Over the past two weeks, the annual Hepburn Music Festival celebrated the School’s musical talent, hosting a staggering 554 separate performances in 51 different classes across eight venues with the assistance of seven accompanists. The Hepburn Competition is one of the largest musical events of the year, and is effectively a complete music festival with all instruments represented across all age groups, performing across all periods from late Renaissance, via baroque, classical, romantic to 20th century and all genres including jazz, rock, soul, music theatre and film scores.
Thirteen professional musicians, including professors at the Royal College of Music and international performers, were invited to adjudicate the performances.
For Sunday’s Finalist Recital, ten winners of advanced classes were selected for a final performance before an audience in the Great Hall. Musicians displayed the range of musicianship that characterises music at Oundle. Pupils’ mastery ranged from strings, woodwind, brass and voice to pipes and percussion.
The Festival adjudicator, Peter Gritton, awarded the Music department’s most prestigious prizes to three performances that demonstrated the range of musical talent at School.
The Hepburn Cup winner was Fourth Form pupil Kylia (K) who had won the Diploma Piano class. Her performance of Rondo Capriccioso Op. 14 by Felix Mendelssohn was described by the adjudicator as “extraordinary in its clarity and dexterity, and you brought out the elfin character brilliantly with such dynamic contrast”.
Kylia’s triumph at the Hepburn comes just one week after having come second on harp at the Concours Francais de la Harpe competition in France, possibly the most definitive European competition for musicians.
The runner-up and winner of the Tatum Cup was Emy (L), performing “Cute Boys With Short Haircuts” from Vanities: The Musical.
Arun was awarded the Bateman Cup for musical promise following his performance of Mozart’s first movement in Horn Concerto No. 1.
