Wadham's Music Society performs Stevie Wonder's 'Songs in the Key of Life'

On May 22, Wadham College Music Society performed Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life in its entirety, in what has become a tradition of full-album playthroughs in the Holywell Music Room. Prior to this latest entry, the Music Society has covered Radiohead's OK Computer, Amy Winehouse's Frank, and The Beatle's Abbey Road across 2023-24.

Before the show, Jasmine Shackman, one of the Music Society members behind the latest production, shared her thoughts on the experience of bringing Songs in the Key of Life to the stage at Wadham.

We were inspired to choose the Stevie Wonder Album, firstly because both me and Poorna both love the album and Stevie Wonder deeply; we’re both jazz musicians and Stevie Wonder and his music was really inspiring to us growing up. I remember listening to the album on repeat as I studied for exams in secondary school. The album was also something quite different to both Abbey Road and Frank, and provided a nice variety for both our audience and the many musicians who have played with us a couple of times now.

We hope the audience connects with the real musicianship of the album. So many people love the album as it’s not highly polished in a studio, you can really hear every piece of instrumentation and the hours of skill and craft that went into it. You can hear a real passion in the album for music in general. Its joyous feelings feel very needed right now as we approach exam season and we hope it can bring some musical cheer to everyone.

I think the album format is successful because it’s such a unique way of appreciating music, there is not often an opportunity to listen to one artists work for such an extended period of time. I think the album play throughs become more of an experience then a gig, which is often a nice refresher. I also think the album playthroughs are highly successful as often times the musicians can get really into it. Everyone who has joined Stevie Wonder is really into the artist, and has really appreciated the experience of spending so much time with their work. And obviously you can hear that appreciation carried through in the actual performance.

Many to thanks Jasmine and the Music Soc for putting on an amazing show!