On Thursday 20 July, we held our annual Isle of Wight Education Federation Summer Concert at the Island VI Form. The sun shone as audience members gathered outside to enjoy ice creams from The Plaza Ices and further refreshments were served indoors by our Parent Voice members.

The concert began at 7.00 pm and featured a variety of musical performances from students across the Federation. Our IWEF Sing group opened the evening’s programme with a lively performance of ‘Circle of Life’ from Disney’s The Lion King followed by the energetic ‘Royals’ by Lorde. Various ensembles from Carisbrooke College’s School of Rock club performed a variety of songs from Blur, Blondie, George Ezra and Pulp, collaborating on some with the Carisbrooke College Ukulele Club, KS4 Music students from Medina College and A-level Music students from The Island VI Form.

Over the course of the evening we heard 3 impressive original compositions from Olivia M with her catchy song ‘Take a Hint’, imaginative piano solo ‘Dreams’ from Oliver K and touching acoustic number ‘A different time’ from Tilly G. Olivia H wowed the audience with her powerful rendition of ‘Freddy, my love’ from the musical Grease, fresh from her appearance as ‘Marty’ in the recent IOW Theatretrain production.

The Island VI Form students and Medina College’s Year 11 came together to perform ‘70s classic ‘Go your own way’ by Fleetwood Mac with some impressive guitar solos from Jake C. Hannah C delivered a flawless performance of Sam Smith’s ‘The Writing’s on the Wall’ with an emotional depth and musical expression well beyond her years. Carisbrooke College’s vocal trio of Annelise, Olivia and Lucy mastered some stunning harmonies and gave a nod to chart sensation Taylor Swift with their performance of ‘Love Story’. The Island VI Form’s Tilly and Rufus were joined by Lennon to give the concert some jazzy flavour with French Jazz standard ‘J’attendrai’.

The concert concluded with all of our performers coming together to perform a spectacular concert finale of The Rembrandts’ ‘I’ll be there for you’, having learnt and workshopped the song earlier in the day.

The concert raised funds for our IWEF Creative Arts Faculty to support future events and productions. Thank you to all the students, staff, parents and governors who came along to support this lovely evening, and to our Creative Arts Faculty for organising this fantastic event. We are thrilled to see our students performing with such skill and confidence, and look forward to all the exciting opportunities 2023/2024 will bring! All students are warmly encouraged to take part in our musical clubs and activities: please see your Music teacher for more details about how you can get involved this year.