Youngsters make a big noise at Rotary Club of Royston concert

The 2014 Rotary Club of Royston Youth Makes Music concert saw more than 250 performers from Crow country schools take to the stage at the University of Cambridge’s West Road Concert Hall on Friday evening.

Schools taking part were Meridian School, Roysia Middle School, Greneway Middle School, Icknield Walk First School, Tannery Drift First School, Roman Way First School, Studlands Rise First School, Therfield First School, Barley First School and Barkway First School.

Rotary club president Ray Munden said: “Each year the amazingly high standard of the concert stands as a tribute to both our inspirational teachers and their talented pupils and students.

“The imagination and skill that goes into producing such a superb concert makes us all proud of our local schools,” he said.

The concert covered a whole range of music tastes, from Lennon and McCartney’s A Hard Day’s Night to a lively performance of Mr Blue Sky and a moving rendition of Elton John’s Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.

Classical music was included too, with pieces by Bach to Grundman’s Bagatelle, as well as traditional spirituals and the Hebrew Shalom.

One of the moving moments of the concert come from the Meridian School’s chamber choir of We Remember Them: a piece to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I.

The choir will be visiting Flanders later in the year and will be giving a performance of We Remember Them at the Menin Gate in Ypres.

And more musical talent was displayed with the premiere of Weight, a piece written by Greneway teacher Craig Maddox.

As usual the concert came to a rousing end with all the pupils and students on stage to perform All Together Now.

The concert saw an end of an era, with Ken Charles, former headteacher of Greneway School, deciding to “retire” after 17 years of organising the event.

He was given a surprise with a performance of Cwm Rhonda and Consider Yourself from the musical Oliver! to mark the occasion.