The Purcell School > News > Weekly Highlights > Weekly Highlights 19th May 2023

Weekly Highlights 19th May 2023

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

Young Songwriter of the Year 2023 Competition Update

Following a recent edition of the Weekly Highlights feature (05.05.23), we are thrilled to be able to share the great news that Year 11 composition student Cole’s original song ‘Just You and Me’ has made it into the Top 10 (in its category) of the Young Songwriter of the Year 2023 Competition! Cole’s song, which is a duet and features vocals from Year 12 singer Jess, can be heard on the Song Academy’s Soundcloud here.

The UK/Ireland winners and runners-up will be announced on Saturday 23rd September 2023. We wish Cole the very best of luck!

Purcell Pianist to Play with London Firebird Orchestra

Year 13 pianist Benji has been invited by the London Firebird Orchestra to perform Schumman’s Piano Concerto in A Minor Op 54 on Tuesday 30th May at 7.30pm in the Parish Church of St George, Mayfair. Tickets are available here, and we wish Benji every success for the event.

Purcell Student to Perform in Concert for Ukraine

On Wednesday 24th May at 7pm, Year 12 viola player Danya will be performing in a Concert for Ukraine at St Peter’s Church in Belsize Park.

The full programme is listed below and Danya will be playing in Finzi’s Dies Natalis and Barber’s Adagio.

Vaughan Williams arr. Gerigk The Lark Ascending for String Sextet Vaughan Williams On Wenlock Edge for tenor, string quartet and piano
Barber Adagio for strings
Finzi Dies Natalis for tenor and strings

All of the musicians involved have donated their services in support of DEC’s Ukraine Appeal. Tickets are £18 and available here. We wish Danya the very best with this most important of fundraisers.

From Purcell to Paris

On Friday 12th May, a small contingent of Purcell travelled to Paris to take part in an intimate gala in celebration of His Majesty King Charles III. The event took place at the Swedish Club in the heart of Paris, and saw Shlomi (Year 10, violin), Suanoi (Year 11, flute) and Aaron (Year 11, harp and piano) perform for invited guests to great applause.

After the success of the night before, the students had some time to do a brief bit of sightseeing around the Louvre and along the Seine before catching the Eurostar back to London on Saturday.

Our thanks to all three students, who should not only be tremendously proud of their playing but of their impeccable conduct. Special mentions must also be made of those members of staff who accompanied the students to Paris – a big thank you to Purcell’s French teacher Heloïse Gille and Head of Sixth Form Ziggi Szafranski, as well as Principal Paul Bambrough, without whom this trip would not have been possible.

James Gilchrist Masterclass

Several months ago, the school was fortunate enough to secure the services of the renowned tenor, James Gilchrist, to sing Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the school orchestra and with Year 13 student Chloe playing the horn solos. James came to the school last Thursday (11th May) to rehearse with the orchestra which was conducted by our Director of Music, Paul Hoskins. James also agreed to give a masterclass to some of the singing students later that evening.

The rehearsal of the Britten concluded with a complete run of the piece which was opened to all singers to attend and see at close quarters a consummate professional at work. Those present to observe and the orchestra members were hugely impressed by James’ artistry and professionalism: a masterclass in itself.

At the masterclass proper, James showed himself to be just as effective a teacher as he is a performer. His boundless energy and enthusiasm inspired all those who took part and succeeded in drawing out the best in all the participants. His words were insightful and full of imagination drawing on his wealth of knowledge and experience. He is a true master of his art and a return visit in the the future would be most welcome.

Chiltern Arts Festival

Following on from sensational masterclass, last Saturday our students had the pleasure of performing with critically-acclaimed tenor James Gilchrist and BBC Young Musician of the Year 2022 Finalist Jaren Ziegler in what was an outstanding evening of musical entertainment at the Chiltern Arts Festival in Henley-on-Thames. The concert saw Purcell’s young musicians execute a challenging programme of music by Elgar, Walton, Woolrich and Britten, interspersed with original works by Purcell composers, culminating in Mozart’s beautiful serenade, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. A special mention must be made of Year 13 horn player Chloe who played the horn solo tremendously.

Percussion Department

Following a host of sensational masterclasses in the Percussion, Brass, Voice and Harp departments – and a sublime Harp Department lunchtime concert – the Purcell community were treated to an almost unprecedented lunchtime concert on Monday given by all of our first study percussionists.

Joshua (Year 13), Ali (Year 12), Hannah (Year 9) and Mahla (Year 8) showcased a variety of works that they have been working on with percussion teacher Daniella Ganeva and Head of Department Ryan Hepburn. It was a virtuosic, stylish and invigorating display of repertoire for mallets! Well done all.

Choral Conducting Class Visit Royal Opera House

In a previous Weekly Highlights (21.04.23) we featured news of the Sixth Form members of Irina Walters choral conducting class visiting the Royal Opera House. On that day, Wednesday 19th April, the students met with William Spaulding, chorus master of the Royal Opera House, and were able to take in a chorus rehearsal. Year 13 students Maddie and Joshua have provided accounts below of their experiences.

‘On Wednesday 19th April, 15 Choral Conducting students and singers were lucky enough to visit the Royal Opera House, to watch chorus rehearsals for Il Trovatore and Wozzeck. Needless to say, the two Operas were stunningly different, but this meant it was particularly interesting to see different conducting and rehearsal techniques. The afternoon began with a full chorus run through of tutti sections of Il Trovatore. All the singers were so welcoming, and it was exhilarating to hear the sheer volume of sound they created, and the improvements made from the chorus director, William Spalding, were audible in real time due to the incredible efficiency of the rehearsal. It was interesting to notice how many times he made the chorus speak the words in rhythm, before putting the melody back in again, resulting in incredible rhythmical and pronunciation accuracy. As well as this, at one point he asked the tenors and basses to sing a staccato passage completely legato, so that the notes became rich and full, a quality which was then retained on the return to staccato. It was fascinating to learn both from the rehearsal technique and the way the singers responded.’ Maddie (Year 13)

‘After hearing Il Trovatore being rehearsed and having a short break, the choir looked through Wozzeck, singing through all the section where the choir sing – these passages were very far and few, particularly for the upper voices who only sing for a few bars in the entire opera (on the word “Blut”, meaning “blood” in German). In classic Alban Berg manner, it is chucked full of dissonances and very quick melodic & harmonic lines throughout, particularly in the tenor, baritone & bass chorus “Ein Jäger aus der Pfalz” which has some very high notes for the lower voices to sing! Similar to what was achieved through rehearsing Il Trovatore, the choir would rehearse the diction of the words, especially in a language like German where the words have to be extremely clear. The equally infamous “sleeping chorus” for the same combination of lower voices required a lot of skill as well, as the singers were required to pitch all their notes from a completely unrelated passage of music that the piano played a few bars before. Needless to say, a few minutes were spent getting it right, and from there on it was just right. As mentioned before, the upper voices do not sing very much, but in their final tutti chorus, hae a very important role. The sopranos all had 2 very high notes to sing at the end of this section – a top B rising to a top D. Being sat where us choral conducting students were, the sound was absolutely incredible, but at points equally deafening, and this particular moment in the opera was certainly a passage I had to cover my ears!

Near the end of the session, conductor Antonio Pappano came in to hear the voices and have a very short rehearsal on Wozzeck, lasting the better part of 5 minutes. He was very quick, asked a few brief questions and gave advice on what the choir should try to do, but equally making sure that everyone was in check and knew what he was going to show from the orchestra pit, and anything to look out for. This is the kind of thing you would expect in a “conductor’s call” – the conductor has to be in and out of there in a flash, with everything else going on at this time in the ROH!

All in all, it was a very good experience, and we would like to thank Mrs Walters and Mr Hoskins for helping organise this trip for us. It was truly good fun and very useful to see what life is like in the Royal Opera House, especially when learning more than one opera at once!’ Joshua (Year 13)

Our thanks to Maddie and Joshua for providing these insights.

Art Students on Research Trip

In preparation for the Art department’s stunning contribution to the PurcellComposers@60 SCRAWL project, Mikhail, Maddie, Ted (all Year 13) and Goulwenna (Year 12) went on a mission to the ‘Beyond The Streets London’ exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery to research graffiti artists. The photographs from the trip will be used to create a display in school about SCRAWL.

Concerts Week in Review

It was all go in the Concerts Department this week with a stunning performance at the Benslow Music Trust, as well as events at Heathdene Manor, Signature at Elton House and Castle Village.

While here at Purcell, staff and students were treated to three Lunchtime Concerts including a highly acclaimed one by our first-study percussionists.

Well done to all performers for their fantastic playing: Dominic, Grace, Ostap, Ciara, Ivan, Mina, Seth, Zarema, Kutay, Josh, Mikhail, Yoko, Lucas, Tudor, Arunima, Sonya, Antonia, Danya, Kevin, Samsara, Belinda, Zev, Rebecca, Sofiia, Hannah, Mahla, Joshua, Ali, Natalie, Rocco, Nathaniel, Suanoi, Aaron, Yakub and Grace.

Forthcoming Events

In addition to those highlighted events below, please visit our new online Concerts and Events Guide here.

Monday 22nd May – Piano Department Concert
Time: 7pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required

This concert will feature students from the Piano Department who will shortly be touring Italy and Romania over half term.

Wednesday 24th May – Mitsu Piano Trio Concert
Time: 7pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required

The Mitsu Trio was formed in 2020 by British pianist Tyler Hay, Japanese cellist Akito Goto and Spanish violinist Laura Custodio Sabas. The members of the trio met at The Purcell School for Young Musicians and continued their studies in major UK conservatoires such as the Royal Northern College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. Between them they have performed as chamber musicians and soloists in distinguished venues in the UK such as the Wigmore Hall, the Cadogan Hall, Queen Elisabeth Hall and St Martin’s in the Field.

Tuesday 20th June – Singers’ Soirée
Time: 6pm
Venue: Recital Room, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required

Come and hear some of Purcell’s finest singers in a short musical soirée to celebrate the year’s hard work. The concert will feature all first study voice students.

Thursday 22nd June – Class Concert with Pal Banda
Time: 4pm
Venue: The Recital Room, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required

The cello students of Pal Banda will be performing to one another in celebration of their hard work and progress this academic year.

Performers: Josh, Ken, Teresa, Jessie, Emma and Ivanna

Friday 23rd June – Lower School Concert
Time: 3pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required

This concert will feature a selection of talented soloists from the Lower School.

Wednesday 28th June – Piano Department Concert at St James’ Piccadilly
Time: 7pm
Venue: St James’s Piccadilly, 197 Piccadilly, St. James’s, London W1J 9LL, UK
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required

Wednesday 28th June – Purcell Plays Jazz Funk
Time: 7pm
Venue: Watford Palace Theatre, 20 Clarendon Rd, Watford WD17 1JZ
Tickets: Tickets are £8 to £15 and available to purchase from the Watford Palace Theatre box office here

A Jazz Department concert featuring The Purcell School Jazz Ensembles and Big Band (plus strings and vocalists), playing the music of Austrian bass guitarist Stefan Redtenbacher. Stefan will be joining us for the concert to direct and play with the ensembles.

Thursday 29th June – Proms at St Jude’s
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: St Jude’s Church, Hampstead, Central Square, London NW11 7AH, UK
Tickets: Tickets are £25 to £35 and available from Proms at St Jude’s box office here

Featuring:
James Gilchrist, tenor
Chloe Harrison, horn
Paul Hoskins, conductor

Programme:
Elgar | Serenade for Strings
Britten | Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
Mahler | Adagietto from Symphony No. 5
Beethoven | Symphony No. 2

Monday 3rd July – Purell Parallels III: Midsummer Meze
Time: 7pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required

The third concert in the Purcell Parallels series, entitled Midsummer Meze, features new works by Maddie (Year 13), Robert Saxton, Antonia (Year 12), Phil Dutton, Aaron (Year 11), Gareth Moorcraft, Sylvia Lim, Cole (Year 11) with preludes and encores by Tim and Leyla (Year 10), Nemunis (Year 9) and Kaelan (Year 10).

Monday 3rd July – Commercial and Popular Music Dept LIVE at The Horns
Time: 7pm
Venue: The Horns, 1 Hempstead Rd, Watford WD17 3RL, UK
Tickets: Free entry

Come along to the very first gig featuring students from our new Commercial & Popular Music Department!

Expect to hear 60’s Motown hits, funk, rock and original music from our students as they perform in The Horns, a local established music venue.

Dancing is most definitely permitted!

Tuesday 4th July – Rachmaninoff 150 Concert
Time: 7pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required

In Rachmaninov’s 150th birthday year, join us in the CP Hall for a concert featuring the Purcell Chamber Choir, Symphonic Wind Orchestra and Sixth Form Pianists.

Wednesday 5th July – Upper Sixth Piano Recital
Time: 7pm
Venue: Recital Room, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required

Student-led concert featuring, for the final time as Purcell students, Djordje, Rujie, Benji, Ozel, Anastasia and Thomas.

Thursday 6th July – Sound, Image, Movement Concert
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required

Come along to the CP Hall for the final concert of the year – Sound, Image, Movement!