Reviews / Gala concert ‘snapshot of the many brilliant performances’ at youth music festival
THURSDAY night’s gala concert marked the end of a busy week of live music-making on the Mareel stage by Shetland’s young people, writes Chris Horrix.
There was an air of anticipation in the audience as we awaited the start – the stage filled with an assortment of instrumental paraphernalia, and equally important, a table with a shining array of silver cups and shields.
The gala night is a celebration not only of the junior and senior Shetland young musicians of the year, but also of other performances given during the week. The recipients of these cups and trophies are a closely guarded secret until awarded during the evening.
The concert took off with Elton John’s Rocket Man, performed by the Baltasound Junior High School. This was school music making at its best, an assortment of instrumentalists accompanying a powerful and confident vocal by Eli Matthewson.
This performance won them not only the shield for best secondary school group, but also a cup for the best vocal solo of the week for Eli. It seemed a very appropriate choice of song as SaxaVord’s spaceport is developed.
Other ensemble groups and styles of music were well represented.
The Anderson High School cello group played a considered and well articulated performance of Grieg’s Death of Åsa.
They were followed by Snap, a flute quintet, who played Karl Jenkins’ Palladio, demonstrating great ensemble playing, coping well with the changes of tempo and mood.
Niamh Loynd and Rajeev Prasad, both on mandolins, performed Maggie Watson’s Farewell to Blackhammer by Jim Craigie at a fast pace, with great rhythmic playing. Annie Malcolmson and Sonny Ahern, on piano and guitar gave us a sensitive reworking of Amy MacDonald’s This is the Life.
Fiery Fiddles played some Shetland tunes, a waltz by David Halcrow and Ronnie Cooper’s ever popular and toe-tapping The Headlands.
They were deservedly the winners of the Willie Hunter Memorial Trophy for traditional groups.
Unstrung String group played a movement from the Sønderho Bridal Trilogy, which opens with an ethereal representation of the fog that often surrounds the Faroe Islands, eventually transforming into a folk melody. This was a joy to listen to. They were awarded the Chamber-ensemble Trophy, and I’ll be seeking out the other movements.
Sandwick Junior High School’s S2 music group gave a performance of Jackie Sinclair’s song The Press Gang – great ensemble playing and it was good to be able to hear all the words of this sorry tale. The young players then gave us an enthusiastic performance of ABBA’s Super Trouper.
The largest ensemble of the evening were the forty or so players who make up the Shetland Youth Orchestra.
It is a rare treat to see an orchestra on the Mareel stage. They played music from Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and Dvorak’s New World Symphony. These are both challenging pieces for a young orchestra, but under the conductor Annalie Irvine, also one of the organisers of the festival, they achieved some beautiful sustained melodic playing in Tchaikovsky’s romantic ballet music.
It was good to see both the concentration and obvious enjoyment of the players. They made a rich colourful sound, with some crisp percussion, in the Dvorak, the music rising to wonderful final crescendo. There was loud applause from a very appreciative audience.
As well as the ensembles, there were magical solo performances too. Ruben Ritch played Tony Osborne’s Jazz Waltz on the double bass, the whole piece using plucked strings. He was awarded the Henderson Cup for best string solo.
Camryn Cheney, this year’s junior young musician, closed the first half singing Maybe from Annie and a spine-tingling All is Found from the film Frozen 2.
Andrew Laurenson, this year’s senior young musician, playing saxophone, had the final spot of the evening, performing Bennett’s Three Piece Suite and Weidoft’s Valse Vanite.
At 13 years old, his skills are already exceptional, and it was a joy to hear him play this set again. With complex rippling jazz rhythms and a fantastic dynamic range, he made the instrument sing.
It was also great to hear the support and encouragement from the back of the hall from his friends and fellow performers.
Mention should be made of Andrew’s instrumental teacher Siobhan McGregor, also one of the organisers of the music festival, and the skilful piano playing of Linda Peterson, who accompanied him.
The farewell comment from the adjudicator Anne MacDonald was to thank all the performers for such a high standard of music making during the week, and to thank their parents and teachers for enabling it. She said it was important the festival continued.
Tonight’s concert was just a snapshot of the many brilliant performances seen this week.
It is impressive that over the week 160 young Shetlanders have had the confidence to stand and perform on the stage at Mareel.
To quote from ABBA’s Super Trouper, I hope that “smiling having fun, feeling like a number one” sums up the mood of all these young participants, and that this has boosted their confidence in performing.
Congratulations to all the performers, and thanks to all the organisers, helpers and sponsors who ensured the festival could take place. Shetland’s Youth Music Festival plays a vital part in ensuring that music on our islands continues to thrive.
Other trophies awarded at the concert were to:
- Darcy Mae Smith and Bella Irvine – string duet
- Sonny Ahern and Phoebe Tulloch – woodwind duet
- Richie Stein – accordion solo
- Murray Jamieson – woodwind solo
- Ruby Leask – piano solo
- Myah Grant – drum solo
- Lauren Reid and Ellie Nicolson – piano duet
- Erin Smith – brass solo
- Leighton Ferguson-MacNeill and Esther Watt – vocal duet
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