The Purcell School > News > Weekly Highlights > Weekly Highlights 3rd December 2021

Weekly Highlights 3rd December 2021

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

Design a Christmas Card Competition

A big thank you to everyone who entered this year’s Design a Christmas Card Competition.

We received some fabulous designs, and Purcell’s Principal Paul Bambrough was tremendously impressed with the standard of entries and the creativity of our young musicians (artists, in this case!). All of which made it very hard to pick a winner.

We are pleased to announce that this year’s competition winner is Amanda (Year 11). Amanda’s winning design, which features a wonderfully festive gingerbread string quartet performing on a snowy landscape, will become the 2021 Purcell Christmas card.

Special mentions must also be made of the competition’s Runner Up Jessie (Year 10) for her charming entry of a red-nosed reindeer and yuletide dog, and of all the other students who entered and helped to make the competition such a success.

(Click on each image to expand)

All of the competition’s designs can be found in the awards presentation below.

Congratulations to Amanda, and thank you again to everyone who entered.

Christmas Card Competition 2021

Fulham Palace Christmas Fair

Year 8 pianist Celeste performed a full repertoire of old masters, seasonal songs and feel good favourites at last Saturday’s Fulham Palace Christmas Fair, London.

Well done, Celeste, your playing will have warmed many hearts on what was a particularly chilly Saturday.

Miss Stevie Mitchell

We were delighted to hear earlier this week that Purcell’s KS4 Academic Co-ordinator and Maths teacher Miss Stevie Mitchell has passed her MA in Mathematics Education with merit! Her thesis (being nothing short of 20,000 words) was based around the learning of an instrument/studying music with mathematical understanding. She is clearly in the perfect place! Congratulations on a fantastic achievement.

Sona Jobarteh

On Tuesday, we we thrilled to welcome (back!) Kora virtuoso and alumna Sona Jobarteh to Purcell for a series of sensational presentations and performances.

Sona Jobarteh is the first professional female Kora virtuoso to come from any of the West African Griot dynasties. Her lineage carries a formidable reputation for renowned Kora masters, most notable amongst these are her grandfather Amadu Bansang Jobarteh and her cousin, the legendary Toumani Diabaté.

Sona is reputed for her skill as an instrumentalist, her distinctive voice, infectious melodies and her grace onstage, and she has rapidly achieved international success. At the heart of this success is her dedication to humanitarian activism in the areas of social development and educational reform on the continent of Africa. Sona is the Founding Director of The Gambia Academy, an institution dedicated to educational reform for Africans on the continent of Africa. More information about Sona and The Gambia Academy is available here.

We are grateful to Sona for taking time from her busy UK schedule to visit with us, share her music and tradition, and reminisce about her time at Purcell. Our thanks to Head of Composition Ms Alison Cox for arranging the visit, and to Sona for a fantastic afternoon.

Eva Serksnaite

Bassoonist, former Head Girl and alumna Eva Serksnaite has been celebrated (quite rightly) as the London Music Fund’s Graduate of the Month for December. Eva joined Purcell in 2013, where she studied bassoon with Graham Hobbs and jazz piano with David Gordon.

We are so pleased that she has been recognised in this way.

For more information about Eva’s musical journey, please visit the London Music Fund’s website here.

Alim Beisembayev

Leeds International Piano Competition Winner, pianist and alumnus Alim Beisembayev will be giving a lunchtime Piano Recital at the Wigmore Hall this coming Monday 6th December at 1pm. Tickets are available through the venue’s box office here, and the performance will be broadcast live on Radio 3.

Forthcoming Festive Events

Advent Carols
Sunday 5th December, 6:30pm
St James Church, High Street, Bushey WD23 1BD
Free admission with a retiring collection

Join us for an evening of advent carols in the beautiful setting of 700 year-old St James’ Church in Bushey.

Purcell Winter Jazz Concert: The Music of Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter
Wednesday 8th December 2021, 7.00pm
The Purcell School, CP Hall
Open to a limited number of guests on a FCFS basis, with parental priority
Email concerts@purcell-school.org to register interest
Free admission

The Purcell Improv Group and Jazz Ensemble, featuring special guest Martin Shaw on trumpet, will perform the entirety of two of Jazz’s seminal albums – A Kind of Blue (1959) by Miles Davis, and Speak no Evil (1966) by Wayne Shorter.

End of Term Christmas Concert
Thursday 9th December, 7:30pm
St Mary’s Church, Church Street, Watford WD18 0EG
Please email concerts@purcell-school.org for tickets
Free admission

The Purcell School’s annual end of term concert will be a celebration of festive favourites!