The Sound of Students on a Splendid Thursday Night

Our annual Patana Unplugged concert is a key highlight in the lives of the school’s young and promising musicians, whether they’re in Year 7 and just starting their Secondary School experience, or in Year 13, indulging in the sentimental show as performers for one last time before they depart and focus on their own futures.

On 2nd April, the concert was held in the Black Box, showcasing soloists, duets and bands that performed arguably one of the most unique setlists ever for this concert, from 19th-Century classics such as Jimmy Van Heusen’s ‘Come Fly With Me’ to more recent, popular hits like Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Vampire’. The musical tradition of the Unplugged concert has been continued by our many talented students, led by our very own teachers, school staff, MCs, and Dave Cheung and myself as the concert’s student managers.

Unlike November’s Patana Plugged concert, this show contained no judges or feedback after the performances, allowing for a smooth flow of performances after a brief introduction from the MCs.

While all performances were equally outstanding, major pieces that really made the crowd cheer included our school’s very own ‘Golden Kazoos’ with their truly entertaining interpretation of ‘Demons’ by Imagine Dragons – only they could come up with such unique instrumentation and choreography. Other remarkable performances included a stunning mashup of ‘Yellow’ by Coldplay and ‘Night Changes’ by One Direction performed by three of our school’s Year 13 students, and one of the concert’s final pieces, ‘Hope Lingers On’ by Lissa Schneckenburger, performed by the Senior Choir and directed by Ms MacRitchie.

This concert has been infinitely busier than not just this academic year’s Patana Plugged, but last year’s Unplugged as well, showing that music from our students can inspire potential musicians in younger years to really let their talent shine in front of their teachers, friends and family.

Reflecting on the role of organisers, I am pleased that this concert has turned out to be extremely successful, and both Dave and I had an amazing time managing the concert; both of us are extremely grateful for having been given this opportunity. Of course, due to the many individuals who wanted to perform and the limited number of slots, we did run into a few issues. However, as they’ve all been resolved, we are satisfied with the concert’s outcome and hope that everyone who attended, regardless of if they were performers or not, had an experience that they will never forget.

Now that we are relatively near the end of the school year, we hope that the musical events this year have left a lasting impression on the students, teachers and parents. Unplugged has been an experience filled with wonder, and as we bid farewell to our Year 13s, their passion for music will be carried on through the lives of our budding students, and who knows? Maybe, sometime in the foreseeable future, they will blossom into brilliant musicians who will make next year’s Unplugged even more memorable than this year’s. – Torres Chou, 10W

“Patana Unplugged 2026 was a really enjoyable and meaningful experience. Singing has always been something that I’ve loved to do. Unplugged’s environment and atmosphere is really supportive and encouraging, and that’s part of the reason why I have really loved joining it for the past three years. The acoustic setting in Unplugged (where performers don’t have any individual or handheld mics, only floor mics), is really unlike any other concert at school. It made the performances feel much rawer and more authentic; if anyone’s scared of performing, Unplugged would be a great space to start. The performance area is smaller and the audience isn’t as large as some of the other concerts at school, so I felt a lot more comfortable on stage. I was able to be fully present in the moment, which made the performance feel more personal and genuine. Not having a mic pushed me to really project my voice, be conscious of my expressions and overall helped me grow a lot as a performer.

The event itself had a lot of thought and effort put into it, from the student organisers Dave and Torres who listened to all the auditions and gave kind, helpful feedback, all the music staff who planned the rehearsals and the logistics, and of course, the performers as well. Like with any concert, I think you could really tell how each piece was rehearsed over and over again so that the version you heard that night was truly the best one. Speaking from experience, my pianist Mia and I took quite a long time to even choose a song, let alone start practicing it, so what made the experience truly memorable.

The atmosphere felt like everyone was just there to support how much effort everyone had put into the show, with lots of people encouraging each other, cheering loudly after every performance, and just creating a safe space to perform without pressure. This made it really easy to enjoy the performances and feel confident while being on stage. Overall, it was a really valuable experience that allowed me to improve, connect with others, and appreciate performing in more intimate settings.” – Ying Ying Han, 9R