Of all the events that punctuate the school year, it is the musical ones that do so most emphatically. Back in December the two carol services in the beautiful baroque chapel at Great Witley prepare us all for the warm celebrations of Christmas and the cold turning of the year, while the Grand Summer Concert always propels us headlong into the long grass of the June half term with all the cares of Common Entrance and school exams now firmly behind us.

Catching the mood brilliantly, the Form 1’s opened this year’s concert with ‘Let’s go fly a kite’ and ‘I believe I can fly’ led by Mrs Whittle. This was followed by the first of many virtuoso performances by Alastair Webb playing a Dvorak solo. Alastair has played a leading but always selfless role in the school’s music department throughout his time at Abberley and he leaves next month with the top music scholarship to Shrewsbury and all our best wishes. Ali’s excellent cover version, to his own accompaniment, of Elton John’s ‘The Emperor’s new clothes’ won him (“oh yeah!”) rapturous and well-deserved applause.

Daniel Garcia’s String Ensemble then played a ‘Teasing Tango’ and a ‘Cheerful Cha Cha’ and this was followed by the first of three more sung solos, starting with Jenny Lea’s slightly cheeky version of ‘When I look at you’. Later on Elsie Houston’s ‘Wishing you were somehow here again’ was brim full of life while Georgie Lole’s ‘I could have danced all night’ was positively bursting with excitement – as well as being technically brilliant.

Two other notable solos, this time on the piano, were Julia Smith’s smiling Bach ‘Prelude in F’ and Robyn Annett’s very composed ‘Jackson Street Blues’.

‘The Sticks’ is an inventive percussion group comprising George Harris, Henry Oakes, William Plant and Ali Webb and they played a range of syncopated rhythms on a collection of tin-co-plated recyclables, winning fans at every shuffle of the beat.

Holly Free’s confident saxophone solo ‘Spanish Love Song’ was then followed by the Flute Ensemble led by Olivia Burt (‘Storybook Waltz’ and ‘Toot Sweet’) and Alex Plowden’s Brass Ensemble (‘German Waltz’ and ‘Grandfather’s Clock’).

‘Unplugged’ featured Immy Mucklow, William Flower and Teya Drew on guitar playing two beautiful jigs while the eight cellists in ‘Cellini’ played two pieces with great composure including ‘Jupiter’ from Holst’s ‘Planets’. Later on the String Trio (Daniel Garcia, Richard Simon and Andrew Spicer) played ‘La Rejouissance’ from Handel’s ‘Music for the Royal Fireworks’ with real confidence before Joon Suk Bang played a sonorous Bach cello solo.

The Junior Choir sang crisply (‘Badgers and Hedgehogs’ and ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’) led by Mrs Westwood, who later turned her talents to conducting ‘Voces Dulces’ (Robyn Annetts, Olivia Burt, Georgie Lole, Bethany Oyston and Gabrielle Rose) all of whom sang beautifully.

Less crisp and certainly less beautiful were ‘MPG’ (Nick Burgoyne, Will Cornish, Gavin Whyte and Ali Webb) but they undoubtedly produced a brilliant cover version of ‘Dirty Little Secret’ by the All American Rejects, bringing many in the audience to their feet.

Rounding off this stunning concert was the Chapel Choir directed by Mr Schellenberg, singing ‘Ex ore innocentium’ and ‘Christ, whose glory fills the skies’. Mr Schellenberg rightly paid tribute to all of Abberley’s music staff whose dedication was so evident in the breadth and extent of the children’s accomplishments. He also thanked Bethany Oyston and Alastair Webb for their own quiet dedication in leading the choir throughout their final year. Our own thanks, of course, go to Mr Schellenberg for leading the department through another very exciting year.