On Saturday 4 March almost 100 young musicians from 40 schools in the South of England descended on Pangbourne College for the 11th Anniversary Piano Festival. This year’s adjudicators were Mrs Pamela Chilvers and Mr Luis Pares. 

The day was filled with solo competitive classes and a two-piano masterclass. There were musicians aged from 7 to 18 years old, with seven Pangbournians also participating.

A highlight of the Festival is the workshop element to each competitive class when the adjudicator gives feedback after each performance. The masterclasses are an opportunity for young musicians to look more in-depth at a particular piece with the knowledge and experience of the adjudicator.

One teacher commented: ‘The Festival is such a great opportunity for children to perform in front of others and to receive such top level feedback. Mr Pares adjudicated all of my pupils and he had a wonderfully positive and encouraging manner with some very useful advice.’

A parent commented: ‘The festival was very well organised and it was clearly a positive experience for our child. We liked that performers were well aligned in each group in terms of age and standard, and the format – half masterclass/half competition. This created a feeling of togetherness and offered a good opportunity for all performers to learn from each other.’

Congratulations to Year 10 pupil Jayden and Peter of St George’s College, Weybridge who were awarded Joint Winner Prize of the Solo Advanced, Grades 7 to 8 (14 and Under) Class.