Salopians give impressive performances at this year's Brass Festival

On Sunday 21st January, we held our annual Brass Festival, our adjudicator for the day was Jeremy Bushell, a French Horn player who plays with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.   

The day started with an ensemble workshop where the students had an hour and 15 minutes to learn a piece before performing in a short concert. The standard that the ensembles reached was impressive on such short rehearsal time.   

Prizes were given to Henry S (S, IV) for Chamber Performance, Hugo L (I, IV) for Leadership skills and to William O’H (Ch, V) for Musical Awareness. The day continued with a masterclass featuring six of our more able brass students; Jeremy picked up on all aspects of technique throughout the afternoon. The instruments featured included Trumpet, French Horn, Trombone and Tuba; Jeremy was able to give knowledgeable advice to all performers.  

Shawn L (S, IV) performed F. Strauss Theme and Variations and the focus here was adding in Rubato to a well performed piece to add interest. Other sessions included performance without a music stand, as this removes the physical barrier between performer and audience. The removal of the stand meant that Oliver C (R, LVI) directed his sound straight into the room and made for a rather impressive performance of Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto. Another highlight of the afternoon was Oscar C’s (Rt, LVI) rendition of Berlioz ‘Savoir Faire’ this had technical flare and daring phrasing which led to an exciting end product!  

Each student improved immensely within their 15-minute session. The Overall Soloist prize of the day went to Oliver C (R, LVI) for his impressive playing and leading within the ensemble class and for the confident and stylish performance of his Haydn within the masterclass.