www.abingdon.org.uk 15 Abingdon Music Piano Masterclass with Anthony Williams On 27 September, we welcomed concert pianist, lecturer and adjudicator, Anthony Williams, to join our pianists for an evening masterclass. With a varied performing and educational career, Mr Williams was able to give the pupils technical and interpretative advice on their performances, making clearly tangible changes to their performance in a matter of minutes. It was a wonderful evening for the pupils who were able to use the various pianistic, gestural and interpretative suggestions of Mr Williams providing them with a wonderful springboard to further develop their piano playing in the coming months. Senior Solo Competition The fiercely anticipated Senior Solo Competition took place on 2 November and it was a complete pleasure to welcome educationalist, composer, teacher and author, Paul Harris to adjudicate this year’s competition. With a range of music from the Baroque to contemporary across a breadth of disciplines including bassoon, voice, flute, violin and piano, this was a wonderful evening of music, showcasing the strongest musicians of the school. Paul Harris commented on the dedication to the interpretation and delivery of the music performed throughout the evening alongside praising the technical demands evident in each performance. As ever with such an evening of musical competition, there were confirmed winners and Paul praised Branden and Anson with highly commended performances. 3rd place was awarded to Ben whilst Louis was placed 2nd and Ryan (for showcasing both his technical capacity and musicianship in the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto) was awarded 1st place. Evensong at St Michael’s On 22 November, St Cecilia’s (the patron saint of music) Day, it seemed fitting that the Chapel choir would sing their termly evensong in St Michael’s Church in Abingdon. For many of our choristers, this was their 1st experience of this reflective service. Pieces included Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Call, Stanford’s Psalm 150 (accompanied on the organ by Philip), Stanford’s Evening Service in Bb, Howells’ Like as the Hart and Bach’s Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb Major. The choir coped with the challenging long phrases brilliantly alongside singing with clear diction and balance. In November, 4 organ pupils gave a short and varied lunchtime recital to showcase their hard work and progress this term. The programme began with Henry Purcell’s Air, played confidently by Harish; followed by Charles Wesley’s imposing Larghetto from Enoch. Samuel then played the Kyrie, by Frescobaldi and Boëly and Bach’s Nun ruhen alle Wälder, before Philip concluded the programme with Thalben-Ball’s Elegy and the 1st movement of Bach’s Sonata no. 1. It was lovely to hear such assured performances.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUxNTM1