Tonbridge School Arts Festival

Last Sunday heralded the beginning of Tonbridge School's Art Festival: Festival Evensong in the Tonbridge School Chapel, including an external vocal group, the chapel choir, and the majestic Marcussen organ (pictured below, click for larger images). The evening was a soaring success, with "Steal Away" and the jazz trio setting of Nunc Dimitis coming off superbly.

The Commitments had performed on the Friday and Saturday before, both times to rapturous applause and praise. On the same day as the Festival Evensong was an Art workshop, "Picture This", a production of Cinderella by "Unpacked" and a screening of "The Last King of Scotland".

On the following Tuesday, there was a Lunchtime Concert in Tonbridge Parish Church, to the delight of the community, and Brian Patten (one of the Liverpool poets, of The Mersey Sound fame) gave a superb reading of his poetry in the E.M.Forster theatre. The next day, there was a Rock Band Workshop in Big School, revolutions dance company gave a Dance-Theatre showcase, and the arts week Writers in Residence (Peter and Ann Sansom, both well known and respected poets) gave readings in the Cawthorne Lecture Theatre. On Thursday, Funkstylerz presents Life of a b-boy in the E.M.Forster theatre.

On Friday, Marcus Brigstocke gave two stand up fantastic comedy shows to rapturous applause, and on Saturday, Mark Forkgen, the school's own director of music, conducted The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (the British orchestra based in London, often referred to as the national orchestra of Britain) in a stunning concert of Mozart, Wagner and Beethoven.



The Arts Festival has always been successful, and is certainly worth checking out each year. For a school, the immense range of activities and performances on offer truly are tremendous.