Triple Wow in the ISA Young Musician Competition

Eliza (Year 10), Leonie and Alice (Year 8) were excited to be selected to take part in the final of the ISA Young Musician Competition at the Arts Centre at the University of Warwick on Friday 20^th May.

The girls travelled to the midlands with their instruments, respectively a harp, violin and bassoon, accompanied by their parents to join a well-established celebration of talent and passion for music performance. The competition offers a unique opportunity for students to perform and support their peers at a live music concert, competing against other ISA member schools from across the UK. Open to Key Stages 1-5, the competition attracted a total of 153 entries this year with the judges declaring the overall standard was very high in the previous round, and that it was a pleasure to see and hear all the entries.

Speaking on the morning of the competition, Assistant Director of Music, Lara Rawlings, commented, “We are extremely proud of all our students who entered the earlier rounds of the ISA Young Musician competition, and we would like to congratulate Eliza, Leonie and Alice for reaching the finals today. We hope they have enjoyed the experience of performing at the Warwick Arts Centre and we look forward to hearing how they got on.”

The two judges, Simon Hogg and Christopher Hoggarth were impressed with all the performances. Commenting on Alice Simon said “Superb playing. Technically and musically accomplished. Beautiful time and phrasing throughout. Excellent range and dynamics. Fine control of nerves.” Whilst Christopher observed that Eliza’s performance offered “Fantastic conveying of emotion – really atmospheric. Great contrasts and very stylistic. Brilliant cadenza-like passages. Drew the audience in and put them at ease.” Both judges admired Leonie’s piece, saying “Beautiful tone and superb intonation. Musical and highly sophisticated playing…You are highly gifted.” (Simon) and “Very careful elegant performance… well done!” (Christopher)

Leighton Park’s Director of Music, Rosemary Scales, concluded, “Many congratulations to all of our musicians who performed at such a high standard in this prestigious event. We are incredibly proud of all of them. They will have gained so much from the experience and the opportunity to share their talents beyond the safety of The Park!