Mountbatten Festival of Music

On 10 March, over 60 CH senior musicians were given the opportunity to attend the Mountbatten Festival of Music in the Royal Albert Hall, an event featuring the Massed Bands of His Majesty’s Royal Marines, and TV presenter Katie Derham as compere. The guest of honour was the King, who appeared in Royal Marines uniform for the first time in his role as Captain General of the Royal Marines.

With an excellent view of the stage due to being seated in the choir stalls, it was a real privilege for our pupils to be able to enjoy, as audience members rather than performers, professional music-making of such a high quality and to have something to aspire to in their own future performances. The repertoire ranged from newly written pieces to old favourites and used a variety of instrumental configurations (big band, vocal solos, instrumental solos, marches and much more).

This is an event that our own Band Director, Mr Carter, was heavily involved in before he came to CH. The CH group was also delighted to meet briefly with former pupil (Old Blue) Ruby Manderson-Phillips, now a member of the Marines, who will be involved in this event in the near future.