Weekly Highlights 16th February 2024

Purcell Pianist Receives Invitation from Cyprus High Commission

It was a pleasure to hear that Year 11 pianist Anna has received an official invitation on behalf of the Cultural Section of the Cyprus High Commission to perform a special concert at Cyprus House.

The concert, entitled ‘Virtuosity Unveiled: Anna Avramidou‘s Piano Mastery at the Cyprus House’, will take place on 28th February.

Anna studies at Purcell under Tessa Nicholson.

Congratulations to Anna. We wish you every success with this very special performance.
 

Purcell Students Perform at Rotary Conference

On Saturday 10th February, six Purcell students and Head of Composition Alison Cox attended the Rotary International Presidential Peace Conference in London at the International Maritime Centre.

Year 12 student Oscar had composed a special song for Rotary entitled ‘A Thousand Voices’ which, having taught the audience the chorus, he sang with a backing track for them to join in. The response was overwhelmingly positive and Oscar received a standing ovation.

Percussionists Natty, Samuel, Megan, Jacob (all Year 12) and Mahla (Year 9) also gave a drumming performance of a piece composed for them by the Japanese percussionist and composer Taichi Imanishi. The students delivered the piece with a great deal of professionalism and a huge amount of fun, so much so that many Rotarians joined in with the playing.

Very well done to all involved!

First Study Composers Trip to St John’s Smith Square

On Monday, Dr Daniel Fardon took Purcell’s first study composers to the Symphony Orchestra’s rehearsal with the Orion Orchestra at St John’s Smith Square. The composers followed the rehearsal with scores of the music and were able to benefit from the experience of renowned conductor, oboist and alumnus Nicholas Daniel. The composers learned a great deal from observing the rehearsal process, and were delighted to be able to stay on to watch the concert that evening which featured three world premieres – two by Year 13 composers Edward and Antonia and one by alumnus Joseph Phibbs – alongside Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Eleanor Alberga’s Strata symphony. It was a wonderful experience for all.

UKMT Intermediate Math Challenge 2024

A few weeks ago over 250,000 students from more than 3,000 schools across the UK participated in the Intermediate Maths Challenge aimed at Year 9, 10 and 11 students. They had 60 minutes to answer 25 challenging multiple choice mathematical problems. Students who performed in the top 5% of the country achieved a gold medal certificate, those in the top 10% achieved silver and those in the top 25% achieved bronze.

We are delighted to announce that we have smashed our previous record medal haul from 18 to 25, an improvement of 40%. Just under half of all students that participated earned a medal certificate! So a great year for maths and congratulations to all medal winners and those that took part!

Gold Medal – Kira (Year 9), Ken (Year 11) and Ireh (Year 10)
Silver Medal – Reeka (Year 10), Chaeyu (Year 9), Tristan (Year 11), Grace (Year 10), Lilly (Year 10), Trevor (Year 10), Jerry (Year 10), Saule (Year 9), Samsara (Year 9), Natalie (Year 10), Hannah (Year 10)
Bronze Medal – Teresa (Year 11), Malena (Year 11), Carla (Year 10), Arunima (Year 11), Albert (Year 11), Teodora (Year 11), Yoko (Year 9), Sofiia (Year 11), Bettina (Year 10), Kutay (Year 9), Willow (Year 9)

Ms Stone, Mrs Kochhar and Mrs Shah wished to pass on their heartfelt congratulations to all who participated, saying ‘We are all thrilled in the maths department and very proud of our students!’.

Furthermore, Kira and Ken are one of only 600 in the country to be invited for the Intermediate Olympiad follow on rounds which take place in March. Congratulations and good luck for the next round!
 

Year 13 Visit The Tate Modern

Last Friday, our Year 13 artists and photographers visited the Tate Modern as part of their Exam component ‘looking through the lens of their chosen theme’. They had a fabulous time, as did the Art Faculty who were full of praise for this ‘lovely group’ of students.

Concert Department Review

On Monday 12th February, led by conductor Nicholas Daniel, The Purcell School Orchestra were joined by alumnus Benji Lock and members of the Orion Orchestra for a performance at St John’s, Smith Square. Benji, who was prizewinner of the 2023 Purcell School Concerto Competition played Gerswin’s famous Rhapsody in Blue. The programme also included two new works composed by current students Antonia and Edward, and another by alumnus Joseph Phibbs. The concert concluded with Eleanor Alberga’s first symphony, Strata.

Well done to lower school students Gracie, John, Michael, Norah, Jasper, Siyue, Rowena and Gui who performed at St Peter’s Church in St Albans on Wednesday afternoon to a very appreciative audience.

Students Kevin, Madeleine, Ireh, Reeka, Jack and Marina also performed a mix of solo and chamber music works at the Rosary Priory Convent on Friday.

Lastly, congratulations to all our lunchtime concert performers, Chaeyu, Jerry, Yoko, Natalie, Hiroatsu and Filip. Wednesday also saw a special performance by the ‘Tuesday Band’ in our Jazz and Commercial Suite. Players were Julianna, Clara, Willow, Ruby, Lucas, James, Otto, Gabriel and Yoel.
 

Dumpling Making Session

On Sunday afternoon some of our boarders’ enjoyed taking part in a Chinese dumpling making session run by one of our chefs. After learning about the process, everyone then got to try making their own. Once all of the dumplings had been steamed to perfection the boarders enjoyed sitting down to eat them.

Lunar New Year Dinner

On Tuesday 13th February, our boarders enjoyed a belated Lunar New Year celebration. They had a delicious meal created by our fantastic catering team and celebrated the Year of the Dragon with some scratch off fortune cards – bringing good luck all round!

Alumnus Performs for World Heart Beat

Last weekend, percussionist, composer and alumnus James Larter performed as part of the World Heart Beat’s Embassy Gardens Concert Series in Nine Elms, London. The virtuosic solo programme was of Larter’s own works, pieces by Michael Gordon, Kevin Volans and Astor Piazzolla, as well as a fugue from a Bach violin suite and Debussy’s Clair de lune tailor-made for sticks and marimba. The concert was covered by the Guardian here.

World Heart Beat is a small charity which has taken over a unit at the base of a tower block in Nine Elms, close to Battersea Power Station and next door to the American Embassy. The premises consist of an intimate concert hall, studio, cafe and music academy with practice rooms, and the charity supports 440 young people from low income families, recent migrant and refugee families. Jazz composer and pianist Julian Joseph is the patron.
 

Alumnae Nominated for BBC Music Magazine’s Premiere Award

We were delighted to hear that alumnae and viola player Rosalind Ventris has been nominated for BBC Music Magazine’s 2024 Premiere Award for her debut solo album, Sola.

The album features outstanding solo viola works inspired by nature, folk music and dance by leading female contemporary and twentieth century composers. The awards are decided by public vote. If you would like to support Rosalind, voting is open here and closes at midnight on Friday 23rd February.
 

Forthcoming Events

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

Wednesday 28 February – Chamber Music at Wigmore Hall
Time: 1.00pm
Venue: Wigmore Hall, London
Tickets: £18 and available to purchase from the Wigmore Hall website

Programme:
Astor Piazzolla Tango Suite
Joaquín Turina La Oración del Torero, Op.34
Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 66
Schubert String Quintet in C

Performers:

Natahniel Merkies Guitar
Rocco Dal Cin Guitar
Yu-Wei Huang Violin
Antonia Zadrag Violin
Dianna Kim Viola
Ivan Cherednichenko Cello
Dominic-Lucian Drutac Violin
Lindsey Lim Cello
Herman Med Cerisha Piano
Rebecca Nicolas Violin
Tori Li Violin
Danya Rushton Viola
Ella Harrison Cello
Ivanna Oliinyk Cello

Wednesday 28 February – Composers’ Concert
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required

Tuesday 5 March – Songwriters’ Concert
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission, no booking required

Wednesday 6 March – Middle School Orchestra Concerto Concert
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required

Programme:
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1, I. Allegro con brio
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2, I. Allegro con brio
Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5, I. Allegro aperto
Luca Newman New Work
Haydn Symphony No.103, I. Adagio – Allegro con spirito and IV. Allegro con spirito

Performers:
Purcell Middle School Orchestra
Zev Piano
Daria Piano
Sonya Violin

Monday 11 March – Commercial and Popular Music Department Gig at The Horns
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: The Horns’ 1 Hempstead Rd, Watford WD17 3RL
Tickets: Free entry!

Students from the Commercial and Popular Music Department return to The Horns music venue in Watford to perform classic Soul, Funk, Pop and Rock.

Wednesday 13 March – Symphonic Wind Orchestra and Choral Concert
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required

Performers:
Lower School Choir
Sixth Form Choir
Symphonic Wing Orchestra

Programme:
Mussorgsky (trans. Lavender) Pictures at an Exhibition
Orff Carmina Burana