Band back to get prom off to good start

A musical group from Clifton College has returned from Portugal after taking part in a charity concert for a children's home – just in time to perform at this year's Prom on The Close.

The Soul Band is made up from 11 pupils aged between 15 and 18, supported by two teachers, and this week they appeared in front of 300 people in the Portimao Culture Centre to raise money for the local children's home.

Tonight they will be back in Bristol playing in front of an audience more than 15 times the size to launch the city's biggest outdoor party, sponsored by the Evening Post and our sister paper the Western Daily Press.

This year's Prom on The Close, which is also sponsored by Ashfords Solicitors, features Natasha Marsh and Nicky Spence, two of the UK's most exciting young classical singers, plus the Emerald Ensemble, and takes place in the grounds of Clifton College today.

Supporting them will be local choirs, including The Six, from Redland High School; Partsong, a Bristol-based a cappella group led by James Vaccaro; the Bartones, a vocal harmony group based at Barton Hill; and Nota Bene, a seven-strong a cappella choir, who have been together for 12 years.

The Soul Band line-up includes vocalists Callum Paine, 18, Gemma Crowther, 18, Lucy Telling, 18, Abi Hallworth, 17, and Emily Shalash, 17, saxophonists Harriet Payne, 18, Sophie Atkinson, 17, Rosie Quick, 16, and Rhys Edwards, 15, guitarist Giles Nuttall, 17, and Ben Sellick, 17, on drums. They are supported by guitar teacher Jerry Crozier-Cole and sax teacher Dave Miles.