Welcome to our new school year and an exciting concert season at The Purcell School. This term is already off to a great start with new concert series at school including several excellent Rush Hour Recitals on Tuesdays at 5pm (starting Tuesday 10th September), a complete series of Beethoven Piano Sonatas, and a series of lunchtime concerts streamed live online! Make sure to download our new Events Guide for this term or take a look at the Event Listings on our website for more information.
A Few Summer Highlights from Purcell Alumni:
The LSO and Sir Simon Rattle play Ravel in Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square was once again transformed into a giant free music stage as Purcell’s President Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra presented BMW Classics on Sunday 30 June 2019. Simon Rattle conducted 100 musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as 55 young musicians from the LSO On Track programme in East London and 20 musicians from the Guildhall School.
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
A highlight of the folk music calendar, the Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrates the UK’s thriving folk music scene and serves to raise the profile of this much loved musical genre. The event showcases and celebrates the best folk, roots and acoustic music and features live performances by the very best acts. Among the nominees for this year’s award is former Purcell student, Catrin Finch, who is nominated alongside her musical partner Seckou Keita for ‘Best Duo or Group’ and ‘Best Album’ for their most recent release Soar. The awards will take place at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on Wednesday 16 October 2019 as part of the Manchester Folk Festival.
BBC Proms: The Sound of Space
The London Contemporary orchestra’s Late Night Prom put on a futuristic spin on the best sci-fi music for film and television. Among the soundtracks featured were those for Alien: Covenant, Gravity, Interstellar, Moon, and Under the Skin composed by former Purcell student, Mica Levi.
Alejandro Landes’ jungle thriller; Monos
In more exciting news for Mica Levi, her score for the upcoming Alejandro Landes film Monos, (which currently ranks with a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes!) will be released on vinyl next week 13 September. Monos which premiered at Sundance and won the Special Jury Prize has been selected as Colombia’s bid for an Oscar in the international feature category, the country’s film academy with Levi’s score already being tipped to be nominated.
Djesse Vol 2
Former Purcell student and two-time Grammy Winner Jacob Collier released a new album in July. Volume 2 of Collier’s consummate four-album project Djesse features JoJo, dodie, Lianne La Havas, Oumou Sangaré, Chris Thile, Sam Amidon, Steve Vai, Kathryn Tickell, Becca Stevens, and MARO. Collier produced, engineered, and composed nearly everything on it, despite enlisting dozens of co-conspirators to lend their vocal chops. Currently embarking on his world tour, Collier has already worked with Hans Zimmer, Herbie Hancock, and even Pharrell and was named by Vanity Fair as “probably the best musician of the 21st century.”
Noah Max Takes off to Italy
Noah Max was a cellist, conductor and composer at Purcell during his sixth form years from 2015 – 2017. This month is a busy and exciting one in his career! He just landed in Milan where he will be conducting the Divertimento Ensemble on a tour of Northern Italy in contemporary repertoire by Webern, Kagel, Solbiati and Sir George Benjamin, before heading to Vienna to conduct the world premiere of a new work of his own with the Moonlight Symphony Orchestra in the Musikverein. In between Noah will be recording with his own group, the Echo Ensemble, which he set up while studying here at Purcell – their next concert is on 26th November at St. Giles’ Cripplegate in London.
