Discovery Concert – Brahms
Fri 15th March, 7pm, JAM
Young-Pyo Lee (violin), Emmanuelle Dumas (cello), and Chris George (piano)
This concert presented a variety of wonderful music for violin, cello and piano by Johannes Brahms, one of the greatest composers of the romantic period. The selection of works performed included his Hungarian Dances for piano trio, Sonatensatz for violin and piano, Intermezzo for solo piano, and culminating in an introduction to his greatest work for piano trio, his Piano Trio in B Major op.8. The Retiring Collection raised money for The Antoine Trust.
Dorothy Chapman Trust String Concert
Thu 14th March, 8pm, Georgetown Methodist Church
The Dorothy Chapman Trust has provided valuable support to string instrument students on the island for many years, ranging from assisting advanced students with the cost of specialist lessons in the UK, to the purchase of beginner-level mini violins and cellos for some of the youngest children. This concert was organised by Julie Millow, Chris George and Emmanuelle Dumas, and presented an entertaining variety of string performances given by around thirty young string students.
Madeira Music Competition Tour
February 8th-13th, Escola Das Artes, Funchal
Four students spent half term at the International Forum of Musical Performance and Pedagogy in Funchal, Madeira, along with teachers Emmanuelle Dumas, Chris George and Young-Pyo Lee. The tour was supported by the Jersey Arts Trust, and involved an intensive mixture of performing, practising, attending concerts and observing fellow young musicians.
The competition is a bi-annual event, and this year attracted one hundred and five students from Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Poland, Kazakhstan, China, Portugal and the UK. The age range of the students went from eight years of age through to thirty years of age, and incorporated a mixture of piano, strings, wind, brass, ensembles and vocal entries. The Jersey students had the opportunity to compete in various age groups, and were delighted to return home with two ‘Second Category’ awards, one ‘Third Category’ award, and one ‘Honorary Diploma’ award.
Alongside performing in the competition, the intensive four-day schedule saw the students performing in an evening recital alongside singers from different countries, observing over ten hours of performances from fellow young musicians, attending two recitals (one of which was given by violinist Anatoly Melnikov, one of the great figures of the violin world) and around six hours of dedicated individual practice time was allocated to each student in the practice rooms of the Escola Das Artes, Madeira’s music conservatoire.
Whilst in Madeira, the Jersey group also had the opportunity to see some of the island in glorious sunshine and even had the opportunity to take part in the traditional Madeiran ‘Fado’ singing in one of the unique family-run Fado venues in Funchal’s ‘Old Town’, and attend the yearly ‘Carnival’ event.
The tour has continued to strengthen the academy’s link with the Escola Das Artes, and is the sixth event to take place over the past five years. The ‘Unissono’ violin group from the Escola Das Artes, led by their teacher Vladimir Proudnikov, has been invited back to Jersey later this year to continue the friendship.