Strathpeffer Pavilion, 10 November 2007

Students from the National Centre of Excellence, Plockton.

THE FOUR Scottish Centres of Excellence in Music based in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Plockton are taking it in turns to host the annual showcase concert by their pupils; Strathpeffer Pavilion was presumably considered to be more convenient – and spacious – for Plockton’s first go.

Some of the finest young musicians in the country performed for a capacity crowd, including a smattering of the great and the good from their various funding Councils and the Scottish Government.

Things got off to a suitably Highland start with three pipers from Plockton. Cameron Barnes appeared first, and was joined by Alexander Levack and Alasdair Murray, with a medley of tunes played with maturity, confidence and some lovely harmonies.

Mary Ann Kennedy, the elegant Master of Ceremonies, compered in Gaelic and English with smooth, natural warmth and soon put everyone at their ease as she related some of her own experiences at the Music School of Douglas Academy and suggested, wisely, that we forget about genres and categories and just listen to the music.

It must be said that the Pavilion was not built originally with musical performance in mind, and the acoustics favour louder instruments like the pipes over the delicacy of the flute; Bronwen Tuohy did her best for her Debussy solo piece. A very competent rendering of Mozart’s Quintet in C Minor for strings was followed by Plockton pupils including, once again, Cameron Barnes on whistle and some absolutely superb vocals (sign him up quick, somebody) for the traditional ballad “Time Wears Awa'”.

As with acting, it takes experience to give musical performances that final polish, but Lewis Kelly tackled Mendlessohn’s Rondo Capriccioso Opus 14 with enough infectious enjoyment and brio to more than compensate for his youth.

Elgar’s Romance for Bassoon and Orchestra Opus 62 had been transcribed by Eric Wilson for Emma Louise McRonald’s euphonium, accompanied by Larina Sableviciute on piano, and like the pipes the euphonium seemed entirely at home in Strathpeffer, though the piece did flag up how much Elgar relies on the lushness of the orchestra for the full effect.

The first half closed with a beautiful, smooth, precise Poulenc Trio for piano (Tom Harrold), oboe (Charmaine Murdoch) and bassoon (Jamie Louise White).

Aberdeen pupils opened the second half with a spirited account of William Walton’s Facade Suite, played with panache by all the musicians, especially Jack Fawcett on percussion. It’s a tough piece for the narrators, but Claire Brown, who seemed to have learned most of her words by heart, plunged in with verve and an infectious grin that spread quickly to the audience.

More Highland culture – puirt a beul and stepdance from Plockton – preceded the final flourish, the premiere of “The Boat of Mananan” by Forres-based Lila Senior, joint winner of last year’s competition for Scottish composers.

Conducted by Garry Walker, this big, stirring, cinematic work celebrated the Son of the Sea in Celtic Mythology with accordion, whistle, clarsach and pipes in addition to the usual orchestral instruments, and it swept the audience along – its only fault being that it ended far too soon.

Rapturous applause signalled it as a fittingly triumphant conclusion to the evening which provided solid evidence that Scotland has plenty of young musicians to be proud of in all genres of music. And we in the Highlands can be very proud of Plockton.

© Jennie MacFie, 2007

Links

• National Centre of Excellence, Plockton
• Strathpeffer Pavilion