I’m a bit late with my review of 2019, I’ve had website problems and have not been able to get onto my site to update anything.
2019 was another great year and I had students achieve outstanding exam and competition results which is great, but this year has been a really great year for progress and for the less confident and nervy students really growing in confidence. There is nothing much better than that!
January 2019.
January is always a quiet month but Asher R was my first Pupil of the Week for the week ending 12th January.
Isabel auditioned for the National Youth Music Theatre and had a successful audition and made it through to the recall stages and after the next stage was selected to be part of NYMT for 2019, a massive achievement and she headed to London for the course in Summer.
Pupil of the week for the week ending
19th January – Kieran
26th January – Vicki
February 2019.
February is a busier month in terms of music with the Mrs Sunderland competiton taking place in the middle of the month.
My first pupil of the week for February was Evie H.
Les Six Flute Ensemble were selected to perform at a conference for Music For Youth after their performance in the the previous Summer.
Mrs Sunderland festival was so good this year and I am honestly so proud of each and every one of my students who took part and gave their very best. The results of the whole competiton are as follows:
17 yrs and over Musical Theatre
2nd – Alex G-M
3rd Vicki P
Girl’s Vocal Solo Year 10 &11
3rd – Ophelia
Year 10 & 11 Musical Theatre
3rd – Ophelia
Year 12 & 13 Musical Theatre
1st – Isabel H
2nd – Daisy
Year 12 & 13 Disney Class
1st- Isabel H
2nd – Daisy
Pop Ballad Class
1st – Isabelle
2nd – Tia
I have to give a mention to Daisy C who achieved was awarded the only A grade in the pop class for her performance of Skyfall, sadly she wasn’t placed though as she was over the time limit!
Year 10 & 11 Disney Class
3rd – Ophelia
Woodwind Solo Year 6 & under
3rd Hannah T
Woodwind Solo Year 11 & under
1st – Emily W
2nd – Ellie
3rd – Sammy
Woodwind Solo Open
2nd – Emily W
3rd – Ellie
Open Small Ensemble
3rd – Les Six Flute Ensemble.
What a great few days it was, congratulations to you all! Huge congratulations to Tia who was chosen to perform at the Gala Concert of the Mrs Sunderland Festival and who gave a great performance in the very full Concert Hall of Huddersfield Town Hall.
My Student of the week were as follows:
10th February – Kath
17th February – Evie H
24th February – Daisy C
The end of the month ended as well as it started and Tia and Ophelia found out that after their audtions, they were offered places to study at CAPA college specialist performing arts college for 6th form on the Musical Theatre Pathway.
March 2019.
Pupils of the week for the month were as following:
3rd March – Zara
10th March – Natalie
17th March – Daisy B
24th March – Philippa
31st March – Angela
My students at MSM had a great couple of days at the Worksop Festival.
Woodwind Solo Grade 1
3rd – Megan
Woodwind Solo Grade 2
2nd – Tess
Woodwind Solo Grade 4
1st – Ciara
Woodwind Solo Grade 5
2nd – Joe
3rd – Martha
Woodwind Ensemble Year 11 & under
1st – MSM Flute Ensemble.
Spring Music Exam Results were so good this term, I was especially thrilled with my littlest pupils who really did so well and performed so well on the day.
Ciara – Grade 2 Music Theatre – Distinction
Matilda – Grade 3 Music Theatre – Distinction
Eve – Grade 3 Music theatre – Distinction
Amelia – Grade 4 Pop Vocals – Merit
Megan – Grade 4 Music Theatre – Distiction
Ben – Grade 5 Pop Vocals – Merit
Flora – Grade 8 Music Theatre – Distinction.
Superb results once again HUGE congratulations to you all!
April 2019.
Angela had 9 days on the National Youth Concert Band course after being selcted to play with them for 2019.
Pupil’s of the week during April were as follows:
7th April – Kaytie-Jo
14th April – Maddy E
21st April – Hannah Q
28th April – Emily G
May/June 2019.
Due to GCSE and A Levels, May and June are a pretty quiet time for music. This year it was a really exciting time for me. I was finally going to Boston to collect my new flute that I ordered 18+ months earlier.
If you get the chance, go to Boston, it was on of the best holidays I have ever had AND I came home with a really lovely flute made to my specifcations.
The following were my Pupils of the week:
5th May – Melissa
12th May – Evie H
19th May – Emily G
26th May – Asher R
3rd June – Tia M
10th June – Hannah Q
17th June – Asher R
24th June – Emily G
July 2019.
July is very much a winding down month to the Summer holidays and with just exams to do it is always good to get finished at school for my students and myself. A lot of my private students carry on their lessons as normal just having a break when they are away on holiday.
Exam results this session were outstanding. Many congratulations to every one of my students who took an exam this session.
Mariam Grade 2 Singing – Merit
Lola Grade 1 Music Theatre – Merit
Evie Grade 2 Pop Vocals- Distinction
Maddy E Grade 6 Pop Vocals – Distinction
Ewen Grade 6 Pop Vocals – Distinction
Grace Grade 8 Pop Vocals – Distinction
Daisy C Grade 8 Pop Vocals – Distinction
Joe Grade 5 Flute – Distinction
Polly Grade 6 Flute – Merit.
My pupil’s of the week for the final weeks of term were as follows:
7th July – Grace
14th July – Evie
August 2019.
Emily gained a place again in Halle Youth Orchestra for the 2019/2020 season after recent auditions. Well Done!
GCSE and A Level results were out this month and I was so pleased for my students who did superbly well not just in music, but in all their other subjects too.
One student whose results didn’t quite go to plan actually ended up at her first choice university place due to the UCAS points she had gained from her Grade 8 exam. So it goes to prove that not only are music exams a massive achievement, but they can help secure a place at university too.
September 2019.
September is a crazy month that involves timetabling and re-doing timetables several times over to make all my students fit into the week. This year, my private students were a doddle (thank you!) school however, was not as easy. I actually ended up with a first week timetable and then I had to re-do the whole thing as it was clear it really wasn’t going to work!
In September I award my Student of the Year award for the previous academic year. This year as always it was very tricky to choose who to award it to. There could easily have been 6 or 7 students to award it to.
I decided however, that it should go to Evie. Evie had her first lesson with me in December 2018 and passed her Grade 2 with distinction in July 2019. Evie works ridiculously hard and has serious potential. Evie won Student of the Week more times than anyone else in the academic year and continues to make outstanding progress each and every week.
Well Done Evie!
Pupils of the week in September were:
8th – Ewen
15th – Daisy B
22nd – Prisha
29th – Hannah Q
On the 22nd September I hosted the first of what I hope will be many adult student concerts.
I decided to have the concert at home in my music room so it wouldn’t be too much of an ordeal. It was an absolutely lovely afternoon and everyone really performed well. Many laughs and much prosecco was drunk and it was great to see everyone getting on well and how much more relaxed everyone felt when performing once the prosecco kicked in! I cannot wait for the next one!
On the 29th September we had the first Les Six Flute Ensemble rehearsal of the academic year to prepare for the Haydn Wood Festival and other competitions that always arrive quickly. Les Six have been a 4 since we lost Guylaine and Imogen to music college so today was decision day, do they stay a 4 or do we bring another 2 in? I left the decision to them and they decided they’d rather stay as a 4 regardless of the name. The four of them have got really close, so it’d be a shame to change that dynamic. So after that decision it was on to choose the pieces we would perform at the Haydn Wood, Mrs Sunderland and Music for Youth Festivals. Then the most important of all decisions was what to eat mid-rehearsal. Dominos it was once again! I really should buy shares in the company, this lot can pack some food away!
I was very lucky this month to be gifted a brand new and very beautiful bass flute by the Trevor James Flute Company to be used for all my flute ensembles. I am so so grateful to Jean-Paul and all the trustees for their very generous gift. This instrument will be used for years and years to come.
October 2019.
Not a lot happens music wise in October, just the usual routine. I did go down to London to have my flute serviced and had a lovely afternoon catching up with one of my old pupils Guylaine and all her music news.
Pupils of the week in October were:
6th – Emily G
13th – Angela
20th – Kath
27th – Evie
November 2019.
November means the Haydn Wood Festival for some of my pupils. A lot of them were ill though so couldn’t attend this year. Congratulations to all who did go and performed superbly well and received great feedback from the adjudicator.
The results are as follows:
Music Theatre 15 -21years
1st – Daisy C
3rd – Emily G
Jazz Class – Open
2nd – Daisy C
Woodwind Solo 21 yrs & under
2nd – Sammy
3rd – Angela
Ensemble Class – Open
1st – Les Six Flute Ensemble.
Congratulations to Daisy who was awarded the Swift Salver for the highest mark in the Music Theatre classes, The Colne Valley Guardian Trophy for the highest mark of the Vocal Classes and the Maxine Taylor trophy for being nominated as The Most Promising Singer.
Congratulations to Emily, Sammy, Angela and Ellie (Les Six Flutes) for their performance in the Ensemble class. I honestly couldn’t have been prouder of how these 4 performed on the day.
They achieved a mark in the Outstanding category, a mark of 90 (a rare thing!) and were awarded The Lewisham Plaque for achieving the highest mark of the ensemble classes, missing out on the trophy for the highest mark of the festival by 1 mark! The adjudicator was full of praise for these 4 and talked to me at length about how much he had enjoyed their performance and he couldn’t believe they were all only 16 and playing at that standard.
Once again I was a very proud teacher!
Pupils of the week were awarded as follows:
10th – Isabel
17th – Daisy C
24th – Ewen
December 2019.
December is always a crazy month in music. Rehearsals, exams and many, many concerts are always keeping us busy.
Exam Results were as follows:
Millie Grade 5 Flute – Merit
Prisha Grade 2 Pop Vocals – Merit
Irie grade 3 Pop Vocals – Merit
Hazel Grade 4 Pop Vocals – Merit
Philippa Grade 5 Music Theatre – Merit
Jess Grade 6 Pop Vocals – Distinction
Leo Grade 7 Pop Vocals – Merit
Libby Grade 7 Music Theatre – Merit
Isabel Grade 8 Music Theatre – Distinction.
Well done all of you, great results at a very busy time of year.
My Pupils of the week for December are as follows:
1st – Jess
8th – Maddy
15th – Angela
22nd – Ophelia.
The final bit of excellent news of the year is that Daisy has been auditioning for places on popular music degree courses. She has applied at the Royal Northern College of Music, LIPA, Newcastle Uni and Nottingham Uni and it is with immense pleasure to announce she has been offered a place at them all. Daisy has a ridiculous work ethic and she is busier than anyone I know. She has 4 grade 8 distinctions and is out several nights of the week rehearsing in the numerous ensembles she performs with. She has sung as a soloist twice at the Royal Albert Hall and has won more prizes and awards than I could even begin to mention. I struggle to put into words how proud I am of Daisy and what she has achieved in her only 4 years of singing lessons.
Daisy has, after being to offer days, decided that she is going to study at The Royal Northern College of Music in September 2020. I cannot wait to follow what I know will be an outstanding career. Well done!
So another year done! Every year I think the next won’t be as good as the last and yet every year my students surprise and amaze me with their hard work and dedication to their music.
What a year! Here’s to 2020!
