End of Term Concert
Friday 22nd March 2013, JAM
All students had the opportunity to perform in the End of Term Concert, which presented solo performances from children aged six to sixteen. An eclectic mix of piano, violin, cello, flute and brass performances was given in front of a packed hall of parents, families and friends.
Jersey International Masterclasses Launch Event
Wednesday 20th March, JAM
Background
A wonderful new event promoting musical excellence will take place from July 26th to 5th August. The Jersey International Masterclasses has been established through the partnership of the Jersey Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, The Tsukanov Family Foundation and Vladimir Spivakov International Charity Foundation. Students will be attending from Russia, Europe, and the UK, and will include Jersey students who are currently studying at music college in the UK. The Masterclasses themselves will have an ‘open-door’ policy meaning that local young musicians and public will have the opportunity to watch the tuition taking place and enjoy the numerous concerts taking place throughout the course.
Launch Event
The launch event on Wednesday 20th March featured pianist Lara Melda, who won the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2010 at the age of sixteen. Lara is a student at the Royal College of Music where she is a Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Scholar supported by a Musicians’ Company Lambert Studentship. Lara performed a variety of works by Bach, Debussy and Chopin, leaving the audience truly spellbound. Chris George and Viktoria Grigovera then concluded the event with a short speech outlining the content of the summer course.
JAM String Day
Saturday 16th March 2013, JAM
This day was dedicated to all the string instrument students at the academy, and different activities were organised for the violin and cello students. Emmanuelle Dumas rehearsed the JAM Cello Ensemble in a variety of different pieces including Mission Impossible and Skyfall, assisted kindly by Christopher Simmonds. Young-Pyo Lee was joined by pianist Sam Bisson to rehearse with the violinists, and at the end of the day all the students performed a fun concert to parents, family and friends. Our thanks go to the Jersey Arts Trust for their support of this event.
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.
Natalie Clein Cello Workshop
Saturday 26th January, JAM
A wonderful morning of cello playing involving fifteen young cellists took place as part of the education work provided by Music In Action. International cellist Natalie Clein (www.natalieclein.com) created a fun and relaxing environment for the young students to perform, following which she worked with them on a range of musical and technical elements.
Following an engaging question and answer session in which she discussed her life as a musician, and the level of practice she committed herself to at different ages in her childhood, the event concluded with her performing Bach’s beautiful Prelude in G. A sublime end to a wonderful morning of music.
Sam Bisson and Students Piano Concert
Saturday 19th January, JAM
A feast of piano music was presented In this concert, in which Sam Bisson’s piano students performed a variety works ranging from ‘Hannah from Montana’ through to ‘I Giorni’ by Einaudi. After all the students played, Sam performed three works, Debussy’s ‘Gollywog’s Cakewalk’, Chopin’s ‘Fantasie Impromptu’, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ to bring the event to a rousing conclusion.
