Welcome to the latest edition of Purcell’s Weekly Highlights!
(Just a reminder that next week will not feature a Weekly Highlights as students are on Half Term break)

Arad Philharmonic Orchestra

Congratulations to Purcell student Ioan-Octavian Pîrlea on being invited to play the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Arad Philharmonic Orchestra at The Cultural Palace Hall in Romania next week. The orchestra will be led by conductor Iulian Rusu and the performance will feature Jean Sibelius – Valse triste, op. 44; Violin Concerto in D minor, op 47 and Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67. Full details of the event can be found here.

Terraforma Festival Line Up Announced

Milan’s foremost sustainable experimental festival has revealed the first round of artists for its 2019 edition. Terraforma Festival, which takes place from July 5 – 7 at Milan’s Villa Arconati, has announced the first acts to be featured in its 2019 program which includes former Purcell student Mica Levi.

First Ever China International Piano Competition Announced

The China Conservatory of Music has announced the creation of a major new international music competition, the First China International Music Competition. Held in Beijing from May 4 to 21, 2019, the inaugural edition of the competition will be an invitational devoted to piano performance. It will consist of pianists who have been recommended by the world’s foremost international musical authorities. The list of 22 finalists was recently announced and it included former Purcell student Alim Beisembayev. The Conservatory will award a first prize of US$150,000, with second and third prizes of US$75,000 and US$30,000 respectively. In addition to winning this unprecedented purse, the gold medalist will be offered representation by two major international artist management companies; Opus 3 Artists in the United States and Armstrong Music and Arts in China. The management giants will coordinate three years of international concert tours.

Library Donations

We’ve recently had a huge donation of books including composers’ biographies, New Grove books, Music dictionaries, books about structure and more spanning so many different areas of music from Ben Sugden whose late father was a trustee of the school. The books are available to be borrowed from the library and will be catalogued and put onto shelves over the next week or so. We’ve also had two other donations this term so there are some new scores (vocal, piano, full scores, violin) floating about too.

Bromsgrove Young Musician’s Platform

Congratulations to student Iohan Coman on being selected to perform at the Bromsgrove Young Musician’s Platform audition rounds this year. The Bromsgrove Young Musicians’ Platform is a platform for talented young instrumentalists and singers. It has two categories, a junior section for those aged 9 to 13 and a senior section for those aged 14 to 17.

Philosophy & Theology 6th Form Conference

Last Friday, Dr Kris Angelov took 15 Purcell students in the Pre-U Philosophy & Theology course to a 6th Form Conference in London led by Dr Peter Vardy. There were over 600 students attending the event, which considered exam topics such as Science & Design in the Universe, Evil & Suffering, Utilitarianism, and Euthanasia. Here is what some of our students had to say about the experience:

    • I found it really helpful how Dr Peter Vardy engaged with all the students and went through all the topics thoroughly. The notes booklet we received will be extremely useful for our exams – Sofia Lisak

 

    • The most inspirational thing about the day was just listening to Dr Peter Vardy speak. A man of such intellect and knowledge. I was captivated straight away. Would definitely recommend! – Sol G

 

    • The debate at the end of the day was the most interesting part because it was fascinating being able to hear lots of different students’ opinions on various topics and then being able to compare them to my own opinions – Yasmin S-C

 

    • Listening to Dr Peter Vardy speak has given so much resonance to my understanding of philosophy. Along with the helpful tips of exam technique mentioned in each topic, the debate at the end of the conference engaged us fully with the subject of euthanasia. Would highly recommend. – James S

 

  • It was really interesting to explore other philosophers’ and religious leaders’ views that we hadn’t discussed in class so that we can now add these to our essays. It was also intriguing to see what other students had to say during the debate – Lea K

 

This week’s gallery

The last week has been particularly busy for students in the run up to half term. Along with those attending the Philosophy Conference, many performed at the Concert For The Friends of Benslow Music and at the Three Rivers Music Society along with being visited by renowned pianist Gabriel Kwok for a Masterclass. Outside of music, we held the first (of many) self-defense classes for female students of Sunley House. It was a great success and we hope to offer more classes like this to more and more students.