Woodwind Masterclass 24 June

The third masterclass in memory of J R Sterndale-Bennett took place on Sunday 24th June. Sterndale-Bennett founded the school's Choral Society in 1871 which, at the time, represented the only musical event to take place in the school. Following his appointment as a headmaster, the school appointed its first Director of Music in 1877 (L N Parker) and, as an article in the fourth edition of the Register says, "from that time onwards music began to flourish at Sherborne."

Certainly music flourished on Sunday. Douglas Mitchell, previously a clarinettist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and now a freelancer with all of the UK's major orchestras, led an inspiring masterclass for ten instrumentalists. An eclectic programme certainly showed the enormous flexibility both of the Shirburnians and also Douglas Mitchell, with a mixture of classical items by Schumann and also more jazz inspired music by Bernstein and Trevor Hold.

Harry Reynolds (clarinet) Fantasiestuke, 1st Movt. Schumann
Arthur Drake (clarinet) 'Arabesque' Tallieferre
Theodore Irvine (clarinet) Fantasiestuke, 3rd Movt. Schumann
Toby Christey-Clover (clarinet) Sonata Bernstein
Fred Gordon (saxophone) Light of Sothis Quarte
Felix Stickland (saxophone) Yardbird Suite Parker
Cosimo Malizia (saxophone) 'Tango and Charleston' Hold

Clarinet Quartet: Harry Reynolds, James Grammaticas, Arthur Drake, James Richards
Black and White Rag Botsford

Posted: Tuesday, July 3, 2012