Bishop’s Stortford College Musicians Hit High Notes

27 Mar 2018

Two Bishop’s Stortford College pupils applauded for musical successes.

Two Bishop’s Stortford College pupils have recently been applauded for their musical successes; Sixth Form student Ailsa Munro for her performances on bassoon and Year 9 pupil, Justin Man, on the piano.

On Saturday 24th February, Ailsa was named runner-up in the District Finals of the Rotary Young Musician of the Year at Chelmsford Cathedral, with her performance of Solo de Concert Op. 35 by Gabriel Pierné, and is through to the Regional Final on Sunday 29th April. This follows her wins in the Senior Category of the Bishop’s Stortford Rotary Club competition in 2017 and the Senior Woodwind category of the College’s annual Instrumental Competition last July.

Since joining the College in September, Justin has successfully taken part in several music competitions. On 16th February he was awarded 1st prize for his performance in the U17 Piano Solo Class at the Stratford and East London Music Festival and 2nd prize in the Piano Recital class. Then on the weekend of 24th/25th February he was the youngest competitor in the “Piano Solo – 20th/21st Century (Diploma Entry Level, above Grade 8)” class in the Milton Keynes Music Festival, winning 2nd prize and a silver medal for his performance of Mira by Stephen Montague. Last November he was also awarded 1st prize in the Duet at the Beckenham Music Festival, together with (non-College) partner Tommy Wang, and 2nd prize in the Piano Recital class at Beckenham Music Festival.

Senior School Music teacher Iago Nunez commented, “We are very proud of both Ailsa and Justin and their impressive musical achievements. These two talented musicians play a big role in the music community at the College, performing in concerts and assemblies throughout the year, and we look forward to hearing them play in many more concerts in the future”.

Photo: Ailsa Munro