CGS Spring Concert and Exeter Phoenix Gig- March 2026

News - Apr 8

In the last two weeks of term we had two very contrasting celebrations of the musical talent at CGS!

On Monday 16th March, 11 Colyton bands lit up Exeter Phoenix and we were blown away by the talent. From the very first act, the standard was incredible, and the full crowd brought such an amazing atmosphere.

With proper sound and lighting, every band stepped up with confidence and energy. Highlights included powerful covers like Smells Like Teen Spirit, Don’t Look Back in Anger, and Sweet Child of Mine, alongside emotional moments like Silver Lining and No Time to Die. Original songs and fun onstage moments kept the night fresh and exciting throughout.

The energy never dropped, and the final performances had the whole audience cheering.

A huge thank you to everyone involved; performers, organisers, staff, and Esther, one of our Student Music Leaders, for this write up. 

We'd also like to thank to Mark R, our Student Photographer for the incredible action shots.

Then on Tuesday 31st March, the Junior Choir, Chamber Choir, Senior Choir and an alumnae choir performed in the Spring Concert at St Andrew's Church in Colyton, which culminated in a performance of the Fauré Requiem sung by a massed choir of around 130 singers.

The concert opened with the Junior Choir, brilliantly led by Mrs Lester, singing selections from Karl Jenkins’ Adiemus – the violence of the opening chords of In Caelum Fero jolting the audience to attention until the dulcet harmonies of the Hymn allowed them to relax.

The Chamber Choir followed with three pieces – Maurice Duruflé’s Ubi Caritas, not an easy piece, was a high point of their performance, but Aparajita A’s (13) soaring solo in Will Todd’s Lead me Lord and the luxurious setting by the King’s Singers of Loch Lomond were equally stunning.

There then followed a choir of 24 Old Colytonians (staff and pupils) – this was a complete unknown until 5pm on the day of the concert! Thankfully they turned out to collectively form an absolutely stunning choir, with voices honed by age and experience of post-school singing, many in college or university choirs, or cathedrals. They performed three pieces: Bruckner’s Locus Iste (a staple of the school choral repertoire), Rachmaninov’s Bogoróditse Djévo and Stanford’s Beati Quorum Via.

The finale of the evening was the Requiem – a piece of seven movements lasting around 40 minutes. This is proper choral repertoire and, in places, quite challenging; we had a suspicion that setting the Senior Choir a challenge rather than patronising them with easy repertoire would appeal, and it did – a choir of 90 (joined on the night by the OCs) and, for the final movement, the Junior Choir performed with panache and sensitivity. The three soloists (Noah N-W (7), Jayden T (12) and Tomas O-E (13)) sang beautifully and were rightly applauded at the conclusion.

Our thanks go out to all of the staff, parents and pupils who put so much into the concert and were there to support Colyton music.