Talent abounds at Perth Academy pupils
Around 85 young musicians from Perth Academy gathered in St John’s Kirk for another popular Festival of the Arts schools concert.
The programme mixed large ensembles (wind and brass bands, string and full orchestra) with solo and chamber works, and was enjoyed by a near capacity audience.
The Wind Band opened with a pair of Cajun folksongs – the first haunting and plaintive, the second syncopated and spring-like – while the brass band entertained with the comic favourite ‘Hoots’ and ‘Ghostbusters’.
The string orchestra was by turns graceful, in Sibelius’ Andante Festivo, and highly dramatic, in Robert S Frost’s Sansaneon. Group items were carefully interspersed with enjoyable solos, which allowed for some stage management as well as giving the audience variety. A beautifully limpid interpretation of Debussy’s Arabesque came courtesy of Eilidh Paterson on piano, whilst Robert Barker’s performance of the Acker Bilk classic ‘Stranger on the Shore’ was gently persuasive.
A well-rehearsed violin quartet (Sophie Chisolm, Niamh Martin, Lily Nisbet and Eilidh Paterson) followed with Telemann’s Concerto in C. A highlight of the concert was the opportunity to hear a composition by one of the Academy pupils. As well as playing violin and percussion, Sophie Chisolm is clearly a talented composer.
Her wind quartet ‘Cabeswater’ took its inspiration from a location in the novel ‘The Raven Boys’ by Maggie Stiefvater, and its mystical Celtic nature was captured by Lily Nisbet and instructor Philip Alexander on flute, Robert Barker on clarinet and Freya Eddington on bassoon. Thanks must go to instructors Philip Alexander, Lorna McGovern and Elaine Moffat for orchestrating such an enjoyable hour of entertainment – no mean feat in the middle of a busy exam term.
The concert took place on May 24.
St John’s Kirk was busy for the festival shows