A big thank you to some of our Advanced Higher students who provided the entertainment on Tuesday lunchtime, 17th Nov, at Netherlee Age Concern in the Albertslund Hall in Newton Mearns.  The pupils involved were:  Sophie Aziz and Luisa Walker singing duets, Lewis Graham on clarinet, Jamie McQueen singing songs from shows and Andrew Vettraino on piano.

This year Williamwood High School is delighted to be bring to the stage the smash-hit Broadway musical Hairspray.  The show runs from 2nd to 4th December at 7.30pm in the Ena Millar Theatre.  Tickets are available from the Performing Arts Base at a of cost £6 adult and £4 concession.

Get your tickets early to avoid disappointment!

Last Wednesday night Williamwood High School hosted its annual Young Singer of the Year competition.  Over 60 pupils auditioned for a place in this year’s final.  The fifteen finalists all performed to an exceptionally high standard and there was a huge amount of talent on display.  The Senior Choir, Junior Choir and Vocal Ensemble all gave excellent performances whilst the adjudicators had the difficult decision of deciding on the winners.  The overall winner of the Junior Section was Elena Guevara-Rose (S1) with Shay O’Dowd (S1) taking the runner up prize.  The winner of the Senior Section was Jamie McQueen (S6)  who stole the show with his unbeatable performance.  Nicholas Mayer (S6) took the runner up prize in this section whilst Cameron Black (S1)  received a special ‘Rising Star’ award for his performance of ‘Hallelujah’ and ‘Happy’.  Overall a fantastic night was had by all!  The event can be viewed here.

Congratulations to bassoonists Lucy Gibson S5 and Andrew Vettraino S6, clarinettist Lewis Graham S6 and horn player Alec Ross S5 who have all got into NYOGB 2016.  This is a tremendous achievement and we are delighted that four pupils from Williamwood have received a place in this outstanding orchestra.  The students will get the opportunity to perform in many exciting venues including performing live on television in the BBC Proms in the Albert Hall next year.

The Williamwood High School Performing Arts Music Festival 2015 on September 17 was an exciting event, with pupils at Williamwood providing accomplished and enjoyable performances in a variety of styles and instrumentation. Adjudicators Donald Finlayson and Siobhan Anderson were clearly impressed by the outstanding musical talent within the school, and identified the evening’s most exciting performance in the Junior Section as Andrew Cramb for his Piping skills, while the Senior Section winner was recognised as Matthew Donaldson for his unique Drum kit technique. Highly commended positions were awarded to Malachy Arnold in S1 for his musical performance on the Clarsach, and Andrew MacLeod in S6 for his confident and entertaining interpretation on the Trombone.  Well done and congratulations to all pupils that took part.

The Dewar Arts Awards are proud to support the brightest and best of Scotland’s young artistic talent.

This year two of our pupils won 2015 Awards from the national charity Awards for Young Musicians (AYM). S6 pupil and percussionist, Ethan Skuodas and S1 student and bassoonist, Jamie King. Each outstanding young Award winner receives financial help ranging from £200 up to £2,000 and they also benefit from individually tailored support, which may comprise mentoring, access to advanced skills workshops with professional musicians, master classes and opportunities to attend rehearsals with orchestras and other musical partners.

Competition for the 2015 Awards was extremely high but after careful deliberation the independent adjudication panel decided to award Ethan with a Robert Lewin Scholarship, named after the man upon whose legacy the charity was founded.

On Sunday 1st November Jamie has been invited to play in London with fellow awardees and members of the London Sinfonietta, including John Orford who is Professor of Bassoon at the Guildhall and Royal Academy of Music.

If you are interested in applying applications for awards for this year can be submitted from 1st Oct 2015, details can be found at their website www.a-y-m.org.uk.

The National Youth Orchestras of Scotland is an organisation which provides a variety of orchestras, jazz bands and training ensembles for students aged from 8 to 25 years old.   This year again we are delighted at the large number of Williamwood pupils represented in a wide variety of these ensembles.  It is also great to see past pupils still performing.  The pupils involved this year are:

NYOS Symphony Orchestra:

Past pupils

Megan Ferries  – Bassoon

Luke Maher  (Summer only) – Horn

Frances Paton  – Cello

Stuart Vettraino   – Horn

Senior Orchestra:

David Aiton S2 – Timpani/Percussion

Rhianna Christie (past pupil) – Oboe

Lucy Gibson S5 – Bassoon

Andrew FJ MacLeod S6 – Tenor Trombone

Alec Ross S5 – Horn

Andrew Vettraino S6 – Bassoon

Chrisopher Vettraino S4 – Oboe

Junior Orchestra:

David Aiton S2 – Timpani/Percussion

Sophie Boyd S4 – Violin

Eve Burgoyne S5 – Clarinet

Lindsey Cairns S3 – Violin

Ben Drake S2 – Bassoon

Chloe Ghiro S3 – Violin

Josef Heidinger S2 – Bassoon

Andrew McCroskie S5 – Clarinet

Ewan Millar S2 – Timpani/Percussion

Lorna Paton S5 – Horn

Emma A Wilson S4 – Violin

National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland:

Mark Hendry (past pupil) – Double Bass

Tom Potter S4 – Drums

Jazz Access:

Tom Potter S4 – Drums

Brass Training:

Finlay Overend S3 – Tenor Trombone

Wind Training:

Anna Ghiro S1 – Bassoon

Jamie King S1 – Bassoon

Orla Lang S2 – Oboe

Alasdair Notley S3 – Oboe

James Ross S1 – Bassoon

James Andrew Ross S1 – Bassoon

Percussion Training:

David Aiton S2 – Timpani/Percussion

James Baptie S3 – Timpani/Percussion

Ewan Millar S2 – Timpani/Percussion

Congratulations to the following pupils on their success in the summer 2015 diet of the ABRSM and Trinity examinations.

ABRSM

S1 Pupil:  Anna Ghiro Grade 4 Violin with distinction

S2 Pupil:  Liana Storey Grade 8 Piano with distinction

S3 Pupils:  Chloe Ghiro Grade 7 Violin with distinction, Daisy Major Grade 5 Cello with distinction, Lynn McKenna and Ciara O’Shea both passed Grade 5 Cello

S4 Pupils:  Eilidh Galloway Grade 7 Clarinet with distinction, Chris Vettraino Grade 6 Tuned Percussion with distinction

S5 Pupil:  Steven Clark Grade 8 Guitar with distinction

Trinity College London

S2 Pupils:  Eilidh Mathieson Grade 3 Flute with merit, David Aiton Grade 3 Tuned Percussion with distinction

S3 Pupil:  James Baptie Grade 3 Tuned Percussion with merit

S4 Pupils:  Eilidh Akilade and Freya Menzies passed Grade 6 Clarinet, Laura Beattie Grade 6 Clarinet with merit, Becky Paton Grade 8 Piano with distinction

S5 Pupil:  Sanjana Gomez Grade 4 Flute with merit

S6 Pupils:  Sammy Finnigan and Scott Logan both passed Grade 8 Clarinet with merit, Andrew Vettraino Piano Performance Diploma with distinction

We are always delighted to celebrate the talent of the pupils at Williamwood so please let Mrs Selbie know if we have missed anyone out.

Congratulations to past pupil Fiona Joice who won the Governors’ Recital Prize for Singing at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on Monday 27th April.  The Governors’ competitions are some of the most prestigious in the RCS calendar and we are all delighted for Fiona as this is a wonderful way to conclude her degree at the RCS.