Talented display as academy pupils take to the stage
Perth Festival of the Arts held a lunchtime concert by Perth Academy in St John’s Kirk on Monday, May 21.
Under relatively new management, the music department of Perth Academy is serving clear notice once more of its solid credentials.
Its concert was a happy miscellany of all the ingredients of good school musicmaking: solid and well-rehearsed teamwork, engaging platform manners and communication from all concerned and an unmistakable feeling that everyone was pleased and proud to be there.
It is almost unnecessary to add that the standards of performance and general discipline were universally impeccable.
Every year these school concerts take place against an ongoing background of national exams but miraculously the music always finds a way of winning.
What better example of this than S6 pupil Sophie Chisholm, who only an hour earlier had been doing battle with Advanced Higher chemistry yet made it to the church on time to give a mesmerising account of a xylophone concerto by Toshiro Mayuzumi.
Sophie Chisholm was featured in a xylophone concerto
By turns virtuosic, exotic and soulful, her playing betrayed no trace of the exam room and transported the audience to a place far beyond periodic tables and chemical formulae.
Fellow school-leaver Jenni Gillespie was no less impressive, with a sultry and evocative tango-inspired piece by Astor Piazzolla played with total command and musicality on the double bass.
And from the younger echelons of the school, both Caitlin Pearson (flute) and Freya Edington (bassoon) gave ample reassurance that life will definitely go on after the big girls have left.
These are all seriously capable and committed young people who display that essential enjoyment in their playing which even a casual listener cannot fail to respond to.
Completing a distinguished line-up of soloists was Niamh Barlow, singing‘A Friend Like Me’with all the pizzazz and assurance of a seasoned professional. Everybody loved it and she was obviously having a great time too.
Framing these individual contributions, a brace of bagpipers, a jaunty fiddle group, a bouncy brass ensemble and a sweet-toned junior choir all reflected the hard work and support given to these fortunate youngsters throughout the year by their dedicated team of music staff.
Trip Advisor verdict:“I would happily listen to this whole concert again”(music critic, Perthshire Advertiser) – Five stars.