News

On Tuesday 27th November, The Purcell School hosted its annual Fundraising Gala at Drapers’ Hall; an evening of fine dining and wonderful music to raise vital funds for the School. The evening featured performances from Purcell students, a silent auction, a raffle and speeches from Principal Paul Bambrough, current student Gayatri Nair and alumnus Andrew…

The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYO) has announced its 2019 orchestra and season. The 164 teenage musicians represent every region in the country and have been selected following 76 days of auditions held in 11 cities across the country where 710 musicians took part in auditions. The Purcell School is extremely proud to…

‘Oboe life’ at the Purcell School is a busy, fun and varied mix of lessons, reedmaking, masterclasses, chamber music, orchestral playing . . . and plenty of practice! There are also regular classes, for example, to try out new pieces, listen to and learn from each other and discuss all sorts of ‘nerdy’ oboe things,…

We are delighted that two of our students have reached the category finals of the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2018 competition. Eliza Haskins, 14, is through on the recorder, and Torrin Williams, 17, on the guitar. Both students will take part in the televised rounds of the competition, which will be shown on…

On Wednesday oboe students participated in an Electromyography (EMG) session, run by Mel Ragge (School oboe teacher) and Sarah Upjohn (School physiotherapist). EMG is a way of looking at electrical activity in muscles by placing electrodes on the skin over the muscles. Pupils were asked to play a set of specific, standard exercises and looked…

  ​Saturday 20th May saw the culmination of a very special recorder project. The event featured new pieces for recorder, written by young people and all inspired by a new concerto for recorder which is being written by the composer Graham Fitkin. The project was a fascinating collaboration with the Royal Academy of Music’s Junior…

  A warm congratulations to Year 11 pupil Francesca Biescas Rue on winning the School Performer Class B (under 18s) award in the British Flute Society Annual Flute Competition. Francesca, who has been studying at The Purcell School for five years under Anna Pope and was also the 2013 winner in the Juniors Division of…

65 young woodwind players from around the UK came to Purcell to take part in an afternoon of workshops, ensemble playing, and performance classes on Sunday 29 January.  The day was kindly supported by Prozone Music, and coached by members of The Purcell School’s Woodwind Department, run by Joy Farrall. The day was aimed at young…

We would like to extend our congratulations to Sixth former Daniel Swani who joins the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) family as a Junior Artist. LPO Junior Artists is a new programme offered by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It was developed to provide young promising musicians from backgrounds usually underrepresented in professional UK orchestras with orchestral experience….

Congratulations to Purcell pupil, Lauren Marshall, who has not only been appointed Principal Composer in the National Youth Orchestra (NYO), but has also delivered an extraordinary original piece, Suspended between earth and air, to open the NYO’s 2017 Winter Concert tour. Lauren has studied at The Purcell School since 2009 under Simon Speare for composition,…