Musicians shine at Young Musician and Young Pianist of the Year Competitions

We were delighted to welcome back to school alumna Jessica Norton. Jessica is a Choral Practitioner, Soprano and Teacher based in Central London. She is currently Musical Director of the London Concord Singers, East London Chorus and Henley Youth Choir, having recently finished working with the London Orpheus Choir. Jessica returned to judge the school’s two annual music competitions: Young Pianist of the Year and Young Musician of the Year – two events which celebrate the wealth of musical talent from across the school.

Now in its ninth year, the piano competition took part on 30 October. Students from Years 6 – 13 performed a range of repertoire from Baroque to Modern, each to a very high standard, and the Intermediate Class Shield was awarded to Year 8 student Cecilia V-C for a polished performance of Scherzo in Bb by Schubert. The standard in the advanced class was incredibly high and Jessica had a very tough decision to make. The Agnes Heron Memorial Cup (awarded annually to the girl in the Advanced Class who give the outstanding piano performance of the evening) was awarded to Annabelle B (a Year 13 Music Scholar who is currently studying A level Music), for her sensitive and refined performance of Mozart’s Adagio in B minor, KV. 540.

Annabelle returned the following week to play in the Young Musician Competition and once again Jessica had some very difficult decisions to make. The standard of musicianship was extremely high and Jessica awarded special commendations to the girls who she felt had given exceptional performances – Margaret P. (voice) and Maryam G. (voice & violin). The overall winner of the competition was Issy H. (cello) who gave a spell-binding performance of Fauré’s Élégie, Op. 24. Our Director of Music, Sonia Gears, said: “We were so delighted to welcome back Jessica to join us to adjudicate our Music competitions. Our department prides itself on the girls’ commitment to Music-making and students’ high levels of musicianship, and it was great for us that Jessica was able to witness this. I felt immensely proud of all the performers.”  Congratulations to all who took part.