This year's BPSM concert, with the title of 'Our Town' celebrated Basingstoke, its history, buildings and the people that live there. We were entertained by a rich variety of different music that took us from the first Stone Age settlements, through the Romans, Vikings, both world Wars and up to the present day. Children from across Basingstoke made up a huge orchestra and the massed choir, as well as a chamber choir, narrators and dancers. The vast majority of our children played in the orchestra ably supported by past pupils, relatives, teachers and friends. Pupils from St Mary's also formed a dance troop celebrating Britain's victory at the Battle of Waterloo. The fact that they were dressed in bright blue and pink outfits, including flared trousers, might mean that you have already guessed  that they were dancing to a rousing rendition of the ABBA hit - Waterloo! It was great to see so many pupils have the confidence to stand up in front of such a wide audience to either narrate or to perform solos. Special mentions do go to Poppy who sang a solo and to Isla who was literally in the limelight playing a trumpet solo. The evening ended with another bit of artistic licence in the form of Xanadu which had miraculously morphed into Basingstoke. This was greeted with rousing applause and a loud bang, as always, when the audience and performers were covered in confetti!

Well done to everyone who took part, it was a true celebration of music across Basingstoke and everyone who took part should feel incredibly proud of their performance. Thank you once again to Mrs Malone and the other teachers and Hampshire Music Service staff who prepared the children and all the parents who helped at the rehearsals and supported their children with this amazing opportunity.