"No Post Mortems - Move on!"

We have passed the half-way point for the 2017 Music Eisteddfod, and the tiredness has started to set in - even the theatre chairs have started to crack (no, literally, one of them practically exploded in the afternoon session - is that enough of a hint to say, we need to upgrade the theatre??!)

Starting the day, the Violin Under 9 - always a well attended class, with 16 young violinists all performing really well. It is a testament to the excellent teaching these youngsters are receiving, as the majority all seemed to enjoy themselves as well. There was one moment, where a performer suddenly found it all a little overwhelming and was close to tears at the idea of getting up onstage in front of a huge auditorium of people - but with a little support and encouragement, they were able to get onstage, compose themselves and play beautifully, and actually enjoy themselves as evident by their big beaming smile at the end. It just goes to show that performance anxiety happens to all, but with a little care and attention anyone can over-come it. Some fine playing from these young violinists, in particular class winner Matilda Cole who performed Dvorak's 'Humoresque' (from memory I might add). I felt this truly was an exceptional performance for such a young performer - I played this piece many years ago on the cello, and I don't think I even began to tackle it until I was 12 or 13! Some really mature playing coming from young Matilda - well done!

Next we had two Chamber Music Classes: the Chamber Music Duo, Trio & Quartet; Junior School, and the Chamber Ensemble; Junior School. Performing music in groups is really important to musical development. Not only do you get to make music with your friends, you also improve your general life skills along side your musical skill: you need to learn to listen to and support other musicians, and you need to know how and when to lead. You also need to be able to talk openly with your fellow musicians and make group decisions and work as a team. Thankfully, there is some of this important work already being done, as evident by these well represented classes. A highlight from these classes were the Melrose Handbell team in the Chamber Ensemble Class. This girls had real style and élan about their performance, and a brilliant sense of teamwork and compassion for each other. Their timing was also impeccable. Interestingly, one performer accidentally picked up her bells the wrong way round (in the wrong hand, not upside-down, just to clarify), and STILL managed to play her part correctly - that is no mean feat! It would be the equivalent of trying to play the piano with your hands crossed over the entire time! Very well done indeed! - Sometimes, we can't cover up mistakes, and if they are glaringly obvious it can feel very embarrassing. Adrian was quick to address this feeling with another one of his 'Musical' Mantras' - "No Post Mortems - Move on!" - Many performers dwell far too much on mistakes, often in the middle of pieces. Think about it for a second, how does letting a mistake get to you in the moment actually benefit you as a performer?.... Simple answer, it doesn't! Definitely an important lesson for all performers to learn.
- The next class, the Piano Under 10 was a lovely class of fine young pianists, all of which are clearly in the beginning of their musical learning. Another mantra came out of the feedback for this class, which related to how we need to practice musicians - "going slowly gets you there faster" (much like the tortoise and the hare, slow and steady wins the race.) This comment is in relation to how we often want the fast result, and young musicians in particular will think that in order to play a piece which is fast, they need to practice it fast. In actual fact it's not the case. Practicing things VERY slowly gives your brain time to process the information you're feeding it, but it also give your body time to respond and learn the muscle memory. This is an important lesson for all musicians, not just young pianists. Even vocalists will benefit from doing their vocal exercises slower than they think necessary, as it will allow them to really develop from the ground up. A well presented class with some lovely style and personalities shining through, with the class being one by Harry Childs with a Highly Commended.

The final class of the morning was the Vocal Girls 10 & Under 12. The general consensus from the audience when this class wrapped up was how lovely it was. There is a lot of wonderful repertoire for girls this age singing in this more classical style, and it's clear to see that they are all not only enjoying the repertoire, but being taught it very well. There's a few little technique issues that start to creep in at this stage, one of which is a personal niggle of mine (my students will tell you, I'm hot on this topic), which I call the 'Phantom H'. Essentially, it's an H where it shouldn't be. Think of the word 'and' at the beginning of a sentence. Many singers will (sometimes without knowing it) put an H in front of that word to begin the phrase, turning it into 'H-and'.... but that's not the word is it?! The Phantom H can also appear in-between syllables ('Ev-hevry' or 'wi-hindow' for example). Adrian also picked up on this tendency, and urged the students to try and connect their sounds more, and sing more legato to avoid this issue. That said, some beautiful singing happening here, with my particular favourites being Clemmie Reid for her delightful performance of 'London Birds', and class winner 'Charlotte Bougourd' for her performance of 'Grizelda'. Adrian was particularly impressed by Charlotte, citing her as a 'young professional' and awarding her a Distinction along with her trophy.

We began the afternoon session with the Music Making Class for Junior School Age, with Beechwood's Samba Band. A wonderful colourful start to the afternoon, both in musical entertainment and the ensemble attire! There's a real sense of enjoyment coming across from this group, with some of their smiles being really infectious. Adrian was quick to praise their ensemble leader, who was not in fact the 'conductor' of this group. Sam (in the green shirt - I didn't catch his last name!) stood in front of the group, with his back to the audience, and lead his group excellently, and I think it's time to hand him the samba whistle and let him have a go at flying solo as a leader! Bear in mind, this is a student under the age of 11 showing this kind of promise! Another budding musical director in the making perhaps?!

After some Recorder Groups (both Under 18 and Open) featuring St Sampson's High School, we were on to the largest class of the afternoon (so large it needed an interval in the middle of it!) - The Pop Song Under 15. This was a great class of well known popular music classics, which were tackled relatively well by this age group. I've said it before, 12-15yrs is a really hard age group for performing music, because of all the transitioning going on, and the fact that the singers are very much 'in-between' things on many levels. A lot of the repertoire they will like it either too old in subject matter, or too demanding, and they're too mature to be doing regular 'kids' material. That said, I think most of the performers chose their repertoire well, and performed with passion and understanding... and in some cases, enviable extravagant shirts (Elliot Hearne, don't forget to give the name of your stylist to the adjudicator!) The class was won by Simone Ashplant for her rendition of 'Feeling Good' (a popular choice this year it would seem!), with a Distinction Mark. One of my personal favourites was Ivy Botzenhardt, with her performance of Sam Smith's 'Lay Me Down' -  I though Ivy showed maturity in her approach with this song, with some lovely use of her vocal registers and a developing understanding of how to use tonal colours to convey emotion, it was truly beautiful. Another favourite was Drew Robilliard - Crooner extraordinaire! The only thing missing from his performance of 'Can't Take my Eyes off of You' was the mirror ball! Drew even managed to impress Adrian with his thorough understanding of the background of this song, including who originally sang it. This, to me, showed a true musical understanding, and I really hope Drew continues to explore this type of repertoire as it suits his voice (and clearly his personality) down to the ground. Most entertaining!

Closing out the afternoon session we had three small instrumental classes; Cello Under 16, Cello Under 18, and Piano Under 16, and boy was this a display of some excellent playing! Evie Hart in the Under 16 Cello showed us a more contemporary style of cello playing: unaccompanied folk-esque performing, complete with tapping percussion and a performance full of panache. Abigail Dempster wowed us with somewhat of a virtuosic piece, 'Requiebros' by Cassado, which show her ability to make her instrument sing - which was even more impressive after a little fluster with a misbehaving music stand! The piano class was presented by Jack Tostevin-Hall, and Marie-Claire Benoist, both fine pianists achieving warmth and style in their playing. A high standard all round, with each of these four players receiving Highly Commended.

Onto the most complicated and well 'orchestrated' session of the festival - it's band night! Three fully contested classes of Orchestras, Bands, Ensembles and Combos from Guernsey's Schools and Music Service. And truly, what a night! The standard of large-scale ensemble playing from our young musicians on this island is very high indeed, and this was remarked upon by Adrian. In particular, he praised St Sampson's High in the Secondary School Class for their fine sound for the musicians they had available. In picking out a highlight from all these classes, I have to praise the fine Brass playing, not just from one group, but from the whole evening. It is clear that there is some excellent brass teaching occurring in Guernsey, as the strength of the brass sections in the majority of the ensembles (several were just string ensembles) was outstanding. The Music Centre Brass Ensemble really highlighted this, as their warmth of sound, dexterity of movement, and super exuberant trombone section was awesome to behold! The Secondary School Class was particularly hotly contested - St Sampson's High showcased their groovy sense of fun with their piece 'The Final Countdown', Elizabeth College demonstrated fine String skill with 'Dargason', Ladies College serenaded us with some lovely Haydn and Handel, The Grammar School wowed us with their tight ensemble and musical theatre repertoire, and The Music Centre dazzled us with agile and dynamic brass playing. In the end, it was the Guernsey Grammar School Wind Band who won the class, with an Outstanding mark of 90; the first for any junior competitors from this festival, which is high praise indeed.

In the Open Orchestral Ensembles Class, again, some excellent playing. In particular I'd like to single out kit player, Jacob Sidebottom, from the Grammar School Swing Band - Jacob shows finesse, subtly, and a decent amount of passion and oomph when needed, which really held this ensemble together, and allowed the rest of the band to relax and give it their all. I also loved their choice of program; 'September' by Earth, Wind and Fire, 'Don't Cry for me Argentina' in a Latin Jazz style, and 'Uptown Funk' by Bruno Mars - it certainly got everyone foot tapping! On this occasion The Guernsey Youth Chamber Orchestra won the class, impressing the adjudicator with the depth of colour with their string playing. If I'm completely honest, I found their program a little long. The time limit for the Open class is 20minutes... but that doesn't mean you have to fill it to the last second! I think I would have enjoyed only two of the three pieces at a time, as clearly this is technical material which they performance wonderfully, but the length of program was a little overkill for me. The piece, 'Minotaur' by Richard Meyer, in particular, although it had amazing chord progressions and memorable lyrical lines, all very well put across by the ensemble, just kept reminding me of the end of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - or rather, how many false ending that film had, much like this piece! Anyway, I digress - the musical display of skill was wonderful! Well done Music Centre!

And finally, the last session of the day, the Barbershop Ensemble Open class, with single performers Johnny's Angels. We had over-run significantly (by at least 30 minutes), which meant the choir had an agonising wait for their performance, and I did feel rather sorry for them! However, a good chunk of people decided to stay to hear them, and I'm sure they'll all agree with me that it was worth the wait. Some beautiful sonorous harmonies, aided by the lovely blend of this SSA choir. A Distinction level performance, earning themselves 88 Marks, and rounding off the evening with a warm feeling.

And....... BREATHE!! - Tuesday was most certainly the longest and most jam-packed day of the festival so far - 9.30am start, and the last class wasn't finished until 11pm! On a day like today, I have to wonder about whether the start time of the sessions need looking at; perhaps an early overall start would have meant the school children could have been home a little early -  or perhaps there was a little bit too much put into this day. But we have to remember, there is new management in this year, and there is bound to be a few little hiccups - and when you couple that with an adjudicator who REALLY likes to talk, to make sure everyone gets as much valuable information as possible.... well, you see how easy it is for time to run away with us! - However, we are through to the second half to the music section now, the home stretch is in sight!