The chamber music season has been in full swing this term, with three Chamber Music Platform Concerts taking place in the first week after half term. The three concerts featured twenty-one of our chamber ensembles, ranging from piano trios to saxophone quartets, string quartets to French horn quartets – and even a piece for organ, oboe and violin. The Chamber Music Platform series is the culmination of the weekly coaching the students have been receiving since September, from a team of nearly twenty chamber music teachers. Many of the groups also took part in our Chamber Music Workshop Day earlier this term, which this year was led by three of our own instrumental staff, who each have busy performing careers alongside their teaching: Mr Andy Harper, Miss Ilid Jones and Miss Chiao-Ying Chang. The coaching sessions were really inspiring for all the students and it’s always a highlight of the musical year.
Last week we hosted the Regional Semi-Finals of the Pro Corda Chamber Music Festival for Schools, having also hosted a local Qualifying Round at the end of January. Eight of our groups were selected to be semi-finalists, and the groups received a mini masterclass from the visiting adjudicators from Pro Corda.
Huge congratulations to everyone who has taken part in chamber music this year, and we’re looking forward to hearing more performances in forthcoming concerts!
