Musicians impress at Music and Arts Festivals
Musicians across the Prep and Senior School are celebrating an extraordinary set of results from a number of Music and Arts Festivals including the Mid-Somerset Festival, the Bristol Festival of Music, Speech & Drama, the Devon Performing Arts Festival, the Taunton Music Festival and the Watford Festival.
The School’s pianists succeeded in a number of Mid-Somerset Festival classes, with Melvin W (Year 11) taking the Outstanding Pianist Award and first place in the Open Recital class, followed closely by Ezra H and Theodore NB (Year 10) in joint second. Theodore also took equal first with Anton P (Lower Sixth) in the Post 1900 Open and equal second with Soho P (Year 6) in the Romantic Open. Anton took first place in the Classical Open, with George D (Year 9) taking third, and Soho took first in the Baroque Open. Shanna F (Year 8) came second and Hanson L (Year 9) third in the Repertoire 13 and Under class, while Charlotte Z (Year 5) came first in the Repertoire 11 and under with Arnold T (Year 7) in second. Charlotte also took first in the Enjoying Jazz 11 and Under class and, duetting with her brother Lucas in the 13 and Under class, received an outstanding 93 marks. Additionally, Charlotte also competed in the Bristol Music Festival, winning the 10 Years and Under class and the 15 Years and Under Repertoire. Similarly, Michael D (Year 9) competed at both the Mid-Somerset Festival and the Bristol Festival, receiving commendations in the Piano Repertoire 13 and Under and the Piano Solo Grade 7 in the former and second place in the Pre 1900 13 and Under, along with third place honours in the Bach 17 and Under on organ, in the latter.
Our harpists stormed the Mid-Somerset Festival’s Harp Solo Advanced class with Sunny C (Year 10) taking first, Etty A (Lower Sixth) second and Tui A (Year 11) third. Charlotte F (Year 6) came second in the Harp Solo Intermediate and Francesca A (Year 6) third in the Harp Solo Elementary. Furthermore, Michael D (Year 9) received honours in the Harp Solo Intermediate and Instrumental Solo Jennifer Patterson Award, and took first place in the Recital and Own Composition classes at the Bristol Eisteddfod, as well as being commended in the Intermediate class. In addition to his harp entries, Michael also competed in the Mid-Somerset Festival on viola, receiving honours in the Instrumental Solo Advanced Grade 8 class, and Emmy W (Year 6) came in first place in the Mayor of Bath’s Award for ages 14 and Under. In addition to his duet with his sister, Lucas Z (Year 8) also claimed first prize in the Advanced class with 94 marks, and at the Taunton Music Festival he came first in the 14 Years and Under and Charlotte came first in the 18 Years and Under.
Our vocalists also demonstrated an impressive turnout at the Mid-Somerset Festival, with particular congratulations to Kai O (Year 11) who received the King Vocal Award for Outstanding Singer in the 16-19 age group. Faith G (Year 10) came third in the Show Song (14 years) class and third in the Art Song (14 and 15 years) class, with Aleksei L (Year 10) taking second and Estella F (Year 10) first. Aleksei and Estella also took equal second in the Vocal Recital (15 years and under) class. Moving up to the 16-19 classes, in the Vocal Recital Rosie B (Year 11) took first, Kai second and Beth B (Lower Sixth) third. Kai won the Oratorio class with Beth in second and Rosie sharing third with Viktor VK-C (Lower Sixth). In the Opera class, Beth came first with Kai in second and Rosie in equal third with Gabriel C (Lower Sixth), and Gabriel came equal second with Kai and Beth in the Show Song class. Finally, in the Art Song class, Beth came first, Kai second and Rosie third.
Annabel P (Year 7) was awarded honours in all five of her singing categories at the Devon Performing Arts Festival; Song in a Language Other Than English (Panis Angelicus), Folk Song Unaccompanied 12 Years and Under (The Wraggle Taggle Gipsies), Sacred Song 12 Years and Under (That Youge Child), Girls/Boys Song from the Shows 12 Years and Under (The Trolley Song) and Girls’ Solo Singing 11 Years and Under (Where e’er you walk). The feedback from the adjudicator was very positive and constructive, and Annabel won her shield back from last year for her Folk Song entry.
Despite feeling unwell on the day of the competition, Gloria A (Year 6) won the Watford Festival Brass Award for the Most Promising Young Brass Player. The award spanned across all age groups, grades and recitals of the Brass and Woodwind section of the Watford Festival of Music, Speech and Drama, which saw her trump even conservatoire players from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
Zino Z (Year 9) entered the Mid-Somerset Creative Writing Competition in both the Original Poem and Short Story categories for pupils in Key Stage 3, and we were delighted to hear that he secured runner-up prizes in both. Zino was awarded Certificates of Outstanding Achievement and a signed book by the acclaimed Children’s Book author Lu Hersey, who adjudicated the contest.
