A Musical Masterclass for RGS Pianists
On Monday this week, RGS pupils enjoyed a special Piano Day with guest soloist George Rowley. Born and raised in Kidderminster, Mr Rowley studied in Birmingham and Budapest and is now forging a career as a performer, teacher and adjudicator.
During the day, George gave Masterclass sessions to several advanced RGS pianists, spending twenty minutes working with each on a piece they have been playing and offering helpful advice. For one of these sessions, fourteen pupils from Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College joined us, with a number of their pianists also playing and receiving advice whilst an audience watched and learned.
In the afternoon, George Rowley gave a Piano Assembly to Year Seven pupils, performing to them and then answering some of their questions about being a professional musician. Lower Sixth student Ben Brierley also performed a piece to Year Seven, playing superbly.
The day culminated in an evening Piano Concert in Perrins Hall. The first half of the Concert featured ten RGS pianists, each playing a solo, and a special guest performer – Christan G from Blessed Edwards – who, having played so well earlier in the day, was pleased to accept our invitation to return and perform in the evening. George Rowley concluded the Concert in the second half with music by Chopin, Prokofiev and Ian Venables, impressing and inspiring us all.
Year Eight pupil Hannes Farmer performed in the Concert and a Masterclass session. He said, “When I played my piece to George in the Masterclass, he gave me some really helpful feedback that I could then transfer to the Concert and later in my piano journey. He was really friendly and professional, and the quality of his performance was excellent. The evening was completely inspiring, and I thought every single person played passionately with a really good range of pieces.”
We thank George Rowley for visiting RGS and supporting our pupils on Monday and also congratulate all ten RGS pianists who performed in the Concert: Ozzy Beswick, Dylan Cornacchia, Sean Yang, Thomas Pound, Jai Sanehi, Hannes Farmer, Sihan Fu, Ben Fisher, Ben Brierley and Sasha Penlington.
Director of Music, Mr Jonathan Soman
