Abingdon News No.56

16 January 2021 Abingdon Music Woodwind Masterclass We were delighted to welcome back to school the phenomenal teacher, writer, composer and clarinettist, Paul Harris, to work with six of our senior woodwind players from the Third Year to the Lower Sixth. We were treated to a wonderful range of instruments – a flute, an oboe, a clarinet, two bassoons and a saxophone. Lower School lunchtime concert Solo instrumentalists and three ensembles, Junior Strings, Lower School Band and the Open Mic Group, enjoyed the opportunity to perform on the Amey Theatre stage. They gave excellent performances including renditions of ‘Jingle bells’, ‘And when the Saints’, the Star Wars theme, and, in a definite first for a lower school concert, an impressive display of rapping skills. After a gap of six months, the first solo concert platform of the year celebrated the return of solo performance in school in style. It was wonderful to hear our musicians live and we had the pleasure of 16 excellent solos from a range of talented musicians representing woodwind, brass, strings and piano. Although we were not able to have an audience, we set up a livestream so that parents could be part of the event. At the second solo concert platform in November we heard a further 15 excellent solo performances from boys in the First Year through to the Upper Sixth. Solo Concert Platforms Senior competition This year saw some ‘stratospheric’ performances according to adjudicator, Richard Poyser from d’Overbroeck’s. The senior section was for post grade 8 musicians and included piano, cello and woodwind. Congratulations to Oliver Simpson who picked up first prize amongst a very strong field. Intermediate competition This showcased the talents of 13 of the School’s intermediate musicians, five pianists, four woodwind and four string players. The competition was judged by Richard Stafford from Ardingly College who congratulated all the performers and selected Laurence Peverall as the winning musician. Junior competition Sean Fitzpatrick, Director of Music at Abingdon Prep, had the difficult task of judging 11 very strong performances on a range of instruments, including woodwind, strings and piano. There was very little to separate the musicians but in the end, David Hrushovski was rewarded with the cup for some very beautiful clarinet playing in Tartini’s Concertino . Instrumental solo competitions Chilingirian masterclass This year’s violin masterclass, once again given by Levon Chilingirian, offered six of our senior violinists the opportunity for a public lesson in front of fellow players with a world-class violinist.