News Spring Choral Concert 2025 14.03.2025

A packed crowd gathered in the Bishop Centre for our annual Spring Choral Concert, featuring all five of Godolphin and Latymer’s choirs, our Symphony Orchestra, String Ensemble, Staff Choir and Parent Choir.

The concert began with Senior Chamber Choir singing James Whitbourn’s Festival Alleluia with wonderful energy, vitality and virtuosity, and a beautifully moving and lyrical performance of Elaine Hagenberg’s ‘There Was A Time’. This was followed by the Junior Chamber Choir, who gave a really captivating performance of Charles Stanford’s ever-loved ‘The Blue Bird’.

The Year 7 Choir brought an energetic shift with Stephen Schwartz’s ‘What Is This Feeling?’ from Wicked; this was performed with real exuberance, and featured terrific solos from Charlotte and Zoe. This was followed by The Octaves, our student-run Sixth Form a cappella group, performed a jazz-infused version of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, demonstrating terrific vocal blend. Next, the Senior Choir delivered an upbeat and soulful rendition of Burt Bacharach’s ‘I Say A Little Prayer’, with some excellent a cappella choruses. The first half of the concert concluded with the Year 8 and 9 Choir performing a foot-tappingly catchy My Fair Lady medley, featuring favourites such as ‘I’m Getting Married in the Morning’, ‘Wouldn’t It Be Loverly’ and ‘Get Me To The Church On Time’.

The second half of the concert featured our Senior Chamber Choir, Junior Chamber Choir, Staff Choir, Parent Choir and Symphony Orchestra in one of the very first performances of Morten Lauridsen’s Ave Verum Corpus (completed in 2020, with its UK premiere in 2023). This was a gloriously soaring, uplifting, powerful performance, full of shape and lyricism.

The concert concluded with Vivaldi’s Gloria, one of the most popular works in the choral repertoire. This was accompanied by our String Ensemble numbering nearly fifty players; it is rare indeed for a school to be able to simultaneously field several choirs and a large ensemble in this way. This was a staggeringly impressive performance, full of vibrancy and energy; many congratulations to all of our performers for learning this difficult work in just eight weeks. Particular congratulations go to our wonderful soloists: Isabel M, Isabella, Maya, Ella, Isabel C, and our solo cellist and oboist Inez  and Rania.

Excitingly, the final two movements featured Senior Chamber Choir, Junior Choir Chamber Choir, Senior Choir, Year 8 and 9 Choir, Year 7 Choir, Staff Choir, Parent Choir, and the entirety of the String Ensemble, totalling over 240 performers on stage. The sound was truly something to behold!

This was a truly joyful concert, and it felt very special indeed to bring so many members of our community together to perform these works. Bravo to all of our exceptional pupils for a superb concert.