The return of Dover's Music Ensembles to The Esplanade Concert Hall in OPUS 2024 marked a significant event, as it was the first time since OPUS 2019. Regrettably, the pandemic forced the cancellation of OPUS 2020 merely two weeks prior to the scheduled performance.

OPUS 2024 served as a joyous celebration of ensemble music, bringing together students, parents, and teachers in a memorable event.

Jazz Band

‘Cold Duck Time’ is a rock/funk influenced piece and was first recorded by saxophonist Eddie Harris at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1969. There is intricate interplay between the saxes, trumpets and trombones and solos are played by Hugo on sax, and Rayner and Miray on trumpet.

‘Take the ‘A’ Train’ was composed in 1939 by Billy Strayhorn and was played by the Duke Ellington Orchestra. This up tempo swing piece features Hugo, Osian and Ari on saxophone, and Luke on drums.

The Jazz Band finished with the shuffle groove ‘’Out of the Doghouse’, with references to boogie-woogie rhythms, New Orleans street beat and 1950’s Rock ‘n’ Roll. On top of Riko’s Boogie-Woogie piano playing there are challenging melodies and riffs with a feature for the saxophone section.

Singers

Eric Whitacre is an American composer best known for his choral music, specifically his ‘Virtual’ Choir projects. Singers record and upload their videos from locations all over the world. Each one of the videos is then synchronised and combined into one single performance to create the Virtual Choir. In May 2020, during the covid 19 pandemic, Whitacre announced that the sixth iteration of Virtual Choir would be an original song entitled “Sing Gently”. It featured 17,572 singers from 129 countries. This evening, Singers performed a ‘live’ version.

“She’s Not There” is the debut single by British rock band the Zombies. Teenagers at the time, the Zombies recorded the single after they won a talent show which led to a recording session. This minor key, jazz-tinged single eventually reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot in December 1964, and in 2016, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

The Jazz Band finished with the shuffle groove ‘’Out of the Doghouse’, with references to boogie-woogie rhythms, New Orleans street beat and 1950’s Rock ‘n’ Roll. On top of Riko’s Boogie-Woogie piano playing there are challenging melodies and riffs with a feature for the saxophone section.

Arioso

With the demographic of our more mature audience members firmly in mind, Arioso presented a medley of two songs by English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw. While both were released in 1984, “The Riddle” became the single from Kershaw’s second album, reaching No.3 on the UK charts, while “Wouldn’t It Be Good” featured on his debut album, reaching No.4.

This medley left the synth and electric guitar-laden instrumentation of the 1980s originals behind and, instead, interprets these hits with a more contemporary and acoustic flavour.