Thursday evening saw musicians come together for a chamber concert with pieces including Schubert’s Shepherd on the Rock, Poulenc’s Sextet for Wind and Piano, Frolov’s Fantasy on Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and a string quintet and piano arrangement of Chopin’s Piano Concerto in E Minor. These incredible works were performed by a host of ROSL alumni.
Alumni for Thursday’s event included five Gold Medal winners from the Annual Music Competition, as well as seven prizewinners, dating back as far Daniel Bates oboe,1994 Gold Medal Winner and now principal oboe with the City of London Sinfonia. This concert gave one of our more recent prizewinners, Justin Sun bassoon, the chance to perform with other musicians who have gone on from their ROSL wins to be some of the top musicians in their field. Justin is in his second year studying for his Masters at the Royal College of Music and won the Tait Memorial Prize and the Sussex Prize for Woodwind at our Annual Music Competition this year. One of the greatest successes of ROSL ARTS is the ability to bring together musicians at different stages in their careers and enable them to perform together.
Moving on to Friday evening’s concert, the Princess Alexandra Hall hosted 1995 Gold Medal Winner Ashley Wass piano, along with renowned violinist Matthew Trusler, for set of Chaplin and classical music. Our own anniversary celebrations were combined with the 100th anniversary of Chaplin’s Mutual Comedies for an evening which was the screening of some of Chaplin’s most well-known films along with live accompaniment. The audience were even treated to some of Chaplin’s own music including Smile.
The concerts were rounded off with an Opera Gala on Saturday evening, with more of ROSL’s alumni including Simon Lepper piano, 1999 Accompanists Prize winner, as well as Njabulo Madlala baritone, Vocal Section winner from 2012. They performed many opera favourites including Bess You is my Woman Now, and excerpts from La Cenerentola. This was followed by a dinner where members and guests had the chance to chat and meet the performers.
The whole three-day event was a wonderful way to celebrate the community of young artists and musicians that ROSL ARTS supports and showcase their immense talent. For other opportunities to see our alumni perform, head to the events section. The 2018 Annual Music Competition will also be getting underway in the New Year. Find out more here.
