Looking back... Performing the première of Gwilym Simcock's 'Union Overture and Celebration'
From the choir stalls In November 2019, the Choir of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral released a CD of Kenneth Leighton’s Sacred Choral Works, recorded by Delphian Records, to mark the 90th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Excellent reviews included The Herald commending Nora Trew-Rae and Olivia Massimo as ‘fine young female soloists’. Well done girls! Earlier this year, the choristers were due to join forces with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in a performance of Bach’s St John Passion. Sadly, this was postponed due to lockdown but we’re committed to forging evercloser links with the SCO and will reschedule once restrictions are lifted. Watch this space!
Celebrating 40 years of the Music and Dance Scheme Only five specialist music schools in the UK are funded by the government and offer up to 100% bursary support to access the finest music training. Each of these schools, of which St Mary’s Music School is one, belongs to the Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) established in 1981. To celebrate 40 years of championing excellence in music education, all five schools came together over the summer in a unique collaborative project. From their homes around the world, around 80 young musicians, aged between 15 and 18, recorded their own individual parts of a new piece, Union Overture and Celebration, written especially by critically acclaimed pianist and composer Gwilym Simock – a graduate of the MDS funding system himself, having studied at Chetham’s School of Music. Kimberley, Phoebe, Greta, Emma, Audrey, Momo, Daisy, Ruari, Layla, Cliodhna and Sofia all took part and the piece was broadcast for the first time at 10am on Wednesday 19th August, simultaneously launching on the YouTube channels of all five schools; the piece was also featured on the BBC Radio programme, Classics Unwrapped on 31st August.
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Directors’ Recital Prize goes digital Our partnership with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra has shared values of performance excellence and engagement at its heart and we were delighted when they stepped in to produce our first online concert, the Directors’ Recital Prize 2020. The judging panel of Jo Buckley (CEO, Dunedin Consort and a Director of St Mary’s Music School), Alistair Mackie (CEO, RSNO and a former pupil of the School) and Peter Whelan (Artistic Director, Ensemble Marsyas and the Irish Baroque Orchestra) selected the two winners – flautist Cliodhna (16, Scotland) and accordionist Sofia (18, Spain) – in a programme which went out as a live broadcast on YouTube. You can see the full broadcast on the School’s YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/StMarysMusicSchoolScotland
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