Author: Kathy

Spotlight on past winner

Springboard has been following the progress of Leah who has entered the Festival for the last three years.  She plays flute, piccolo, bassoon and piano and has been a Springboard winner in the Woodwind & Brass section.

Leah’s mother wrote to us recently that “Springboard was always the special one for us because it was there, when Leah had not been playing flute long, that an adjudicator asked if Leah has considered taking an audition at a junior conservatoire. She was not technically brilliant then but the adjudicator must have seen something in her. Encouraged by this, Leah was motivated to start thinking about music much more seriously.

We are not from a family with a musical background so we were just happy she was playing music but we didn’t know how good she was or how to direct her in the right direction. We are pleased that someone picked up her talents back then.

Here we are, a few years on, Leah is studying at Junior Royal Academy of Music in London and seriously thinking about music as her future career. She is already performing in many care homes, hospices as a volunteer and church concerts to raise funds for Africa and is auditioning for senior conservatoires next autumn.”

 

Rotary Young Musician Competition

Springboard has teamed up with Rotary in Brighton & Hove to seek out talented players to be nominated for the Rotary District-level stage of the Rotary Young Musician Competition. The heats (District/Regional) and the National Finals will take place in the year following the Festival.

The performer must:

  • be under 17 years of age on 31 August following the Springboard in which they are nominated and
  • have scored 90 marks or more for at least one performance in Springboard.

Six instrumentalists meeting the above criteria with the highest sc

ores for a performance in a class in the Woodwind & Brass, Strings, Piano, Guitar or Concerto sections will be nominated to compete in the District-level competition in February of the following year. In the event of a tie, the

average marks across all classes entered in the relevant sections of that year’s Springboard Festival will be taken into account.Up to two vocalists in the Singing section, who meet the above criteria, will be nominated

to compete in the District-level competition in February of the following year.

Springboard AGM

Thank you to everyone who attended the AGM. 

Sue Sheen (right) was presented with flowers to thank her for her 7 years as Chair of Springboard.  She is stepping down to Vice Chair and  Jannet King (left) is taking over as Chair.

Catching up with previous winner Juan Pablo Hinojosa

Juan Pablo Hinojosa was the winner of the Senior Recital Class in the Springboard 2014 Festival.  John Bruzon has been following his progress.

“I attended Juan Pablo’s recent recital in Brighton and wanted to share with you how very much I enjoyed his playing.

He has matured considerably and was sincere and most eloquent with his introductions to the music he was about to play.  In works by Debussy, Scriabin and Albeniz, Juan Pablo demonstrated a clear understanding of structure and style. He makes a beautiful sound at the piano, always allowing phrases to breathe in a natural way and displaying a wonderful sense of musicianship. He is a natural communicator!”

Currently Juan Pablo is at the RCM studying with Gordon Fergus-Thompson, who was our remarkable adjudicator last year, however he is in desperate need of support with college fees for his final year. You can make a donation at: https://www.gofundme.com/24j6jnry

Juan (right) being congratulated on winning the Springboard Senior Championship by Owen Eastwood.
Juan (right) being congratulated on winning the Springboard Senior Championship by Owen Eastwood.

Concert with former Springboard concerto winner 27 January 2017

Former Springboard Concerto winner Michael Leach recently graduated from a masters course at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.  He read music at Girton College, Cambridge and graduated in 2012 where he was a music scholar and studied piano with Lucy Parham. Michael attended Junior Guildhall from the age of 13-18 and in his final year, was awarded the Keyboard prize and 2nd place in the Lutine prize. Recent competition successes include the Alkan prize, Cambridge, 1st place at the Springboard Concerto Competition and 2nd place at the Oxford Music Festival Piano Recital Class. Michael has performed as a soloist with several orchestras including Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Brighton Youth Orchestra. Michael has given recitals at the Brighton Dome, St Martin-in-the-Fields and the Wales Millennium Centre.

The opening half of the recital features works by Haydn, Ligeti and Brahms. After the interval Michael will concentrate on the complete Book 1 of On An Overgrown Path, by Janáček, which the composer said “contains distant reminiscences. Those reminiscences are so dear to me that I do not think they will ever vanish.” The recital concludes with Ravel’s sparkling Jeux d’Eau. See full programme here.

MICHAEL LEACH
Friday 27 January 2017. 7.30pm 
St. Luke’s Church, Queen’s Park Road, BN2 9ZB
Tickets £7 / £5 concessions / £3 under 12s available on the door. Wine and refreshments served. Disabled access.

Springboard 2016 winner to play with BYO String Ensemble

Mary Tyler, runner-up in the under 25s concerto section will be performing with the Brighton Youth Orchestra String Ensemble on 18 February 2017 at St Mary de Haura Church as part of their end of tour concert.

The concert will take place at 7.30pm.  The concert programme will include Bach D minor Piano Concerto with soloist Philip Leslie and Finzi Clarinet Concerto performed by Mary.

Please contact Holly Griffiths for more details holly.griffiths@brighton-hove.gov.uk