QE played a central role in the High Barnet Chamber Music Festival, with the School’s new Friends’ Recital Hall serving as the main venue and its own musicians performing in a special charity concert there.
Pupils and staff performed to support victims of the war in Ukraine, with donations going to UNICEF and the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR.
Joshua Ballance, artistic director of the festival, which is now in its second year, told interviewer Nick Jones, of The Barnet Society, that QE had blazed a trail for others to follow. “It is a real breakthrough for the festival to stage a showcase concert by a school orchestra and jazz band, and we hope other schools will join us next year.
“To demonstrate our involvement with local schools, we shall be running master classes at Queen Elizabeth’s with some of the professional musicians who have performed at the festival, ” said Mr Ballance. “We want to extend our reach-out programme and offer master classes at other schools. Our link with Queen Elizabeth’s demonstrates the partnership we would like to create.”
Headmaster Neil Enright said: “QE is very much a part of Barnet, so it was splendid to support this new festival bringing professional music to our community. I was also pleased that our own musicians were involved and that we were able to showcase our new facilities to music-lovers beyond our immediate Elizabethan family. I look forward to many similar events in the future.”
During the charity concert, QE’s Director of Music, Ruth Partington, joined Year 12 pupil Jao-Yong Tsai and the School’s accompanist, Tadashi Imai, in a performance of Mozart’s Kegelstatt Trio, for clarinet, viola and piano.
There was a performance of Brahms’ Clarinet Trio, Op. 114, i. Allegro & ii. Adagio. The Jazz Band and QE’s junior jazz group, conducted by Music teacher Caroline Grint, performed a medley for the concert’s finale that included Rock Around the Clock, Georgia on My Mind, and Bandstand Boogie.
Following the charity concert, audiences returned to the 230-seat recital hall – part of the School’s new Music complex officially opened in May – for the festival’s final two events.
First the Mad Song ensemble of young musicians, directed by Mr Ballance, performed a range of music by modern composers Missy Mazzoli, Kaija Saariaho, Joan Tower, Richard Causton, Barbara Monk Feldman, and Steve Reich. The evening was acclaimed by Bernard Hughes, reviewer for specialist website theartsdesk.com as an “ambitious and intriguing concert”.
More familiar musical fare came in the final concert held in The Friends’ Recital Hall, when cellist Ben Tarlton and pianist Robin Green played Beethoven’s Sonata in F for Cello and Piano, Nadia Boulanger’s Three Pieces for Cello and Piano and Rachmaninoff’s Sonata for Cello and Piano.
The three-day extravaganza marked the official opening of The Friends’ Recital Hall and Music Rooms by showcasing both the talents of the School’s young musicians and the new multi-million-pound facilities themselves.
“My congratulations go to our Director of Music, Ruth Partington, her Assistant Director, James McEvoy-Stevenson, Music teacher Caroline Grint and the small army of peripatetic teachers who have all helped the boys reach such high levels of performance.”
In addition to the Music facilities, the complex features a covered atrium for boys to use at lunchtimes and breaktimes which incorporates the new Mayes Atrium Café.
Day two saw the Junior Strings perform at break, with Junior Winds and Senior Winds both in action at lunchtime. The afternoon was taken up with masterclasses for the Pianoathon winners and for members of Junior Jazz and the Jazz Band led by pianist and improvisor extraordinaire, Harry the Piano.
On Friday, the 160-strong School Choir gave the breaktime performances, enjoying the experience of all being together – something that was not possible in the old Music department. Lunchtime appearances were by the Orchestra and Senior Strings. Afternoon masterclasses for élite musicians were given by award-winning international pianist Béla Hartmann.
The concert’s main line-up featured a piano duet and piano, viola, cello and saxophone solos by the boys, as well as a first-half appearance by pianist Tadashi Imai, resident accompanist at the Royal Academy of Music and a piano teacher at QE. There were also appearances by the Jazz Band, Chamber Choir, Junior Violin Trio and Year 13 Flute Trio, before Mr Hartmann brought the concert programme and the festival to a conclusion. The repertoire ranged from Beethoven Chopin, Mendelssohn and Ravel to lesser-known composers such as Jules Demersseman and Carl Bohm, with one soloist, Jao-Yong Tsai, of Year 12, playing a sonata that he had composed himself.
Six groups reached the semi-final of the Pro Corda National Chamber Music Festival for Schools – a total exceeded by only two other schools nationally – and two of the QE ensembles went all the way to the final at Millfield School in Somerset.
The trio were one of five groups competing in the U14 category. The trio comprises: Year 8 pianist Shreyas Iyengar; violin 1, played by Jamie Lam, of Year 7, and violin 2, played by Alex Kronabetter, of Year 8.
“I am also pleased that, following audition, Conor has been offered a place at the highly competitive Royal Northern College of Music to study saxophone when he leaves QE this summer, and Raphael has been offered a place to study Music at Clare College, Cambridge.
Raphael joined with the national Youth Orchestra this winter, as they expanded the strings section. “We played some fantastic music, including Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances and Ravel’s La Valse, and had the opportunity to perform at the Barbican. I am also incredibly excited to be offered a conditional offer for Music at Clare College, Cambridge. I am looking forward to studying music in such an inspiring environment, as well as exploring the huge range of extra-curricular opportunities available.” Alongside the cello, Raphael is a highly accomplished pianist, and also sings in the choir, chamber choir, and barbershop group at QE.
Form and beyond, whether it be with the department at QE, the NYO or at university when the time comes.”
Ryuki, who plays the violin, noted that the School had given him experience of playing in different sized ensembles, as well as in prestigious competitions. “My trio got to the final of the Music for Youth Chamber Music competition and I have played in the Pro Corda Chamber Music competition in both a quartet and a quintet. I aim to take Grade 8 and then try to get into more big orchestras.”
The Service of Nine Lessons and Carols featured not only congregational singing of familiar favourites, but also some lesser-known Christmas music from the School Choir and Chamber Choir. Senior staff and boys from throughout the School delivered the readings, culminating in Headmaster Neil Enright reading the Prologue to St John’s Gospel.
For Years 10 and 11, there was the added bonus of eating the meal in the pristine surroundings of the Mayes Atrium Café – part of the new Music School complex, which is due to be officially opened next term. The facility, built on the site of the previous Mayes Building, is named in honour of Harry ‘Curly’ Mayes, who served the School as butler, porter, steward and caretaker for 60 years, from 1902 to 1962.
The choral pieces at the carol service included:
Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The boys revelled in the opportunity to spend some free time with these wonderful pianos, swapping around to try the different instruments and then enjoying the chance to perform together.
An opening festival for the Music School is being planned for early February – details to follow – all things being well!