With many students preparing music for individual, GCSE or A level exams, it was no surprise that the standard of music at Wednesday’s Informal Concert on Wednesday was stunning. Opening the concert in a confident style was Sam on the violin with a brisk performance of Intra by Moffat, with its tricky double and triple stopping skillfully navigated.
Next up was Shanvi, performing in her first concert ever but you wouldn’t have known from her strident and accurate performance of ‘Indian Dance’ on the piano. Georgie then performed as part of her A level coursework and gave a simply stunning performance of two movements of the Oboe Concerto by Kramar-Krommer, dazzling the audience with remarkable breath control and razor sharp accuracy of this diploma standard piece.
A hard act to follow but Millie stepped up magnificently, demonstrating her brilliant versatility. Her performance of ‘Jubal’s Lyre’ by Handel also demonstrated exquisite breath control; she then moved onto ‘Green Finch and Linnet Bird’ and ‘The Wizard And I’, both very challenging pieces performed with superb style and aplomb.
To change the mood, Charlotte treated us to a beautiful harp piece, Equisse, with its flowing arpeggios and harmonics. It was then back to the oboe, with Hannah stepping up to perform two pieces from Oboe Sonatas by Saint-Saen and Poulenc respectively; not easy works but Hannah made them sound as if they were.
Evan then treated us to a stylish performance of Valse by Maykupar, with its lilting melody and gentle triple time pulse. The concert was then rounded off by Florence giving us a smooth and polished performance of ‘Smoke Gets In Your Eyes’ on the trombone; a very mellow way to end what had been one of the best Informal Concerts of the year.
Many thanks and congratulations to all those who performed and provided such a scintillating evening of music.
