News

Inspiring first weekend

Eleanor Voak, Springboard Most Promising Woodwind Player, treated us to an inspired performance of recorder music, including haunting birdsong, which the adjudicator, Rosanna Whitfield, said transported her to a rainforest!

Caroline Brown

We were saddened to hear of the death of cellist and teacher, Caroline Brown.  Caroline managed the Old Market Arts Centre in Hove for many years where Springboard Festival was based.  She also ran the Hanover Band.

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.