Simon Balle All-through School

A unique, special moment in the history of our school that concluded with a standing ovation for Alison. Pictures will be added shortly and one is attached here.

250 musicians. 500 in the audience. A concert hall literally bouncing with the amazing music that our musicians - students at Simon Balle from Years 2 - 13, plus our adult choir - created.

At Saffron Hall, I sang three songs with Chamber Choir, which I really enjoyed. Tides was my favourite song to sing; I loved how upbeat and positive it was, and the buzzing atmosphere at Saffron under the stage lights elevated the piece even more. As a whole, I thought the Chamber Choir pieces went really well. Ave Maria was particularly tricky, but singing at Saffron made me feel more confident and excited to sing such fantastic pieces. The highlight of the evening for me has to be singing a solo in When I Grow Up with all the choirs and the Larch orchestra. Especially as I was so nervous, looking behind me to see such a wonderful group of performers made me feel confident and proud to be there. It was an incredibly special moment to sing in front of so many people as part of such an amazing musical community.

Sophie, Year 12

I enjoyed performing in both the Senior Choir and Strings Ensemble for the Simon Balle musical Summer Showcase at Saffron Hall.

The atmosphere was incredible and seeing the audience enjoy the performances really made the months of practice worth it.

Performing When I Grow Up was very special because I first sang this piece when I was in Year 2. It was one of the first times the choirs sang as an all-through. This time at Saffron Hall, I was able to perform as a secondary student alongside Larch.

I especially liked the end of the showcase when Mrs Saunders danced bare foot on the stage!

Everyone was up on their feet joining in.

I can’t wait to do it all again!

Summer, Year 7

I am delighted and proud to announce that eight Year 12/13 musicians have achieved a diploma in music.

DipLCM - Gabriel and Ciara (piano), Sam Portas (drums), Ada (popular vocals), Patrick and Jacob (classical saxophone), - Daniil, (Jazz saxophone).

ALCM - Luke. Saxophone - the music of Charlie Parker. The hardest diploma we have ever had at Simon Balle. We’ve had a few! Luke’s level of musicianship was off the scale.

As part of these diplomas, our musicians have performed at the most challenging standard for their age. Charlie Parker, Bebop, Dave Weckl, Beethoven, Bach, Debussy, Philip Glass, french saxophone repertoire and much more. Eight Simon Balle musicians performing at an incredible professional standard. I can't state enough the level of achievement for these musicians. What I do know is that they could only have achieved this at Simon Balle - the distinct ethos, the time provided for us to get it right and the inspiration created throughout our work. This is something to shout from the rooftops.