"The Last Clap..."

The final day, and we had a lovely set of classes - everything felt perhaps a little more relaxed today - whether that was the classes we saw, or just that everyone was naturally winding down, I'm not sure, but none-the-less, the music was still excellent as always!

We started the afternoon with the Folk Song Under 12, with just two competitors; Ruby-Jane Gill and Eliza Webster, both of whom performed lovely performances of upbeat folk songs. Steven said of these performers that it was clear that they both really enjoy performing, and that they could tell the story through the song. A close race this one, as both received Highly Commended, but this time Eliza Webster won the class. Well done girls. Next up, we had Four classes of Jazz piano, run together to make one super-class; Piano Jazz Under 12, Under 14, Under 16, and Under 18. I always say of Jazz, when it's done well it sounds like it's completely free and improvised, but really there is an immense amount of precision and knowledge being presented. One performer who seems to be showing this well is Sam Cole, who won the Under 12 with a Distinction for his piece 'Taking it Easy' by Martha Mier. In the next two classes, there was one competitor per class, but they were actually competing for the same trophy, as The Birch Trophy is shared by the Under 14 and Under 16 (hint; if anyone's looking to donate a trophy, it would be really great to have all of these classes having their own trophy!). Both Benjamin Childs (under 14) and Henry Partington (Under 16) performed well, receiving Highly Commended, but on this occasion it was Henry who won the trophy. The winner of the Under 18 was Annabelle Pizzey performing 'Ray's Blues' by Dave Erusin, winning The Julie Long Trophy with a Highly Commended.

2nd place performers Ruby-Jane & Erin Bailey, with 1st place winners
Emmelie Wright & Rachel Dawson (Under 15 Pop Duos/Trios/Quartets)

After the interval we had the Pop Song duos/trios/quartets Under 15, fielding four competitors (3 duos, and a quartet). Some great performances and song choices in this class, that's for sure. First up with had Eliza Wesbster, Lea Phillips, Clara Hamilton & Martha Mitchell, performing 'Black Magic'. A fun group of singers this, and they handled the use of part singing, harmony and choreography extremely well, and dubbed the group 'Pick'n'Mix' (a play on the band 'Little Mix' if you're unaware), which is honestly a great band name and I think the girls should keep it for future performances (of which I hope there will be many). One thing I noticed with this group was that everyone looked a little bit serious (perhaps concentrating on the choreography), but it was actually when the movement got out of sync and everyone started to smile (or even giggle), that I thought the performance came alive. Moving forward girls, I think just continue to find the fun and don't worry about everything being 'perfect' so much, because when you all relaxed it was awesome! Next in the class, we had three duos; Ruby-Jane Gill & Erin Bailey performing 'A Thousand Years', Rachel Dawson & Emmelie Wright performing 'Cartwheels', and Erin Vaudin & Freya Le Noury performing 'Skinny Love'. Lovely partnerships on show here. In particular I thought Ruby-Jane & Erin had an amazing ability to sing in unison, where it really sounded like one voice, and big congratulations to Erin Bailey on her first ever Eisteddfod performance. Rachel & Emmelie delivered a thoughtful and heartfelt performance, again with great balance between the two of them, and Erin Vaudin & Freya also have very well-matched voices. High standards in this class, with three Highly Commended performances and a Distinction, which went to Rachel & Emmelie. Sadly, no trophy again for this class, but I think Rachel & Emmelie are looking to donate a trophy to this class, as this was the last year they were eligible for it (they're moving to the Under 18s next year). What a lovely way to leave a legacy I thought! Well done girls, and everyone involved in this super class.

Winner of the pop song Under 15, Emmelie Wright

Following the pop songs, another contemporary class - the Electric Guitar Open, featuring Sam Cole. An unusual start to this class, in that adjudicator Steven Roberts stopped the class from beginning before Sam could start playing, because he didn't feel the audience gave him the ovation a rock star deserves when the curtains opened. The curtains closed, and when they opened again, Steven lead the audience in going wild with applause. A truly awesome performance by Sam of the ever epic 'Wake Up' by Rage Against the Machine (a personal favourite of mine!), which earned him a Highly Commended and 'The Rock God Award'. Closing out the afternoon we had yet another fabulous contemporary class - the Pop Song Under 15. Hugely popular for both competitors and audience alike, we had (as Steven said) a great variety of song choices for these young singers. Personal highlights from this class include Lily Becker's delightful rendition of 'Budapest' by George Ezra (complete with body percussion), Rebecca Philp's vocal tone in her performance of True Colours (honestly, it was like some gorgeous mix of Cher and Annie Lennox, which I thought was fabulous), and Emmelie Wright's heartfelt and stripped back version of 'This is Gospel' by Panic at the Disco. I also thought Erin Vaudin showed real command of her riffs and runs in her song as well. A wonderful class, for which everyone received a Highly Commended, expect the class winner Emmelie Wright who gained a Distinction. I thought Emmelie made a bold desicion to choose a song that she really loved, and then completely rework it to suit her, which clearly paid off for her - it's something I encourage all singers to do more: do it your way, and don't feel like you have to be like the original! 2nd and 3rd places in this class went to Erin Vaudin and Rachel Dawson respectively.

The final evening of the Eisteddfod 2019 started in fine fashion, with the amazing sounds of the Guernsey Welsh Male Voice Choir in the Male Voice Choirs class for Over 18s. There really is something about a Male Voice Choir; the 'wall of sound' that they can create is truly amazing, and it seems to just resonate through you. This was very apparent in their first piece, the Welsh 'call to battle' piece 'Rachie'. They went on to showcase beautiful dynamic control in 'You are so Beautiful to Me', followed by a delightfully funny 'The Noble Duke of York', complete with choreography (shock horror, these old boys can dance!) and lots of Welsh pride. Suitably impressed, Steven awarded the Guernsey Welsh Male Voice Choir (affectionately known as 'The Welsh Boys') a Distinction mark of 87, and the Elizabeth Higgs Cup. Da iawn fach!

Following the Welsh Boys, we had the Vocal Self-Accompanied Over 18, which included 3 competitors; Jo Marsh on ukulele performing 'Thursday' by Glynne & Sheeran, Becky Winterflood performing 'Good Riddance' by Green Day on guitar, and myself performing Adele's 'Someone Like You', on guitar (and not piano as many of you may have thought!) - A great little class, with three great choices of music for the singers in question. I want to say a big well done to Becky for her first time self-accompanying, and after only playing guitar for just over a year - and for getting a Highly Commended! I do hope you will be back next year Becky! In talking about myself and Jo Marsh, Steven said that it was clear that we both like to, "... do songs we like, and do them the way you want to do them!" - an accurate assessment I would say! I've always been of the school of singing (and teaching for that matter), that everyone's voice is unique, and therefore when you're singing someone else's song, you need to do it your own way. True, you can learn much by trying to emulate another singer (and many people make a career out of it), but at the end of the day, you are you, and your voice is unique to you. Embrace it, and figure out what it's great at doing and celebrate that! Both myself and Jo received Distinction marks for our songs; Jo came in 2nd with 87 marks, and I won the class with a mark of 89. On a personal note, it was rather lovely when I went to receive the trophy, Steven not only said well done, but thanked me for everything I've done this festival. That was quite a touching moment. 

Up next, two classes with only one competitor each; the Country and Western Over 18 featuring Jodie Hicks, and the Piano six hands Open featuring Hannah Bourgaize, Cara Fitzpatrick and Martin Hassall. Both competitors performed well, and received Highly Commended marks of 86 in their classes, along with winning the respective trophies. We then had the Novelty Song Over 18. Always a fun and slightly wacky class, we had 4 delightfully hilarious performances; Matt Nichols & Sam Claxton performed 'Father and Son' by Flight of the Concords, Jodie Hicks performed 'Text Message' by Gasparini, Ethan Hitchon performed 'Prejudice' by Tim Minchin, and the very wacky and loveable Lindsey Veillard performed 'Hard to Be Humble, in what can only be described as a bizarrely uncanny impression of Donald Trump (complete with security team, and a wall that she promised Jersey would pay for!) A great class for the final saturday of the music eisteddfod, which I think loosened everybody up considerably. Everyone received Distinctions for their performances, but it was Ethan Hitchon's expertly delivered piece about Prejudice that saw him take the win with an Outstanding mark of 90. A truly superb performance Ethan, and dare I say, you made history at the eisteddfod with a few interesting word choices! Bravo everyone!

The presentation of the Special Awards is always a wonderful moment on the last night of the festival, as not only do we get to celebrate those that have either shown great promise, talent or commitment to music (and the festival), we also get to hear from the adjudicator their thoughts and feelings about our eisteddfod, and what their lasting impressions will be. Steven, rather amusingly I thought, used my blog post titles (which incidentally are almost all direct quotes from him!) to reflect upon the festival, and actually, gave a nice little shout out to this blog - so if you're reading this because he told you to, thanks again Steven! I really liked Steven's approach to these awards, in that he listed people who made it onto the 'shortlist' before announcing the winner - certainly at this festival, the standard is so high, it can be hard to choose a winner sometimes, so I thought this was a nice way to celebrate even more of the local talent. I had two personal favourite winners in this awards section. Lindsey Veillard won the Peter A Malley Trophy for 'Spirit of the Festival'. I'm so pleased to see Lindsey, someone who had been a competitor for many, many years now, and always manages to do so with a sense of fun and without taking herself too seriously. She's always an amazingly supportive person to everyone else performing - a great choice for this award Steven! My other favourite award was for Joseph Stoller winning the Adjudicator's Cup. This award can be given for any reason the adjudicator chooses, and this year it went to Joseph for his incredible performance of 'Spiegel im Spiegiel' by Arvo Part. As Steven said, it was "8 minutes... of nothing but long notes...." - but, in that, something truly special came about, and the audience were treated to something magical. I was lucky enough to be there that day, and I hope Joseph is invited to perform at the gala concert - it may only be 8 minutes of long notes, but it's 8 minutes of truly impressive, beautiful and soulfully presented long notes that can literally reduce you to tears. Well done Joseph for such an amazing achievement. You can find the full list of recipients HERE
Closing out the evening, and therefore the festival, we had the Corporate Entertainment Class. Always a hugely fun class, it is a great way to finish things off, and this year we were treated to a performance entitled 'It's not easy being Green' presented by MV Taxi Services; a delightful tongue-in-cheek performance about recycling, and how, even though it might be a pain and not all that convenient to do, it's actually really worth it in the end - all this while dressed as frogs! Some very clever lyric rewrites, a performer hidden in a bin, and the ever popular Mr Lewis (year 5 teacher from Melrose) giving us a Kermit impression from the piano. Steven quite rightly awarded them the final Outstanding of the festival, and The Inspired Trophy along with it.

So that's it for another year. I hope you have all thoroughly enjoyed the festival, whether you were performing, supporting, watching, or even adjudicating! And to our adjudicator we say:

"Thank you for your positive presence; you speak with ease, you seem confident doing so, and you seem to really like what you do - you were good!" 

Enjoy your mountain of Maltesers, and your Outstanding certificate with 99 marks (because you know it can never be 100)

Thank you Guernsey Eisteddfod, see you in 2020!

The President and the Poet
(sounds like some kind of alternative band name!) 

"Tell 'em how damn good they are!"

The penultimate day of the Guernsey Music Eisteddfod, and the last day of three full sessions, with a huge variety of music, from classical violin all the way through to show-tunes. 

Starting off the morning we had the Infant Age Music Making class, which was represented by Acorn House; Year 2, who always produce something really fun and engaging with their music making, both for the children performing, and the audience watching. A delightful piece called 'Acorn Adventures' (which I believe they arranged themselves), which displayed lovely teamwork as well, which won them the class with a well-earned Distinction. Next up we had the Orchestra/Band/Ensemble for Junior School Age (3-11players). There's already been some great ensemble playing this festival, and this class only added to that, with some lovely playing from the Melrose String Ensemble, who also won their class with a Highly Commended. We followed the string ensemble with an assembly of strings, in the form of the Cello Under 9, and Under 11 classes. It was great to see these young cellists in action this morning, as they took to the stage to perform. There were some fab pieces as well, my favourite being 'Hungarian Stomp', performed by Wills Coleman (I remember playing it myself! Super fun!) The winners of the classes were Christina Edwards for the Under 9s (Highly Commended), and Analeigh Menhennitt for the Under 11s (Commended). Finishing off the first half of the morning, we had a fabulous piano class from the Under 12s, with a wide variety of repertoire choices for this age group, ranging from the traditionally classical ('Ballade' by Burgmuller), through ragtime ('Maple Leaf Rag' by Scott Joplin) to the more contemporary pop song ('Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen). This class was won by Sam Cole, who I thought showed a great command of Scott Joplin at this age - Ragtime is notoriously difficult, as well as tiring, and Sam showed amazing promise in his ability with this performance. A well deserved Highly Commended (although... I would have given him a Distinction.... just my opinion!)

After the interval, we were treated to what is always a magical class; the Choirs Special Needs for Junior School Age, featuring Le Rondin School Choir. This choir performed two pieces, 'Superhero' (an awesome song about Dogs), and 'Together', which I'm not ashamed to say brought a tear to my eye, as they sang with a beautiful focus and in two parts no less! As always there was some amazing playing/signing/singing/co-ordinating from Juanita Bryne from the piano, and lovely supportive conducting from Jo Marsh for the two-part song. For adjudication, Steven asked the children if he could sit on stage with them, speaking directly to them about their performance and everything that's gone into making it happen. The children were truly delighted when Steven revealed that they had won, and could therefore only use good words to describe their performance (a lovely little touch I though), and it was brilliant when they all rushed around him to receive the trophy, and held it aloft - amazing work Le Rondin! Following on, we had two vocal classes in the Vocal Boys and Girls Under 8 (although no boys, sadly), and the Vocal Girls Under 10. Two lovely little classes, which saw each performer receive a Highly Commended for some promising singing. I particularly enjoyed Chloe Thoumine's performance of 'Lucy Lavender', which I thought she delivered with clear diction, a lovely tone and very accurate pitch, winning her the Under 8s class. The winner of the Under 10s was Florence Glynn-Riley for her performance of 'The Owls' by Peter Jenkyns. 

The final class of the morning, the Choirs; Part Singing for Junior School Age. Fielding four competitors (again - seems to be a popular number of choirs per class this year!), we had four wonderful performances from Melrose Canto, ECJS Senior Choir, Guernsey Music Centre Junior Choir, and Blanchelande College Junior Singers. I thought each choir delivered their parts songs with passion and energy. ECJS did well for tackling a three-part song, Blanchelande included a lovely duet in their second piece 'A Child's Prayer', and Music Centre provided some rhythmic and very well utilised percussion in their sassy piece 'Hot Chocolate'. A particular highlight for me was Melrose Canto's performance of 'Colours of the Wind', which I thought they delivered with real passion and sincerity, and I thought it had a powerful sound to it overall. A tough class with a really high standard, that saw everyone receive a Highly Commended, except for the winning choir, which was Music Centre Junior Choir, who won with a Distinction. Well done everyone! Truly super singing!

Starting off the afternoon, we had a the Violin Under 16, with three competitors; Jacob Wright, Sam Cole and Max Guilbert. A great little class for the start of the session, with the three lads providing us with some great material; Jacob played 'Sonata No. 5 in F Major, 1st Mvt (Spring)' by Beethoven, Sam Cole played 'Legende Op. 17' by Henri Wieniawski, and Max Guilbert played 'Bolero' by Carl Bohan. As he did in the morning session, Sam Cole showed a great sense of maturity in his playing, which earned him 1st place with a Distinction.

Next up, we had the Novelty Song Under 18s, featuring two competitors; Erin Vaudin performing 'The Alto's Lament' (a novelty classic if ever there was one), and Drew Robilliard and Reece Kilminster performing 'Ronnie's Marching Band'. Lots of great comedy coming across from both of these competitors. I thought Reece & Drew created the very essence of the two Ronnies, which suitably saw them winning the class with a Distinction. Closing out the afternoon, a mammoth of a class in the Songs from the Shows Under 12. A huge class of 24 entries which saw nearly twice as many performers due to this class including solos, duos, trios and quartets. That's a lot of young talent! A lovely selection of song repertoire for the age of voices, with everything from Disney, Classical Musical Theatre, and more modern contemporary choices. Personal favourite performances for me included; Zaheer Anees 'genie-us' peformance (as Steven called it) of 'Friend Like Me' from Aladdin, Stella Whitmore & Eliza Webster's cheeky performance of 'Mungojerry & Rumpleteazer' from Cats, and Sicely Mountford's sincere performance of 'Quiet' from Matilda - Everyone in the class really delivered their songs with passion and commitment. The winning performance of the class was Stella Whitmore & Eliza Webster, who won with a Distinction. Well done everyone involved in this class - fabulous work by all!

Our evenings entertainment started with the Piano Solo Amateur Over 18, and 'loosely' followed (I'm skipping ahead in the program a little) by the Piano Sight Reading Open. The 'Amateur' class, is essentially aimed at adult pianists who perhaps are late beginners, or play recreationally rather than as professional or even semi-professional, so it's a lovely class for inclusivity and encouraging those to give it a go. So, as an aside, if you're an adult who's currently learning the piano, or think your previous learning is a bit rusty, why not give it a go? In this class we had two performers; Jenna Sweelyn Kok Shun (who you may remember did her first every eisteddfod performance earlier in the week), and Alison Bourgaize. I thought both players performed really well, and I hope Jenna has enjoyed her performances this year and will look to come back next year. Alison Bourgaize won the class with a Highly Commended mark of 86 for her performance of 'Gnossiennes No. 3' by Erik Satie. The Sight-reading class is both technically demanding, and perhaps a little bit mad, as essentially the performer gets given the music at the start of the class. They then have approximately 30 seconds to a minute to study the music, before they perform the piece..... yes, that's right, it's absolutely batty! Not sure what that says about John Morris, but it's a class he seems to enjoy challenging himself with, as he comes back year after year to give it a go! Successful sight-reading requires several things; accurate interpretation of the score (pitch, rhythm, key, dynamics and articulations), and a performance flair (tempo, feel, and a little bit of your personality as the performer). John Morris approached this sight-reading with his usual flair, winning the class with a Highly Commended of 86 marks. Sadly there's no trophy for this class, which I think there really should be, as it's just the right side of crazy and impressive to deserve some sort of award!

'Next up' (I've gone out of order), we had two short classes, the Brass Solo Open featuring Kurt Carre on the French Horn performing 'Nessum Dorma', and the Vocal Duet Over 18 featuring Joy Liggett & Rosemary Ellis performing 'I Would That my Love'. 'Nessum Dorma' is not a song you would typically associate with the French Horn, but it really works quite well, perhaps because the timbre of the horn is quite similar to a vocal tenor (and, you know, loud!) Kurt performed very well, earning himself a Highly Commended mark of 86 and the trophy. Joy and Rosemary's performance in the vocal duet was perhaps a little tentative in the beginning, but they seemed to settle into it quite well, and were awarded another Highly Commended with 85 Marks. A little slip up with the certificates, as they were mistakenly awarded for 'Piano Sight Reading' - it's getting a little late in the week for everyone I think, but no worries as they were quickly corrected! Well done ladies.

Winner of the Under 18s Songs from the Shows;
Reece Kilminster 

The final class of the evening, another (and the last for this year) of the 'big gun' musical theatre classes, we had the Songs from the Shows Under 18. Again, such huge variety of songs in this class, although apparent that the Under 18s like to choose more contemporary choices from more recent shows, such as 'Heathers' and 'Dear Evan Hansen'. Some highlight for me included; Ivy Botzenhardt's touching performance of 'Requiem' (well worth waiting until the end of the class to hear), and Drew Robilliard, Sam Ashcroft, Reece Kilminster & Matthieu Mayer's hilarious performance of 'Horse Whisperer' from Beyond the Gate. Reminiscent of the 'lads on tour' from the previous night, these four certainly don't mind pushing the riske button just a little for a few laughs (which they definitely got) - I don't think Steven was quite ready to see a picture of his face attached to Drew's boxershorts.... neither were the rest of us to be honest! A truly high standard of class this one, with everyone receiving Highly Commended or higher. The class winner was Reece Kilminster with his gorgeous and moving performance of 'That's the Kind of Man I Am' from Betty Blue Eyes. There was such sincerity and depth of understanding in this, as well as wonderful vocal quality - an Outstanding performance all round, and I think Reece has a bright future in the theatre if he wants it.

Another night, another fabulous day of entertainment drawn to a close, and just one to go. Stephen made comment in his adjudication of the last class, that the opportunity presented to all these young performers is really quite special, and that they need to embrace it with all they can. He also made a point to the supporters of the performers (and the eisteddfod in general), that it's important to let them know just how good they are. A great message I think, which I hope everyone listens to, but I will add to it - performers: you are good! SO good!..... but hard work and dedication will make you incredible - listen to those that build you up, and use their support and belief in you to make yourself the best you truly can be.

"I don't think I've experienced anything quite like that!"

Hard to believe it's been a full week of music making, we've made it back round to Thursday, those opening classes feeling like a distant memory!

Starting off the afternoon (as there was no morning session) was the Vocal Solo for Boys & Girls 12-15, although sadly, no boys in this class. We did have 4 lovely performances from the girls in the class though. In particular I thought that Julia Madden showed great promise with her voice, and excellent command of the German language in her piece 'Vegebliches Standchen'. Erin Vaudin won the class with a Distinction for a stylish performance of 'A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square' by Thomas Arne. Following the vocalists, we switched to Orchestral Woodwind for a moment, with a cute little duet from Jack Tostevin-Hall and Annabelle Pizzey, playing the theme tune from 'Up'. A gorgeous combination of the Cor Anglais and Oboe, these two really showcased their skills and musicality. They won the Cooper Family Armada Dish with a Highly Commended - personally, I would have given them more for that, as I thought it was stunning! Leading us to the interval, another smallish class in the Pop Song Duos/Trios/Quartets Under 18, fielding two duets and a trio. A nice little class with a interesting choice of repertoire for these singers. I thought the blend between Drew Robilliard and Reece Kilminster in their duet was superb, and at times they sounded like the same person! The class winners were 'The Young Ones', who performed 'Jar of Hearts' with a Distinction. Next up we had the Family Class, featuring two lovely family trios; the Cole family (Dad Owen, and then siblings Sam and Matilda), and the Kirk-Hamon family, or rather 'Oliver and the Humans' (with Son and Father, Oliver and Michael, and uncle Kirky on the cabasa). Two very confident and competent performances from these families. I thought Matilda Cole sang the best I've heard her this festival; beautifully clear vocals, and sensitively accompanied by her brother Sam on Violin, and Dad Owen on the Piano. 'Oliver and the Humans' made an impression from the start, in their stunning purple suits. Steven particularly enjoyed the 'mean and moody' cabasa player in the form of Uncle Kirky! "Every band should have one of you!" he said. A close call for this class, but the winners were 'Oliver and the Humans' with a Distinction - well done chaps! Hope those suits get another outing!

Oliver and the Humans; winners of the Family Class

After the interval, we had a truly stunning class, the Violin Open. Two utterly incredible performances in this class, from MC Benoist who performed 'Theme and Variations' by Messaien, followed by Joseph Stoller performing 'Spiegel im Spiegel' by Arvo Part. Such diametrically opposing performances here. Of Messaien, Steven said, "You need to forget everything you think you know about music." MC performed this piece with real intelligence and grace, and was superbly supported by Mervyn Grand on the piano. The Arvo Part piece was achingly beautiful, and Joseph Stoller managed, in Steven's words, to "stop time - everyone here just got a moment to stop and listen for a while." In this day and age, we tend to 'not have time' for a lot of things - but Joseph managed to give us 8 minutes of reflection and stillness (and in some cases, stirred up quite a few emotions!). Joseph went on to win the class with a well deserved Outstanding. What a class!
- If you would like to hear this particular piece of music (not Joseph performing I'm afraid), here's a link to a live performance on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8ZScAdV8qE

Closing the afternoon we had three group classes; the Madrigal & Part Song for Secondary School Age; Chamber Ensembles for Secondary School Age; and Choirs (Contrasting Song) for Secondary School Age. In the Madrigal class, the Guernsey Music Centre Youth Choir performed 'Since my Tears and Lamenting' by T Morley, and 'Linden Lea' (one of my personal favourite pieces) by Ralph Vaughan Williams. A fine performance from this choir, and I thought they handled the harmonies in the madrigal very well. They won the class with a Distinction. In the Chamber Ensemble class the Guernsey Music Centre were up again with their Clarinet Choir, performing a set of Romanian Folk Dances (nos 1, 2, 5, 6 & 7), and an arrangement of 'Three Blind Mice'. The Music Centre Flute choir also performed in this class (an addition to the programme), performing two fabulous film score pieces, in 'Folk Dance' from 'Chocolat' (Rachel Porter), and 'Jurassic Park' (John Williams), in addition to Symphony No. 7 (Boyce). Two Highly Commended performances here, with the Clarinet choir taking the win and the trophy. The Final performances of the afternoon were from Grammar School's Rhapsodie and The Ladies College Senior Choir, partaking in the 'Choirs; Two Contrasting Songs' class. I thought the choirs did well to choose contrasting material in terms of tempo and feel (although I wonder if they could have pushed themselves further to do more different genres as well? Just a thought.) I particularly enjoyed Ladies College's performance of 'Africa' by Toto - another personal favourite piece of mine! It was certainly a fabulous way to close out the afternoon, and they were awarded a Distinction, winning the class, with Rhapsodie receiving Highly Commended.

A busy evening tonight, we kicked off the evening with two theatrical piano classes, with the Two Piano Open, and Piano Jazz Over 18. Performing in the two pianos, as usual, myself and my mother. Finishing off the set of pieces we've been playing for the last 4 years, we played the 1st Movement 'Samba Triste' from Richard Rodney Bennett's 'Four Piece Suite'. This suite (as I noticed when practicing), is dedicated to the late great Andre Previn, who passed away this week at the age of 89. My mother introduced our performance by saying that we hoped to play, "all the right notes, and hopefully in the right order." I must say, it's still a bit of a pain to be playing a 'two pianos' class on two completely different pianos - getting balance between a grand and an upright is hugely difficult, and I will be ecstatic on the day that we actually get to play on two grand pianos! That said, Steven thought we managed to balance the pianos, and the parts played by each piano extremely well, and that it was a lovely piece to start the evening off. He awarded us 88 marks (Distinction), and the Tom Bromley Memorial Cups. Next up, the ever theatric John Morris performing in the Jazz Piano, with his fabulous arrangement of 'Honeysuckle Rose'. Jazz is a genre in which John really excels, and his dynamic performance earned him an outstanding mark of 90. Bravo John!

Then we were on to the 'main event' of the evening, the Songs from the Shows Over 18. Forever a popular class, with 24 separate entries, and literally everything from every type of musical you could wish for; from the emotional contemporary ballad ('Pretty Funny' from Dogfight, performed by Jo Marsh), to the audience rousing pub-song ('Oom Pah Pah' from Oliver! performed by Lindsey Veillard). There were puppets ('Fine Fine Line' from Avenue, Q performed by Natalie Wrigley), and there were sets and props ('The Innkeepers' Song' from Les Miserables, performed by Bob Ferrell & Tessa Le Gallez), and everyone made a fabulous effort with costume. Steven said of this class, he was looking for performance, vocal delivery, and character commitment and understanding, which I thought was abundant in this class. One performer who I thought showed immense improvement (and continues to each year) is Scott Michel. Scott is never one to shy away from challenging music, and I thought his performance of 'Alive' from Jekyll and Hyde was delivered with a clear character concept, and some great high notes. I also thought Dominique Ogier's performance of 'And I'm telling you I'm not Going' from Dreamgirls was incredible. She embodied everything about the character of Effie, and as Steven said, "even when you were quiet, you were bold." A high standard of class, with many performers receiving Distinctions, including 3rd place performer Jodie Hicks, who's performance of 'History of Wrong Guys' was delightfully funny and very well sung in character. Our top two performers received Outstandings. In 2nd place, Lindsey Davies & Kirstin Radford performed 'The Grass is Always Greener' from the lesser known musical The Woman of the Year. A suitably well acted and funny duet, with clear character and vocals from the start, well done ladies! The last act of the night also happened to be the winner, consisting of Matt Judge, Josh Gabriel, Ashley Ellis and Tom Cheshire, singing 'Spanish Hospitality' from Departure Lounge. If you don't know this musical, it is truly hilarious, and the boys did a fabulous job of portraying 4 'lads on tour' stuck in a Spanish airport. It was very well sung, with eye-wateringly funny choreography and use of props (I'll just say the word chorizo and leave it at that....). They were also brilliantly accompanied by two guitarists / pilots in, Jack McGahy and Matt Nichols. An amazing performance, which earned them the trophy, and a spectacular 95 marks. Well done lads.... don't fill that trophy with beer!!

An amazing day of music all round. Closing the evening, Steven said, "I don't think I've experienced anything quite like that!"- Well, I have, quite frequently... every year in fact! How lucky we are that we get to do, see and hear such amazing performances right here in Guernsey, and provide incredible experiences for those visiting us. Keep up the good work everyone!

'Brits on Tour' - winners of the Over 18s Songs from the Shows

"It was a bit scary.... in a good way!!"

Here we are, past the half-way point, and there's no sign of letting up in the awesome music making that is occurring at the Guernsey Music Eisteddfod.

Kicking off the morning we had the Choirs Unison Singing, for Junior School Age. As with the Infants yesterday morning, we had another 4 super choirs, this time from Amherst School, Forest School,  Blanchelande College and Elizabeth College Junior School. Some really great singing here from all of these choirs, as evident by the marks, in that all the choirs received a Highly Commended, except for the class winners, Blanchelande College Junior Singers, who won with a Distinction. I thought Blanchelande really delievered a stellar performance with their pieces 'The Seed' and 'The Truth about Tudors' - well done everyone involved! Calming the mood slightly, we next had the Viola Under 11. We had almost a full day of lovely Viola playing on Tuesday, with the Under 9s and Under 14s, so it was nice to see the Under 11s and 'connect the dots' a little bit in how players develop. A great class of 6 violists, with the three placed performers each receiving Highly Commendeds; Chloe Hodgson was the winner of the class with her fun interpretation of 'The Can-Can' by Offenbach.

Closing out the morning we had several instrumental group classes; the Orchestra, Band and Ensemble for Junior School Age, and two Chamber Ensembles for Junior School Age (one for duos/trios/quartets, and one for larger ensembles.) What was quite nice in this class was what I've coined 'Viobling' - a little bit of colourful violins, and blinged up string instruments with stickers and bedazzled cello bellies... and I mean, why not? This allows kids to express themselves musically, but it's lovely to see them doing it visually as well! Some great playing and teamwork in all of these classes, and lovely to see that the children were all having so much fun making music together. I particularly enjoyed Bellissima Melrose's performance of 'Poor Wayfaring Stranger', and Matilda Cole & Zara Stafford-Bell's performance of 'The Queen of Sheba' - I thought these teams showed excellent connection and understanding between them. The winners of each class were; The Vauvert String Group (Orchestra/Band/Ensemble Junior School Age), Matilda Cole & Zara Stafford-Bell (Chamber Duos/Trios/Quartets), and Bellissima Melrose (Chamber Ensemble).

Starting off the afternoon session was the Folk Solo for all voices 15 and Under 18. Another trio of lovely folk singing from Morgan Taylor, Louise Madden and Simone Ashplant. Some excellent story telling from these three singers, as you hope for in the folk song class. I thought Louise Madden showed particularly fine control of her voice in her performance of 'Single Girl', with a stunning purity to her voice, but on this occasion Simone was the victor for her performance of 'The Skye Boat Song', which was also beautifully delivered. All three girls received Highly Commended for their efforts, well done everyone. Next up we had two piano classes; Piano Solo - Film/TV Music Under 18, followed by the Piano Duet Under 15. Only one competitor in the Film/TV music class, which was a shame, however, the duet class competitors also played the theme from Star Wars, so that satisfied my love of film music a little more. Francesca Miller, who played a little medley of music from the film from 'La La Land', played with a lovely sense of grace and sincerity, earning herself a Highly Commended. Sadly, there was no trophy for this class - prime opportunity for someone to donate one! The Stars Wars Theme was then performed by brothers Harry and Benjamin Childs in the Under 15 piano duet. A really fun piece of music here, with lots of character coming out of this sibling partnership, who also won their class with a Highly Commended.

Self-accompanied Rockstars (... and some keen teachers)

Vocal Self-Accompanied Under 18 was next, and for a change, I actually got to sit back and watch my students perform - when you're their teacher, more often than not you're on the piano or accompanying them in some way, so although you're present and observing, you don't always get to really see what they can do. This was a lovely moment for me to really listen and take it all in. A well represented class, with 5 performers, all choosing to perform with acoustic guitar. Steven commented on the wide variety of music that was presented, from old classics like 'Travellin' Light' through to more modern songs like 'Youngblood'. He also said that he really enjoyed the individuality that each performer brought to their songs, and how they adapted the songs to suit their voice and playing styles. I also agree with him that Ivy Paris Smith (incidentally, the student in this class that I don't teach!) has a wonderful tone to her voice; it's rich with a lot of depth, and I think she shows a lot of promise in her singing. I also over-heard her saying that she's only been playing the guitar for a few months, so well done Ivy for putting yourself out there and performing so well, and even coming in 2nd! The class winner was Rachel Dawson with a Distinction for her hauntingly beautiful performance of 'Fields of Gold'. It also happens to be Rachel's birthday today, so happy birthday Rachel, you can celebrate twice now! We followed the vocalists with the Piano Sonata Under 18, in which MC Benoist performed a classic piece of repertoire, the 'Moonlight Sonata (1st Mvt)' by Beethoven. MC gave a performance which was technically very sound, although Steven suggests (and I agree) that allowing a little more space in the playing would take this piece to the next level, and is definitely something to consider. MC earned a Distinction mark for a superb rendition of a classic piece.

The Elizabeth College Close Harmony Group

After the interval we had three choir classes running back-to-back; Choirs (Unison & Two Part song) for years 7-11 competed for by Les Beaucamps High School Choir, the Male Voice Choirs Under 18 competed for by the Elizabeth College Close Harmony Group, and Folk Choirs for Secondary School Age competed for by Guernsey Girls Choir. Three completely different groups in three completely different classes, which made for a wonderful little concert of choral singing. Les Beaucamps performed their two pieces, and rather successfully I thought, to backing tracks. The first piece, 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' by the band Greenday was strong and energetic, and they performed positively - perhaps, in the future when they perform it again they could try it with a live band? That would sound amazing! I thought their second piece, 'Is It Music', had a lovely sentiment, and they successfully found the light humour in it as well. A lovely program of music, earning them a Highly Commended and the amazing Violet Grace Shield. Well done Les Beaucamps! The Elizabeth College Close Harmony Group certainly lived up to their name, performing two a cappella pieces, poles apart in style and time period! I particularly enjoyed their version of Billy Joel's 'And So it Goes', and I want to make special mention (as Steven did) of the lad singing counter-tenor - I thought he handled those high notes really well, and there's a lot of promise in his high falsetto voice. They won their class with another Highly Commended, taking home the Seren Trophy (which incidentally, my mother donated to this class 10 years ago!). The final choral performance was from the Guernsey Girls, performing two folk songs in 'My Lagan Love', and 'Dancing Song' by Zoltan Kodaly. A lovely unified sound from the girls here, and a lovely solo from Annabelle Pizzey. The second piece in particular showcased some amazing diction and focus, with a superb last top A from the sopranos. Quite rightly, the Guernsey Girls won with a Distinction.

Finishing off the afternoon, we had the Chamber Music Open. Now, you may remember that in Sunday's blog I mentioned a group, The Fortuna Trio, that performed on Sunday evening as they were unable to perform today due to work commitments. This isn't as unusual as you might think for the Eisteddfod, and I do think it's great for the festival to be accommodating when circumstances are out of the performers' control. But first up, we saw three performances from Nicole Wyatt with three of her students - yes that's right, Nicole performed THREE times so that she could perform with each of her students - quite an admirable feat! Some fine playing from her students, and in particular I thought Katie Connolly really held her own and played with a lovely warmth and maturity. Marilyn Pugh was present as a representative of The Fortuna Trio, who performed for the class on Sunday. Steven said of their performance that there was a lovely communication with this group, and some nice duet moments between the clarinet and the soprano voice. The overall winner of the class was Katie Connolly & Nicole Wyatt for their performance of 'Duo No. 1, 1st & 2nd Mvts.' winning with a Highly Commended. Well done everyone in this class - fine chamber music playing indeed.

Opening up the evening class, we had another of the big piano classes; the Piano Classe Superieure Over 18, and again, our 'old favourites' were back, in the form of Bob Perkins, John Morris and Marilyn Pugh. I call this a 'big' class, because it requires an intense amount of focus and energy to deliver two contrasting works at a high standard of playing, especially on the piano, and these three performers certainly did that. Steven praised all three of the players for their excellent playing, stating it was clear that they were obviously very good pianists. He also praised the them for having the guts to get onstage and showcase what they could do, and said he hoped it would inspire a few more people to give it ago. The class winner was  John Morris, who showed incredible technique in his delivery of 'Pavanne & Galiarde, The Earl of Salisbury' by William Byrde, and '6 Variations on a Ukrainian Folk Song' by Kabalevsky, earning himself 89 marks. Preceding the interval we had the Choirs, Madrigals class for Over 18s, featuring sole competitor State of Harmony. This choir have really tested themselves this year, performing in more classes than I think they ever have before, and with a wide variety of choral styles as well, which is great to see. As a result, I think they've improved quite measurably, and in this class it showed the best. Madrigal singing is not easy, and they handled this style extremely well, with some good grasp of the harmonies as well. For their efforts, they were awarded 86 marks (Highly Commended), and the Canon Hickey Cup. Well done!

Winner of the Pop Song with 90 marks (Outstanding)
Lucy Cave

We started after the interval with two contemporary classes, the Pop Song Over 18, and Pop Song Duos/Trios/Quartets Over 18. A rather busy evening for me I might add, as not only was I performing in both of these classes, but I was accompanying almost everyone else as well! Big thanks to Ashleigh De Jersey-Moore for allowing me to perform before her so that I could have a breather! Steven said of this class, "There's always one class in every festival... and this was it..... why you six? you've made my job so much harder than it already is!" - I mean, I played for most of them, and I wouldn't have wanted to call which one of them should have won! Steven was particularly complimentary of Stephen Glencross's rendition of 'Grace Kelly' as usually performed by Mica - honestly, the accuracy of Stephen's sound in emulating Mica is quite uncanny and, in Steven's words "a bit scary!... in a good way!" - Steven Roberts had lovely things to say about each performer, and ended up awarding 1st place to Lucy Cave for her emotional and dramatic performance of 'Hello' by Evanescence. I'm so pleased for Lucy (who looked a little bit shocked that she won), as she worked extremely hard to both sell the emotional context of the song, and deliver the more contemporary vocal sound which is in fact not her usual way of singing (she's usually a classical soprano). Truly well done Lucy, you deserved that Outstanding 90 marks! Following the pop solos, a Pop Duo in the form of myself and Jo Marsh. We performed our arrangement of 'Titanium', self-accompanying on both guitar and ukulele, along with our friend Scott Dorrity providing some percussion accompaniment on Cajon. A little bit of a shame to be the only ones in the class, but none-the-less, Jo and I (and Scott) had a lot of fun performing this. Steven said it felt remarkably casual, almost like we said, "Hey, we've got a spare 5 minutes, shall we get on stage and perform a song?", which I think is actually a compliment! Steven also suggested that we go ahead and record this version - you know Steven? I think we will! We've been thinking about doing a few recordings anyway, so thanks for giving us another excuse to! Delighted to say we won the class and the Sorelle Trophy with a Distinction mark of 89. Closing out the evening was the Lieder Over 18. A little bit of unfortunate programming in my honest opinion, as I thought the pop song classes brought the evening to a natural finish, and to then suddenly do a complete U-turn back to the classical genre (and heavy classical at that) was a little challenging, for the performers, the audience, and even Steven. None-the-less, the sole competitors Alison Bourgaize & Jane Martine performed their piece 'An Den Mond Op. 57 No. 3' by Schubert very well, and were awarded the P W Kimber Cups with a mark of 86 (Highly Commended).

Another great day in the can at the Guernsey Eisteddfod, with only 4 more to go. Sometimes the festival can feel like it takes a little lull at this point, but I don't think that's happened this year, it's been an incredibly strong day of music making - keep the energy up everyone, we're in the home straight now!

Yeah... we're having fun!

"I didn't notice the cow until the very end!"

We've reached the half-way point of the festival, perhaps at the peak of intensity - there was so much music making, and almost all from the youth of the island at Tuesday's sessions of the Eisteddfod.

To start off the morning we were treated to one of the most popular classes of the festival, the Unison Singing for Infant School Age. 4 choirs from across the islands schools took part in this class, and the audience were treated to 4 wonderful performances. First up we had Forest School, who delivered their two songs with a clear sound ( and with perhaps one or two rather enthusiastically proud voices in the mix), and a lovely sense of fun - I particularly enjoyed the 'Alien' actions in their second piece, 'Great Green Google-eyed Alien'. Next up were Blanchelande College Infants. I thought that this choir had a lovely unified sound, and I loved the use of sign language in the first piece ('Many Shades of Blue'). Performing third were Melrose Infant Choir, who delivered two contrasting songs, in a ballad ('Today'), complete with beautifully incorporated props, and a humorous and fun piece 'The Cow Appreciation Song' - hats off to the young performer who managed to stay completely hidden in her Cow Onesie until the very end of their performance! I think you managed to take a few people by surprise, including Steven! Finally, we had Acorn House ECJS, with their performances of 'What's Out There in the Snow?', and 'Big Blue Tractor' (complete with, you guessed it, a big blue tractor!). Personally, for me, I did wish that this choir had performed with a live accompanist rather than a backing CD - perhaps it was where I was sat in the audience (which was right at the front), but I thought the backing was far too loud, so I was unable to hear a lot of what the children were singing, even though they were giving it everything - a live accompanist might have just given them a bit more balance in my opinion. Clearly Steven was able to hear everything well from his seat though, as he awarded this spirited performance 1st place in the class, and the trophy with a Highly Commended. Well done to all the choirs and their relative support teams for a truly successful morning of choral singing!

After the madness of the choirs, the morning took a calmer turn, as we had the Viola Under 9. A really nice class here, with 8 budding violists. The viola often gets forgotten about in the string section, next to it's 'more important' sibling the violin, and more boistrous bigger brothers in the cello and double bass, but it is a really beautiful instrument when it is played well. It's great to see that these young violists are getting a good start on their instrument. Some great playing, with the three placed performers, Alfie Cooper, Susie Costley and Lily Hurrell each receiving Highly Commended, and Lily winning the class and the Le Prix D'Alto. Following the violas, a short and very sweet class in the Piano Duet Under 10. Only the one competitor, in the form of young lads 'Sebastien Saad & Sami Benford' playing a delightful little song about fruit ('Mango Walk') - I mean, what's not to like? I thought that these two showed a nice developing sense of teamwork, and their use of a count-in by Sebastien really helped settle them into a fine performance. I did overhear them, before they went on, discussing the dilemma of 'who would take home the trophy should they win' - well thankfully, in a piano duet class, you get one each! Well done boys, a lovely performance!

After the interval, we had the Folk Choirs for Junior School Age, competed for by the Guernsey Music Centre Primary Choir. I was very impressed with this choir's discipline and confidence, and there was a super performance by Joseph Stoller on djembe, which really enhanced their performance and added to the atmosphere of the piece. They also included some lovely subtle swaying in their 2nd piece, which again, was just enough to add atmosphere to the lovely Hungarian folk song. A well deserved Highly Commended for this group. Closing out the morning was the Violin Under 9 - like it's counterpart for the violist, it's great to see such promising starts in all of these young players in their learning of the instrument. 14 performers in this class, and a really close call between all of them as to who would be the winner - so much so, that along with the winner, we had 2 performers in equal 2nd, and another 2 in equal 3rd, and all on a Highly Commended! Steven clearly had a tough time deciding this one, but in the end he decided to award the trophy to Pippa Smith for her confident and stylish performance of 'Patrick's Reel' - well done all!

Starting off the afternoon, we were treated to more fine Viola playing, this time in the Viola Under 14. If you were there in the morning, you will have enjoyed (as I did), seeing just where these players can get to when they spend time practicing and developing their skills. Some wonderful playing here, particularly from George Walker - he is managing to produce some remarkable tonal colours from his instrument, and at such a young age, that really shows a sense of maturity and understanding in his playing. He went on to win the class with a Highly Commended.

Performers from the Under 18 Jazz Class; (L-R) Elliott Hearne,
Rachel Dawson and Emmelie Wright

Next up, a favourite class of mine (unsurprisingly), the Vocal Jazz Under 18. A popular class with the Under 18s crowd, which gives these young singers a chance to explore their voices, I feel. There are so many rules that can be bent and broken in jazz singing, and a vast colour scape of sounds that can be used to create atmosphere and, most importantly, soul. I really enjoy seeing and hearing these young singers exploring, and in some cases, finding their voices. Some stand out moments for me included; Elliott Hearne's sheer confidence and smoothness in his jazzed-up version of 'Joy to the World' (by the rock band Three Dog Night), Reece Kilminster's typically warm crooner vocals in his performance of 'Ain't that a Kick in the Head', and the inclusion of a cornet solo in Emily Andrijasavic's performance of 'Mad About the Boy', played beautifully by Grandpa Dennis Burns. I also thought that Freya Le Noury's voice showed real promise for this particular genre, and I would encourage her to dig a little deeper into the variety of sounds her voice can potentially make, and have fun exploring what she can do, as there's a gorgeous tone developing there. From a personal point of view, I was really proud to see my three students in the class, Emmelie Wright, Elliott Hearne and Rachel Dawson place 3rd, 2nd and 1st respectively. It's always a joy as a teacher when you see your student's hard work pay off, and in particular, I thought Emmelie really did herself proud - The song choice she made was a challenging one for her, and it took until the last practice we had for her to find exactly what she wanted to do with it. But in that persistence, she found the soul and the delivery that made for a really special performance. Well done you three, and everyone else in this class - I just love hearing you all sing jazz!

After the interval, we returned from the Jazz club back to the classical concert hall, as we were delighted by a wonderful xylophone solo from Rahil Anees in the Percussion Solo Under 18. Rahil performed the infamous 'Concertino for Xylophone, 3rd Mvt' by Toshiro Mayuzumi. Not only is this piece notoriously difficult for the soloist, but the accompaniment is not exactly a walk in the park, and I thought Mervyn Grand did a fine job in providing Rahil with solid support from the piano. Some fine tuned percussion skills from Rahil (following on from what he showed us he could do in with the Snare Drum yesterday), and he suitably won the class with a Distinction. After the percussion, we had the Chamber Music Strings for Secondary School Age, featuring the Elizabeth College Senior Quartet performing the classic 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusic' by Mozart, and the Blanchelande College String Quartet performing two pieces; 'Adagio for Strings' by Barber, and a more contemporary choice in 'Paradise' by Chris Martin of Coldplay. The second group did have to wait a little bit before performing, as there was an issue with the stage lights deciding they didn't want to stay on! But that was soon fixed and they were able to play. I did wonder if the weird delay did fluster them a little bit, as they felt somewhat unsettled in their first piece, but were able to deliver a stronger performance in the second. This class was ultimately won by the Elizabeth College Quartet, with a Highly Commended.

Up next we had three instrumental classes, and a further chance to hear the development of the viola, as we heard the Viola Under 16, followed by the Violin Under 18, and finally the Instrumental Jazz Open. In the Viola Under 16, George Walker once again showcased his maturity and stellar ability to perform, as he played 'Praeludium and Allegro' by Fritz Kreisler. Steven said to George, "you'll never be out of work as a violist," and you know, he's not wrong! And certainly, at the level George plays, he would have no trouble getting work as a violist if he decides to go down that route. In the Under 18 Violin, MC Benoist also showcased a depth of maturity and understanding of their chosen instrument, performing the ever popular 'Czardas' by Monti. I thought MC performed with a sense of style, and a really rich tone and vibrato (although perhaps the vibrato could be tamed in places, to help with intonation? Just a thought of mine). Two strong performances here, with each winning their respective classes; MC with Highly Commended, and George with a Distinction. Continuing the instrumental performances, we had the Instrumental Jazz Open, where we heard 'Bass of Operations' performed by Alexandra Dorey on Double Bass, and 'Three Piece Suite for Saxophone; Finale' performed by Cara Fitzpatrick. Two classic Jazz instruments here, and a fine understanding for the genre being presented by both musicians. I thought Cara showed off the amazing variety of sounds the saxophone can deliver beautifully, and really brought the instrument to life in my opinion. A tough one to call, but on this occasion Alexandra Dorey won the class with a Highly Commended. Rounding off the afternoon, a final choir class of the day, the Choirs Secondary Age, fielded a single competitor, the Ladies College Junior Choir. The choir performed two pieces, 'There's Me', and 'Chariot's Coming', winning the trophy with a Highly Commended - well done ladies!

The Tuesday evening, always a huge venture, saw all (or at least it feels like all!) the islands large scale ensemble's descend onto Beau Sejour to compete at the Eisteddfod. First up we had the Making Music Secondary School Age class, were we saw 4 groups perform; Guernsey Grammar School & Sixth Form Training Orchestra, Elizabeth College Junior Strings & Wednesday Band, The Ladies College L5 GCSE Group, and St Sampson's High School Stage Sound. The music making class usually shows players who are still developing their skills (for example, 'training' groups). Often with training groups of this nature, it is confidence which makes the difference - for example, overall the percussion could have been louder, or at least more assertive. As a percussionist myself, I remember when my tutor always used to say, "whatever the dynamic marking is, play it at least 2 markings louder!" - there are reasons for this; 1) percussion are always at the back, so you have to carry over the rest of the ensemble, and 2) either play it wrong and proudly or don't play it! A mistake that is done with conviction is always better than a half-hearted attempt that is correct. That said: some great playing coming from this class, with the St Sampson's High School Stage Sound performing with definite confidence and conviction, winning them the class with a Distinction. Next up, the Orchestral Band/Ensemble Open - only one competitor this time, the Guernsey Grammar School Orchestra, lead by both Deborah Bideau and Janine Mallett. A really great programme of varied music I thought from this group, with everything from Dvorak's 'Slavonic Dance No. 8', to Santana's 'Smooth', and they earned themselves a Distinction Mark of 87.

The final and largest class of the evening, the Orchestral Band/Ensemble Secondary Age, contested by an impressive 7 groups! We had the Ladies College Senior Strings, two groups from the Grammar School in their Wind Band and Swing Band, three groups from Guernsey Music Centre in the Chamber Orchestra, Brass Band and Flute choir, and finally (with what wins 'best band name' in my opinion), the Elizabeth College Snorkel Band, although disappointingly, no snorkels! (I'm guessing it's a bit of a play on the fact that they're a windband). Hilariously, between each group, we got to experience an experimental percussion group, the 'Elephants behind the Curtain'. Amazingly, every time they finished playing, we never saw them and a different group was ready to perform! A hugely impressive class with a vast variety of music on display. A particular highlight was the fine trombone playing from the lad who seemed to be in every group! The Guernsey Chamber Orchestra were also amazing with their pieces 'Chacony in G Minor' and 'Amadeus from Symphony No. 25'. Steven said of them that they were "quite possibly the best I've ever heard", which is a fine testament to the students, and their teachers. A super high standard of class for this one, with the Grammar School Wind Band coming in 3rd with Highly Commended, the Grammar School Swing Band coming in 2nd with a Distinction, and for a truly exceptional performance, the Guernsey Music Centre Chamber Ensemble receive an Outstanding and the trophy.

One of the more jam-packed days of the festival; a real zoo of amazing music amongst the hidden cows and the secret elephants. All jokes aside though, I think this day highlights something particularly special. The teaching of music in this island, in both the schools and private endeavours is of a very high standard, providing young performers with, not only an amazing understanding of music, but with a chance to explore vital life skills and work together with other musicians in various forms. The power and importance of music is something that, sadly, we still need to fight for a little, and I hope those of you out there reading this agree with me; we have something truly special here on Guernsey when it comes to music, and we need to keep supporting it with every ounce of strength we have.

"The woodblock freaked me out...."

So we're into the 2nd week of the Guernsey Music Eisteddfod, starting the day with a morning off, which I'm sure Steven will have appreciated - he's had a lot of music thrown at him the last 4 days!

Quick Study competitors; Joseph Stoller and class winner
Rahil Anees 

The Monday afternoon session started with somewhat of an unusual class, for those in the audience at least; the Quick Study Under 18. How this class works is that the competitors are each given a piece on Saturday morning, and then have the rest of the weekend to practice the piece for performance on Sunday afternoon. It's pretty intense (I've done it on piano several times in my youth!), and a real crash course in learning how to sight-read if you've never been that good at it! Steven made a point to both performers in this class (Joseph Stoller on Violin, and Rahil Anees on Snare Drum), that doing a quick study or a piece of sight-reading every day as part of your regular practice is a great way of building, not only your sight-reading skills, but your general musicianship. So often, sight-reading is seen as something you only need for exams, but actually, it's a vital skill, especially if you want to work as a musician! I know I sight-read at least weekly, and sometimes daily, in my job as a voice teacher, because a student will bring me a new song and I have to play the accompaniment immediately. And singers - you're not off the hook, you too should be sight-reading and quick studying! But back to the performers. I thought both of these lads did extremely well with their material, and in particular, their attention to detail, which is what tends to separate the wheat from the chaff in sight-reading music; so many people will focus solely on one thing, which is usually the pitch, when in actuality there are so many things to take in. You should be looking at pitch, rhythm, time signatures, tempo markings, dynamics, articulations... and if you're a singer, lyrics! Learning how to process all of this information quickly is an amazing skill to develop, and I would certainly say that both Joseph and Rahil are doing this already, so well done boys! A tough one to call, but Rahil came out victorious with a Distinction mark, and was presented with the newly donated trophy for this class. You may remember, Liz Childs, our adjudicator from last year? She is in fact the person who donated this new award, the 'Quintessimo Trophy'. How nice to have a continuing connection from a previous adjudicator! 

The ensemble is everything!

Next up we had three Cello classes; the Cello Under 14, Under 16, and Under 18. As a cellist myself (although I admit, I don't play as much as I used to!), I always appreciated hearing all the wonderful cello repertoire there is out there. Particularly in the Under 14s class, it was lovely to hear three pieces I've played myself in the past. It's also worth mentioning that these are three grade 8 pieces, which gives you more of an idea as to the standard that these young players are at already! Some fine playing developing here, and I particularly enjoyed Naomi Kewell's performance of 'Elegie', in which she demonstrated a lovely tone and wonderful dynamic control. She went on to win the class with a Highly Commended. The next two classes (which ran consecutively), were the Under 16 & Under 18, which were both won by Evie Hart, with fellow competitor Elisha Horsepool in the Under 16 as well. I also thought Evie produced a fabulous tone in her pizzicato. Well done to all the cellists who performed this afternoon. After a short interval, we had the Piano Duet Under 18, featuring two completely chalk and cheese duets. The first, a lilting piece of Faure, 'Berceuse' performed by Annabelle Pizzey & Jack Tostevin-Hall, followed by a rousing 'Mama Mia Medley' performed by Amelia Hudson & Francesca Miller, complete with matching 70s outfits. Two lovely partnerships here; it's clear to see that each of these duets enjoy making music together, which is essential for good duetting. I thought that Annabelle and Jack created a beautiful atmosphere with their playing, with the parts well balanced and ensuring the melody was always heard regardless of which part it was in. Both duets received Highly Commended for their performances, but it was Annabelle & Jack who won the class.

Finishing off the afternoon, we had another great choir class, this time for Choirs from school Years 7-11. Perhaps it's just the age of the performers in this particular class, but I felt that, although the sounds that each choir produced were wonderful, there was a bit of a lack of enthusiasm for what they were doing! A smile would have been nice at the very least! That's not to say that their performances were not good; far from it, but I think there's an important lesson for young performers here. You need to commit whole-heartedly to your performance, even if you think what you are doing is a bit silly - for example, some of the performances utilised actions/choreography, which can look great and really enhance a performance.... if you give 100% while doing it! If you look embarrassed, then the audience tends to feel a bit embarrassed for you, but if you go at it with full attack, then it comes across brilliantly, and everyone will enjoy the added performance element. One group I thought delivered what I was personally looking for, was the Guernsey Music Centre Intermediate Choir, particularly in their second number, 'Double Trouble' (a song from the Harry Potter films). This group had excellent facial expressions, and the right kind of body posture to sell the number. Steven, however, awarded the trophy to Schola Contorum of Blanchelande College, who did perform with a lovely choral sound, excellent harmonies, and enthusiastically lead by their conductor Neil Houston. I hope to see more from these choirs in the future, and I hope they all just loosen up a little bit, and not take themselves so seriously!

The Monday evening session started, as it usually does, with the Composition Classes, Under 18 (school entry) and Over 18. Each adjudicator has a completely different way of adjudicating the class. This year, Steven chose to play each piece (as the competitors must provide a recording), and then talk about the piece directly to the composer - I like this approach, as it gave the audience a chance to hear the piece (even if that means in MIDI format), and then there's context for his thoughts and critiques for the piece. He also stated that, "my opinion is only my opinion, and it's entirely subjective", just reiterating that he was there to pick a winner, but at the end of the day, his opinion doesn't really have anything to do with whether the piece is successful or not - that's down to the composer and the reason it was written! The Under 18s class fielded 6 composers, all from St Sampson's High, as part of the GCSE music class. Steven made a point of saying that he, as a teacher, would be very pleased to have this level of composition present in his class. And I agree! The level of composition in this class was wonderful to see, as well as the variety from each composer. We had everything from epic rock instrumentals (from Harry Esteves), to a beautiful singer-songwriter ballad (from Valerie Ryan), through to more fully orchestrated pieces (from Hannah Bourgaize and Caitlin De La Mare, who incidentally is the composer with the creepy woodblock that freaked Steven out so much), and finally music which would not be out of place in TV or Film (from Harry Reade and Alex Kaill). I was particularly fond of Harry Esteves rock piece, 'Rocquaine Roll', which I thought had amazing drive and and excellent understanding of the genre - but I agree with Steven, it needs vocals now! High standards in this class, with everyone receiving either Highly Commended or Distinction, and the winning piece being Harry Reade's 'Probe the Suspects', which, I think everyone who heard it will agree, had a definite essence of a thriller or TV cop-show. Well done all, and well done the music department at St Sampson's High - some fine composition work being written here! We then moved on to the Over 18s section, which technically had 7 competitors, although one was talked about at the end of the evening (which you will see why at the end of the blog), and the other 6 entries were actually written by 3 competitors, 2 a-piece for Elizabeth Beacom, Steve Richer, and myself. A really high standard of writing here, with a variety of styles being presented. Elizabeth's work, which is currently making up part of her compositional portfolio for university, showcases much more '20th Century' techniques (the likes of Serialism), which is an acquired taste, but if you know anything about composition you'll hear that she does them very well, which Steven was complimentary about. Steve Richer's pieces, I thought, were beautiful; his 'Meditation on Hymn Tune 'Michael'" for Cello and Piano is achingly haunting, and very much the style of composition I love to listen to. His choral work 'First Light' immediately grabbed me, and I thought instantly that this was a piece that The Accidentals should have a go at (and trust me, I've already asked Steve for a copy of it!) Steven Roberts said of this choral piece that it was very accessible with excellent choral writing. Coming to my pieces, which included a Male Voice choir piece 'Invictus' (setting of the William Morris poem), and a SATB choir piece 'Your Words Give Light' (setting of Psalm 119), Steven's general comments were that my text setting is confident, and I use rich vocal colours in my writing of the voices. He also said my psalm setting was reminiscent of the composer Lauridsen (who I've actually never heard of, but will now look up!) - Elizabeth and myself received Distinctions for our pieces, with my Psalm 119 coming in 3rd, whilst unsurprisingly to me, Steve Richer came in 2nd with his 'Meditation on a Hymn' (also with Distinction) and also won the class with his piece 'First Light' with an Outstanding mark of 93. Truly well done Steve, I look forward to performing it soon! 

Continuing on with the evening, I had about a minute or two to breathe before taking part in the Piano Solo; Film/TV Music Over 18 class. Three vastly different performances; John Morris with ragtime, myself with a lilting emotional ballad, and Jenna Sweelyn Kok Shun in her first ever performance, with the 'Wouldn't it be Lovely?' from My Fair Lady. Steven Roberts came down to adjudicate the class quite giddy with excitement it would seem, stating "I'm just loving the classes at this festival!" - I think he's a big fan of film music! I'd like to praise Jenna for her first ever Eisteddfod performance, and I thought (as did Steven) that she played the piece well with a lovely feel for the theme, earning her a Highly Commended. Myself and John Morris received Distinctions, with John just pipping me to the trophy with 88 marks. Next up we had several vocal classes; Vocal Senior Music Making, followed by the French Song Over 18, and I'll skip ahead a little bit to the Vocal Class Superieure Over 18 as well. Some fine singing in each of these classes, with a particular highlight for me being Lindsey Veillard's 'Elegie' by Gabriel Faure, which she performed with suitable drama and mournfulness. I said to Lindsey, it sounded like the kind of song you would hear at the end of an Opera, right before the main character decides to throw themselves off a bridge because they've lost their love... in a good way! Lindsey went on to win the French Song with 85 marks, along with Linda Fermont winning the Vocal Senior Music Making with 84 marks, and Joan Le Flem winning the Classe Superieure with 85 marks also.

To finish off - two ensemble classes; the Brass Ensemble Open featuring 'Thrown Together Brass' who won their class with a Highly Commended, and the Folk Song Groups Over 18 which had only one competitor in Maree Migniet. Now, getting back to earlier in the blog, you may remember I mentioned a 7th composition in the Over 18s composition class. It turns out, the piece that was submitted was in fact written by Maree Migniet, which is a folk group from Alderney! They wrote the piece as a collaboration, setting a poem. Once this was explained at the beginning of their Folk Song performance, it all made a bit more sense (at least for Steven it did!). He went on to adjudicate both their live performance, and the composition, stating that he liked their confidence, and how they transported him to a small pub somewhere where they might ask the audience to join them. He also said of the composition, 'Midnight Tides' that it had a lovely melody, which had a certain sense of familiarity about it, which is a positive in this style of music. He also enjoyed the incorporation of spoken word into the composed piece, to great effect. Maree Migniet recieved Highly Commended for both their composition and their performance, taking home the 'Margaret Laws Cup' for Folk Song Groups.

A shorter day, but no less jam-packed with music making, and in particular, music writing. As a composer, I love seeing how many people are writing new music, and in particular seeing that such great work is being written by young composers, and female composers as well! We clearly have an amazing ability to produce music here in Guernsey, and not just in replicating other people's work - we're clearly capable of writing our own as well, and long may that continue!

Winner of the O18 Composition class for 2019, Steve Richer, awarded an amazing 93 marks for his piece, 'First Light'

"How is an adjudicator supposed to choose?!"

We're a third of the way through the 2019 Music Eisteddfod, and it's all been going rather swimmingly I would say! As is usual, the Sunday Sessions moved to St James Concert Hall for the sacred classes for the day. The Sunday of the Eisteddfod is always special, as those that attend or partake in those sessions will attest. Any chance to perform in St James is worth taking!

The afternoon started with Choirs; Church, Chapel, Religious, Community, featuring Alderney Voices, and Festiva. Two solid performances from each of these choirs, who presented (despite all being sacred music), slightly different approaches to programming. Alderney Voices provided a wider variety of music (from a Hymn, some Elgar, John Rutter and an upbeat gospel number), and Festiva gave us a more traditional sound throughout with a selection of hymns and classic church repertoire. A tough one to call for adjudicator Steven Roberts, but on this occasion he went with Festiva, awarding them the trophy with a Distinction mark of 87, with Alderney coming in 2nd with 86. We followed the community choirs with Sacred Choirs Class for Secondary School Age. Again, two choirs performing, in the form of Rhapsodie from the Grammar School, and The Music Centre Youth Choir. One thing we do well here in Guernsey is choral singing, and especially choral singing with young singers. This class really highlighted the excellent tuition all these singers are getting, as the standard of singing was very high, with both choirs receiving Distinctions. But, it was the Music Centre Youth Choir who were victorious this time. Well done everyone! 

Continuing the afternoons music was the Sacred Solo Under 18. Always a wonderful class, which I feel is partly because of the huge variety of sacred songs which can be performed, with everything from Christmas Carols through traditional classical songs, to gospel music. It's also worth noting, that sacred can cover all manner of religions, not just Christian music, which opens out the songs choices even further, so there really is so much that can be performed here, which is hugely exciting! Also, with the Under 18s class, this covers everyone under 18, so the age difference between the youngest and oldest performer can be quite big, as it was today. We started the class with young Isamarra Fernandes, in which I believe was her first performance ever, singing 'Once in Royal David's City'. A really promising voice here I thought, with lovely tone and clear diction. If I can offer Isamarra advice for further performances (which I hope she does), is to make sure to take a few deep breaths before she sings, as that will help her to settle and focus on her performance - well done Isamarra, come back next year! From the rest of the class, we had a little battle of classic vs contemporary, with Erin Vaudin and Elliott Hearne performing more pop and gospel styles, and Sebastian Hazzan, Imogen Haymen and Louise Madden performing music from the classical repertoire. It certainly made for a hugely varied and exciting miniature concert! All of the performers delivered their pieces with style and reverence; Erin showcased a sense of ease and maturity with the popular music techniques (freedom with a few riffs, but not too many), Sebastian showed a lovely depth of tone, Louise gave us a beautiful vocal line and effortless command of her vocal range, Imogen a sense of sincerity and a promising vocal range, and Elliott gave us a truly soulful and connected performance..... a tough one for Steven to decide on really! In the end, he decided on Erin Vaudin's performance of 'Hallelujah', awarding her the trophy with a Distinction. Well done all in this class, it was wonderful! 

After the interval came the biggest class of the afternoon, the Sacred Choirs Over 18. Much like the Mixed Voice choirs the night before, we were treated to 5 amazing performances from 5 choirs across the Channel Islands, with Les Conteurs Singers from Jersey returning to compete. It's worth noting that normally this class would be in the evening, but I like the fact it was moved in order to accommodate entries from other our neighbouring islands. Although, the Jersey choir did hilariously receive their adjudication wearing their coats and all packed up ready to leave as quickly as possible! Kicking off the class were the Guernsey Glee Singers, who gave a varied program with a nice legato line and some nice warm and confident sounds. As their conductor, I must say, I'm very proud of how they performed. I've worked hard with them to build confidence and enjoyment, and in this class I thought they delivered everything I asked of them, which is all you really want as a conductor of a choir. Thank you Glees from a very happy conductor! Next up, in a slight schedule reshuffle to give me time to breathe, were Les Conteurs Singers. As they did the night before, they performed with nice diction, a warm tone and a positive unison sound. Performing third were the choir I sing with, The Accidentals. Stephen stated that he thought we had an amazing sense of ensemble and control, and an incredible ability, with a small group of strong solo voices, to not sound like a group of strong solo voices. He also gave praise for the Tenor solo in my piece 'Voices of the Sea', performed by John Surcombe - although it was quite funny when Steven said John was "Beautiful.... I mean your voice is, not you.... I mean, well you're an attractive man!" Sometimes it's hard to choose your words when you're complimenting someone! I'd also like to mention that the programme The Accidentals performed also contained a UK premiere for my composer friend Joshua Saulle, whom I met in New York a few years ago. If you want to hear it again you can listen HERE. 
Next up, State of Harmony who once again gave a joyful sound with good diction, and I thought a lovely unison sound from the ladies in 'Irish Blessing', particularly on the high E's, which are not easy! Finishing off this class was Bel Canto; the only single voice choir (all women), they showcased their excellent vocal control, good long phrases and they sang with confidence and drive, as I always expect from them. A brilliant class all round, with amazing performances from each choir. Steven decided to award the trophy to The Accidentals, with an almost unheard of Outstanding mark of 95! Safe to say, we were pretty blown away by that!

Pretty pleased with that result I must say! 

After the interval, we went on to the Oratorio Solo Over 18, which was won by Stephen Keenan with a Highly Commended. This is the first time Stephen's won this class, so I'm really pleased for him, well done! We then went on to finish off the afternoon with another choir class; Choirs (Hymn, Carol, Anthem or Sacred) for Junior School Age, featuring Melrose Junior Choir. It's always a treat to hear the young voices from Melrose sing, and they always seem to bring joy and a lovely unison sound to their performances. Unsurprisingly, this choir were awarded a Distinction, and the trophy.


Starting off the evening session we had the Gospel Choirs Under 18, featuring the Guernsey Girls. Another strong performance from the Music Centre, lead by conductor Rachel Wright, and they won the class with a Distinction. Before we continued with the schedule programming, there was a short chamber ensemble piece, performed by the Fortuna Trio (consisting of Jo Marsh, Samantha Nichols, and Marilyn Pugh). Due to work commitments, they are unable to perform at the scheduled time (Wednesday afternoon), so they were allowed to perform the piece in this session, and the adjudication will happen along with the other performers at the Wednesday Class.... so read Wednesday's blog to find out who wins! Back to the intended performances, we continued the session with the Operatic Solo Over 18. A decision was made at some-point to move the Operatic class (which is not Sacred) to the Sunday Sessions at St James, and I'm so glad that decision was made, because it just enables the vocalists to really sell the operatic sound in a acoustic that is designed to enhance it. In this class, we had the three J's; Jane, Jo and Joan.... not confusing in the slightest! Three fine operatic performances here indeed. In my opinion, I thought Jo Marsh's performance of 'There is a Garden' by Bernstein was wonderful. This piece is not what you would immediately think of as 'operatic', which was a great choice on Jo's part, as it perhaps gave the audience a chance to re-evaluate what they consider opera to be, and possibly change a few minds as to whether they like it or not! High standards of performance here, with Jane receiving a Highly Commended mark of 85, Jo a Distinction mark of 87, and Joan winning the class with a Distinction Mark of 88. Well done ladies!

Next up, we had the Sacred Singing Groups Over 18. This class can cover any group singing from 2-10 performers (any larger is considered a choir), so there's scope for a lot of variety here. And variety we got! Two completely different performances from the quartet 'Dollypop' delivering Richard Smallwood's 'Total Praise' with sass and soul, and Joan Le Flem & Jane Martine giving us a classical duet in 'The Lord is my Strength'. Once again,  Steven was tested with a decision about how he was going to 'vote'. In the end he went with Dollypop, who won the class with a Highly Commended mark of 86. The last class before the interval was the Gospel Choirs Over 18, which sadly had only one competitor, The Accidentals. This has been the case for a few years now. This used to be a really popular class at one point, but for some reason choirs aren't entering it at the moment - so, choirs out there, challenge yourself with a different style and give it a go! I guarantee you, gospel music feels as good to perform as it sounds to listen to! The Accidentals performed, 'We shall walk through the Valley in Peace' by Moses Hogan, and 'Joy (Joy to the World)' by Kirk Franklin, receiving a Distinction mark of 87, and the Pretty in Pink trophy.

Finishing off the evening, the Sacred Solo Over 18. A hugely popular class, fielding 12 performers this year, and as with the youngsters earlier in the day, a huge variety of sacred songs were presented, which Steven said was giving him a real headache; "How is an adjudicator meant to decide between all these different sacred styles?" There were several highlights in this class. Ashleigh De Jersey-Moore gave us a short backstory to her chosen piece; she was due to perform it last year, but sadly pulled out of the class due to a family bereavement. She came back this year to perform the piece in memory of her great-aunt, also in the knowledge that it was her favourite piece. A truly heartfelt and brave performance I thought, and I'm so pleased she finally got to perform this song. Bravo Ashleigh! Another highlight I thought was Jo Marsh's gloriously effortless high notes in her rendition of Wayfaring Stranger (I may have closed my eyes to just take it all in, rather indulgently!). From a personal performance point of view, I thoroughly enjoyed the opening of my piece, 'Wade in the Water'. I started unaccompanied, and after singing the first few notes, I could heard my voice coming back at me in the fabulous St James acoustic. Safe to say, I milked that acoustic as much as I could! After a tough decision, Steven said he decided to go with the performance which made him sit back, listen and enjoy the most. Jo Marsh came in 3rd, I came in 2nd, and the win went to Lindsey Veillard, with an Distinction mark of 88. This is the first time Lindsey has won this class, and I am so pleased for her. I know that singing in this class means a great deal to her, and I think this year her passion and sincerity really shone through in her singing. Well done Lindsey! About time eh?

A truly soulful and wonderful day at the Sacred Sessions in St James. I think what is most apparent from these classes is the huge variety that can be presented in the sacred classes. Perhaps a little eye (and ear) opening as to just how vast every genre of music can be.