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Weekly Highlights 27th November

Welcome to the latest edition of Purcell’s Weekly Highlights!

Live at Lunchtime (#8)

Live at Lunchtime has made a tremendous return to Purcell, with our latest instalment and the eighth in the series streaming live earlier this week on Tuesday (24th). The programme showcased music by Mendelssohn, Bridge and Holst in a variety of different instrumental ensembles. Our sincere thanks to Sixth Formers Rebeca, Jayden, Jack, Catherine, Elsa, Lily and Deniz who lent their considerable talents and delivered beautiful performances.

If you missed Tuesday’s livestream, or any of the other concerts in this series, please visit the School’s YouTube channel where all of the Live at Lunchtime concerts are available. Please click here for #8.

TuneUp Tuesday

On Tuesday 24th November, 60,000 primary school children from across the UK and Ireland took part in TuneUp Tuesday’s national virtual assembly. The TuneUp Tuesday initiative, which aims to provide schools with the opportunity to celebrate the impact of the arts in the development and the mental health of young people in the UK, is the innovation of Purcell governor, alumna and Head of KES Birmingham Kirsty von Malaise. The assembly included commentary and performances from contemporary musicians such as Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Purcell’s own Year 13 pianist and prefect Zara.

Zara has graciously allowed us to share her videos here.

For further information about TuneUp Tuesday, please visit the TuneUp website.

Sound Espressivo Global Competition

Year 13 oboist Chelsea and Year 10 oboist Rhea have reached the Semi Finals of their respective age categories in this year’s Sound Espressivo Global Competition. The competition has reinvented itself during these difficult times and, by teaming up with the pioneering technology of Virtual Concert Halls, will livestream contestant performances in real time and provide instant feedback from the panel of distinguished judges. The Semi Finals will take place during 4th – 6th December, and the Finals will follow on 11th – 12th December. We have everything crossed for Chelsea and Rhea, and wish them both the very best of luck in this original and timely competition.

Artwork of the Week

This week’s pick of Purcell art is Ireh’s (Year 7) pangolin in the style of The Very Hungry Caterpillar illustrator Eric Carle.

2021 GRAMMY Nominations

Earlier this week, the Recording Academy announced nominees in 83 categories for the 63rd GRAMMY Awards, and we were delighted to hear that multi-instrumentalist and alumnus Jacob Collier received three nominations, including ‘Album of the Year’ for Djesse Vol. 3.

Huge congratulations to Jacob on these richly deserved nominations. The 63rd GRAMMY Awards will be announced on 31st January 2021, and we wish Jacob the very best of luck.

Daniel Fardon

On Tuesday (24th) BBC Radio3 broadcast a live lunchtime concert from St David’s Hall in Cardiff. The broadcast included the world premiere of composer and Purcell teacher Daniel Fardon’s ‘Elements of Disco’, written for the Carducci Quartet and commissioned by Cheltenham Music Festival. The concert is available on BBC Radio3’s online player here.