King Edward VI High School for Girls celebrates the 60th anniversary of the joint Symphony Orchestra
King Edward’s School (KES) and King Edward VI High School for Girls (KEHS), Birmingham will celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the joint Symphony Orchestra, with a sell-out concert at the Ruddock Performing Arts Centre on Monday, 9 March 2020.
The Symphony Orchestra, held its first concert in March 1960, and players from that first ensemble will return to school to be in the audience of the Sexagesimal Concert.
The Orchestra is one of the flagship ensembles of the two independent schools of the King Edward’s Foundation, and plays major works of the symphonic repertoire and accompanying concertos. The anniversary concert will include new work composed by a pupil from KES, Sexagesimal, a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 by BBC Young Musician 2018 and KEHS pupil Lauren Zhang, and Brahms’ Symphony No.3.
Martin Leigh, Director of Music at King Edward’s School, said: “I am immensely proud of the scale, quality, and ambition of music in our schools, of all that the boys and girls achieve together. The Sexagesimal Concert is a wonderful opportunity to learn from the past, to celebrate the present, and to look forward to all which is possible in the future.”
The Symphony Orchestra is just one example of the many opportunities for cultural enrichment offered at the two independent schools. In addition to the extensive and intellectually exciting academic programme, there are at least 50 clubs and societies each week for students to participate in.
If you would like to find out more about these opportunities and everything else that King Edward’s School and King Edward VI High School for Girls have to offer, prospective parents and their children are invited to attend the Open Mornings on Saturday, 14 March 2020 and Saturday, 20 June 2020 respectively. For further information, visit: www.kes.org.uk/opendays or www.kehs.org.uk/admissions/open-days-visits.
