Ms Natasha Wright, head of instrumental music studies at St Swithun’s School Winchester, played viola as part of the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Natasha, who was a member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra for eight years prior to joining St Swithun’s, said: “It was an amazing experience. I’ve played in the Last Night Prom before, when I was a member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, but that was about 10 years ago. It’s a long concert, but the atmosphere is like a big party. I think the piece we all enjoyed playing the most was the arrangement of the Mary Poppins songs.”
Natasha was also invited by the orchestra to join them for the opening night of the Proms and two further Proms during the summer.
Not to be outdone, three St Swithun’s pupils also sang during Prom season at the Royal Albert Hall. Bridget Burkill, aged 15, Rebecca Bird, aged 13 and Anna Rodrigues, aged 18, joined other choristers from Winchester Cathedral for Prom 66, which was Peter Sellars’s staging of Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.
