There was a sophisticated twist when we staged our annual Easter concert on Wednesday 25 March.

The ‘Cocktails, Canapes, and Cabaret’ evening at Marshland High School featured 40 different performances, while audience members were also treated to a variety of canape snacks and cocktail drinks.

The sold-out event saw more than 100 students across all year groups take part, with their involvement including technical and front-of-house roles, as well as performing on stage, and creating and serving the refreshments.

“Students made 660 canapes and 330 cocktails to serve over 100 guests,” said Kevin Bell, Music Lead at our school, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“We had an executive head chef from The Varsity Hotel in Cambridge, Rikayal Boodram, come in to do workshops with the students to make the canapes, which was a great opportunity for the wider school.”

As well as honing their culinary and mixology skills, the students gained experience in a range of different areas through their involvement in the event.

“The musicians gained an insight into the larger workings of events of this type and scale,” continued Mr Bell.

“IT provided a much more real-world view of what a gigging musician does and is involved with, while allowing other students from wider curriculum areas to work collaboratively with other students and industry professionals.”

Although Marshland holds regular musical events, the evening was a new introduction to our entertainment programme.

“We do five concerts a year with various themes, but this was the first like this – the first of its kind,” added Mr Bell.