Music Award Holders’ Recital
On Friday 31 January, our music scholars wowed the audience by delivering various high-standard performances in the recital room. The recital featured many challenging repertoires such as Pablo de Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen and Weber’s Grand Duo Concertant. We were pleased to see many of our staff, tutors, music teachers, and parents who came to show their support.
Sevenoaks Got Talent
On 4 February, staff and students banded together to perform a variety of musical acts as part of Sevenoaks Got Talent. They covered popular songs by artists ranging from Elton John to Britney Spears as well as performing some excellent original pieces.
The show raised over £1000 for two charities; the CAIRN Trust which supports education projects in Nepal, and the Amazon Conservation Team who work with local communities to protect the Amazon rainforest.
Congratulations Emma and Erika for winning the show!
Pro Corda Chamber Music Festival
A hugely successful first round of Pro Corda was held last Tuesday and Thursday. An amazing 15 groups have been selected to take part in the semi-finals on 27 February. We are glad that our chamber musicians find the coaching sessions useful and inspiring.
Pro Corda is a leading national chamber music festival competition. The festival tours schools around the country through qualifying and regional semi-final rounds, culminating in a finals day at a prodigious performance venue. Each group receives individual coaching with a skilled adjudicator during every round.
Chamber Music Day
We were delighted to have the Salomé Quartet to come in and lead a masterclass and workshop on Wednesday. This was an exciting afternoon for all our chamber musicians.
Formed in 2016, Salomé Quartet is a multinational ensemble by four prizewinning students of the Royal College of Music in London: Haim Choi (South Korea), Ines Delgado (Portugal), Kasia Ziminska (Poland) and Shizuku Tatsuno (Japan). The musicians have performed worldwide in venues including Muzikverein (Vienna), Mozarteum (Salzburg), Unesco Hall (Paris), as well as Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall and Cadogan Hall in London.
The Space Ensemble performs Four6 by John Cage
The Space Ensemble recently performed John Cage’s Four6 in a science laboratory.
Four6 is a piece by John Cage for four performers and ‘any way of producing sounds’. In this performance the Space Ensemble makes use of musical instruments and laboratory equipment to create sound.
The Space Ensemble takes music performance to previously unimagined spaces around the school campus. This group programmes exclusively cutting-edge contemporary and experimental music that defies tradition and pushes boundaries. Performing one discipline in the space of another is an affirmation of the school’s interdisciplinary ethos.
Upcoming Events
The chamber groups who previously took part in the Pro Corda Festival will also be playing in the upcoming Chamber Musicians’ Platform concerts taking place on 28 February, 3 March, and 5 March. We are all looking forward to hearing their performances!
