MEMORIES OF a major fire at a Chandler's Ford school were more than a distant beat away as the curtain went up on a £2.9m concert hall.

The official opening of the 400-seater state-of-the-art building marked a double celebration for Thornden School pupils and staff.

The school is now well on its way to a full recovery after last November's blaze, which closed the school for a short time and has inconvenienced its staff and pupils for the last five months.

Head teacher Dr Robert Sykes said the devastating fire had been a dreadful experience.

But there was very much a party mood as pupils marked the official opening of the concert hall with an entertainment package, which included spectacular music, dance and drama. Thornden School is Hampshire's first specialist school in performing arts.

The concert hall project is already bringing a new dimension to the arts and education in southern Hampshire. It will also be the home for the Hampshire County Youth Orchestra.

The launch of the concert complex was the realisation of a vision by the school's governing body and Dr Sykes, stretching back more than a decade.

Features of the new building include a stage large enough for a full orchestra and cathedral-like acoustics created with a 40ft ceiling and special wooden soundboards mounted on walls and ceiling.

Guest of honour at the official opening of Thornden Hall was internationally renowned percussionist Miss Evelyn Glennie, who has collected a string of awards.

At the age of 27 she was made an OBE for services to music and recently joined forces with Sir James Galway, Julian Lloyd Webber and Michael Kamen to promote the place of music in education.

She captivated the Thornden audience with a brilliant solo drum performance and said it was a huge honour to be asked to help celebrate the opening of the hall.

She said: "Music is our daily medicine."

Miss Glennie was among nearly 400 guests including local politicians, education leaders and artists in the field of performing arts.

There were also community leaders, local and regional sponsors of the project from commerce and industry along with architects and engineers who built the hall.

Dr Sykes spoke of Thornden's role as a champion of the place of performing arts within education.

He said: "It should be recognised in the rapidly changing global economy which we all now live in, how important are the qualities of creativity, flexibility and team work.

"The role of the arts in this respect should not be underestimated."

Thornden School Wind Band got the audience in the FA Cup mood with a Drummin' in the Saints number.

There were also musical highlights from Thornden Chamber Orchestra, with a piano solo from Ashley Fripp, the flute ensemble from Hampshire County Youth Orchestra and Thornden Girls' Choir.