Suzuki Christmas Concert


11th December, JAM


An opportunity for all the young Suzuki Violinists and Mini Cellists to perform in front of family and friends.  Led by Vanessa Moore (violin) and Emmanuelle Dumas (cello), with thanks to Cathy Elliot on piano, the children all got to play together in various groups and many performed short solo pieces too.


Suzuki Christmas Concert


Various fun musical games also took place, with movements, dancing and singing, and to help their bowhold position the children got to place chocolate baubles on the christmas tree using only the tips of their bows!  The concert ended with chocolates and squash for the children, and mince pies and mulled wine for the adults!


Suzuki Christmas Concert B



 

Xmas Brass Day


8th December, JAM


Twenty-five young brass players came together for an afternoon of fun playing Christmas pieces and Carols. Led by Pippa Lumbard, along with Stuart Lumbard, Andrew Thompson, and Eva Hseih, the session included students ranging from beginner to Grade 5 standard, and focussed on special arrangements of popular pieces for brass ensemble.


Xmas Brass ensemble


Parents and families came along at the end of the session to hear the children perform, with mince pies and mulled wine for all!


Xmas Brass ensemble




 

Flutes and Strings at the Jersey Museum


5th December, Jersey Museum


A festive and atmospheric concert to give the opportunity for all flute, violin and cello students to perform.  The Jersey Museum provided a festive feel to this event, which featured performances from Claire Boleat’s ‘Flute Choir’ alongside cello solos and ensembles, and solo performances from all instruments.  Our thanks go to Jersey Heritage for hosting this event and providing the mulled wine and nibbles!


Jersey Museum Concert

 

Piano and Percussion Christmas Concert


3rd December, JAM


A fun festive concert giving the young pianists and percussionists the opportunity to perform to family and friends.


Piano and Percussion Concert


The event concluded with a performance given by the new Vocalize Choir, many thanks to them for bringing such a fun end to the evening.


Vocalize Choir

 

JYCO, Benjamin Britten, and Friday Afternoons


21st-24th November 2013


Winning Logo design by James Murphy (yr5 VCP)


This project was a large-scale collaboration between the Jersey Academy of Music, Jersey Music Service, Jersey Youth Chamber Orchestra, Chetham’s School of Music, Victoria College Preparatory School, Janvrin Primary School and Grouville Primary school, with the support of the Strasser Foundation (Jersey Youth Chamber Orchestra) and Jersey Arts Trust (Chetham’s School of Music involvement).  Delta Conference Systems and Aldeburgh Music  assisted with the live streaming and recording elements of this project.  Concerts took place on Friday 22nd November for schools, and 24th November for the public.


Combined Choirs with the Jersey Youth Chamber Orchestra


Combined Schools Choir


The combined choirs of Victoria College Preparatory School, Janvrin Primary School and Grouville Primary school were rehearsed by Jane Silvester (VCP and Combined Choirs), Rebecca Lawrence (Janvrin), and Katy Key (Grouville), and enjoyed learning Britten’s ‘Friday Afternoons’, a set of 12 songs composed between 1933 and 1935. The simple songs, with witty piano accompaniments, are dedicated to Britten’s schoolmaster brother, Robert, and the boys of Clive House preparatory school, Prestatyn – a school in which choir practice and singing lessons regularly took place on a Friday afternoon.


Combined Choirs rehearsal


Local young composer Ruben Maric composed arrangements of three of the songs for chamber orchestra, Begone Dull Care, New Year Carol, and Old Abram Brown.  The choirs sung on Friday 22nd November to 200 local schoolchildren at a concert coordinated by the Jersey Music Service.


Jersey Youth Chamber Orchestra


At the heart of this project was the Jersey Youth Chamber Orchestra.  This was the orchestra’s fourth session together, and this time they were joined by several students from Chetham’s School of Music, and the orchestra was conducted by Stephen Threlfall, Director of Music at Chets.  The orchestra is run through the partnership of the Jersey Academy of Music and Jersey Music Service, and sponsored by the Strasser Foundation.


JYCO in rehearsals with Graham Cox


For this session the students were coached by Young Pyo Lee (upper strings), Emmanuelle Dumas (lower strings), Julia Arnett (woodwind), Victoria Laurens, Graham Cox, and Allan Jones (brass).




Chetham’s School of Music


Through the support of the Jersey Arts Trust, a group of six young musicians from Chetham’s School of Music accompanied Director of Music Stephen Threlfall and Alice Herbert to the island for this project.  Forming a string quintet with piano, the ensemble performed various pieces by Benjamin Britten including his ‘Simple Symphony’.


Chethams Students with Stephen Threlfall


The group was also part of the Jersey Youth Chamber Orchestra, and it was lovely to welcome back the four local young musicians currently studying at Chets; Iona Russell (cello), Grace Macdonald (saxophone), Liberty Spears (vocal) and Lylis O’Hara (vocal), to involve them in this project.


Aldeburgh Music


We were delighted that both the Schools Concert and the Public Concert were broadcast live throughout the UK via Aldeburgh Music.  Inspired by the legacy of Britten, Aldeburgh Music is responsible for a year-round programme of artistic endeavour.  This Jersey project was connected to Aldeburgh Music’s Britten Centenary programme and the worldwide ‘Britten 100’ celebrations.  These recordings were also be made into a wonderful professionally produced ‘Concert DVD’.


Logo Design Competition


All the choir children had the opportunity to design a logo for this project, and the entries were adjudicated by Sasha Gibb from the Jersey Arts Trust earlier in the term.


Logo Competition judging with Sasha Gibb


The winning entries for each school were James Murphy (VCP), Rachel Shaw (Janvrin), and Amy Kempster (Grouville), who all received certificates.  The overall winning entry was James Murphy’s striking ‘BB’ design, which was on the T-Shirts of all the choir children, the cover of the programme, and at the top of this article.



 

Royal College of Music Junior Department visit


17h November 2013


The seventh event through the academy’s link with the Royal College of Music, Professor Katya Lebedeva from the RCM Junior Department visited the academy with three young pianists.  During the morning she gave tuition to nine local young pianists, and in the evening all the young pianists gave a wonderful concert to an enthusiastic audience.  The event was supported by the Jersey Arts Trust, and the next visit will take place in summer 2014.


Royal College of Music Junior Department visit



 

Eisteddfod Preparation Concert


Friday 25th October


A fun and informal evening concert given by students who are entering this year’s Eisteddfod.  The concert featured a variety of piano, vocal, violin and woodwind performances, a ‘dry-run’ before the festival which will take place from 6th-16th November.


Eisteddfod Preparation Concert


 

Georgina Sutton – The One Foundation Recital


Sunday 29th September 2013, 3pm


Pianist Georgina Sutton is in the final stages of her studies at the Royal College of Music, and she gave an outstanding recital to a packed concert hall in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support Jersey.


Georgina Sutton recital A


The concert opened with a spellbinding performance of two of Liszt’s Sonettos Del Petrarca, nos 104 and 123, following which Georgina was joined on stage by Chris George as orchestral piano, to perform the final two movements of Chopin’s virtuosic Piano Concerto no.2.


Georgina Sutton recital B


This was a scintillating performance, and an excellent prequel to her forthcoming performance with the Jersey Symphony Orchestra on December 15th this year.  The recital concluded with Albeniz and Bartok, and Georgina received an outstanding ovation from the enthusiatic audience.


Georgina Sutton recital C


Programme


‘Sonetto Del Petrarca no.104 & 123’ from Années de pèlerinage, Deuxième Année: Italie

Franz Liszt


Piano Concerto no.2 in F minor (mvt 2,3)

Frederic Chopin

 


‘El Albaicin’ from suite Iberia book III

Isaac Albéniz


‘A little drunk’, from 3 Burlesques Sz.47, Op.8c

Béla Bartók


 

 

Jersey International Masterclasses


Friday 26th July to Tuesday 6th August 2013.

 

In partnership with the Royal College of Music, and with the support of the One Foundation locally, and the Vladimir Spivakov International Charity Foundation and Tsukanov Family Foundation internationally, we have worked closely with Viktoria Grigoreva (professor of violin at Royal College of Music Junior Department and Eton College) to help establish a new international music course for students either studying at music college, or in the final stages of preparing for music college auditions.  The  Jersey International Masterclasses brought together an outstanding faculty of thirteen leading teachers to guide and inspire a total of forty-two students from all over the world in ten days of exceptional music-making.


Dmitri Bashkirov Masterclass


The teaching faculty featured for violin – Zakhar Bron (Russia), Nina Balabina (Russia/Sweden), Mark Messenger (UK – Head of Strings at RCM), and Viktoria Grigoreva (UK – RCM and Eton College), and for piano – Dmitri Bashkirov (Russia), Leonid Margarius (Russia/Italy), Vanessa Latarche (UK – Head of Piano at RCM), Yekatarina Lebedeva (UK – RCM).  This truly outstanding faculty was supported by Olga Danilova from the Kazakhstan Arutau Specialist Music School and Irina Grebneva from the Ukraine Kharkov Specialist music School, and UK-based accompanist Stephen Meakins.


Vanessa Latarche lecture


The visiting students attended from countries as diverse as Russia, China, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Italy, France and Sweden.  During the course of the ten days a full programme of lessons, concerts, lectures and masterclasses took place.  Chateau Vermont was the main venue for all tuition, and we were grateful for the support of Grainville School to allow a wing of their facilities to be transformed into additional teaching and practice facilities.  Island Music assisted with the provision of pianos and piano tuning, and concerts took place at the Jersey Arts Centre, Georgetown Methodist Church, and here at the academy.  We were grateful for the partnership of the Stafford Hotel, Revere Hotel, and Grand Jersey to provide a central location for accommodating the visiting students.  We would also like to thank the families of the local students involved for hosting some of the students.


Mark Messenger Masterclass


The connections which allowed such an event to get established go back to the March 2011 Madeira International Music Competition and Forum, during which we met Viktoria Grigoreva.  The link developed further with various visits from herself and her colleague Yekatarina Lebedeva (November 2011, May 2012, December 2012).  During these exchanges we started to discuss and plan a more substantial yearly event, and the concept of the masterclasses grew from there.


Post-concert photo


The Jersey International Masterclasses have been established as a locally-based charitable foundation, entitled Jersey Music Masterclasses Foundation, and we hope that from this solid base and after a wonderful opening year we will be able to make this course a yearly event to bring some fantastic teachers and students from all over the world for the benefit of our local young musicians and the island as a whole.



 

Musique et Aventure 2013


Saturday 20th July to Thursday 25th July


The seventh summer music course Musique et Aventure provided another fun musical experience for thirty local young musicians.  This year the course was led by teachers Claire Boleat (flute), Pippa Lumbard (brass), Young-Pyo Lee (violin), Emmanuelle Dumas (cello), Chris George (piano), and Caroline Finch (theory and coordinator).  As our accommodation facilities were required for teaching spaces, this year the course did not involve any visiting students from France and the UK, and we hope in the future to create additional teaching rooms on the second floor of the property to allow us to reach out overseas again.  But this did not detract from a wonderful week of activity, and each morning was dedicated to music tuition, with a combination of one-to-one lessons, group ensembles, theory, and practice time.  This year the afternoon activities included surfing with Jersey Surf School (pictured below) and a ‘seafari’ on Jersey Seafaris high-powered rib speedboat.  The final concert took place at Georgetown Methodist Church on Thursday 25th July, and a packed audience enjoyed a fun and varied concert to bring the week to a close.


Musique et Aventure 2013


Visit www.musiqueetaventure.com for further information on the course itself, and how to apply.