News

Six finalists have been chosen from the 32 who auditioned for The Purcell School’s Senior Concerto Competition.  The preliminary rounds were held last weekend and the standard was extremely high.  The adjudicator was Jeffrey Sharkey, Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, who commented “It was such a joy to hear your young musicians perform this weekend…it’s wonderful to see such…

Our artwork of the week is a polyblock print by Maddie from the Juniors.  This term years 5 and 6 have been working on a project about waves, inspired by Japanese artist Hokusai.  This poly print is made by using a different polystyrene tile for each colour, cutting the shape of each wave and layering…

On 23 March, at the end of the Spring Term, our Piano department travelled to Sacile, Italy with students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.  This was the School’s third visit to Sacile.  Our young pianists were shown round the amazing Fazioli Piano Factory and gave a concert at the Fazioli Concert Hall.  The programme was entitled Dance! and featured music by Prokofiev, Rachmaninov…

Congratulations to year 11 pupil, Polina Makhina who has won the 2015 Windsor and Maidenhead Young Musicians’ Competition. She performed Kabalevsky Improvisation Op.21 No. 1 and the fourth movement of Ysaÿe’s Sonata No. 2 for solo violin. As a result of winning, Polina will be given the opportunity to perform as a concerto soloist with the Windsor and Maidenhead Symphony…

The Purcell School has been awarded the Incorporated Society of Musicians’ Gold certificate and is ranked No.1 in the UK, having achieved over 95% A* and A grades in GCSE music.  Over the last 5 years the School has achieved 99%  A* – C  and over 90% A or A*in this subject. Stephen Yeo, Headmaster of The Purcell…

Jacob Collier performing at Ronnie Scotts (photograph from The Guardian) Purcell School alumnus, Jacob Collier was interviewed by Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 2 last week.  You can hear the show here.   Recently hailed by John Lewis in The Guardian as “jazz’s new messiah“, Jacob is making a huge name for himself. Since leaving School,…

Violinist, Joo Yeon Sir will make her debut at the Royal Albert Hall on 30th October 2015 with Sir Karl Jenkins and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a premiere performance of Jenkins’ Lament of the Valley. Joo Yeon recently won the Arts Club Karl Jenkins Classical Music Award, held in association with the radio station Classic FM.  As…

This year’s Art Exhibition again demonstrated how talented our pupils are, and not only in music. A really wonderful exhibition was much enjoyed by the large number of parents and pupils who came along. Thank you to the Art Department.

Sixth Former, Anna Disley Simpson’s piece Lamentations, has been shortlisted for the 2014 NCEM Young Composers Award (18 and under category), presented in association with BBC Radio 3 and the internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble The Tallis Scholars.The award will be judged at the National Centre for Early Music on Thursday 8 May. During the day the…

Hyungi onstage at QEH with Purcell Symphony Orchestra (credit: Bill Hiskett) Hyungi Lee won First Prize in her age category at the International Marimba Festival held in Bamburg, Germany last weekend.  The prestigious competition was adjudicated by Shoko Sakai, Paul Mootz – Professor at Luxemburg Conservatoire, Radoslaw Szarek – Professor at the Hochschule für Musik…