Congratulations to all the performers involved in last Friday’s performance of Dido and Aeneas. Students and staff in the University Cecilian Choir and String Sinfonia were joined by some of the Music Performance Scholarship singers in a production of Purcell’s timeless story of love and loss, conducted by Your Loyal Correspondent.
Costumed courtiers promenading the foyer greeted audience members arriving for the performance, whilst a string trio performed trio sonatas on the foyer-stage. Below are some of the photos from the dress rehearsal that afternoon.
Special mention to postgraduate Law student and Music Scholar, Helen Sotillo, as the doomed Queen of Carthage, and third-year Scholar, Fleur Sumption, as Belinda, and second-year Drama student and Scholar, Carmen Mackey, as the evil Sorceress.
And here is the cast and performers taking their bows after the performance:
This weekend, I had the pleasure of playing with the Chineke! Junior Orchestra as part of the annual 
The concert started at around 3:20pm. Conducted by the brilliant Stephanie Childress, we performed the St. Paul’s Suite by Gustav Holst, the first movement of Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, and four of the five movements of the Othello Suite. We were truly inspired by our conductor, who brought clarity and excellence to our interpretation of the pieces. A former BBC Young Musician of the Year finalist, she was the epitome of musical excellence. The atmosphere was truly electrifying. The children were enthralled by all the lively movements, whilst their parents were moved by the slow ones. Everyone was in awe of the two young female soloists in the Bach concerto. They carried themselves with grace and poise, and perfectly embodied the essence of Bach. I was especially proud of Inez and Shona, especially as I had met and played with Shona as a budding violinist 10 years ago. All in all, it was a beautiful concert, especially considering that we only had two-and-a-half days to prepare!
I was fortunate enough to get into the Cathedral School in Peterborough which had a fantastic musical reputation which during my time there, they certainly lived up to. Over my years there I played with the orchestra, string orchestra and several smaller chamber groups. On the piano, I played hymns in assemblies, accompanied soloists and choirs and was given ample opportunity to perform as a soloist which helped me grow as a performer. In addition, I was introduced to choral music for the first time. The school also ran music tours every other year and I was lucky enough to perform in three of them; in Italy, France and Germany. These tours were some of the most defining experiences of my musical life for instance my first solo as a singer at Bayeux Cathedral, France. The other highlights of my musical ‘career’ to date also happened at school. Winning the Inter-House Music Competition was most certainly my high point. After a month of preparing an orchestra, junior choir, senior choir, band, finale and a host of soloists for the annual competition, all our efforts payed off on the night where my house (St. Oswalds) won overall!
A string quartet of third-year students Florence Obote, Melody Brooks, Molly Richetta (all of whom are University Music scholars or Award holders) and cellist Ken Macdonald, together with Your Loyal Correspondent at the piano, unfurled the meditative music of Icelandic composer, Olafur Arnalds, into a darkened concert-hall, against a backdrop of Molly’s photographs capturing the natural landscapes from around the country.
A rapt audience was kept spellbound during the entire performance; thanks to all the performers.
Because I could now play multiple reed instruments, including the oboe, I was invited to play in the pit band for the school productions, such as The Sound of Music and We Will Rock You. It’s something I have thoroughly enjoyed and made sure to take part in every year. I also had a brief trip onto the stage for our production of West Side Story where I played the lead role of Tony, a fascinating experience which gave me a new respect and insight into musical theatre.
