Three times year, in autumn, spring and summer, we hold major public concerts in which the whole school comes together and in March, to mark the end of term, we held the Spring Concert in the beautiful surroundings of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh.
Entitled ‘A Portrait of Purcell’, the first half of the concert featured the works of composer Henry Purcell (1659 to 1695) and included the Choristers of St Mary’s Cathedral, the Senior Baroque Ensemble, the Purcell Wind Ensemble, the Junior Orchestra, the Junior Choir and the Senior Choir.
Director of Music Paul Stubbings said “Other than for annual sojourns to the King’s summer residence in Windsor, we are told that Purcell travelled no further than the square mile of his birth. Then, as now, London was one of the most cosmopolitan cities anywhere, and the whole of Europe was to descend on Purcell’s London, bringing multifarious cultural influencers direct to his doorstep.
The programme we chose for the concert is a snapshot of Purcell’s genius and his short career, a life which spanned only 36 years yet amassed an astonishing corpus of music, work that is at once fresh and daring, poignant and elegant, theatrical and wild.
Our programme exactly follows the shape of that career, starting in the grand, public setting of Westminster Abbey, with the Senior Choir and Wind Ensemble in performance of some of Purcell’s finest Sacred Music, the Funeral Music for Queen Mary. We move to the Odes and Private Music written for the Royal Court, sung and played by our Junior Instrumentalists and the Choristers of St Mary’s Cathedral. We explore Purcell’s remarkable contribution to the Theatre in incidental music for Plays and Court Masques including his solo venture into Opera - without which no Purcell Portrait would be complete – the extraordinary Lament from Dido & Aeneas, sung by Libby Crabtree, accompanied by our Senior Baroque Ensemble and led by Hilary Michael, whose enthusiasms for this repertoire knows no bounds. “
After a short interval the second half of the concert was dedicated to a performance of Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No 3 in B minor, Op 61 with Momo Ueda playing violin accompanied by the Senior Orchestra and conducted by William Conway. Momo was the winner of the 2019 Lord Clyde Memorial Prize and gave a stunning performance, receiving several rounds of rapturous applause.
The importance of public performance at St Mary’s Music School
Performance is a key part of the educational experience at St Mary’s Music School. As aspiring professional musicians, our pupils benefit from exposure to different concert venues and acoustics as well as the discipline and rigour that comes with preparing for a public concert. As well as the three ‘whole school’ concerts, pupils have multiple opportunities to play throughout the year. This year our pupils have played at the Scottish Parliament, at St Cecilia’s Hall in Edinburgh as part of the International Harpsichord Festival, at a jazz club in the Scottish Borders, at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester to name but a few. They have also been involved in masterclasses with international artists including Nicola Benedetti and Francois Leleux and played alongside the musicians of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. In addition there are regular lunchtime concerts and recitals.
Forthcoming events include the Amnesty International Jazz Concert on 11th June, the Director’s Recital Prize on 11th June and the Summer Concert at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh on 24th June.
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