House Music Results

This weekend saw the first half of our quest to find Repton’s Young Musicians of the Year, with instrumental finals in Wind, Brass, Kit Drums, Electric Guitar and Piano. Sixty pupils had progressed through the preliminary rounds to compete in the sectional finals. The newly restored Beldam Hall was a perfect space for this annual competition. Hard fought points were won for all Houses, with the musicians rising to the challenge; and a very enjoyable afternoon and evening's series of performances were given.

We were delighted that the distinguished musician Peter Gritton came to adjudicate.  Peter is Director of Music at St Paul’s School, London. He is also rapidly becoming known as a leading figure in choral publications: Encores for Choirs 2 (OUP) won Best Classical Publication at the Music Industries Awards in 2005. In the educational field his contributions are Folksongs from around the World (Faber), and his piano series Simply Classics – the aim being to introduce young pianists to the milestones of Western music through arrangements of great symphonic and choral masterpieces. However, he is probably best known for Follow that Star, Christmas song arrangements for choir published by Chester Music.  His first musical, Mary Seacole, has been showcased at the Greenwich Theatre and his second, Jones, is shortly to be completed.

Mr Gritton gave a most entertaining, insightful adjudication, which put us at our ease but made telling musical points throughout the day.  The atmosphere was more masterclass than competition; it was an excellent start to this year's competitions. To view photographs of the winners please click here

Winners:

Junior Woodwind – Joseph Jankinson (L)

Senior Woodwind – Harriet Hunt (F)

Junior Brass – Cameron Melville (P)

Senior Brass – Thomas Hume (L)

Junior Kit – Madeleine Kelly (A)

Senior Kit – Laura Smith (M)

Electric Guitar – Blair Dunlop (S)

Bass Guitar – Edward Roberts (C )

Junior Piano – Nathaniel Paxton (C )

Senior Piano – Harriet Yeung (M) & Clara Betts-Dean (M)

There is one more Sunday of competitions, Sunday 21^st February 2010, leading on to the winners’ final on 28th April, 2010