Wind Festival musicians 'deliver some of the finest playing' at annual competition

We hosted our annual Wind Prize on Sunday, the day featured over 60 of our wind students ranging in all abilities from beginners who started this year, to students working on repertoire from the third diploma syllabus.  

The wind department surpassed themselves this year, delivering some of the finest playing that the school has previously heard.  

Our adjudicator for the day was Huw Wiggin, a freelance saxophonist and teacher at the Royal Academy of Music. Huw was both impressed and appreciative of the hard work that all the students had put in throughout the day. The first class was an ensemble workshop, aimed at students grade 8 or under.  

We formed ten different ensembles ranging in size from duets, trios and quartets which featured everyone on a part suited to their ability. With the help of staff, the students were able to learn their parts alongside the others in their ensemble to a performance level within the 1 hour and 15 minutes. They then had to perform the piece to a supportive and full Maidment. The following students were awarded prizes: 

Leadership: Pippa C (M, LVI) 

Musical Awareness: Nicole C (MSH, IV) 

Chamber performance: Ben F (Ch, III) 

The day continued with two recital classes, the first - the Senior Prize - featured students that have recently taken or working towards their first diploma. Adjudicator comments included: ‘Beautiful melodic line throughout with technical security’ and ‘mature, commanding performance with clear musical understanding of the time and period’. The following awards were made: 

1st: Ben O’S: Clarinet (R, LVI) 

Highly Commended: Chad L: Bassoon (SH, LVI) 

Commended: James W- Saxophone (O, IV) 

Our final class, the Advanced Prize, was of an exceptional level; every student had put in many hours of dedicated practice to reach a performance standard of extremely challenging repertoire. The class offered some exceptional playing; comments from Huw included ‘commanding, authoritative understanding of the repertoire’, ‘technical passages played with ease and conviction’ and ‘imaginative, ethereal sound, perfectly suited to this style- outstanding playing’. Despite fierce competition, the awards were made as follows: 

1st : Richard P- Flute (Ch, IV) 

Highly commended: Bob L- Bassoon (S, V)  

Commended: Oliver C (RAJC, UVI).   

The day showcased the wind department at its very best and each performance showed dedication, technical ability and musicianship.