Clifton College Arts Evening and Summer Serenade 2024

The penultimate week of term saw the annual Summer Arts Evening, a celebration of the arts at Clifton College in open-air and inside venues around the beautiful Quad.

The evening started off in the Chapel with Part I of Summer Serenade, with four concerto movements played by pupil soloists accompanied by a professional orchestra, Antonia with Ravel’s Tzigane for violin, Solly in Strauss’s Horn Concerto No.1, Hannah with Elgar’s Cello Concerto, and Jude with Guilmant’s Organ Concerto.

Parents and students emerged from the Chapel into the sunshine of the quad for a range of drama and music performances, and an art exhibition. On the monologue stage, Annie kicked off the performances with a dramatic performance of Lady Macbeth, performed overlooking the quad from the BSK balcony, followed by a beautiful performance of Burn from Hamilton, by Mimi. The trio of performances was completed by an excellent performance by Eva of a monologue from her LAMDA repertoire.

Meanwhile, on the group stage, GCSE Drama students performed their group pieces, with special mention to Frida, Henry and Bella, and Lauren and Amelia, who performed their Brecht and Berkoff style pieces with confidence. On the close, an Oakeley’s dance group performed an impressive k-pop routine whilst the festival flags billowed.

Students and parents then returned to the Chapel for the Summer Serenade Part II, with Sophie performing the complete Glazunov violin concerto, Edmund with the first movement of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No.1, and Henry with Saint-Saens’ Rondo Capriccioso for violin.

To round off the evening, pop, rock and jazz acts performed to a tightly packed audience in the Crypt with numbers ranging from Stevie Wonder and Laufey to Jason Mraz.

(Click on an image below to expand the gallery.)