JCO After-School Concerts
January 26th and 27th 2012
Two wonderful ‘After-School Concerts’ took place linked with the Jersey Chamber Orchestra’s New Year Gala concert on Saturday 28th January. As part of this event, two ensembles of visiting professionals from the UK gave concerts of music for wind and strings at the academy. The Rygate Wind Quintet gave a colourful and lighthearted performance after school on Thursday 26th January, and one particular highlight was a fantastic arrangement of Debussy’s Gollywog’s Cakewalk from his Chidren’s Corner Suite.
The following day the unique instrumental ensemble of ‘String Octet’ took to the stage, comprising four violins, two violas, and two cellos. They performed two movements of Mendelssohn’s String Octet, and gave a fascinating verbal introduction to the work, revealing the fact that Mendelssohn wrote this work at only fifteen years of age.
Our thanks go to Music In Action for bringing these performances to the academy, and the orchestral concert the following evening at the Opera House was a resounding success.
Vladimir Ashkenazy – London Concert Day-Trip
December 11th 2011
A group of fourteen students had the opportunity to spend an action-packed day in London, the highlight of which was the chance to meet Vladimir Ashkenazy backstage at the Royal Festival Hall!
The day began with a very early meet at Jersey Airport, followed by the train to Victoria. The walking route to the Thames presented the opportunity for the group to visit Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey:
By 10am the group were standing under Big Ben in time to hear the chimes, and this was followed by a hot chocolate at County Hall on the river. The next activity was a trip on the London Eye, quite a spectacular way of seeing the sheer size of the capital and the skyscrapers under construction.
Some free time at the Christmas Market outside the Southbank Centre was next, followed by lunch in the cafe. After lunch, the Philharmonia’s principal Percussionist David Corkhill met with the group, a close contact of Chris and Emmanuelle from teaching at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. A trip backstage followed, a remarkable opportunity to see behind the scenes of one of the country’s leading concert halls, and Mr Corkhill was also able to introduce the group to the conductor of the concert, none other than Vladimir Ashkenazy:
The group spent a wonderful question and answer session with Maestro Ashkenazy, asking questions they had prepared earlier in the day and finding out about life as a pianist and conductor, the differences with working in contrasting concert halls and with various different orchestras. This was truly a once in a lifetime experience for all.
The concert itself opened with a scintillating performance of Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, followed by Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, who was encouraged through applause to give an encore of Debussy’s La Puerta del Vino. The second half opened with De Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain, and concluded with a seminal work which actually has a close connection to Jersey (as it is written that he actually started writing the work here) – Claude Debussy’s La Mer. Of particular note was the rousing last movement, leading the whole concert to a truly epic conclusion.
A short train journey to Gatwick led to the group literally singing their way onto the plane with Christmas Carols! We are grateful for the support of the Jersey Arts Trust in helping to cover many of the costs associated with the tour.
Christmas Concert
December 9th 2011
Twenty-five students came together to perform at the end-of-term Christmas Concert, in front of a large audience of family and friends. Many children performed carols, and one particular highlight was the eight-strong ‘Cello Ensemble’ performing Silent Night.
