11th March 2009

A special concert at the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in West Kensington celebrated the life of a pupil who died aged just 18. Fabian Maingot, who was a pupil at Cardinal Vaughan, died suddenly of heart disease 10 years ago this month.

The school’s Big Band, of which he was once a member, played a concert last Wednesday in St John’s church, Smith Square, Westminster, to raise money for the charities British Heart Foundation and Cardiac Risk in the Young.

Paying tribute to the teenage young man’s life, the school’s headmaster stated: “Fabian was an outstanding young man, an ornament to his family and to his school.”

He added that Fabian was hard-working, a keen sportsman and a highly proficient musician.

“He was a boy of whom any parents might be justly proud. The ten years since Fabian died have passed very quickly. But time has not dimmed his memory. It will live forever in the hearts of those who knew and loved him,” he stated.

At the concert, the band was joined by alto saxophonist Jason Yarde as well as vocalist Obenewa Aboah.

The school’s singing group, the Schola Cantorum performed; the school choir sang Tippets’s Five Spirituals; and there was a performance of Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C, with sixteen-year-old Isaac Morris as soloist.

A tribute from Fabian’s godfather, Leroy Logan, stated: “Fabian’s legacy still lives on in my heart and mind as a warm glow of peace and joy, reminiscent of the last time I saw him on his birthday. Despite the pain of losing him at such a young age, the significance of his achievements as a role model and a loving son overrides some of the sorrow.”

The school bursar’s assistant Brendan O’Sullivan said that the concert went tremendously well, adding: “Some of the performances were exceptionally good.”