News

Carols by Candlelight at St. James’s, Bushey   Toby and members of Purcell Symphony Orchestra giving a workshop to local Primary School children (2013)     We are pleased to report that £653.48 was raised for the School’s Toby Davies Award, from the retiring collections at our two Christmas concerts, at St. Mary’s Watford and…

  On Sunday 23 November, the first ever Prozone Music Brass Extravaganza Day was held at The Purcell School. Coaches and artists included: Philippe Schartz – Principal Trumpet, BBC NOW Orchestra Helen Vollam – Principal Trombone, BBC Symphony Orchestra Roger Webster – International cornet soloist and brass clinician Paul Fisher – Commercial trombonist and leading…

Angela Hewitt giving a masterclass   Paolo Fazioli with James Harding   Angela Hewitt meeting pupils after her recital     Wednesday marked a milestone in The Purcell School’s history: it was the day that the School became the first ever Fazioli Centre of Excellence.  This award was conferred in person by Mr Paolo Fazioli,…

Juliana Myslov, Dutch Harp Festival 2014 We are very proud that two finalists in the prestigious Royal Overseas League Annual Music Competition are Purcell School alumni.  Harpist, Juliana Myslov was a pupil of Daphne Boden at Purcell from 2005-2014 and currently studies at the Royal College of Music; flautist, Charlotte Ashton was a pupil of…

Alumna Hannah Morgan was awarded First Prize at the recent Barbirolli International Oboe Festival. Hannah left the Purcell School in 2009 and is currently a student at the Royal Academy of Music.She beat 23 of the world’s best oboists and finished ahead of musicians from 19 countries to lift the Evelyn Rothwell Memorial prize and £4,000…

Our Symphony Orchestra gave a fantastic performance at the Royal Festival Hall last night, under the baton of Karina Canellakis, an exciting young American conductor making her UK debut.  Our piano soloist was Alim Beisembayev, winner of the prestigious Junior Cliburn Competition 2015. ​They performed Shostakovich‘s Festive Overture, Rachmaninov‘s Piano Concerto No. 2, Rimsky-Korsakov‘s Scheherazade.  In addition…

The Purcell Symphony Orchestra gave an outstanding performance at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall to a big audience on Monday 10th March, under the baton of Stephen Bell.  They played Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 with alumna Alexandra Gracheva and Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony. In addition to these well-known pieces,…

Our String players were delighted to welcome Natalia Lomeiko to give a masterclass on Wednesday last week.  Hailed by Lord Menuhin as “one of the most brilliant of our younger violinists”, Natalia has already established herself as a versatile internationally renowned violinist and is a Professor at the Royal College of Music. 

17 year-old Alexandra Ridout has reached the BBC Young Musician Jazz Award final, the UK’s leading contest for young jazz musicians. Following an extensive audition process, judges have announced the five musicians who will go through to the final, which will take place on Saturday 12 March 2016 in the Dora Stoutzker Hall, Royal Welsh College of Music and…

As part of the January Exams and Outings week, pupils in Years 5, 6, 7 and 8 spent a busy day of exploration and discovery at the Science Museum and Natural History Museum in London.  The Science Museum in particular captured the pupils’ imaginations and interest with the various workshops and interactive activities on offer…