On Thursday last week, the music department made Bethany history yet again by hosting their first ever live music event at the Goudhurst Inn.

​​​​​​​Six Year 12 Music Performance pupils took to the stage on Thursday night to perform a high-quality set that they have spent the last four months preparing to a packed out audience made up of friends and family.

The event was an important part of the group’s coursework as their current unit of work requires them to work and develop as a musical ensemble to produce a set of material to be performed in front of a live audience. This unit is part of the BTEC Level 3 Music Performance qualification we offer at Sixth Form.

The event proved to be a huge success with some stand-out performances such as the group’s stunning rendition of “Hotel California” by the Eagles which included a stunning guitar solo performed by guitarists Will Sabri and John Tai. Other songs from the well-received set included Ellie Russell taking on Lady Gaga’s hit song, “Always Remember Us This Way” from the Oscar-winning movie, “A Star is Born”. Joe Sherlock and Will Brown then joined John Tai by turning up the volume to play their cover of the rock anthem, “Black Eyes” by Bradley Cooper.

“It has been so great to see the progress that our Sixth Form pupils have made over the last few years. The first time I did this event at Bethany, we had what I thought were the best performances Bethany had ever seen. Now, just two years later, we have six pupils performing to a standard you would expect of a professional band in a really great live music venue with a packed out room. There were members of the public even asking if they could continue playing! The pupils just constantly amaze me with how much they raise the bar every time, and it’s now my job to try and raise that bar higher for them and think of ways we can make this event even more successful next time.”

Jonny Brinson, Head of Music