Pupils enjoy workshops at Piano Festival

The annual Piano Festival was held on Sunday.   

It started with a workshop where some of the piano students got together to sightread one hand melodies from a few different tunes and play together on the multiple pianos and keyboards.  It was a fun session and students enjoyed playing with other pianists, which is a rare occasion.  

The Participation Prize was awarded to Addilyn L (MSH, III) for her hard work and excellent sight-reading skills.  

It was followed by the Piano Prize. There were two classes - Intermediate (up to Grade 8) with 15 participants and Advanced (Diploma level) with 9 participants. I very much admire those young pianists who are brave enough to go on stage on their own and play in front of the audience, some of them even from memory. It can be nerve wrecking to be exposed like this as you can imagine, but they were supported by a warm audience of parents and friends, and shared some beautiful piano repertoire from Bach, Beethoven, Chopin to Hindemith and contemporary composers.  

This year, we were thrilled to have Kathryn Page from Chetham's School of Music in Manchester as the adjudicator. At the end of both classes, each student was given invaluable feedback and verbal advice on how they could improve, as well as receiving written comment sheets from her. I'm sure all the students found them extremely encouraging, and they all benefitted from the experience of performing in a formal setting.  

The prize were awarded to the following students. 

Intermediate Class 

• 1st - George R (PH, IV)  
• 2nd - Angus X (Riggs, LVI)  
• 3rd – Mia H (G, IV)  
• Highly Commended - Tom E (Rb, V) and Richard P (PH, III)   

Advanced Class 

• 1st - Marina K (EDH, V)  
• 2nd – Godwin Y (SH, UVI)  
• 3rd - Ranen C (I, III)  
• Highly Commended - Oliver C (Rb, LVI) and Tom K (PH, LVI)   

Yuki Kagajo  

Head of Keyboard