On Sunday 26th October three of our senior pupils have been invited to perform at a Malawi event in Giffnock South Parish Church at 7pm. S6 pupils Frances Paton and Ishara Waidyarathna both went to Malawi in June with a group of Williamwood pupils. They are going to perform on cello, piano and voice.  S5 pupil Jessica Gaff has also been asked to sing at the concert.  The evening is going to conclude with the East Renfrewshire Schools Jazz Band performing.

Congratulations to the Senior Girls Vocal Ensemble who have been selected to perform at the SQA Star Awards Ceremony on Friday 7 November.  The ensemble have been together for three years now and are all S6 pupils. They were auditioned by representatives of the SQA in October and faced competition from various schools and colleges across Scotland. This is a prestigious event and a fantastic achievement for the girls. The ensemble have performed at concerts and shows within Williamwood over the past few years and won the Vocal Ensemble class at the Glasgow Music Festival earlier this year. They are looking forward to performing at the awards ceremony.  Well done!

In Williamwood we have a huge number of talented musicians and we like to celebrate their achievements with the presentation of half and full colour ties.  In this session so far the following students have received this award:

Half colours

Jack Addie S1            sings in the RSNO Junior Chorus

Aalia Shah S1            plays violin in the East Renfrewshire Senior String Orchestra

Liana Storey S1         studies piano at the Junior Conservatoire and received distinction in  her Grade 7 exam

Eilidh Galloway S3      studies clarinet and piano at the Junior Conservatoire

Becky Paton S3          studies violin at the Junior Conservatoire

Dan McKinnon S4       Grade 5 theory with merit

Full colours

Ben Drake S1            plays bassoon in the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain

Blair Dickinson S3      pipes in the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland

Emma Wilson S3        plays violin in NYOS Junior Orchestra

Lewis Graham S5      plays clarinet in NYOS Senior Orchestra

Andrew MacLeod S5 plays trombone in NYOS Senior Orchestra

Beth McNeil S5          plays tenor drum in Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia, the World Champion Drum Corps at the recent Pipe Band World Championship

A number of our pupils are performing at Williamwood Parish Church tomorrow between 11am and 12.30pm.  The S5 pupils involved are:

 Jessica Gaff – voice,  Andrew MacLeod – trombone and  Andrew Vettraino- bassoon and piano

This event is free so please come along and support our students

Congratulations to all the pupils that received an award at the Senior Awards Ceremony last night.  The music award winners were:  Intermediate 1 Ross Finlay, Intermediate 2 Andrew Vettraino, Higher Ishara Waidyarathna and Advanced Higher Richard Scholfield.  The musical entertainment on the night was provided by Lewis Graham S5 on clarinet,  Andrew MacLeod S5 on trombone and Ishara Waidyarathna S6 on voice.  All three performed beautifully and thoroughly entertained everyone.

The West of Scotland Orchestral Trust has established a memorial award in memory of one of their past students Michael Stoakes.  To receive the award staff decide which pupils have been the most outstanding members of the symphony orchestra  and the concert band.  This year I am delighted that two Williamwood pupils received the award.  Richard Scholfield for the Concert Band and Stuart Vettraino was the joint winner for the Symphony Orchestra.

Last night was the showcase concert for the West of Scotland Schools Symphony Orchestra and Concert Band.  This was a fantastic concert displaying a high calibre of performance from school pupils.  Congratulations to all the Williamwood pupils who were involved. 

WSSSO

Beth Robertson – Cello, Alice Beglan-Grant – Bassoon, Lucy Gibson – Bassoon, Andrew Vettraino – Bassoon, Stuart Vettraino – French Horn, Morven MacDonald – Percussion, Ethan Skuodas – Percussion

WSSCB

Lisa Dignam – Flute, Eve Burgoyne – Clarinet, Lewis Graham – Clarinet, Andrew McCroskie – Clarinet, Richard Scholfield – Saxophone, Gregor McInnes – French Horn, Lorna Paton – French Horn, Alec Ross – French Horn, Daniel Petrie – Trumpet, Callum Robson – Percussion

Congratulations to the following pupils for their success in the summer 2014 diet of ABRSM, Trinity and LCM examinations.

ABRSM

S2 Pupils:  Chloe Ghiro Grade 6 Violin with merit, Rebecca Lamb passed Grade 3 Violin,  Lynn McKenna passed Grade 4 Cello, Ciara O’Shea passed Grade 4 Cello, Cameron Stewart Grade 4 Cello with merit.

S3 Pupils: Erin Leckie passed Grade 3 Violin, Pagan Ferry McKenzie Grade 5 Violin with distinction, Daisy Major Grade 4 Cello with distinction, Lukas Nielsen Grade 5 Violin with merit, Chris Vettraino Grade 4 Tuned Percussion with distinction and Grade 8 Oboe with distinction, Emma Wilson Grade 5 Violin with distinction

S4 Pupils:  Matthew Anderson Grade 5 Cello with merit, James Ferguson Grade 5 Theory with distinction, Becky Lenaghan passed Grade 5 Cello,  Dan McKinnon Grade 5 theory with merit.

S5 Pupil:  Lewis Graham Grade 8 Clarinet with distinction

Past pupil (S6 last session) Richard Scholfield passed his Saxophone Dipolma DipABRSM with distinction

Trinity College London

S3 Pupil:  Tabitha Skuodas Grade 6 Flute with merit

S5 Pupil:  Eilidh Wilson Grade 6 Flute with merit

S6 Pupil:  Rhianna Christie Grade 8 Oboe with merit

LCM

S4 Pupil: Roisin Arnold Grade 6 Fiddle with merit

If we have missed out any pupils let Mrs Selbie know.

Congratulations to the following pupils who got full marks in either one or both of their instruments in the recent SQA practical exams.

Intermediate 2

Eubha Akilade, Cameron Angus, Sophie Aziz, Matthew Durand-Watson, Sammy Finnigan, Rachel Fortune, Jessica Gaff, Julie Graham, Lewis Graham, Adam Hunter, Scott Logan, Jonathan Lynagh-Dunbar, Andrew MacLeod, Jamie McQueen, Ethan Skuodas, Calum Steel, Eleanor Summers, Andrew Vettraino, Luisa Walker, Eilidh Wilson, Matthew Wilson, Jason Wu

Higher

Eilidh Flynn, Mark Hendry, Heather Johnston, Sehar Khan, Morven MacDonald, Frances Paton, Ishara Waidyarathna

Advanced Higher

Megan Ferries, Luke Maher, Richard Scholfield

Listen to Ross being interviewed on Radio Scotland on Wednesday 20th August about the Glasgow Philharmonia Orchestra which he founded two years ago.  He is the last guest on at 1.39.00.

Radio Scotland link