It was the highlight of our 450th anniversary year so far - a joint concert with The Richard Pate School and Pate's Grammar School in the beautiful setting of Cheltenham Town Hall. With around three hundred students - and a sprinkling of alumni - performing, we knew that this collaboration was going to lead to something special!

The musical programme was compiled under the musical expertise of Lesley Crompton, Head of Music, The Richard Pate School, and Eleanor Lane, Director of Music, Pate's Grammar School. It was wonderful to see how each school's students appreciated the others talents and respected the challenge that each student was facing in performing to such a large (but very friendly!) audience in such an awesome venue. We are very proud of them all!

As soon as it was announced that there was to be a commemorative concert, the idea of a specially commissioned piece to mark the anniversary was immediately agreed upon and Ms Lane always had only one person in mind - Esme Adachi from the Pate's Class of 2023. Her composition, 'That Which is Hidden...', is an exploration of the people and community of the school and its musical heritage, with influences from alumni Reverend Hawker and Gustav Holst. Premiered at the 450 concert, it was a triumph and very deserving of the standing ovation it received! We are blown away by her talent and are so grateful that this precious work has now become part of the school's history.

Esme's commissioned piece was just one part of packed musical programme which showcased the talents of the students. Many Year 13 students were able to return to make their final contribution to Pate's Music, something that the Jazz groups were especially appreciative of. The Richard Pate students loved the PGS Jazz Orchestra's performance of 'I Wanna Be Like You' from the Jungle Book; they shimmied in their seats, the late hour quite forgotten! It was a treat too, to be able to once again hear pieces which the PGS Big Band had performed at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival and the Year 13 Leavers' Concert and of course, it was Big Band leader, Gill Mew's final time leading the Jazz bands before retiring after 36 years as a music teacher!

The Programme:

PGS Massed Wind Band:  Dance the Night    (Dua Lipa arr David Pilkington-Crowe)

RPS Flutes, Violins & Speakers:  Can You Feel the Love Tonight    (Elton John, adapt arr. Gallliford & Neuberg)

RPS Junior Orchestra:  Gangster Prankster; Stardom Waltz; Dan the Man; Movie Buster   (Sarah Watts & Kevin Mayhew)

PGS Massed String Ensemble:  Music from 'La, La Land'   (Justin Hurwitz aa Longfield)

RPS Choir:  Fire (Jonathan Dove); Tomorrow (Charles Strouse arr Funk); A La Cart (Judith Watson (after Mozart))

Vox & Voces: Singing Bird (Bob Chilcott)

PGS Symphony Orchestra:  Jupiter from 'The Planets' (Holst)

Pate's 450th Anniversary Commision - Massed Ensemble: 'That Which is Hidden...' (Esme Adachi)

PGS Chamber Choir:  Lux Arumque (Eric Whitacre); Good Night Dear Heart (Dan Forrest)

PGS Jazz Orchestra:  I Wanna Be Like you  (Shermann arr. John Wasson)

PGS Big Band:  Tank (Yoko Kanno arr John Wasson); Miss Otis Regrets (Cole Porter arr Myles Collins); That's Life (Kelly and Gordon arr John Harpin)

PGS Massed Jazz Bands: Speakeasy Swing  (Easwar Arun)

We are much indebted to the musical expertise (and organisational skills) of the following staff in producing this amazing concert:

The Richard Pate School:

Andrea Board; Nicola Hopkins; Debbie Kingswood; Lesley Crompton (Head of Music)

Pate's Grammar School:

David Pilkington-Crowe; Lara James; Stephen Parham-Connolly; Gill Mew; Eleanor Lane (Director of Music)

Our sincere thanks go to The Pate's Grammar School Foundation for their generous support of the concert and to the headteachers of both schools for their input into the planning of the event and their welcome words on the night.