"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