’s singers including Hello written by Adele.
After a short interval the massed choirs of Lewisham schools led inspiring and demanding programme. Have a listen here to Africa!
And listen to Sing by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Gary Barlow arr Clare Caddick
Councillor Alan Hall added: “The original piece ‘My Town’ by Chris Wilcox closed the evening and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. It emphasises the fact that we achieve more together than we do alone and have more in common than that which divides us. It’s another triumph for Peter Hayward, Lewisham Music’s Chief Executive and all the performers and schools in Lewisham at the Royal Festival Hall in London.”
Lewisham Music are due to take up residence in Phoenix Community Housing’s The Fellowship Inn a Heritage Lottery Funded project in June 2018
Read the article in the newsshopper