June 2012 – Lakeside Trio 3rd Residency


Lakeside Trio 3rd Residency


1st-3rd June 2012


The outstanding Lakeside Trio of Prach Boondiskulchok (piano), Chihiro Ono (violin), and Vladimir Waltham (cello) undertook their third residency at the academy.  During their stay they performed at Victoria College to a full theatre of young instrumentalists from year 7 through to year 13.  During this concert they performed excerpts of Haydn’s Piano Trio in F Hob XV:6, demonstrating the classical concept of ‘improvisation’ used to decorate repeated sections of music.


Their residency concluded with a morning ‘Coffee Concert’ on Saturday 2nd June in which they set the Haydn trio alongside a rarely heard work by György Kurtág entitled ‘Ligature for Bálint Varga’, which was a spellbinding performance with astonishing delicacy and control. Beethoven’s Piano Trio in E flat op.70 no.2 brought the concert to a joyous conclusion and drew the audience to their feet with ovation.  Our thanks go to the Jersey Arts Trust for their sponsorship of this residency.


Coffee Concert with the Lakeside Trio


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May 2012 – Royal College of Music Junior Department


Royal College of Music Junior Department and Friends

 

Sunday 27th May 2012, 3pm-4pm


Professor Katya Lebedeva from the Royal College of Music Junior Department visited the academy with two outstanding young pianists.  During the morning she gave tuition to six local young pianists, and in the afternoon all the young pianists gave a wonderful concert to an enthusiastic audience.  As well as an excellent performance of two movements of Beethoven’s Sonata in C minor ‘Pathetique’ given by two local students, one particular highlight was visiting pianist Nina Del Ser’s performance of Haydn’s Sonata in C, full of wit and dramatic contrasts. The event was supported by the Jersey Arts Trust, and the next visit will take place in early December.


Royal College of Music Junior Department and Friends


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May 2012 – JAM Strings Concert

 

JAM Strings Concert


Saturday 19th May 2012


A packed Vermont Hall enjoyed a wonderfully varied afternoon concert given by children studying string instruments at the academy.  The concert opened with the JAM Cello Ensemble, an ensemble combining junior and adult cellists, pictured here in the final rehearsals leading to the concert:




This was followed by a wonderful group of very young violinists and cellists led by their Suzuki Method teacher Vanessa Moore, their very first experience of performing in a concert.  The event then continued with a wide variety of solo performances from many students of different ages, and a performance of Massenet’s Meditation given by violin teacher Young Pyo Lee brought the concert to a beautiful conclusion.


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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.




 

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March 2012 – Liberation International Music Festival Launch Event

 

Liberation International Music Festival Launch Event


Wednesday 28th March 2012


An evening of music was presented to preview the incredible programme of concerts and events planned for the 2012 Liberation International Music Festival.  At this launch event local young singer Evangeline Wavell gave a haunting rendition of Michael Head’s Ships of Arcady, and young cellist Iona Russell gave a lively account of Boccherini’s Minuet in A.  The stage was then handed over to visiting musicians Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin, and Wu Qian, piano (pictured below just before the performance) who performed works by Beethoven, Chopin and Sarasate to great ovation.  Visit www.liberationjersey.com for information on all the events on offer, and how to obtain tickets.



 

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March 2012 – Spring Project Week: Multi-Piano Extravaganza!


Spring Project Week: Multi-Piano Extravaganza!


March 11th-15th 2012


A packed Vermont Hall created an electric ambience for this varied concert of music for many pianos performed by over forty young pianists from the academy.  Four grand pianos graced the stage, and students of all different ages and levels performed alongside the academy’s teachers and guest artistes.


The concert opened with the complete set of movements from Debussy’s Petite Suite, performed by academy students from the Upper Intermediate and Advanced departments, and then followed by a lively brass fanfare from a trio of young brass students led by Pippa Lumbard.  The focus then shifted to students from the Lower Intermediate and Junior departments, who performed in various multi-piano combinations of duos, trios, quartets and quintets.  The music was learnt in workshop sessions earlier in the week, and using popular classical and film tunes the various elements of melody, harmony, bass line and rhythm were divided up amongst the different players.


Multi-Piano Extravaganza


All the young musicians did themselves proud, and for some of the youngest students this was their first ever performance in front of an audience, and particular credit goes to them for their hard work and concentration.  The concert concluded with academy piano teachers Jennifer Lee and Chris George performing Manuel De Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance, setting the scene for the two visiting guest artistes – Georgina Sutton and Emmanuelle Fleurot, the Asteria Duo.  Following two extremely virtuosic solo pieces, they performed together Shostakovich’s Concertino for Two Pianos, and this was a performance marked by huge energy and gripping excitement, bringing the whole event to a rousing conclusion.


Our thanks go to the Jersey Arts Trust for their sponsorship of this event.


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January 2012 – JCO After-School Concerts

 

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.


Rygate Wind Quintet


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.


String Octet


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.

 

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