Music Department 2024-2025

Music has once again had a very successful year and continues to be at the heart of school culture, representing Borlase at its best on a local, national and international stage. With so much talent and commitment from students of all years, dedication from the staff and invaluable support from school leadership, Music have continued to flourish despite the constraints of time, money and resources we are often faced with.

Whilst this article focuses on the extracurricular activities of the Music Department, it must be noted that alongside these, throughout the year, the A Level and GCSE students across all the subjects have undertaken their normal array of practical exams, performances and assessments, expertly supported by the staff.

We ended last year with the tremendous Music Tour to Tuscany, Italy, in which Cantorum, Madriguys, Chapel Choir, Gospel Choir and the Jazz Orchestra did us proud, performing twice a day in some of the most beautiful spots in Tuscany, including inside the Basilica di Santa Trinita, Florence. The students made some incredible memories: meeting the Mayor, learning about Palio di Siena, watching a horse race in the piazza, and eating delicious pizza! 

The new academic year was kick-started with our traditional Y7 Performing Arts Day and the Performing Arts Fayre, the former of which involved all of Y7 taking part in Drama, Dance and Music sessions led by the staff. For the latter, it was thrilling to see so many students across the school come up to the theatre to sign up for the large number of Performing Arts clubs on offer. Events got going straight away, with the Cantorum and Ascot Brass Concert taking place in All Saints' Church in October. The Autumn Chamber Concert was a wonderful success, with a particularly beautiful rendition of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s ‘I’ll Be On My Way’, performed by Cambiata, and a range of other repertoire from our talented musicians. The Autumn Concert was next: from a 2000’s medley performed by Youth Voices to a delicate and beautiful performance of the ‘Dance of the Cygnets’ from Swan Lake by the Flute Choir - this was definitely a concert to remember!

Next, we were rocked into November with ‘Rocktober’ and a fantastic array of performances from the ever growing rock scene at Borlase. We saw our favourite student bands return, including The Fundamentals and Majesty, alongside a number of more newly formed bands including Incognito, Knight and Controversy. Thank you also to the incredible Technical Theatre team for organising Rocktober and supporting every other concert or event we host at Borlase - they really are the magic behind Borlase Performing Arts! 

Then came Christmas, a magical time where Borlase’s young performing artists really do shine. The Christmas spirit was set alight with the cosy and intimate Advent Concert, led by Mr Robson - a truly Borlasian annual tradition in which the Wethered Room is filled with the sound of Baroque music. At the end of term we had the ever-popular Carol Service in which our choirs, including the ever increasing Alumni Choir, sang beautifully to the school and wider Marlow community in All Saints’ Church. With only a few weeks to prepare and five services in total, our students did such an amazing job and truly wowed the audience with the quality of sound and the range and breadth of repertoire that was undertaken. 

The new year brought lots of exciting opportunities for our Borlase students, including the Senior Musical. With all hands on board from across the arts, Jesus Christ Superstar was a sensational success! From the intricacies of the set and costumes, the mind-blowing vocals and inspiring acting, to the star guest appearance of Sir Timothy Rice, our students pulled off one of the best musicals Borlase has ever seen - and they did so four sold-out nights in a row! Next on the agenda was the Jazz Night 400, our annual Jazz Night but with a special emphasis on the rich history of Jazz in the school. The theatre was converted into the ‘West Street Lounge’ and the audience enjoyed a range of numbers from the Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Band and smaller jazz ensembles - including performances from alumni students Ollie Davie and Cormac Diamond. 

As always, the end of spring gives us the chance to celebrate achievements across the year, and particularly to thank our Y13 Leavers - and the Senior Concert in April gave us such an opportunity. The audience enjoyed an array of classic movie theme songs from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ by Symphony Orchestra, to ‘James Bond’ by Brass Ensemble and ‘Under the Sea’ by the Flute Choir, alongside more traditional repertoire such as Pearsall’s Lay A Garland from Cantorum and Dvorak’s Miniatures from Senior String Orchestra. Of course, the evening ended with the much anticipated Leavers’ Medley, in which songs ranging from Matilda to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air made an appearance!

The final opportunity for us to celebrate the year’s achievements was provided through our annual Arts Dinner. After food, drink and photos in the cloisters, the students and staff moved up to the theatre to enjoy the famous ‘Boscars’ ceremony and, in what was an electric and emotional evening, students and staff also had the opportunity to thank Mark Hartley, who is sadly leaving us after 18 years at the school. Dance, musical and dramatic performances were given - the latter including a cameo from Miss Rayner - and the evening was rounded off by an impressive performance from The Fundamentals.

The Fundamentals were also busy at the Marlow Pub in the Park festival in May, along with a number of other Borlase groups including Diverted Traffic, Offbeat, Majesty and Knight. The Borlase Jazz Orchestra performed at the entrance and the bandstand and, on the final day of the festival, Ruby Sharma gave an outstanding vocal performance on the main stage, accompanied by a group of her fellow Y13 friends. We are, as ever, incredibly proud of our students who perform in and around Marlow, making not only their school, but their community proud! 

As we come to the final weeks of the year, the Performing Arts continue to be non-stop! At the time of writing, the Y7-10 Summer Concert is less than a week away and Performing Arts will be playing a key role in the much awaited Borlase 400 events, including the History Exhibition and Open Day, the 400 Ball and the 400 Birthday Bash music festival. Thank you to everyone - students, staff, parents, governors and wider community members - who have supported Music this year. We are already looking ahead to next year which - with our normal array of events, a special 400th birthday Alumni Carol Service and a Junior Musical to get done - looks set to be as busy as ever!

Jesus Christ Superstar: Senior Musical Production 2024

Back in September when auditions were announced for Jesus Christ Superstar, February seemed such a long time away; five months on and now we're here - show week!

A show is only successful when all those involved come together as one company - one team - and this has certainly been the case here.  It has been the most amazing five months and the performers, musicians and technical crew have all come together, working to the best of our ability, to deliver the show we committed to as a team back in September. 

At times it has been intense, exhausting and a little stressful: evenings, weekends and even school holidays have been spent together at school rehearsing - requiring us to manage our time and commitments. 

This week, all of our hard work has been realised. Our preview night was amazing, especially as Sir Tim Rice, the show’s lyricist, was in the audience. He was generous with his time, addressing the audience and taking time to chat to the cast after the show. The feedback we have had from him - and many other audience members (including standing ovations!) - has been so positive, it really makes all the hours of rehearsal worthwhile. 

For many this will be our last show at Borlase and the memories of this week will stay with us forever: a true highlight of our time at Borlase.

Music Department 2022-23

This year has, once again, been a very busy, exciting and successful year in the Music Department. No longer inhibited by Covid restrictions or ‘bubbles’, this year has seen our complete curricular and extracurricular programme fully back in action, with hundreds of students across year groups taking part in choirs, ensembles and bands on a weekly basis. 

Our Music curriculum continues to be broad, challenging and engaging, and written to ensure that any student, no matter what their musical background and experience, can appreciate, understand and enjoy musical elements, features and styles. We see our curriculum as seven-year, with the aim that - by the end of Y8 - students are prepared to undertake GCSE Music if they wish to, and the same for those at the end of Y11 and A Level. Key concepts and skills are interleaved throughout, and topics are sequenced to ensure a logical progression of learning. 

We were incredibly proud of the results our students achieved last summer, with 55% of GCSE students achieving a level 9, and 93% a 9-7. Our A Level students excelled, with 80% achieving an A* or A, 100% A*-B. Against national trends, Music continues to be a popular subject for students to choose at GCSE with another two sets starting in Y9 and over 90 students taking it across Y9-11. Our A Level numbers are pleasing, particularly against a national average class size of 3, with 23 students taking the subject across Y12 and Y13 this year, and - at the time of writing - another 14 have chosen it for next year. 

Our extracurricular programme goes from strength to strength, and articles about all of the clubs and events this year can be found later in this section. If you wish to keep up to date with our activities and events, please follow our instagram page, @borlasemusic. Key to the department’s vision and philosophy is that of inclusivity: providing the widest number of musical opportunities for the widest number of students. It is therefore pleasing to see concerts regularly feature hundreds of students and the music rooms are rarely without the sounds of students rehearsing, working on their classwork compositions or just ‘jamming’ at break and lunchtimes. This year, no fewer than twenty clubs have been available for students across all year groups and instrument types. This includes our larger ensembles such as Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, Cantorum and Jazz Orchestra, but also our smaller chamber ensembles such as Flute Choir, Brass Ensemble and String Quartet, which are really key to developing ensemble and performance skills. My thanks must go to all of my colleagues who run these clubs including Dr Parsons, Mr Harker, Mr Davie, Mrs Ross, and Mr Vanryne. Of course, it would not be possible to have the number of opportunities on offer without our student leaders. Student leadership is a very important aspect of the department’s ethos and culture and we are keen to provide opportunities for leadership as regularly as possible (indeed, nine of the twenty clubs were student-led or had student assistants this year). Those who have taken on leadership roles this year have done themselves proud - my thanks to them all. 

There have been the usual array of events this year: the Autumn and Spring Chamber Concerts continue to rise in popularity with well over 20 performers now taking part each time and sold out audiences of up to 60 - indeed there have already been requests to increase capacity! Our Autumn and Senior Concerts saw a number of groups perform to sold out audiences, the former including the return of Cambiata (a vocal group for boys in Y7-9) and a new junior girls’ choir, Forte e Fiero. The name of this group was chosen by this year’s two student assistant leaders, Harriet and Ella, as a tribute to the long-standing director of our previous Junior Girls’ Choir, Robina Redgard-Siler, who sadly passed away last year. Harriet and Ella recalled that, before each performance, Robina would ask the girls to sing ‘loud and proud’. Jazz Music at Borlase continues to thrive under the leadership of Mr Davie, and the Jazz Night in March was a wonderful evening, celebrating the talents of students in both the Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Band.

Christmas at Borlase is always a very special time, and often the busiest time of year for our musicians. This year was certainly no different, and, in the space of just one week at the end of term, our calendar included Mr Robson’s Advent Concert, five Carol Services at All Saints’ Church, and a Jazz Orchestra performance during lunchtime on our final full day of term. In addition, our choirs and Jazz Orchestra were invited to perform at the inaugural ‘Christmas in the Park’ celebration in Higginson Park, Marlow. This gave the students a wonderful opportunity to perform in the wider community. Across all of these events, the quality of performance was superb and the students certainly did the school proud. By the end I think everyone was in much need of a Christmas break!

The opportunity to contribute to events in the wider community also came along in May, with the Jazz Orchestra and two of our rock bands performing at the annual Pub in the Park festival. Indeed, every day included a group from Borlase, with Diverted Traffic performing on Thursday, The Fundamentals on Friday and Sunday, and the Jazz Orchestra on Saturday. It was brilliant to see the school represented regularly in this large event, and once again the students gave excellent performances. Our Gospel and Chapel choirs also performed at the Marlow Civic Celebration in March, and the Jazz Orchestra provided entertainment for runners at the Marlow Santa Fun Run in early December.

The quality of musicianship from the two rock bands featured at Pub in the Park represents the real growth in the contemporary music scene at Borlase over the past few years, which is now flourishing. At the time of writing, five rock bands from Borlase have made it through to the Marlow Battle of the Bands Final 2023, including Blankfield, Arcadia Bay, Majesty, Diverted Traffic and Division X, the latter of which features students in Year 8. Rocktober - our annual rock event (which ironically takes place in November) was more popular than ever this year, with a packed out drama studio, and the sounds of electric guitars, drum kits and vocals fill the department every Tuesday afterschool for our weekly ‘Rock Club’. 

This year saw the return of the triennial House Music Competition, with all students across the school taking part in whole-house songs (on the theme of Elton John), over 600 students entering the solo and ensemble heats and 38 tutor groups submitting musical performances. The competition culminated in an exciting, varied and high quality finals evening in February. Miss Susanna Fairbairn, our distinguished external adjudicator for the evening, had the unenviable task of selecting 1st-4th placings in each category - and the students certainly made her job very difficult! In the end it was a victory for Saxons, but the competition also allowed us to celebrate the rich and diverse musical talents across the student and staff body. 

As we come towards the end of the academic year, we are now busily preparing for three large events in the Summer Term. Our Summer Concert gives a platform for students in Y7-10 to perform as soloists or in small groups, and will also include performances from all of our junior ensembles, including Youth Voices, Youth Orchestra, Cambiata and Forte e Fiero, in addition to a new Guitar Ensemble. Shortly after this, the theatre will host this year’s Junior Musical Production, The Wind in the Willows, featuring a cast and crew of over 100 students as well as a number of senior students in the orchestra who will be supported by some professional musicians. Finally, Cantorum, Gospel Choir, Chapel Choir, Madriguys and Jazz Orchestra will be representing the school on the international stage, undertaking a tour to Tuscany (our first international tour in over twenty years), with performances currently being planned in venues around Florence, Lucca, Siena and San Gimignano. It certainly looks to be an exciting few months ahead!

We also say farewell and thank you to our Year 13 musicians, who have given so much to the department over two, five or seven years. A huge thank you must go to all the staff in the Music Department for their hard work and support, particularly my colleagues Dr Parsons and Mr Harker. However, things never stop and, with our usual array of concerts, a special anniversary year and the small matter of a Senior Musical Production, 2023-2024 looks set to be as busy as ever!