Congratulations to S5 pupil Ewan Millar who was runner-up at the West of Scotland round of the Rotary Young Musician competition yesterday in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.   Ewan performed on both xylophone and vibraphone in the competition and he now proceeds to the Scottish, North of England and Northern Ireland final which is on 17th March.  We wish Ewan all the best.

As part of our launch of Music Technology, a group of S2 pupils attended a tour of the Audio Engineering department at Glasgow Caledonian University. Lead by lecturer Adam Craig, the pupils experienced a guided tour of the campus facilities and took part in a recording session in the university’s speciality studio. Pupils gained knowledge of the numerous career paths involving Music Technology, were able to learn about the qualifications required to enter higher education, and discussed opportunities for work experience in the industry. With S2 options fast approaching, it was a wonderful opportunity for the pupils to experience what studying Music Technology will involve.

The examination dates for the National 5 and Higher pupils this year have been confirmed as:

Friday 15th February – bagpipes only

19, 20, 22, 27 and 28th February plus 1st March for all other instruments.

Congratulations to all competitors for a wonderful competition on Wednesday night. The winners were:

Senior winner Ellie Guevara Rose (S4) and senior runner up Nairne Hannah (S4)

Junior winner Holly Johnson (S2) and junior runner up Zara Stevens (S2)

Rising star Emily Johnston (S1)

Congratulations to the following pupils on their success in their recent Associated Board and Trinity College examinations.

ABRSM

S1 pupils:  Austin Major Grade 3 violin with merit, Sofia Nielsen passed Grade 3 violin, Conor O’Shea passed Grade 3 clarinet, Grace Sloan Grade 3 clarinet with distinction

S5 pupil:  Aalia Shah Grade 8 violin with distinction

S6 pupil:  Nina Adams passed Grade 7 viola

Trinity

S2 pupil:  Sam Mcleod Grade 6 Rock & Pop Guitar with merit

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 S5 pupil Ewan who recently won the instrumental section of the Eastwood Rotary Young Musician of the Year competition.  Ewan’s accomplished performance of Presto from Mayuzumi’s Concertino on xylophone and Lipner’s Crystal Mallets on vibraphone had both the audience and adjudicators spellbound.  Ewan will now progress to the next round of the Rotary competition which is the West of Scotland round held in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in early March 2019 – giving him the chance of progressing to the Scottish final and then the British Grand Final.

Congratulations to S5 pupil Liana who won the Concerto competition at the Junior Conservatoire on Sunday 18th November.  Liana will be performing Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto with the Junior Conservatoire orchestra at some point next year.

Tickets are now on sale for our Christmas concert which takes place on Monday 17th December at 7pm in the Ena Millar Theatre.  Tickets can be bought online through Parentpay or at the Performing Arts base at a cost of £4 or £2 concession.

Congratulations to Anna Ghiro (S4) who has gained a place in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Anna joins the bassoon section as their youngest player, and is really looking forward to performing with them in the UK and USA. Well done Anna!

On Tuesday 18th September a group of higher and advanced higher students attended the SCO Masterworks concert in the RSNO Centre at the Royal Concert Hall.  The theme of the concert was American Minimalism and featured music by John Adams and Steve Reich.