Portsmouth Abbey Musicians Impress With Spring Concert

Portsmouth Abbey's Music Department displayed its varied and exceptional talents at a Spring Concert held Friday, April 27, in the School's Auditorium.   The recently formed Abbey Drum Ensemble started things off by beating out a lively version of Tumbao Talk.  It was followed by beautiful performances of Lucky (Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat) and Mass in G: Credo (Franz Schubert) by the Abbey Singers/Abbey Schola, accompanied by Jordan Kenny '13 on the violin and Kathy Seo '12 on the cello.  The Abbey Schola then delighted the audience with Ave Verum Corpus (William Byrd) and Ubi Caritas (Maurice Durufle), and Gabby Fontes '12 sang the famed I Dreamed a Dream, from Les Miserables.

The 21-student Pro Deo Orchestra performed two impressive numbers, Princess Leia's Theme, from Star Wars (John Williams), and March (Cornelius Gurlitt).  It was followed by Jina Kim '12 (flute), Kathy Seo '12 (cello) and Dami Lee '12 (piano), who performed the splendid Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano (Louise Farrenc).  Kelley Oliveira '13 was the lead singer on a well-received rendition of Starlight (Muse).  She was backed up by Sean Kenahan '12, on drums, Darren Colbourne '12, Jimmy Fallon '12, Will Parsons '12 and Great Behnke '12, all on guitar, Bill Li '13, on bass, and Andy Dong '13, on keyboard. 

Andy Dong went on to perform a flawless Prelude in G Minor (Chopin) on the piano, and the School's two a cappella groups, the A Flats and G Sharps, delighted the audience with solid renditions of several popular tunes, including, for the A Flats, Over the Rainbow, Stand by Me, and The Best of Doo-Wop. The G Sharps sang Jesse's Girl, and then invited Ms. Schilling up on stage to be serenaded as the group performed Cecilia (her given name). 

Corinne Cotta '13, accompanied on the piano by Will Parsons '13, sang Sheryl Crow's Tomorrow Never Dies, and the Abbey Jazz Ensemble ended the concert on a high note, with energetic interpretations of Little Sunflower (Freddie Hubbard) and Blue Train (John Coltrane) and terrific performances by Rasaanh Matra '13 (guitar), Andy Dong '13 (piano), Bill Li (Bass), Josh Okoro '14 (alto saxophone), Mr. Brady (tenor saxophone), Ms. McDermott (trumpet), Mr. Horsch (trumpet) and Mr. Smith (drums).  

"One of the great things about music at the Abbey is the diversity of musical talent in the student body," said Director of Music Joshua Horsch.  "Over the past two years, we've really tried to cultivate that diversity by creating musical groups that showcase the many strengths of our students.  The result has been a real blossoming of the music program that has included many students not previously involved with music."

Following the all-school performance in the morning, a concert for the general public was held Friday night.

View videos of the performances.

Congratulations to all musicians!