King’s Ely’s annual Music Festival reached its spectacular climax this week, when students competed for accolades in the atmospheric setting of Ely Cathedral.
Parents, pupils, staff and members of the public were wowed by the talent on display and the variety of performance was stunning. There were 143 entries in total across 17 classes, including 59 vocal entries. That number was whittled down to 9 in the intermediate final (13-15 year olds) and to 6 in the senior final (16-18 year olds).
The winners (pictured), including intermediate instrumentalist, intermediate singer, senior instrumentalist and senior singer, as well as recipients of the Walser Cup and Hunter Cup, each receive £50 worth of iTunes vouchers. The Walser Cup, awarded to Edward Birchinall, was donated in memory of David Walser, a former Chaplain of the school who loved music. The Hunter Cup, donated by Monica Hunter, a former piano teacher at the school, was awarded to Asia Choudhry. The Senior Young Musician of the Year and the Walser Trophy was awarded to Yuki Kimura.
Director of Music, Jonathan Kington, expressed his delight at the performances from the finalists, “After two weeks of preliminary heats and a keenly contested semi-final, KES finalists performed in the splendour or Ely Cathedral. The King’s Orchestra led the way with a performance of Wagner’s Grand March from Tannhauser before Intermediate and Senior musicians took to the stage. This was a real feast of music displaying consistently high levels of musicianship”.
The adjudicator for the night was Mr Keith Brown from The John Lyon School, Harrow who was highly impressed by the standard of the performances and commented that it was one of the very best festivals of its kind.