Queen's College, Taunton
Queen's College Box Office for upcoming shows, lectures, performances and holiday clubs
The Festival of Britain 1951
Thursday 9 January 2025
In 1951, up and down the country, the nation celebrated. It celebrated with events ranging from the lavish displays on the South Bank of the Thames and at Battersea to the events held on village greens and in village halls across the land. A nation still recovering from the physical, financial and mental struggles of the recent World War decided to hold a party for the country.
This talk will consider the reasons why the Festival was held, some of the characters involved, what motivated them and the resulting events and the wonderful design, art and architecture that flourished during the Festival year.
Queen's College
Goodbye Jumbo
Between Thursday 30 January 2025 and Friday 31 January 2025
Goodbye Jumbo is a unique and original theatrical event. The ensemble cast draw on poems, songs, play text, myths and legends to create an original theatrical experience. Performed in the Studio the space will be transformed into a theatrical installation, putting actors and audience in the heart of the story.
The world says
Give a little bit
Give a little bit of your love to me
'Cause I'm waiting right here with my open arms
Queen's College
The big three in Florence: Michelangelo,Leonardo and Raphael
Thursday 13 February 2025
The first decade of the sixteenth century in Florence was an exhilarating place for an artist to work, brimming with new ideas and approaches. For a brief but intense period Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael coincided in Florence. These are the years of Mona Lisa, David and Raphael’s many serene Madonnas.
Queen's College
Half Term Netball Camp
Between Tuesday 18 February 2025 and Wednesday 19 February 2025
During the February half term we have two netball coaching sessions with Miss Simpson - Team Bath PDP Coach, and, a special Team Bath player.
The day will involve Skills, Drills, Match Play and Analysis.
There will be a packed lunch provided but please bring a water bottle.
Tuesday 18th February - For Year Groups 6, 7, 8 and 9.
Wednesday 19th February - For Year Groups 10, 11, 12 and 13
Queens College
Charity Fashion Show for Parkinson's UK
Wednesday 26 February 2025
Join us for a fun evening with occasion wear from Izzi Stockton and a light buffet generously sponsored by Cullens Catering, all in aid of Parkinson's UK.
Wyvern Hall
CHICAGO
Between Thursday 6 March 2025 and Sunday 9 March 2025
Come on babe, we’re gonna paint the town... and all that jazz!
Following mega-productions of ‘Les Miserables’, ‘Shrek!’ and ‘Mary Poppins’ prepare for a high-energy dance spectacular that will leave you in a Jazz Age whirl.
Years before Tiktok or Snapchat, the record-breaking, multi-award-winning ‘Chicago’ nailed the dangers of celebrity culture, media sensationalism, and the business of show business in the hilarious tale of Roxy Hart and Velma Kelly- two “Killer Dillers” who shoot their way to the top. ‘Les Mis’ was a sell-out epic, so early booking for this show is definitely advisable!
Queen's College
The Frick Collection, New York - a feast for the eyes.
Thursday 13 March 2025
The Frick Collection, New York, is one of the finest-quality museums in the world. It belongs largely to the Gilded Age of American connoisseurship of the early years of the 20th century and is a testament to the taste of its founder, steel magnate, Henry Clay Frick. He died on the eve of WWI after being able to collect some of the best pieces available in Europe and America. His agents were really effective and the result is a first rate collection of fine French furniture, enamels, porcelain, paintings by Bellini, Van Eyck, Holbein, Titian, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Dyck, Rubens, El Greco, Velázquez, Fragonard, Ingres, Renoir, JMW Turner, Constable, Whistler and many others. These are all set within an outstanding mansion in Manhattan.
Queen's College
Finding Nemo
Between Tuesday 1 April 2025 and Wednesday 2 April 2025
Swimming, swimming, keep on swimming all the way to the most splash-tastic new musical from Disney! All your favourite characters here, with a catchy pop score that has been wowing audiences for over a decade at Disneyland Florida.
Expect colour, energy and heaps of charm from our Prep School musical, following such hits as Bugsy Malone and Moana!
Queen's College
From Negative to Positive - how photography became art.
Wednesday 23 April 2025
John Ruskin, the leading critic and aesthete, wrote in the 1850s that photography could never be Art. This lecture traces the struggle to overturn that view, beginning with the Pictorialist school of Victorian photographers and closing with the recent emergence of photographic art inspired by digital technology. Along the way we examine the contested virtues of colour images and the present revival of old-fashioned film cameras.
Queen's College
The Carnival of Animals
Between Saturday 3 May 2025 and Sunday 4 May 2025
Feel the beat of the rhythm of the night in this pulsating and spectacular fusion of dance and music styles, exploring every kind of exotic flora and fauna!
Following the epic Sixty and Zodiac, The Carnival of the Animals is a joyous, high-energy showcase of creativity at Queen’s College.
A huge cast of dancers, singers and instrumentalists invite you to join them on another memorable adventure with a Rio twist!
Queen's College
American Impressionism
Thursday 8 May 2025
American Impressionism has been unjustly neglected by European art historians and critics for many years, yet some wonderful paintings full of life, colour and vigour, were produced in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
James McNeil Whistler is an important figure in this story ,being the first American to establish a reputation in Europe. He was an inspiration to the many American students who came to Paris after the Civil War to study at the Academie Julian and other ateliers. Mary Cassatt was the only American to exhibit at the Impressionist Exhibitions in Paris and was very close to Edgar Degas, while John Singer Sargent, although born in Florence, worked both in Europe and in the United States. He, like Whistler, was an important influence on the younger American Impressionists.
In 1898 The Ten was established in New York – a group of ten American Impressionists all of whom had studied in Europe and many of whom had met Claude Monet at Giverny and had b
Queen's College
The Lightning Thief. The Percy Jackson Musical.
Between Friday 16 May 2025 and Sunday 18 May 2025
Percy Jackson has never felt like he fits in. And that’s probably because he is the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, living in the modern world! He has newly discovered powers he can’t control, monsters on his trail, and he is on a quest to find Zeus’s lightning bolt and prevent a war between the Greek gods. Normal is a myth when you’re a demigod.
Following our highly-praised, lavish productions of ‘Mary Poppins’ and ‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’, ‘The Lightning Thief: the Percy Jackson Musical’ promises to create a magical mythology in the modern world! Don’t miss it!
Queen's College
She loves you - the music of the sixties
Thursday 12 June 2025
By 1960 interest in rock ‘n’ roll had started to fade, its biggest star was moving on and a new generation of teenagers were seeking something different. It came in the form of the Beatles, who broke all the rules and all the records.
This is the story of the first five years of the 1960s, one of the most creative and innovative periods in the history of music, featuring all the major artists, important songs and principal musical genres.
Queen's College
Tinker,Tailor,Canvas,Chair: How modernism became a cold war
Thursday 11 September 2025
This lecture reveals the extraordinary story of how the USA covertly used both Modernist design and Abstract Expressionism as cold war tools against the Soviet Bloc in the 1950s. It demonstrates how US furniture and homeware designs were used to unsettle Soviet Bloc citizens and how American artists were unwittingly deployed in European exhibitions to demonstrate American cultural superiority to wavering intellectuals.
The talk focuses on International Style architects and designers such as Mies van der Rohe, Charles and Ray Eames and Florence Knoll and Abstract Expressionist painters such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. It compares their styles with Soviet-imposed Socialist Realism. The presentation focuses on works in US exhibitions such as The New American Painting (Europe,1958/9) and The American National Exhibition (Moscow 1959) to demonstrate US intentions…and lays bare the secret agenda of the CIA and its links to New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
Queen's College
The most dissolute man in London - the Duke of Devonshire
Thursday 9 October 2025
Aristocrat, politician, rake and revolutionary: William Cavendish, 4th Earl and 1st Duke of Devonshire, is certainly one of the more colourful of seventeenth-century noblemen. So wicked was he, that an Italian visitor to Restoration England described him as ‘the most dissolute man in London’. Yet Cavendish is also remembered as one of the great saviours of English civil liberties, part of a small group of aristocrats who overthrew James II and brought William of Orange and constitutional monarchy to the throne.
In addition, he remodelled his Elizabethan family seat and transformed it into one of our greatest country houses and a monument to his success, Chatsworth in Derbyshire.
So this is a lecture about depravity, politics and fine architecture, as we look at Cavendish’s morals, his political redemption and his wonderful house and gardens: truly, ‘a Palace for a Prince’.
Queen's College
From Tchaikovsky to Tin Pan Alley - music for Christmas
Thursday 13 November 2025
From Tchaikovsky to Tin Pan Alley - uplifting music for Christmas.
To kick off our seasonal celebrations, musician and broadcaster Sandy Burnett is on hand to share his selection of much-loved Christmas tunes.
Expect an hour of the finest festive music from across the globe – his selections include sparking moments from Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, a heartwarming ballad from Mel Tormé, something from Soweto, a heavenly chorus from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Leipzig, an illustration of the English carol tradition at its finest - and something more cynical from Eartha Kitt.
Queen's College
Somerset County Orchestra
Sunday 8 December 2024
Somerset County Orchestra are delighted to welcome Queen’s College student Shao- Shen to join them in a performance of the justly popular Gershwin work, Rhapsody in Blue with its foot tapping jazz rhythms and singalong melodies. The orchestra will also give the first performance of Nigel Cavey’s ‘An Affectionate Nod to Frederick’, a warm tribute to Frederick Delius on the ninetieth anniversary of his death. Nigel is a well known figure at Queen’s, being for many years the representative for the Trinity music exams. The concert ends with what some consider to be one of Schumann’s greatest work, his Symphony No 4.
Queen's College
OQ Vintage Lunch
Friday 6 December 2024
All our OQ's born before 1964 are invited to join us for the annual Vintage Lunch.
Your attendance and support is appreciated. In addition to a delicious three course meal and welcome drink, any surplus will go into the Foundation coffers to support Queen's pupils in need.
Wyvern Hall
Christmas Cracker
Thursday 5 December 2024
It's the most wonderful time of the year, and we invite you to pull a Christmas Cracker with us! If you feel like an evening of music, merriment and good old-fashioned Christmas fun, then join us for our annual Christmas concert: this year we're adding a little more spice to the mulled wine!
Proceeds are in aid of the Sidney Lawton Trust, which supports music at Queen's College.
Queens Hall
The Inn-spectors
Between Wednesday 4 December 2024 and Thursday 5 December 2024
The inn-spectors are in Bethlehem and they are not pleased. A stable is no place for visitors and their newborn baby, and, it really is a health and safety nightmare! Can the Inn-spectors be convinced that the stable really is fit for a King?
Birchall Hall
The Nutcracker
Wednesday 4 December 2024
This term, Year 3 has been finding out about European fantasy stories as part of Performing Arts lessons, and now they have transformed this learning into a magical Christmas show to put you in the Christmas mood. The traditional tale of the Nutcracker has become world famous thanks to everything from ballet productions to Barbie movies. Now prepare for the story of the young dreamer, the brave toy soldier and the Sugar Plum Fairy, to be given the special Queen's College treatment!
Birchall Hall
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Between Friday 29 November 2024 and Sunday 1 December 2024
We are thrilled and honoured to present the regional premiere of the blockbuster West End play that continues the Harry Potter saga!
The play's story focuses on Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, two best friends who go back in time and disrupt the flow of life.
Mystery and magic are guaranteed. Early booking is highly advisable!
Queen's College
Christmas Wreath Making 2024
Wednesday 27 November 2024
Do you want to ensure you have the best dressed front door this Christmas?
Hosted by the Friends of Queen's College, join us for an evening of festive crafting with Kristy from BlueBelle Flowers and learn how to create your very own bespoke Christmas wreath. You'll be using the finest seasonal foliage, decorative berries, pinecones and perhaps even the odd bit of sparkle, all tied off with a beautiful ribbon ensuring you'll be the envy of your neighbours.
A glass of mulled wine and a mince pie is of course included!
Queen's College
The Artists of Monmartre - the Pilgrims of Babylon
Thursday 14 November 2024
Douglas Skeggs is a lecturer, TV presenter and writer.
The Arts Society Taunton Evening will be hosting their AGM this evening.
Queen's College
An Audience with Mike Keen, International Chef & Adventurer
Thursday 17 October 2024
As an International Chef, writer and adventurer, Mike Keen has strong ideas about how we should be eating.
Born in England and brought up in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Germany, Mike got a taste for exotic flavours and adventurous cooking at an early age and has explored the cuisines of multiple countries.
Join us and be taken on a 3000km kayak voyage through Greenland where he made his way from inlet to iceberg living on a traditional Greenlandic diet, the same as the Inuit would have eaten thousands of years ago. Both before and on his immediate return from the trip, Mike had extensive blood tests and he will share the science with you.
Mike says the diet was incredible and a life changing experience, so hear how what he ate made him feel and how that impacts his thoughts on how we as a species should be eating and how that fits in to the current global food system.
Queen's College
A fantastic West End Workshop for 8 to 18 year olds
Sunday 13 October 2024
Three top West End performers will be visiting Queen's College for a fantastic one-day intensive masterclass in singing, dancing and acting!
Ellena Vincent (HAMILTON), Lily Laight (HAIRSPRAY) and Edward Bennett (ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY/ BRIDGERTON) have starred in top West End plays, musicals, shows and TV. They will offer unique insight into professional technique and style. Ellena will focus on the modern musical theatre voice and songs from HAMILTON; Lily brings the hottest new West End choreography and Edward offers insight in audition technique and stage acting. You will have the opportunity to chat, learn about their incredible experiences and even take a cheeky selfie! Groups will be formed according to age and experience for young people from 8 to 18 years. Be quick to book as places are limited!
Queen's College
Pumpkin and Flowers Workshop
Friday 11 October 2024
What better way to display autumnal flowers than in a seasonal pumpkin? And what better way to start an evening than with a glass of fizz?
This two hour workshop with florist Kristy Blackwell of Bluebelle Flowers will introduce you to new ideas and skills in a relaxed and fun environment and you'll leave not only with a gorgeous arrangement crafted by your own hands, but plenty of inspiration too!
Celebrate the changing season creating a striking arrangement in a real pumpkin. All the materials you will need are included, although you may wish to bring along an apron.
Queen's College
Courtly life in Mantua: hunchbacks, dwarves and giants
Thursday 10 October 2024
Daniel Evans is an educationalist, guide and lecturer.
Queen's College
Sidney Lawton Trust : The Music of Billy Joel & Elton John
Saturday 5 October 2024
Join us for an evening charity concert celebrating the timeless hits of two music legend - Billy Joel and Elton John.
Our talented live band will bring these songs to life, inviting you to sing along to classics like Piano Man, Crocodile Rock, Uptown Girl and Rocket Man.
Don't miss out on this special night! Get your tickets now and be part of an unforgettable experience.
A bar will be available throughout the evening.
The Sidney Lawton Music Trust was established by Sidney Lawton, Director of Music at Queen’s College from 1947-1980, who was a highly published and respected musician and teacher. Founded in 1989, it’s primary aim is to help Queen’s College students develop their musical talent. It administers funds to help young people at the school to enjoy and benefit from musical experiences which, owing to financial circumstances, they would not otherwise have been able to access.
Queen's College
Last Night of the Proms
Friday 13 September 2024
NO NEED TO GO TO LONDON
Come for an uplifting evening of inspiring music and traditional ‘prom’ fun at our ‘last night of the proms’
Promenade concerts were first devised in 1895, conducted by Sir Henry Wood, who continued to be closely associated with them for many years. Southern Sinfonia now follows that tradition in Taunton.
Our evening will start with a ‘Promenade’, outside or in, depending on weather, with incidental music and a complimentary drink to delight you! Southern Sinfonia’s FANFARE will guide you to your seats. Our programme features music to reflect our glorious Somerset heritage, countryside and coast, including Vaughan Williams’ ‘The Lark Ascending’ performed by violinist Richard Smith, the Leader of the Orchestra, and after the interval, all the traditional ‘Proms’ music, with Henry Wood’s British Sea Shanties, Elgar’s ‘Pomp and Circumstance Suite’ and Parry’s ‘Jerusalem’.
Tickets include a complimentary drink.
This is a ‘first’ for Taunton - Don't miss it!
Queen's College
The Mayan civilisation of Central America
Thursday 12 September 2024
Duncan Pring is a lecturer, author and archeologist.
Queen's College
Megan's Dance Academy bring you - TV MAD
Saturday 27 July 2024
Enjoy a fantastic performance from students of Megan's Dance Academy.
Queen's College
Tamsin Alicia School of Dance presents Just Dance 2024
Between Friday 12 July 2024 and Saturday 13 July 2024
Dancers from 2 to 20 years will be performing Ballet, Tap and Jazz pieces.
Tamsin Alicia School of Dance pupils are thrilled to be able to show their family and friends all of their hard work.
Queen's College
Summer Ball 2024
Thursday 4 July 2024
Join us for a fun filled evening as we celebrate the end of another school year.
Arrive at 7pm for a glass of fizz before enjoying a delicious three course dinner and music from the Haus Band. All set in a marquee on our beautiful grounds.
Carriages: 12.30am
Dress: Black Tie
Admission: Strictly by ticket only
Please note: Refunds cannot be made after the ticket sales closing date of Friday 14th June.
Queen's College
Senior Speech Day 2024
Thursday 4 July 2024
Family and Friends of Queen's College are invited to join us in celebrating our Senior School pupils' successes of this academic year, and to bid a warm farewell to our Year 13. We request your attendance from 10:00am with celebrations and prize giving to begin promptly at 10:30am, closely followed by sweet treats and fizz for parents and guests on the playing fields.
Queen's College
Prep School Speech Day 2024
Wednesday 3 July 2024
Join us this year to celebrate all of the outstanding achievements of our Prep School pupils. Celebrations and prize giving will commence at 11am, followed by sweet treats and fizz for parents, and refreshments for pupils. A wonderful opportunity to bring our ever-growing community together. All family and friends of Queen's College welcome.
Queen's College
The Grand Finale Awards Gala
Sunday 30 June 2024
Queen's Performing Arts faculty is delighted to announce a brand new end of the year event, celebrating the incredible performances of our students in shows ranging from 'A Christmas Carol' to 'The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe', concert recitals and national festivals throughout the year.
The Grand Finale Awards Gala combines fantastic performances from our senior students, with a host of trophies and diplomas. including:
Year Group Performer of 2023-2024 (Years 7-13)
Performance of the Year
Instrumental Performer of the Year
The Golden Voice
Dance Performer of the Year
Technician of the Year;
along with recognition for outstanding effort, teamwork and commitment to the Performing Arts in all its forms.
Our special VIP guests will also be rewarding everyone who has been involved with a Queen's performance this year, the Queen's College Performing Arts Diploma 2023-24.
Queen's College
Somerset County Orchestra Concert
Saturday 29 June 2024
Join Somerset County Orchestra for their glorious summer concert which will delight you with some stunningly beautiful music.
Johannes Brahms wrote two Serenades – both in 1858. At this concert we will just be getting a taster of the 1st Serenade as we will only be hearing the first movement, but what a delightful little treat it is.
The 2nd Piano Concerto of Charles Villiers Stanford is an exquisite work with sophisticated haunting melodies, but threaded through with aggressive, powerful and jubilant virtuosity. There is also a touch of a pleasant ramble through the English countryside in the alluring second movement before we move into the brilliant final movement, that pays a rollicking homage to the Ireland of Stanford’s birth.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No 7 is boisterous, intense, energetic and tuneful. It is a truly popular piece with an extraordinary sense of invention.
Queen's College
The Greatest Showman In A Day!
Monday 24 June 2024
It's a huge Queen's tradition! Each Summer we stage a mega-musical in just 12 hours and this year it will be the greatest show because we will be performing highlights from The Greatest Showman! A cast of 90 will bring you all the classic songs plus great new dances that will leave you baffled how they managed it all in just 12 hours! It's a great atmosphere and a great experience- so come along and come alive!
Queen's College
Pre-Prep Summer Concert
Thursday 20 June 2024
Parents of Pre-Prep children are invited to a celebration of music and speech performances by our Pre-Prep students. We look forward to greeting you in Birchall Hall.
Queen's College
The healing power of plants
Thursday 13 June 2024
Timothy Walker is a college lecturer and tutor in Botany and plant conservation.
Queen's College
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Between Friday 17 May 2024 and Sunday 19 May 2024
We are thrilled to be presenting the Taunton premier of the Royal Shakespeare Company's adaptation of CS Lewis' The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe. With stirring anthems evoking a past time in English folklore, and all the fabulous characters brought to vivid life by the author, this show is both touching and spectacular.
Following our highly-praised production of Mary Poppins, the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe promises to create the magical world of Narnia, where Alsan the lion will do battle with the cruel White Witch.
Queen's College
Artemisia Gentileschi: Daughter of Rome, painter of Europe
Thursday 9 May 2024
Lecturer Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe trained as a paintings conservator and freelance lecturer at the National Gallery and Wallace Collection.
Queen's College
Summer Concert in Queen's Hall Theatre
Friday 3 May 2024
Join us for a exciting range of music, both solo and ensemble, performed by the talented musicians of Queen's College. A fabulous evening of entertainment
Queen's College
Sixty - A pageant in British history
Between Saturday 27 April 2024 and Sunday 28 April 2024
From Athelstan to Charles III, Britain has been ruled by sixty kings and queens. Some have been villains, some have been unready and some have been happy and glorious...
This year we are exploring the rich history and pageantry of the British Isles through dance, music and literature from across the centuries. Students who take extra-curricular dance, instrumental or LAMDA lessons all join forces to create a spectacular showcase of their incredible skills, talent and hard work.
A huge cast of dancers, singers and instrumentalists invite you to join them on another memorable adventure.
Queen's College
Indulge. Pamper. Shop.
Thursday 25 April 2024
An evening to indulge all your senses.
A night of self care, pampering and showcasing of local, independent businesses. Browse the very best of luxury products from exquisite dresses and accessories to skincare, cocktails, crystal and more.
Tickets include a glass of fizz on arrival, access to our food, beauty, fashion and craft stalls as well as access to our treatment room. Why not add one of our free demonstrations to your booking? Learn how to make the perfect cocktail, get the ultimate makeup look and listen to tips to make the most of your colourings from a colour analysis expert.
To pre-book treatments ahead of the event please email sab@queenscollege.org.uk. Choose from a selection of treatments including a reflexology taster, a mini makeup session or an express massage or facial.
Queen's College
Southern Sinfonia - April Concert
Saturday 13 April 2024
GLORIOUS APRIL MUSIC
World famous Clarinettist, Emma Johnson plays Finzi's fiery clarinet concerto and after the interval Matthew Coleridge's 'Requiem' brings beautiful and life affirming music, performed for the first time in Taunton. The composer will rehearse our musicians on the day for an outstanding performance.
Our concert begins with Holst's 'St Paul's Suite'.
In the church the seats in the outer left and right hand seat blocks face the centre, not the front.
This is not clear from the seating plan. To sit side by side in these blocks book seats by choosing consecutive rows with the same seat number in each; e.g. A2, B2, C2 (rather than A2, A3, A4)
If in doubt contact the Box Office
www.southernsinfonia.org.uk
Doors open from 7pm.
DATE
SATURDAY 13 APRIL 2024 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM (UTC+00)
LOCATION
TAUNTON MINSTER - ST MARY MAGDALENE CHURCH
CHURCH SQUARE, TAUNTON, SOMERSET TA1 1SA
Taunton Minster - St Mary Magdalene Church
Baroque Style in English Furniture
Thursday 11 April 2024
From Rome to Kent (Kent as in Palladian classicism). The Baroque Style in English Furniture. Janusz Karczewski-Slowikowski is a writer and a lecturer, antique dealer and researcher in English furniture.
Queen's College
Bugsy Malone - a splurge-tastic musical
Between Tuesday 26 March 2024 and Wednesday 27 March 2024
Anybody who is anybody will soon walk through that door!
This is the classic show for young audiences...and anyone who enjoys a messy splurge-gun fight!
Set in a strange Prohibition era New York speakeasy, Bugsy Malone and Blousey Brown duck and dive their way to fame and fortune with a host of larger than life gangsters and showbiz types.
Queen's College Prep School returns following last year's stunning Moana!
Queen's College
Joe Mann’s Easter Baking Masterclass
Friday 22 March 2024
Mr Mann, our Head of Faculty for Art, Design and Food, will be your cookery teacher for what promises to be an evening of fun baking in this adult only class.
If you’re dotty for dough or simply bonkers for breads, come roll up your sleeves, don your aprons and cook up some tasty Easter treats.
Please understand that tickets are limited. If you must cancel your place, we respectfully request at least 48 hours notice in order to receive a refund.
Suitable for all levels of experience, you’re sure to walk away with new talents and plenty of treats after a fantastic evening of fun. A fantastic gift idea for the fun-loving baking enthusiast.
Queen's College
Queen's College Sixth Form Quiz Night (CANCELLED)
Thursday 21 March 2024
TBC
Queen's College
The Twits (CANCELLED)
Thursday 21 March 2024
They are rude, they are mean and they are very, very twittish- Mr and Mrs Twit want to make the world's first upside-down monkey circus, but that's hard when the monkeys are smarter than them! And they are more bird-brained than the Muggle Wump birds they want to catch in their horrid pies, too!
Roald Dahl's splendidly yucky show is presented by leading South West theatre company Kickline ('flamboyantly funny'- The Times).
With lots of action and silliness for young audiences to enjoy and join in with, come and spend an afternoon with twittiest twits in the whole Roald Dahl universe!
Age recommendation 4 years +
Queen's College
The Rijksmuseum
Thursday 14 March 2024
Rembrandt's Night Watch and much more.
Sophie Oosterwijk is a lecturer at the universities of St. Andrews, Leicester and Manchester as well as the V&A and the National Trust.
Queen's College
Painting and Prosecco
Thursday 7 March 2024
Enjoy a glass of fizz and embark on a creative journey guided by abstract artist Jenny Keogh.
Create a stunning abstract canvas using an exploration of colour and mark-making.
Ticket includes all art supplies and a glass of prosecco or non alcoholic beverage.
Please understand that tickets are limited. If you must cancel your place, we respectfully request at least 48 hours notice in order to receive a refund. Bookings close 4th March 10pm.
Queen's College
Les Miserables - School edition
Between Thursday 29 February 2024 and Sunday 3 March 2024
Following mega-productions of Shrek!, Into the Woods and Mary Poppins prepare for another immersive and spectacular production that will envelop the audience in the world of 19th Century Paris and the tumult of a city on the edge of revolution.
With one of the best-loved scores in musical history, les Miserables promises to be the highlight of the year. Early booking for this show is definitely advisable.
Queen's College
Chinese New Year Buffet
Friday 9 February 2024
According to the Chinese horoscope 2024, the dragon represents authority, prosperity, and good fortune and is one of the luckiest and most powerful animals in the Chinese zodiac.
Expect a scrumptious buffet laden with celebratory Chinese New Year dishes, washed down with a cold beer. Bring along family and friends and enjoy wholesome food at this open, inclusive and engaging buffet experience.
Please understand that tickets are limited. If you must cancel your place, we respectfully request at least 48 hours notice in order to receive a refund.
Queen's College
Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera
Thursday 8 February 2024
The golden age of Mexican painting.
Lecturer Chloe Sayer is a specialist in Latin American art & culture.
Queen's College
Monkey - Journey to the West
Between Tuesday 23 January 2024 and Friday 26 January 2024
Based on the Buddhist legends of a monk who is tasked with carrying holy scriptures to India. He must be accompanied by a monkey spirit, a fish demon and a disgraced heavenly guard who is now part pig.
Encountering demons and hardships along the way, all four pilgrims must find enlightenment in their own way. Oh, and they have to fight a lot as well!
This is the middle school KS3 play open to years 7-9 extending the range of the cast's theatre experience for Key Stage 2 by staging a fusion of clowning styles from commedia dell'arte to Kabuki theatre.
Queen's College
Drug Sense UK - let's talk about vaping and drugs.
Friday 19 January 2024
Drug Sense UK are specialists in supporting schools, pupils, parents and guardians around drugs and vaping.
This talk will provide vital information for parents and guardians on how to recognise and resolve the early signs of drug misuse. Parents and guardians play a vital role in combating drugs misuse. These seminars provide the platform to build effective partnerships with the school as well as giving parents the confidence to confide with teachers on any issues they feel warrant further evidence gathering with regards to their child.
The talk will be an hour and the intention is to update parents so they are informed and better able to support their children.
Queen's College
An actor's life for me?
Thursday 11 January 2024
Lecturer Tyler Butterworth is from a theatrical family and has spent 25 years working in film, television and radio.
Queen's College
Christmas Cooking Workshop (CANCELLED)
Friday 8 December 2023
Queen's Hosts Fun Adult Christmas Cookery Classes
Join us for a jolly Christmas Cookery Class on the last Friday for families and friends of Queen’s in our school kitchen classroom. A whole array of fun festive fayre and tasty treats will be cooked up as part of the mouth-watering Christmas edition of the popular adult cookery masterclasses held at Queen’s College.
On the menu will be Christmas Cake Breads together with fruity Mince Pies (with homemade mincemeat!) It promises to be an evening of delicious pastries, with sweet, juicy seasonal fillings, and rich sweet bakes, with each person taking home a large box of beautiful bakes.
“There’s no better way to enjoy festive foods this Christmas than to get stuck in and have fantastic seasonal fun in the kitchen”, said Mr Mann, Head of the Faculty of Art, Design, and Food, “and in this fun baking class, adults will learn to make a selection of wonderful festive bakes”.
Queen's College
Old Queenians' Vintage Christmas Lunch
Friday 8 December 2023
All our OQ's born before 1963 are invited to join us for the annual Vintage Lunch.
Costs to the school have increased considerably so your attendance and support is more appreciated than ever, and much needed. In addition to a delicious three course meal and welcome drink, any surplus will go into the Foundation coffers to support Queen's pupils in need.
Queen's College
Christmas Concert
Thursday 7 December 2023
Join us for our end of term concert featuring a wide range of hugely enjoyable music (some of it festive!) together with some beautiful dance routines from our talented dancers. Free entry for all but booking requested (and recommended!)
Queen's College - Queen's Hall
Pre-Prep Christmas Performance
Thursday 7 December 2023
This witty yet sensitive adaptation of the traditional nativity story is a delightful reminder of the true message of Christmas. Jane, Rebecca and Samuel are three less-than-honest market stall holders, hoping to cash-in on the large number of visitors arriving in Bethlehem. Whilst giving it the ‘hard sell’ they encounter a tired couple on a donkey, a group of excitable shepherds and three mysterious visitors from the east, and are led to a lowly stable where they experience something that will change their lives forever!
Queen's College - Birchall Hall
The Mouse In Santa's House - Year 3 Christmas Play
Wednesday 6 December 2023
Year 3 are proud to show you the delightful tale of a little boy desperate to receive a pet mouse for Christmas. Unlikely though this seems, when a mouse takes a quick nap amongst the presents in Santa’s sack, so begins Tip’s flight of a lifetime and his subsequent arrival at the house of one very lucky young chap.
Queen's College Prep School - Birchall Hall
Friends of Queen's Christmas Wreath Making Workshops
Between Wednesday 29 November 2023 and Tuesday 5 December 2023
The Friends of Queens are delighted to welcome back Liz Robertson from Walking with Blooms who ran our very successful Christmas Wreath making workshop last year. Liz provides all the materials for the wreath with the emphasis on using natural, sustainable materials from known sources, no floral foam/oasis is used!
The workshop will be held in the Dining Pavilion with mulled wine and mince pies on offer.
Please bring your own secateurs.
Each workshop will have a minimum of 6 people and maximum of 15.
Last year this workshop was a sell out and so this year we are putting on 3 extra dates - early booking is advised!
DATES
Wednesday 29 November 2023, 7-9pm
Monday 4 December 2023, 7-9pm
Tuesday 5 December 2023, 7-9pm
COST £28 (including mulled wine and mince pies)
We very much look forward to seeing anyone from our Queen's community at these workshops
Queen's College
A Christmas Carol
Between Friday 1 December 2023 and Sunday 3 December 2023
Hailed as one of the greatest works of English literature, is there any story that better captures
the true spirit of Christmas than this masterpiece by Charles Dickens?
Queen’s College is proud to premiere this brand new production that returns to Dickens’ own
words to find the message in which he believed so passionately.
Our senior performers will be joined by carollers and energetic dancers to conjure up a festive
celebration that would melt the heart of even the meanest Scrooge! Early booking is
advisable for this major event in our performance calendar!
Queen's College
The Painting Secrets of Freud and Bacon
Thursday 9 November 2023
Lecturer Alice White is a professional oil painter, art lecturer and Tutor at Central St Martins College of Art and Design. Her lectures provide a painters perspective on famous art work.
Alice has exhibited her work at various exhibitions including the Society of Graphic Fine Artists at the Mall Galleries in London.
Queen's College
West End Workshop for 8 to 18 year olds - limited places
Sunday 15 October 2023
Three top West End performers will be visiting Queen's College for a fantastic one-day intensive of practical masterclasses in singing, dancing and acting!
Tsemaye Bob-Egbe (SIX), Fletcher Dobinson (MOULIN ROUGE) and Sioned Jones (ROYAL NATIONAL THEATRE) have starred in top West End plays, musicals, shows and TV. They will offer unique insight into professional technique and style. Tsemaye will focus on the modern musical theatre voice, Fletcher brings the hottest new choreography and Sioned offers insight in audition technique and stage acting. You will have the opportunity to chat, learn about their incredible experiences and even take a cheeky selfie! Groups will be formed according to age and experience for young people from 8 to 18 years.
Queen's College
Wilde about Oscar: Famous for being a Famous (& Infamous)
Thursday 12 October 2023
Lecturer Simon Whitehouse is an actor, presenter and award winning Blue Badge Guide. His specialisms are Theatre, Literature, Fashion and Art History, but above all he has a passionate interest in the life of Oscar Wilde.
Queen's College
Patrick Hemmerle - Piano Chopin : 24 Preludes op.28
Saturday 30 September 2023
Patrick HEMMERLÉ
Much acclaimed for his live performances and recordings, Patrick’s most recent recording of piano works by RAVEL will be released this autumn.
https://patrickhemmerle.com/
This delightful programme IS NOW BEING HELD IN QUEEN'S HALL THEATRE and will end with a performance of the 24 Préludes composed by Frédéric CHOPIN.
The recital will be preceded by a short introductory talk by Michael Stembridge-Montavont , a specialist of the French Pianistic tradition
https://www.cortotheritage.com/
We look forward to welcoming you to Queen's Hall Theatre
Queen's College
Sidney Lawton Trust presents... A night at the movies
Saturday 23 September 2023
This is a charity concert performed by OQ's and friends. The Sidney Lawton Music Trust was established by Sidney Lawton, Director of Music at Queen’s College from 1947-1980, who was a highly published and respected musician and teacher.
Founded in 1989, the Trust’s primary aim is to help students at Queen’s College develop their musical talent. It administers funds to help young people at the school to enjoy and benefit from musical experiences which, owing to financial circumstances, they would not otherwise have been able to access.
Since its founding, the Trust has supported numerous students with grants to enable them to study musical instruments as well as supporting individual projects to further enhance the musical life of the College; many of these recipients have now gone on to careers in music themselves.
Queen's College
A Photographic Odyssey : Shackelton’s Expedition on Camera
Thursday 14 September 2023
Lecturer Mark Cottle was at Birmingham University his career has been spent in education and training at home and abroad.
The aim of the lecture is to capture Hurleys achievements as a photographer of the Antarctic in the first flush of human contact, when it was still essentially terra incognita.
Queen's College
Megan's Academy of Dance
Sunday 16 July 2023
Megan's Academy of Dance presents their annual show. We are exploring music genres, from Classical to Brit pop, all of the different types of Rock, Rhythm and Blues, Reggae - The lot! So come and join us for a show filled with music for everyone and dances that will blow your mind!!
Our talented cast range from 5 years old through to 55!
Let's rock it 🤟
Queen's College
Summer Ball 2023
Thursday 6 July 2023
We're delighted to invite all members of the Queen's College community to an evening filled with food, music and dancing, to celebrate the fantastic 22/23 academic year.
Don't forget to pre-order wine for your table! find the link to do so here- https://www.thefizzypheasant.co.uk/pre-order-queens
Please note: Arrival from 7pm for a sparkling reception, to be seated at 7.30pm.
Dress code: Black tie.
Admission: strictly by ticket only.
Queen's College marquee - Lower pitches
Senior School Speech Day
Thursday 6 July 2023
Family and Friends of Queen's College are invited to join us in celebrating our Senior School pupils' successes of this academic year, and to bid a warm farewell to our Year 13. We request your attendance from 10:00am with celebrations and prize giving to begin promptly at 10:30am, closely followed by strawberries and fizz for parents and guests on the playing fields.
Queen's College marquee - Lower pitches
Prep School Speech Day
Wednesday 5 July 2023
Join us this year to celebrate all of the outstanding achievements of our Prep School pupils. Celebrations and prize giving will commence at 11am, followed by strawberries and fizz for parents, and refreshments for pupils in the marquee; a wonderful opportunity to bring our ever-growing community together. All family and friends of Queen's College welcome.
-Please note prize giving will begin promptly at 11am, we ask for arrivals from 10:30am to be seated at 10:45am.
Queen's College marquee - Lower pitches
Performance: Grease - in a day!
Monday 26 June 2023
Queen's Senior Students have signed up to join in with a high energy one-day intensive workshop.
They will rehearse for ONE DAY, and then perform the world's favourite musical in our wonderful Queen's Hall Theatre.
Want to see what our students can do in one day?
Tickets are £5 for the one off performance at 6.30pm.
All welcome
Queen's College
Year 11 Ball
Friday 23 June 2023
Arrival from 7pm for reception and photos on the front lawn.
Sit down at 7:30pm for a delicious 3 course meal, followed by a silent disco.
Please note - tickets available for Year 11 Pupils only.
Queen's College
Pre-Prep Summer Concert
Thursday 22 June 2023
Parents of Pre-Prep children are invited to a celebration of music and speech performances from our Pre- Prep in the Birchall Hall.
Refreshments will be provided.
Birchall Hall
Somerset County Orchestra @ St. James' Church
Saturday 17 June 2023
Programme:
Firebird Suite - Stravinsky
London Suite - Coates
Nutcracker Suite - Tchaicovsky
Three Cornered Hat Suite No 2 - De Falla
Spartacus - Khachaturian
St. James' Church
Taunton Festival of the Arts Gala Evening
Sunday 11 June 2023
Taunton Festival of the Arts brings together some of the areas top young performers and highlights from Music, Drama and Dance events which will be showcased at the annual Gala Evening on Sunday 11th June 2023 at 5pm. An event not to be missed.
Queen's Hall Theatre
Great Operatic Rivalries - The Arts Society Taunton Evening
Thursday 8 June 2023
Handbags at Dawn! With Tim Mirfin - Opera singer and lecturer. As an opera singer Tim has sung in all major European Countries. He graduated in Law from Cambridge University where he was also a choral scholar. Meet at 6.30pm before the lecture from 7.00 to 8.00pm at Queen's Hall, Queen's College, Taunton TA1 4QS.
Queen's College
Disney & Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins Jr.
Between Friday 19 May 2023 and Sunday 21 May 2023
What can we say? It's one of the most delightful and eternal pleasures of every childhood! Mary Poppins has enchanted generations and now the story has been transferred miraculously to the stage. Featuring all the much-loved Supercalifragilistic songs, such as Jolly Holiday and Step in Time, plus new classics such as Practically Perfect and Anything Can Happen, this show will have you dancing on air!
The multiple award-winning show is packed full of magic and charm, and our Key stage 3 students are stepping up to the challenge to create an energy-packed and eye-popping spectacle that truly appeals to the whole family. Mary Poppins advises: early booking is a very good idea for this show!
Queen's College
Inside Out
Between Thursday 27 April 2023 and Friday 28 April 2023
Inside Out is another exciting fusion of all forms of music and dance, including ballet, contemporary and hip-hop alongside a wide variety of instrumental solos. Inspired by the hilarious Pixar movie, the show melds many styles to explore the human mind and our complex and evolving emotions.
Students of all ages will come together to form a huge cast of dances, singers and instrumentalists and they invite you to join them on a memorable adventure!
Queen's College
Easter Baking Adult Masterclass
Wednesday 29 March 2023
Back by popular demand, we have another hilarious hands-on cookery class for adults only at Queen's College, this time with an Easter theme.
If you're dotty for dough or simply bonkers for breads, come roll up your sleeves, don your aprons and cook up some tasty Easter treats at our next adult cookery class.
This baking workshop is suitable for all levels of experience, creating lovely Easter bakes. Mr Mann, our Head of the Faculty for Art, Design and Food, and your cookery teacher for the night.
A great gift idea for anyone who enjoys fun hands-on cooking with friends and family.
Queen's College Senior School
Orchestral Festival Performance
Sunday 26 March 2023
A special concert for family and friends of the young musicians taking part in the Orchestral Festival in a day with the Southern Sinfonia
Queen's College
Moana Jr - Crossing the ocean
Friday 24 March 2023
Moana is the daughter of Tui, the Village Chief; her destiny seems mapped out for her, but
she yearns for a life beyond the nautical charts. Setting off on a journey to right the wrongs
of her ancestors, Moana must face Gods, Demi-Gods and a host of strange creatures, and
find her place in the world.
This visually spectacular show will be performed by our Prep school year 5 & 6 students in a large cast who are all onstage throughout the whole performance
Queen's College
Informal Concert - 7pm in the OMR
Wednesday 22 March 2023
A concert featuring a super range of solo items including performances from our GCSE music cohort. Free admission
The Old Music Room
Old Queenians 20 years on...
Saturday 18 March 2023
OQ leavers '98-'03 are invited to an evening of reminiscing with old friends over dinner, laughter and memories.
Dress - Smart casual
Queen's College- Wyvern Hall
Somerset County Orchestra Concert at St James Church
Saturday 18 March 2023
Somerset County Orchestra are delighted to be performing with the soprano soloist, Naomi Harvey. Richard Strauss’s swansong of sublime beauty, the haunting and evocative Four Last Songs. With Mahler’s monumental and stirring Fifth Symphony in the second half, this is a concert not to be missed.
St James Church
Spring Concert in the Queen's Hall
Friday 17 March 2023
Join us for a range of ensemble and solo music provided by our talented musicians. Free admission
Queen's College
The Crucible
Between Monday 13 March 2023 and Thursday 16 March 2023
This breath-taking new production is lit by candlelight, in the atmospheric setting of the Wyvern Hall. This powerful drama is not to be missed and with limited seating available, early booking is essential to avoid disappointment.
All too often, society turns against a group, not so much for its deeds, but for its beliefs.
The Crucible explores the dangers of prosecuting "invisible crimes" in a fictionalised account of the Salem witch trials of 1692. Miller takes the true story and creates a metaphor to criticize the House of Representative's Committee on Un-American Activities, led by Senator McCarthy, which previously condemned him for his possible Communist sympathie.
Queen's College
Queen's Unplugged
Friday 10 March 2023
On Friday 10th March we will be hosting Queen's Unplugged, a fun charity pop concert initiated last year to raise money for St Margaret's Hospice- a fantastic charity which provides care to many families in the local area. Join us for an evening showcasing talent from across the college including the opportunity to get stuck into a delicious bake sale and bar.
Queen's College
Mother Courage and her children - by Bertolt Brecht
Between Wednesday 8 February 2023 and Friday 10 February 2023
Considered to be one of the most important figures of 20th Century Drama, Brecht created a new form of political theatre that endures to this day.
Mother Courage and her children is one of the author's most powerful and though-provoking fables, demonstrating the fact that 'whether you win or lose, for the poor war is a total disaster'.
Brecht has a reputation as being rather serious, but in fact his plays are packed with sharp satire. This brand new adaptation embraces Brecht's message, visual style, and love of absurd comedy in a production that follows in the footsteps of last years epic 'Animal Farm'.
Queen's College
A Slow Crash- A talk on addiction & recovery by Iain Mahoney (CANCELLED)
Wednesday 8 February 2023
An engaging, honest talks on the perils of addiction and the causes that can lead to it. Problems with addiction are often portrayed to young people in a dramatised and sensationalised way. The focus is on the consequences not the causes. This can make it feel like it is something that will never happen to them.
Iain has the background and experience to connect with young people as they consider the difficult subject of addiction. He uses his personal experience to illustrate that the journey into addiction can be one of small, but increasingly painful, steps.
It is delivered in an open and straightforward way, which naturally encourages questions and interaction and will take place in the Old Music Room at Queens.
Queen's College - Old Music Room
Somerset County Orchestra
Sunday 11 December 2022
Breeze - Fezziwig's Jig
Vivaldi - Concerto for 2 flutes (soloists Sally Hedges and Jonty Hedges)
Beethoven - Symphony no.1
St Mary Magdalene Church
Christmas Baking Adult Masterclass
Friday 9 December 2022
Back by popular demand, we have another hilarious hands-on cookery class for adults only at Queen's College. There's no better way to enjoy festive foods this Christmas than to get stuck in and have fantastic seasonal fun in the kitchen!
In this baking class you will learn to make a selection of wonderful festive bakes. So if you're dotty for dough or simply bonkers for bread, come and roll up your sleeves, don your aprons and cook up some tasty Christmas treats to enjoy with a glass of your favourite festive tipple.
This baking workshop is suitable for all levels of experience, creating lovely festive bakes to make your holiday season extra special. Mr Mann, our Head of the Faculty for Art, Design and Food, and your cookery teacher for the night said, "Christmas is a time to celebrate and indulge, and what better way to treat yourself than to a fun evening of festive baking?"
Queen's College Senior School
Pre-Prep Christmas Performance
Thursday 8 December 2022
Hey Ewe! is a baa-rilliant nativity performed this year by our Reception, Year 1 an Year 2 pupils. Of all the sheep in the flock, the smallest, youngest ewe is the most inquisitive. She is always busy getting under the shepherd's feet, asking questions and, to the irritation of the rest of the flock, demanding to know exactly what is going on. One night, however, while all the other sheep are trying to sleep, some extraordinary events unfold that excite her curiosity more than ever before! Come and see what she discovers!
Queen's College Prep School- Birchall Hall
What Makes A British Hero?
Wednesday 7 December 2022
The Historical Association presents...
What Makes A British Hero?
by Sean Brunton
"A real hero is the one who exhibits extraordinary bravery and spirit" writes the author in the introduction to his book 'Six of the Best'. People have made heroes of individuals in all societies throughout history.
This talk explains how heroes emerge as exemplars of the customs and norms of their age. They may be imperfect individuals in terms of personal morals and behaviour, but they inspired their contemporaries and subsequent generations.
-Please contact Geoff Bisson, gb@queenscollege.org.uk, to book tickets.
Queen's College- The Birchall Hall
Christmas Concert
Wednesday 7 December 2022
A festive celebration of the season with performances from our main ensembles as well as from the Dance School - not to be missed!
Tickets - free, with retiring collection for charity.
Queen's College
Year 3 Christmas Play
Wednesday 7 December 2022
Father Christmas has invited Mr Partridge's Amazing Performing Troupe to sing for Mrs Christmas, but Nasty Grimgrump wants to spoil the Twelve Days of Christmas for everyone. Can Mo and Jo reconcile them all in time for a happy Christmas?
Queen's College Prep School- Birchall Hall
Into The Woods
Between Wednesday 30 November 2022 and Sunday 4 December 2022
One of the greatest works by musical theatre Stephen Sondheim, Into The Woods imagines a fairy-tale world where our favourite characters collide; Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Ridinghood, Jack (and his beanstalk) all share an adventure that is both hilarious and heart-rending. Along the way, they learn that maybe it's better if our wishes don't always come true.
Queen's College
Show Of Hands with Miranda Sykes
Thursday 1 December 2022
Folk supergroup Show of Hands are finally reuniting with formidable folk singer Miranda Sykes to captivate audiences at a long-awaited autumn tour. The trio will perform brand-new tracks, live renditions of their award-winning hits and festival favourites for the first time in five long years.
7:30pm Start time
6:30pm Doors open
Queen's College
E-Safety talk
Tuesday 29 November 2022
By Karl Hopwood
Queen's College - The Old Music Room
Christmas Wreath Making Workshop
Wednesday 23 November 2022
Spend a few relaxing hours making a natural Christmas wreath with local florist Liz Robertson of Walking with Blooms who will demonstrate how to make a wreath and help participants make their own. We will be using lots of natural materials obtained from known and sustainable sources.
This event is organised by the QCC and a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie are included!
The workshop will be held in the Dining Pavillion. We will provide the materials for the wreath and the emphasis will be on using natural, sustainable materials from known sources.
We would ask the participants to bring their own secateurs, although there will be some spares if people don't have any.
The Dining Pavillion
Somerset County Orchestra
Saturday 12 November 2022
Somerset County Orchestra will be at St James Church, Taunton to perform the wonderful Stanford Irish Rhapsody No 1, Vaughan Williams Job and Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G minor, where they welcome Cristina Dimitrova, Rotary Young Musician winner.
St. James Church
The Sistine Chapel - The Arts Society Taunton Evening
Thursday 10 November 2022
The Arts Society Taunton Evening presents...
The Sistine Chapel
By Daniel Evans, Lecturer, teacher and tour guide.
The Sistine Chapel is rightly considered one of the modern Wonders of the World. It is a sacred building where mysterious elections take place infrequently, whilst for the rest of the time, thousands visit it on a daily basis.
This lecture will look at the decoration of the ceiling by Michelangelo and concentrate on some of the more unusual inclusions in the Old Testament scheme. It is a mighty piece of painting that demonstrates incredible artistic talent but contains plenty of somewhat subversive elements. Sin and punishment were key themes for much of Michelangelo’s career and it seems that he decided to project these ideas onto the Pope, Conclave and Tourist.
Queen's College - The Queen's Hall
Traitor King - The Historical Association
Wednesday 9 November 2022
The Historical Association presents...
Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor
by Andrew Lownie
This is the story of a royal shut out by his family and forced into exile; of the Nazi attempts to recruit the Duke to their cause, and of why the Duke, as Govener of the Bahamas, tried to shut down the investigation of the murder of a close friend.
It is a story of a couple obsessed with their status, financially exploiting their position and manipulating the media to portray themselves as victims.
-Please contact Geoff Bisson, gb@queenscollege.org.uk, to book tickets.
Queen's College- The Birchall Hall
Half term with Academic Camps Week 2
Between Monday 31 October 2022 and Friday 4 November 2022
Join Academic Camps for the second week of activities.
Queen's College
An Evening Without Kate Bush (CANCELLED)
Sunday 30 October 2022
Howl with the Hounds of Love and dance on the moors with Wuthering Heights!
Kate's not there - but you are.
Whether you’ve been a fan for decades or recently joined the shoal via the ‘Stranger Things’ phenomenon, there has never been a better time to release your inner Bush and celebrate at this joyful, unique and mind-blowing show.
Following its sold-out, critically acclaimed fringe premiere and Soho Theatre season, this smash-hit, award-winning show goes on tour! Sarah-Louise Young and co-creator Russell Lucas pay glorious homage to the music, fans, and mythology of one of the most influential voices in British music. BOOK NOW!
“Sheer delight” The Sun ★★★★
“Joyful” The Times ★★★★
“Richly entertaining” The Daily Telegraph ★★★★ (Critics Choice)
“Magnificent” Attitude Magazine ★★★★★
“Re-inventing the tribute act” The Stage ★★★★★
“You don’t need to be a Kate Bush fan to be transported into something very special” Scotsman ★★★★
Queen's College
Half Term with Academic Camps
Between Monday 24 October 2022 and Friday 28 October 2022
Queen’s College, Taunton are excited to be partnering with Academic Camps to offer a fantastic new scheme of camps throughout the school holidays. During the holidays your child can spend the days learning, having fun and making new friends with other local students, as well as international students who will be boarding with us.
For more information go to: www.academiccamp.org/holidays/day
Queen's College
October Half Term Sports masterclass
Between Monday 24 October 2022 and Thursday 27 October 2022
Join our fantastic sports team here at Queen's College for a day (or two!) of intensive, high energy masterclasses.
Whether you already have a passion for hockey, swimming or rugby and want to improve your skills, or just simply want to try something new, these mixed sport masterclass days have something for everyone!
Years 3-6:
Monday 24th October
Tuesday 25th October
Years 7+:
Wednesday 26th October
Thursday 27th October
Queen's College
Informal Concert
Wednesday 19 October 2022
Join us for an enjoyable and varied programme of music performed by our talented musicians, served with a cup of tea and cake!
Queen's College - Old Music Room
West End Taunton
Sunday 16 October 2022
Three top West End performers will be visiting Queen's College for a fantastic one-day intensive of practical masterclasses in singing, dancing and acting!
Daniele Coombe, Fletcher Dobinson and Rose Reynolds have starred in top West End shows, TV and Hollywood movies and they will offer unique insight into professional technique and style. Daniele will focus on the modern musical theatre voice, Fletcher brings the hottest new choreography and Rose offers insight in audition technique and stage acting. You will have the opportunity to chat, learn about their incredible experiences and even take a cheeky selfie!
Queen's College
Lunchtime Concert
Friday 14 October 2022
A group of our top musicians will be performing our annual lunchtime concert at St John's, performing an exciting and diverse programme of music.
Tickets- Free, with a retiring collection for charity.
St. Johns Church
Lord Fitzwilliam and the Fitzwilliam Museum
Thursday 13 October 2022
The Arts Society Taunton Evening present...
Lord Fitzwilliam and The Fitzwilliam Museum
by Sarah Burles
The Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge was founded on the death of Richard Fitzwilliam, 7th Viscount Fitzwilliam, in 1816, five years after the Dulwich Picture Gallery and eight years before the National Gallery in London.
His bequest included paintings, drawings, prints, medieval manuscripts and books, in addition, a sum of money to build "a good, substantial museum repository for the increase of learning".
Who was Lord Fitzwilliam? How did he acquire his extensive collection? What prompted him to leave it to the University of Cambridge? and, why was Napoleon partly responsible for the founding of one of the great regional Museums? These, and many other questions, will be answered in a lecture that will also discuss some of the key works in Lord Fitzwilliam's bequest.
Queen's College - The Queen's Hall
The Darkening Ages - The Historical Association
Wednesday 12 October 2022
The Historical Association presents…
THE DARKENING AGES: THE CHRISTIAN DESTRUCTION OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD
By Catherine Nixey
This talk will tell the story of how early Christian zealots ruthlessly destroyed the teachings of the Classical world to establish adherence to 'one true faith'. In the process, altars and temples were demolished, libraries emptied and tolerance was despised all in the cause of a religion that espoused peace and compassion. The tale will encompass events that span the Mediterranean world.
Queen's College- The Birchall Hall
Somerset Business Climate Summit 2022
Wednesday 21 September 2022
This packed event will help you to find out more about the different ways to make your business more sustainable and highlight the support available to help you get there. It will showcase some great examples of how to get started and what other local businesses are doing to achieve their goals, whilst often reducing their energy bills and saving money. No matter where you are on your business journey towards becoming net zero this summit is designed to help.
Queen's College- Wyvern Hall
Under One Sun Festival (CANCELLED)
Sunday 18 September 2022
A day for bringing the Queen's College community together. Come and join us!
Live music, raffle, ice cream, food stalls, craft stalls and more!
Free entry for Queen's pupils, parents, OQs and staff. £5 entry fee for all others.
Queen's College
My Thirty Years On The Antiques Roadshow - Lars Tharp
Thursday 8 September 2022
The Arts Society Taunton Evening...
Lars Tharp is a historian, lecturer and broadcaster. He first appeared in the BBC television series Antiques Roadshow in 1986. Lars is Danish born he was at Cambridge University receiving a BA Honours degree in Archaeology and Anthropology.
It’s the BBC’s, longest-running, most treasured reality show.
The lecture is a 'Cracking' talk. It will fundamentally change your view of William Hogarth. Pots, crocks and chinaware tumble through Hogarth's domestic dramas. His detailed paintings and prints are wittily infiltrated with recognizable ceramics........'A Must'!
Queen's Hall
Adult Cookery masterclass
Friday 26 August 2022
Join Joe Mann, Head of Food and Nutrition at Queen's College, for a hilarious hands-on cookery class in the school holidays for adults only. There's no better way to enjoy cooking than to get stuck in and have fantastic fun in the kitchen! So if you're dotty for dough or simply bonkers for bread, come roll up your sleeves, don your aprons and cook up some tasty treats to enjoy with a glass of your favourite tipple.
Queen's College
Under One Sun Festival
Saturday 2 July 2022
Join us for a glorious celebration of all that makes our community rich, diverse and inclusive.
With music throughout the day, ranging from steel pans and Taiko Japanese drums to pop, R&B, musical theatre and folk, there is something for everyone.
Queen's students are also preparing a vast array of world cuisines under the expert eye of our boarders. With crafts, outdoor activities and a diverse range of presentations from inclusivity groups, this is a festival to fill you with pride!
Queen's College
Our New Baby and Me- By Xanthe Lukes
Wednesday 22 June 2022
In this talk Xanthe Lukes will explore some of the ways in which you can support your toddler when welcoming a new baby into the family.
She will explain some developmental stages that might be influencing your toddler, and practical solutions to ease the change for them, in their new family situation.
Highgrove Nursery
