December 2012 – Suzuki Strings Christmas Concert

 

Suzuki Strings Christmas Concert


Wednesday 12th December 2012, JAM


For an enthusiastic and very young group of violinists and cellists led by Vanessa Moore (violin) and Emmanuelle Dumas (cello), this Christmas Concert provided another great opportunity for these young children to get further accustomed to performing in front of an audience.  There was a fun and gentle atmosphere throughout the whole event, and one particular highlight was the children placing decorations on the Christmas tree using their violin and cello bows! (pictured).


Suzuki Strings Christmas Concert

 

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December 2012 – Christmas Concert at the Jersey Museum

 

Christmas Concert at the Jersey Museum


Thursday 6th December 2012, Jersey Museum


A wonderful and unique event to end the term with, the reception hall of the Jersey Museum was transformed into a ‘christmassy concert hall’ with over one hundred children, young musicians, families and friends packed in to hear the music performed.  This ranged from some of the youngest students having their first opportunity to perform in a concert, to performances given by some of the older and more advanced students.  There was plenty of Christmas Cheer to be found, with the Jersey Museum cafe/restaurant very kindly laying on mulled wine and canapes for everyone.  Our thanks go to Jersey Heritage for their partnership in this event, and we hope to make this a regular feature of the winter programme of events.


Christmas Concert at the Jersey Museum

 

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December 2012 – Royal College of Music Junior Department and Friends

 

Royal College of Music Junior Department and Friends


Sunday 2nd December 2012, JAM


For this visit, professor Katya Lebedeva from the Royal College of Music Junior Department visited the island along with three of her outstanding young pianists.  Local advanced pianists from the academy had the opportunity to receive tuition from professor Lebedeva in the morning, following which the whole group had lunch together before rehearsing for the concert.  The concert in the afternoon gave the opportunity for all students to perform, and a wide variety of works were performed to an enthusiastic audience of families, friends, and young musicians.  Our thanks go to the Jersey Arts Trust for their sponsorship of this event.


Royal College of Music Junior Department and Friends

 

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November 2012 – Jersey Youth Chamber Orchestra Winter Session

 

Jersey Youth Chamber Orchestra Winter Session


Sunday 25th November 2012, St. James


For the second outing for this new orchestra, the students performed Bizet’s L’Arlesienne Suite no.2 and Mozart’s Violin Concerto in G with local young soloist Elliot Samphier.  The concert opened with a solo performance of works by Prokofiev and Faure given by Jennah Smart, a local flautist who is in her final year of undergraduate study at Trinity College of Music.  This was a performance marked by beauty of sound and moments of breathtaking speed and virtuosity.


The orchestra then took to the stage led by conductor Stephen Threlfall, Director of Music at Chetham’s School of Music.  The orchestra opened with Elliot Samphier on violin and the first movement of Mozart’s Violin Concerto in G, which was a performance of huge confidence, wit and drama given by this outstanding young musician.


The orchestra was then in the spotlight with Bizet’s L’Arlesienne Suite no.2, and particular highlights were the woodwind solos in the 2nd and 3rd mvts, with Megan John on flute giving a beautiful rendition of the Minuet accompanied sensitively by Krystian Lamb on piano.  The 4th movement, Farandole (March of the Kings), build to a huge climax and the resultant ovation from the audience demanded an encore of the rousing finale of this movement.


The orchestra is run through the partnership of the Jersey Academy of Music with the Jersey Music Service, and sponsored by the Strasser Foundation.  For this session the instrumental tuition was provided by Young-Pyo Lee (upper strings), Emmanuelle Dumas (lower strings), Sarah Le Feuvre (woodwind), Graham Cox (brass), and Russell Abraham (percussion).  The next session will take place in Summer 2013.

 

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October 2012 – Jersey Eisteddfod Preparation Concert

 

Jersey Eisteddfod Preparation Concert


Friday 26th October 2012, Jersey Academy of Music


A wide range of ages and instruments participated in this event, giving students the opportunity to perform their Jersey Eisteddfod pieces for the first time in front of an audience in preparation for the festival itself.  The concert featured music for brass, wind and piano, and all the students involved did themselves proud!


Jersey Eisteddfod Preparation Concert



 

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October 2012 – Grand Hotel Musical Brunch

 

Grand Hotel Musical Brunch


Sunday 21st October 2012, Grand Jersey


Five students performed a fun mini-concert at Grand Jersey’s Sunday Brunch in the Park Suites on Sunday 21st October. The 25 minute programme of music presented classical works by Tchaikovsky and Grieg alongside jazz pieces by Gershwin.


Grand Jersey Mini-Concert


This is the launch of a new partnership between the academy and Grand Jersey to give talented young instrumentalists some positive performing experience in a warm and encouraging environment.  More dates are planned for 2013.


 

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July 2012 – Musique et Aventure 2012

 

Musique et Aventure 2012


Sunday 22nd – Sunday 29th July 2012


The academy’s popular summer music course celebrated another successful year with fifty young musicians involved in a week of music and fun!


Each morning the music tuition took place, involving all the students in an individual one-to-one lesson each day of the course alongside chamber music, orchestra, and various talks and lectures.


Musique et Aventure rehearsal


This was all led by the teaching faculty of Young-Pyo Lee (violin), Eric Wang (violin), Claire Dumas (viola and orchestra), Emmanuelle Dumas (cello), Sam Bisson (piano), Chris George (piano), Gregory Feret (percussion), and Pippa Lumbard (brass), with coordinator Caroline Finch helping all the students find their way through the timetable.  The glorious weather allowed students to relax outside in the breaktimes.


Musique et Aventure relaxing


Each afternoon a different activity took place, and this year the beach activities included Banana Boat riding, Kayaking, Sofa rides, and a trip in a High-Speed Rib Speedboat.  There was also a fun afternoon at Aquasplash, and an afternoon shopping for souvenirs.


Samba Workshop


On the Thursday afternoon we were delighted to welcome visiting guest artiste Justine Hart to the island to lead a samba workshop involving all the students, and that evening the course’s teaching faculty performed for all the students at Georgetown Methodist Church.


Musique et Aventure concert


The ‘Grande Final’ of the course took place at St. Helier Methodist Centre, in which all the students performed in a variety of solos, duos, ensembles, and orchestra in front of a packed audience of family and friends.


The website of www.musiqueetaventure.com has further information on the course.

 

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July 2012 – JAM End-of-Year Concert at the Jersey Arts Centre


JAM End-of-Year Concert at the Jersey Arts Centre


Friday 20th July 2012


The academic year was brought to a rousing conclusion with a concert given by academy students at the Jersey Arts Centre.  The concert featured music for piano, strings, wind, brass and percussion, and was enjoyed by an enthusiastic audience of family, friends and general public.  Our thanks go to the Finderman Charitable Trust for enabling us to hire the Jersey Arts Centre for this event, giving our students the opportunity to hone their performing skills in a public and professional concert environment.

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July 2012 – Summer Project Week: She’Koyokh

 

Summer Project Week: She’Koyokh


Thursday 5th and Friday 6th July 2012


As part of the Summer Term Project Week, students from the academy performed alongside the Victoria College Junior Choir ‘Cambiata’ to deliver two wonderful concerts led by the visiting guest ensemble ‘She’Koyokh’. Thanks to the sponsorship of Voisin and Volaw, this outstanding Klezmer trio of clarinet, guitar and accordion were resident at the academy for three days and delivered a wide range of educational activities.


The first School Concert took place at Janvrin School in front of the entire Key Stage 2, in which the trio took it in turns to introduce their instruments and performed a wide selection of different styles of Klezmer music:


Janvrin Concert


Following this performance the trio performed live on BBC Radio Jersey before leading the afternoon workshops with over eighty students from the academy.  During these workshops the children were introduced to Klezmer music, and divided into different large ensembles to learn a Klezmer tune together and devise and rehearse a short piece of music based on improvisation to perform in the concert:


JAM Workshop


The first concert took place at the academy in front of a packed hall and a very enthusiastic reception from all. The following morning the trio performed another Schools Concert at Victoria College for the whole Year 7, and that afternoon they performed their final Schools Concert at Mont a l’Abbe School, where at one point the whole school was dancing together to their joyous music!


Mont a l'Abbe Concert


That evening the second public concert took place in the Great Hall at Victoria College, and in this concert the older students from the academy performed alongside the Victoria College choirs and poetry readings:


VCJ Cambiata


She’Koyokh themselves brought the concert, and indeed the whole tour, to a rousing conclusion at the end with some truly virtuosic pieces.  Our congratulations go to all the students who participated in this memorable event.


She'Koyokh

 

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June/July 2012 – Jersey Youth Chamber Orchestra

 


Jersey Youth Chamber Orchestra


30th June – 1st July


The Jersey Youth Chamber Orchestra (JYCO) is a new joint project shared between the academy and the Jersey Instrumental Music Service, and sponsored by the Strasser Trust.  Open to local under-18 string players of Grade 5 level and above, and young wind, brass and percussion players of Grade 6 level and above, the orchestra met for the first time under the baton of conductor Robert Roscoe from Chetham’s School of Music (one of the UK’s leading specialist music schools).


JYCO


The orchestra’s inaugural performance featured soloist Krystian Lamb, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto no.15 in B flat, and then the complete set of movements from Gounod’s Ballet Music from Faust.  The two works required completely different styles of playing, and plenty of technically challenging musical material for each player.  But everyone’s dedicated hard work and practice helped to deliver an exhilarating performance on the evening, in front of a large audience at the Jersey Arts Centre.


JYCO Concert


This was a very exciting start for this new long-term project, and the orchestra will meet again to rehearse towards a concert on November 25th at St. James, and on this occasion the orchestra will feature local young violinist Elliot Samphier performing Mozarts’ Violin Concerto in G, and the orchestra will be conducted by Stephen Threlfall, Director of Music at Chetham’s School of Music.  Our sincere thanks go to the Strasser Trust for their sponsorship of this project.


JYCO

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