The Oundle School music department welcomed guitarist Craig Ogden to perform in the first major concert of the year, held as part of the sixth-form lecture series. Over two days at Oundle, Craig rehearsed and performed with both the school’s symphony and chamber orchestras, and also gave tuition to some of its best guitarists in individual master classes.
The concert opened with ‘Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra’ by Mauro Giuliani, an Italian guitar virtuoso who was compared in his lifetime to Beethoven. Although his compositions have not enjoyed the same renown as his orchestral contemporary’s, they remain an essential part of the guitar repertoire.
The next piece was Joaquin Rodrigo’s ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’, arguably the most famous work written for guitar. Craig has performed this work over 200 times, accompanied by various orchestras around the world. For an encore, Craig played to the gallery with a version of ‘Here Comes the Sun’ by George Harrison, and finally ‘Rondo Rodeo’ written by Gary Ryan, one of his colleagues from the Royal College of Music, on the theme of the western ballet ‘The Hoe Down’.
Music scholar Serena Shah (17) commented: “The night was a huge success, with the performance earning great applause from a packed audience of pupils, parents, staff and visitors in the Great Hall, many of whom had travelled far to see Classic FM’s number one guitarist.”
“Last night was fantastic – congratulations to you and the orchestra – it was the highlight of my week,” said one parent. “I would like to thank you for giving me one of my most memorable concerts at Oundle to date last Friday,” added another.
