RNCM String Festival

The Royal Northern College of Music’s annual String Festival took place this month and our continuing relationship with the college allowed us to access some fantastic concerts and workshops from internationally acclaimed musicians. The day started for our 14 students with a workshop from the classically trained, award winning world music group Kabantu. LHS alumnae Delia Stevens and violinist Katie Foster delivered a creative session on listening, improvising as well as playing some virtuoso folk. There were sessions later on violin duets, a concert from Spanish multi-instrumentalist Roberto Carrillo-Garcia and band. The full Kabantu band, all RNCM graduates, gave a vibrant and imaginative concert on the theme of ‘Thinking Beyond Tradition.’

The evening concert from RNCM’s String Ensemble was truly breathtaking, (featuring another LHS Alumna, Ruth Heney.) The group was directed from the violin by Norwegian composer Henning Kraggerud and the group played his striking ‘Solens Datter’ (The Sun’s  Daughter’) based on a Nordic legend about the dying sun and the need for a new birth. The day ended with a moving, joyful and poignant playing of Tchaikowsky’s Serenade for Strings.