MUSIC
THE IW nurtures a large number of talented young musicians and a recital featuring many of them was held at St Mary’s Church, Brighstone, last Thursday.
One of the highlights in the varied IW Music Service programme was by Elliot Whatson, who performed his own arrangement, with his own accompaniment he created using sequencing software. He was inspired after seeing and hearing a YouTube video of Johnson’s Shades of Orange.
More traditional performances on the violin were given by Jordan Strobach-Morris, playing music by Tartini, Wira Karo Karo, performing music by Corelli, and Edan Bartlett, who opened the concert with the technically demanding Ritual Fire Dance, by de Falla.
The youngest performer was nine-year-old descant recorder player Isabelle Wilson, who performed a delightful rendition of Fred ’n’ Ginger, representing the panache of the famous dancing duo. Jay Whatson performed Saint-Saens’s The Swan, from Carnival of Animals.
American band arrangers and composers were also featured by pianist Philippa Tsang, who performed Sonny Burke’s Black Coffee, trumpet player Hannah Jacobs, who performed Conversation, by Clare Grundman, and the stylistically testing Romanza, from Poulenc’s Clarinet Sonata, performed by Beth Griffin.
English music was represented by clarinettist Bethany King, who performed the prelude from A Victorian Kitchen Garden, by Paul Reade. Rhiannon Dennes played The Serious Doll, from Elgar’s Nursery Suite. Ellen Williams also played part of Ronald Binge’s Saxophone Concerto.
The acoustics of the church were exploited at the concert’s conclusion with an evocative performance of Joaquin Turina’s Conchita Reve, for piano, played by Harry Malabar.
All of the performers are taught through the IW Music Service.