London Concert Day-Trip
14th December 2014
Eight students aged 13-16 participated in this project to experience the Philharmonia Orchestra performing in the Royal Festival Hall. After an early start the first visits of the day upon arrival in London were Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey:
The walking route from Victoria to the Southbank also gave the group the opportunity to see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament:
The rest of the morning incorporated some free time at the Southbank Christmas Market, and a trip on the London Eye:
After a picnic lunch it was time to enter the Royal Festival Hall for the concert, featuring the Philharmonia Orchestra and an outstanding programme of Smetana, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky. Arguably the highlight of the concert was Smetana’s Sarka from Ma Vlast, depicting the story of a female warrior tricking a group of soldiers to their grisly fate, a truly gripping performance from start to finish:
Our thanks go to the Jersey Arts Trust for sponsoring this and many other of the academy’s projects and events, and also the Dorothy Chapman Trust for their sponsorship of the concert tickets.
Winter Project Week – ‘Seriously Solos!’
1st-4th December 2014
This term’s Project Week gave all the students of every age and instrument the chance to perform a solo. Four concerts took place during the week, focussing on the various instrumental disciplines of strings, woodwind, brass, piano and percussion, and in total the week presented over one hundred and fifty different performances!
At the end of each concert the teachers performed too, and each evening concluded with a ‘post-concert party’ for all to enjoy. On the Tuesday evening the event concluded with festive performance given by Vocalize Choir (pictured below), our thanks go to them for their involvement. The retiring collections during the week raised over £200 for CLIC Sargent (Jersey). Congratulations to all involved!
Royal College of Music Junior Department Residency
29th – 30th Nov 2014
Three young pianists aged 11-17 came over from the Royal College of Music Junior Department led by their teacher Professor Yekaterina Lebedeva. During their short stay, a group of ten local young pianists from the academy had the opportunity to receive masterclasses from Professor Lebedeva, and this was followed by a buffet lunch for all the students and parents to have together with the visiting group. The residency concluded with a concert given by the three visiting pianists, starting with John Gallant performing a programme of Bach, Czerny and Grieg, followed by Theodore Hayes with a programme of Scarlatti, Czerny, and Grieg, and concluding with Veronika Krasheninnikova performing an engaging combination of Bach, Beethoven and Chopin. Our thanks go to the Jersey Arts Trust for their continued sponsorship.
