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This year’s UC4 Scholars’ Concert comprised seven outstanding musicians. The concert opened with Carmel performing Paquito by Andy Scott on the saxophone. The complex swung rhythms were played with wonderful finesse, and Carmel showed the full range of the saxophone through fast running passages and frequent ornamentation. There was fantastic communication between Carmel and Mr Jones on the piano as they negotiated the weaving parts with ease.

Next, we heard Greta perform Chopin’s Waltz in C# minor on the piano. This was confidently played with excellent coordination, and in each section of the piece, Greta brought new colours to her sound, and her phrasing ebbed and flowed wonderfully. Her phrasing in the top register was particularly magical.

Violinist Jonna performed next with the first movement of Debussy’s Violin Sonata. This was Debussy’s last work, and Jonna captured the melancholic sentiment in this poignant work through her controlled bow strokes and versatile vibrato. The dramatic sections projected superbly in the PAC, and the seamless duality between Jonna and Mr Carr on the piano was apparent from start to finish.

Following this, we heard more Chopin on the piano, this time by Anya performing Andante Spianato. This piece is a very mature work, requiring constant arpeggios in the left hand whilst bringing out inner voices and flourishes in the right hand - all at the same time. Anya’s musical and technical delivery of this was outstanding. The audience was captivated throughout, and appreciation was shown in enthusiastic applause.

We then heard Bianca on the flute, playing Andante by Louis Ganne. Bianca really drew in the audience in this performance through her exquisite sound. You could tell Bianca had thought extremely carefully about how she would interpret each phrase and showed a wonderful range of dynamics. Her top register shone through along with crisp and polished ornamentation.

Nerissa performed next on the pedal harp. Her piece Watching the White Wheat is a traditional Welsh melody, and this version is arranged by the 19th century harpist John Thomas. Nerissa performed this from memory, and the extremely complex yet subtle changes to the fast figurations were mightily impressive. Nerissa brought out the charm of this piece, and the melodic chords resonated beautifully in the auditorium.

The concert ended with Maya performing on the piano with the virtuosic piece, Prelude in G minor by Rachmaninoff. Maya delivered all the drama one expects from this crowd-pleaser, and she certainly didn’t hold back. Taking it at a very exciting tempo, this was a very accomplished performance.

It is worth mentioning how wonderfully each performer spoke when introducing their piece, informing the audience of interesting facts and historical knowledge about their piece.

The future of this year group is extremely exciting. Congratulations to all, and our thanks also go to our tremendous accompanists, Mr Jones and Mr Carr.

Mr Bailey
Head of Strings