At the end of March, around 250 students from St Mary’s College in Crosby took to the stage of Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall to present the school’s annual Festival of Music.

This year’s concert also featured a guest appearance from the Great Crosby Catholic Primary School Choir. All students were conducted by St Mary’s director of music, Andrew Byers, supported by his colleague Colin Johnston.

The programme took the audience on a musical journey from Rossini’s ‘William Tell Overture’ to jazz giant Duke Ellington and the theme from Star Wars. Flute soloist, Anna Quint’s stunning rendition of Johannes Donjon’s Offertoire was a particular highlight of the evening. The audience also showed its appreciation for the Clarinet Cocktail’s performance, featuring soloist Michael Neophytou.

Other performances included the College Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Sheherazade’ by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov as well as the theme from Superman. The lower school choir performed a medley of ABBA classics, Great Crosby Primary played a rendition of sports anthem ‘Eye of the Tiger’, and the College Chamber Choir put on a medley of songs from hit musical Wicked.

Commenting on the concert, Andrew Byers said: “Our annual Phil concert has become one of the most popular St Mary’s traditions and provides our pupils with a wonderful opportunity to showcase their exceptional musical talents in a fabulous setting.

“The concert is the result of many months of hard work and dedication from our pupils - and the teachers and parents who support them - and we pay tribute to the outstanding contribution made by everyone involved, including the pupils of Great Crosby Primary,” he added.

St Mary’s principal, Mike Kennedy, commented: “This was a wonderful musical event and all the performers very much deserved the generous applause they received at the end of the evening.

“It also demonstrated once again that music is a key element of life at St Mary’s, and that it is a wonderful vehicle for developing students beyond the purely academic, and shaping their characters and personalities in new and often surprising ways.”