May 2012 – Liberation International Music Festival

 

Liberation International Music Festival 2012

Wednesday 9th May – Sunday 13th May 2012

A breathtaking array of international musicians performed at stunning venues across the island for the fourth Liberation International Music Festival (visit www.liberationjersey.com to see the full programme of events that took place).  The festival is run by Music In Action in association with the Jersey Academy of Music, and the academy was the centre for all rehearsals, accommodation, and educational work.  The educational aspect of the festival fell into three main areas:

Friday 11th May, Noirmont Command Bunker – in the weeks leading up to the festival, four academy students wrote short string quartets based on the four movements of Gorecki’s String Quartet no.2.  They had the incredible experience of working with the visiting string quartet of Harriet Mackenzie and Alexander Sitkovetsky, violins, Jennifer Stumm, viola, and Guy Johnston, cello, on their pieces before hearing them performed in the dramatic setting of the Noirmont Command Bunker.  This was an incredibly powerful event, and an inspirational experience for all involved.

Saturday 12th May, Liberation Masterclasses – local young instrumentalists and singers had the opportunity to receive on-stage tuition from Victoria Simmonds and Mark Stone (vocal), Wu Qian (piano), and Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), during a morning of musical masterclasses at the academy.  The event also attracted members of the public and concluded with a short performance given by all involved.

Piano Masterclass with Wu Qian

Saturday 12 May, Pre-Concert Young Musicians Platform – the final educational event of the festival gave nine young pianists the opportunity to perform on the Opera House stage, presenting the complete set of movements from Debussy’s Petite Suite for piano duet, and Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu.  Their performance formed the ‘pre-concert’ event leading to the European Union Chamber Orchestra’s concert.