The recent Open Musicians’ Platform displayed a wide range of talent from both the middle and senior schools. Olivia Paine opened the concert with ‘Where’er you walk’ from Handel’s opera Semele. A particularly noticeable performance came from Oliver Blackwell, playing the first movement of Bach’s Cello Concerto in C minor.

Kaiping Lin ended the first half of the concert with the second movement of Mendelssohn’s violin concerto. This was Mendelssohn’s last full scale orchestral work, taking no less than six years to complete. It was described by the famous violinist Joseph Joachim, who first performed the concerto at the age of just 12, as ‘the heart’s jewel’. This came across beautifully in Kai’s rendition, performing this challenging piece with great expression and tone.

Serena Dunn started the second half of the programme with the first movement of Beethoven’s fifth sonata in C minor. We later heard another Beethoven sonata movement; the third movement of the Pathétique, played by Riccardo Liberatore. This is one of Beethoven’s most popular works, played by every aspiring pianist, and as such it is sometimes difficult to find something new to say with the piece, but Riccardo managed to present a fresh, insightful interpretation of the Rondo.

Leah Broad ended the evening with the first movement of ‘In the Mists’ by Janacek. A great patriot in all his melodies, he aimed to imitate the sound of the Czech language and this particular piece is a great example of that, with its gentle, introspective melody line blossoming into great abandon.