Weekly Highlights 16th October 2026

Success for Purcell Brass Players at Elland Slow Melody Competition

Congratulations to Glyn (Year 9, trumpet) and Skye (Year 13, trombone) on their success at the Elland Slow Melody Competition on Saturday 10 October.

Glyn won the Under 14s prize and was also named Best Cornet of the event for the second year running. He and Skye also joined forces to secure third place in the quartet competition.

A fantastic result for both musicians! Glyn studies classical trumpet with Tony Cross, while Skye studies classical trombone with Ruth Molins.
 

Purcell Double Bassists Collaborate with Young Musicians in Hamburg

Lucas (Year 11, double bass), Norah (Year 10, double bass) and Summer (Year 9, double bass) travelled to Hamburg, Germany, earlier this month for an international double bass workshop at the Hamburg Conservatory. They were joined by alumnus Prince (Class of 2026) and their teacher at Purcell, Cathy Elliott.

The group took part in Aktionstag Kontrabass on Sunday 4 October, an event organised by Felix von Werder, double bassist with the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra, with support from principal bass Stefan Schäfer. The Purcell musicians were invited to arrive early, allowing an additional day of activities and collaboration with German students.

The weekend included chamber music sessions, performance classes, lessons with different teachers and the chance to play together in a large double bass orchestra. The group also enjoyed a performance of Verdi’s Macbeth at the Hamburg State Opera and a private tour of the spectacular Elbphilharmonie concert hall.

Lucas particularly enjoyed the workshop itself, recalling: “On Sunday we started at 10 o’clock at the conservatoire where we played in chamber groups, had two lessons with different teachers and then played in a big double bass orchestra, which was a lot of fun.”

For Summer, the trip was “a really good experience” that helped develop her solo and chamber playing, as well as giving her the chance to meet other young double bassists. Norah similarly valued the opportunity to collaborate internationally and learn from experienced teachers, describing it as “a really great opportunity to collaborate with fellow bass students internationally and learn more about the bass”.

Our thanks to Felix, Stefan and Cathy for organising the visit, and to the Hamburg musicians for their warm welcome and hospitality.

Purcell Students Take on 10k Walk for Mental Health

Congratulations to Daria and April (Year 13), Purcell’s Charities and Outreach Leads, who recently took part in the GLOW 10k walk for mental health at London’s Battersea Park, raising funds for Mental Health UK.

The route took them along the Thames and past some of London’s best-known landmarks, including Big Ben and the London Eye. The event raised an impressive £133,000 in total.

This was Daria’s second charity walk of the school year, following her participation in Cancer Research UK’s Night Walk in September. The pair are already hoping to take on further fundraising challenges once their conservatoire auditions and university interviews are out of the way.

A big thank you to April’s dad for joining them on the walk. Daria’s fundraising page remains open for anyone who would like to contribute: Support Daria’s fundraising for Mental Health UK.

Patron News: Sir Simon Rattle Extends Tenure in Munich

We are delighted to share the news that Sir Simon Rattle, President of The Purcell School, will continue as chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Bavarian Radio Choir until 2033, extending his tenure with the Munich-based ensembles by five years.

Sir Simon took up the post in the 2023-24 season. His time with the orchestra and choir has brought increased international visibility, alongside a renewed emphasis on music education and outreach.

Speaking about the extension, Sir Simon said: “I love these musicians, these singers, and I’ve never been happier. I can hardly wait for the coming years and look forward to them with great joy.”

We congratulate Sir Simon on this news and look forward to following the next chapter of his work with these outstanding ensembles.
 

Dr Sarah Upjohn Shares Her Expertise at National and International Conferences

Dr Sarah Upjohn, Purcell’s Physiotherapist, has had a busy year sharing her work at the intersection of performing arts medicine, physiotherapy education, occupational health and music education.

In May, Sarah spoke at the Society of Occupational Medicine Conference in Nottingham, followed in July by presentations at the Performing Arts Medicine Association’s World Conference in New York and the International Society for Music Education’s World Conference in Montreal. Her conference programme continues this autumn, with a visit to Glasgow for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy’s National Conference.

Through these events, Sarah collaborates with colleagues in performing arts medicine and music education from around the world, particularly in Canada and Australia. Alongside her weekly work at Purcell, she contributes to a range of organisations supporting musicians’ health and development, including the Royal College of Music and its Junior Department, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the National Children’s Orchestra, Music Mark, Young Sounds and Sinfonia Smith Square.

Sarah’s work highlights the important role of health and wellbeing in music education and the performing arts. We’re pleased to share some photographs from her recent travels, including visits to New York and Montreal.

Purcell Concerts Review

Live at Lunch – W/C 12th October
Our Live at Lunch series continued this week with another varied programme, bringing together classical repertoire for strings and wind instruments alongside jazz and contemporary music.

Monday’s performances featured Samsara (Year 12, clarinet) in Muczynski’s Time Pieces and Hannah (Year 13, viola) performing the opening movement of Cecil Forsyth’s Viola Concerto in G minor. On Tuesday, Elsa (Year 11, bassoon) performed Saint-Saëns’s Bassoon Sonata, while Patrick (Year 8, viola) presented Fauré’s Élégie and Liszt’s Liebesträume No. 3, followed by Ed (Year 12, violin) performing Messiaen’s Theme and Variations.

Wednesday brought a change of style in the JCS, with Jamie (Year 13, drums) opening the session alongside Jonas, Gianntino and Albert (Year 13, guitar), performing 100 Percent by 4am Kru. Jonas (Year 13, drums) then performed Benny Golson’s Stablemates and John Coltrane’s Naima, supported by Flo (Year 12, double bass), Miles (Year 13, jazz vibraphone) and Otto (Year 13, jazz saxophone). The session concluded with Gianntino (Year 13, piano) performing his own composition, A Borrowed Brush, alongside Jule Styne’s I Fall in Love Too Easily, joined by Paawan (Year 13, drums), Gil (Year 11, bass) and Julianna (Year 13, saxophone).

The week concluded in the Recital Room with Ayman (Year 13, clarinet) performing Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, followed by Chaeyu (Year 12, violin) presenting the second and third movements of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major.

Another excellent week of performances, showcasing the breadth of musical styles and the wealth of talent across the School.
 

Forthcoming Events

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

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4 November – Organ Recital at St Peter’s Church, St Albans
Time: 1pm
Venue: St Peter’s Church, St Peter’s Street, St Albans AL1 3HG
Tickets: For further information, please visit St Peter’s website

Join us at St Peter’s Church, St Albans, for a solo organ recital given by Year 12 organist, Arthur.

Arthur studies at Purcell with Tom Winpenny.

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5 November – Alex Redington and The Purcell School Chamber Soloists at Wigmore Hall
Time: 1pm
Venue: Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore St, London W1U 2BP
Tickets: Tickets are available here

The Purcell School Chamber Soloists return to Wigmore Hall for the first of three concerts in the 2026–27 season, presenting a programme of chamber music for string ensembles.

Led by Head of Strings Alex Redington, the students will perform George Enescu’s monumental Octet, following a virtuosic quartet for four violins by acclaimed Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz.

Internationally acclaimed British violinist Alex Redington is widely known as the founding member of the Doric String Quartet, as well as for his distinguished solo and teaching career.

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7 November – Lunchtime Concert, St James Muswell Hill
Time: 12pm
Venue: St James Church, St James’s Ln, Muswell Hill, London N10 3DB
Tickets: Entry is free, all are welcome

Purcell pianists perform a one-hour lunchtime concert at St James, Muswell Hill.

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9 November – The Purcell School Jazz Musicians at Benslow Music
Time: 3pm
Venue: Benslow Music, Benslow Ln, Hitchin SG4 9RB
Tickets: Tickets are available here

The Purcell School Jazz Department presents an afternoon concert Benslow Music Trust.

The concert will be one hour in duration, followed by tea and cakes.

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11 November – Remembrance Day Lunchtime Concert
Time: 1.10pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free to attend, no booking necessary

The Purcell Symphonic Wind Orchestra present a Concert of Remembrance.

Please do come and join us for this special concert.

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13 November – Purcell Woodwind Players at University of Birmingham
Time: 1.00pm
Venue: Elgar Concert Hall, Bramall Music Building, Birmingham B15 2TT
Tickets: Free admission, no booking necessary

Purcell Woodwind students present a one-hour lunchtime concert at University of Birmingham’s beautiful Elgar Hall.

Programme:
Poulenc Sonata for Two Clarinets
Mozart Serenade No.12 in C minor, K388
Louise Farrenc Sextet in C minor for Winds & Piano, Op. 40

Further information is available here.

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18 November – Jazz Live at Lunch Concert
Time: 1.10pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission, no booking necessary

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25 November – Reich@90 Concert
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission, no booking necessary

In Autumn 2026, The Purcell School will mark Steve Reich’s 90th birthday with a term-long celebration exploring one of the most influential musical voices of the past century. Taking place in parallel with wider international celebrations of Reich’s work, the project will bring together performance, composition, production, songwriting, jazz and commercial students through the school’s Centre for Creative Practice. Across the term, students will engage with Reich’s distinctive musical language through workshops, lectures, seminars, and collaborative creative projects.

The project will culminate in a mini-series of concerts and events presenting key works by Reich alongside a series of world premieres by Purcell students & staff responding to his output. Repertoire will include works such as Radio Rewrite, Quartet, Nagoya Marimbas, Electric Counterpoint and Clapping Music, with student responses ranging from chamber and percussion works to electronic pieces, collaborative rewritings, and online releases. The project will also acknowledge Reich’s dialogue with popular music through performances of Radiohead songs connected to Radio Rewrite, creating a broad, interdisciplinary celebration of influence, reinterpretation and new creative work.

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26 November – Cedars Village Afternoon Concert
Time: 2.30pm
Venue: Cedars Village, Finch Green, Chorleywood, Hertfordshire WD3 5GL
Tickets: Limited ticket availability, email concerts@purcell-school.org to enquire

Purcell’s Jazz and Pop students perform a 1-hour afternoon concert at Cedars Village in Chorleywood.

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2 December – St Mary le Strand Lunchtime Concert
Time: 1.00pm
Venue: St Mary le Strand, Strand, London WC2R 1ES
Tickets: Admission is free and all are welcome

Join us at the historic church of St Mary le Strand, in the heart of London, for a relaxed one-hour midday performance by Purcell Six-form students.

The programme will feature solo works for guitar, piano, cello and saxophone.

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2 December – Session Bands Concert
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Admission is free, no booking required

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5 December – Purcell Choirs at St John the Baptist Aldenham
Time: 11.30am
Venue: St. John The Baptist Church, Church Lane, Radlett WD25 8BE
Tickets: Admission is free, with a retiring collection

We are delighted to return to St John the Baptist, a beautiful church in our local community. Led by distinguished mezzo soprano and Purcell staff, Dr Chloë Allison, students will be performing the repertoire studied over the Autumn term, alongside some festive music to celebrate the holiday season.

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7 December – Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral
Time: 5.00pm
Venue: St Paul’s Cathedral, St Paul’s Churchyard, London EC4M 8AD
Tickets: Admission is free, no booking required

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8 December – Brass Christmas Concert
Time: 1.10pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Admission is free, no booking required

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9 December – Jazz Department Concert
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Admission is free, no booking required

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10 December – Leicester International Music Festival Concert
Time: 12.00pm
Venue: Hansom Hall, 50-54 Belvoir St, Leicester LE1 6QL, UK
Tickets: Tickets are available here

Purcell students are invited back to the Leicester International Music Festival to perform as part of its lunchtime concert series. This year’s concert will take place in the historic Hansom Hall, the temporary home of the festival, which is reputed to have hosted concerts by both Franz Liszt and Ignacy Jan Paderewski.

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