It's Great to Be Back!

Music Eisteddfod is here for 2023! I personally have felt like it has been an ice age waiting to get back into this, as my last blog was in fact for 2020, mere weeks before the pandemic hit and the world went into lockdown. In 2021 we were hit with another lockdown and so the festival was cancelled, and in 2022, although it went ahead, COVID was still wreaking havoc with participation and scheduling - I myself was out of action with the dreaded vid for 12 days (and only had the energy to participate in the last 3 days, predominantly to play for students). I am delighted that 2023 is up and running, and I'm raring to go! 

Kicking off the music section for 2023 we had the Piano Sonata U18. I have many memories of being the age of these young performers and starting my music eisteddfod with this very class (back in the day...), and I've always enjoyed the rich quality of music that is presented in piano sonata form. Some choice pieces being presented today by our young pianists, a particular highlight being class winner Archie Purdue performing the class 'Pathetique' by Beethoven. Next up we had three brass themed classes: The Brass Solo U14 where the winner was James Stafford-Bell, the U18 class with the winner being Helena Duguid, and the Brass Duo/Trio/Quartet U18, which featured the delightfully pun-tasticly named 'Coldslide' playing the Coldplay classic 'Paradise'.

After a short interval we continued the afternoon session with the Percussion Solo U18, which saw Zaheer Anees perform a spectacular rendition of 'Blues for Gilbert', earning himself the first Outstanding of our festival (usually a rarity to get one on the first day, so well done Zaheer!).
The Piano Junior Classe Superieure U18 followed, again with only one competitor, which was George Walker, who received a Highly Commended for his performance of Sonata in A Major, and Jingo (Rock Preludes 1). Next up we had the Concerto Open. Usually, a concerto features a soloist being accompanied by an orchestra, but for this type of presentation, the accompaniment is reduced down to just the piano, which is no mean feat for the accompanists! Concerto's are a wonderful way for instrumentalists to showcase, not only their abilities, but their style and personality through the music. Some lovely work on display here from all three performers, which the class winner being Alexandra Dorey on Double Bass, receiving a Highly Commended for her performance of Concerto No. 2 Adagio by Dittersdorf. 

It's worth noting at this point, that a perhaps slightly unusual thing from our adjudicator Ben Costello is his lack of using the bell to signal performers they can begin. I'll be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about it at present! On the one hand I know the bell often fills some performers with a sense of fear and dread, but I personally feel the bell is a very clear signal to, not just the performers but the audience as well that the performance is about to begin. We shall see how this unfolds in the larger classes and with full capacity audiences... and I'd be interested to know others opinions, so do comment! From an adjudication style point of view, Ben is very good and what I call 'compliment bread', by which I mean giving positive critique, followed by things to work on, but finishing with yet more positive critique. It's a great skill when giving feedback to anyone in general!

Rounding off the afternoon was the Country & Western Under 18 A lovely introduction to the more contemporary styles of music that also feature at the Guernsey Eisteddfod, this was a well contested class with a wonderful variety of song styles within the genre on display, and some promising vocals developing with these young singers. I thought in particular that class winner showcased some wonderful vocals developing, with a good knowledge and command of her vocal registers, and the vocal tone she was wanting to display. Ben talked to the singer's a lot about commanding the stage, presence of character, and finding the objective of the lyrics, by which we mean the subtext of the lyrics. The one thing that sets singing apart from other instruments (most of the time), is that songs have lyrics, and it gives the singer a whole other world of choices to explore when it comes to expression. It's good to see many of these singers really delving deeper into lyrical meaning with their songs. Well done everyone in this class! 

Starting off the first evening session was the Folk Song Groups O18, with Guernsey's ever popular sea-shanty singers GU10 performing a lovely little set of folk songs. I always love the style and presence this group give, although I did get a bit of tentative performance from them this time, not sure why. None the less, they gave a solid performed, taking home the trophy with a Highly Commended mark of 86. Next up, a class that's not always a regular at this festival, we had the 6 or More Hands at One Piano, which featured a hilarious presentation by Six Guys Named Moe of 'I Want You Back' - I don't think any words I can write will do justice of the carnage and hysterics we witnessed, but a thoroughly enjoyable performance, and a well deserved Highly Commended mark of 85.

Continuing this evening's piano section we had the Piano Repertoire O18. A popular class with Guernsey's seasoned pianists, and always showcasing a wide range of repertoire, and from lesser-known composers than 'the big guns' we usually think of (Mozart, Beethoven, etc), and it gives the audience a chance to listen to a more diverse cross-section of the piano repertoire. I particularly enjoyed my mother Marilyn Pugh's repertoire for the evening, which for me had a wonderful balance and diversity, and her choice to feature all female composers was a lovely idea. The winner of the class was the ever competent and stylish John Morris with a Distinction mark of 87. The last of the three piano classes, perhaps one of the most terrifying to even think about was the Piano Sight-Reading Open. The competitors are given 30 seconds to look at a piece chosen by the adjudicator, and then they have to play it! Utterly mesmerising to observe how each perform chooses to digest the piece in front of them, and how best to tackle it. Hats off to young George Walker for taking on the big lads and making a fine go of this piece! On this occasion, once again John Morris was victorious and took home the trophy and Distinction mark of 87.

After the interval we had the run of Classical Vocal Classes O18. Wonderful this year to have each voice type represented (there have been years we have been missing tenors and baritones in particular). I think something more singers of this repertoire should consider is their true voice type, which is not entirely about range - vocal tone, colour and timbre are equally as important as the vocal range when deciding, not just what songs to choose, but which class to put oneself in. Particular highlights across these 6 classes for me were Lindsey Veillard's charming rendition of 'Christopher Robin is Saying his Prayers', Alison Castle's humorous performance of 'Matron Cat Song', and Kirsty Dempster's beautiful performance of 'I'm Called Lazuli', for which she received a Distinction mark of 87. I must say it was lovely to hear Kirsty sing again after having been away to university. Any Eisteddfod regulars may remember Kirsty performing just a few years ago in the Under 18 classes, and this was a lovely showcase of how voices develop over time with care and training. 

All in all, a lovely start to the Guernsey Eisteddfod 2023. I must say it is great to be back, not only participating and writing about it all again, but just for the festival to be up and running at full steam like it use to before the pandemic. These last few years have been hard on everyone, and very much so on the arts and live performance, so I hope everyone is cherishing having our wonderful festival back in full force.