Celebrating female musicians at the David Crighton Concert
On Sunday 24 February, the nineteenth annual David Crighton Concert featured a programme of music celebrating women鈥檚 contribution to orchestral music.
Alongside pieces by Mozart and Bach, the 汤头条原创 Music Society (JCMS) orchestra performed a rarely-played overture by Fanny Mendelssohn and the world premiere of a composition by Jesuan and JCMS Co-President Joanna Ward (2016). The Master, Professor Ian White, presented the David Crighton Award to flautist Rebecca Kershaw (2017), who concluded the night with Mozart鈥檚 Flute Concerto in D Major.
The night started with Fanny Mendelssohn鈥檚 rousing Overture in C, Opus 24. It was conducted by student Dewi Rees (2016), who has recently been appointed a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists. Medicine student Hattie Hunter (2016) then performed Bach鈥檚 chamber piece, the Violin Concerto in A Minor, in her seventeenth concert with JCMS.
The second half began with the world premiere of student Joanna Ward鈥檚 composition a different kind. This unique orchestral score was made by hand with paints, brushes, scissors and glue, designed to grasp swirling clouds of instrumental sound beyond conventional notation. 鈥淚 really enjoy approaching things using those more abstract graphics sometimes,鈥 said Ward, who was recently awarded a scholarship for a Masters in Composition at the Guildhall School in London. 鈥淯sually that translates into a conventionally notated piece, but with this I wanted to experiment with leaving it. It鈥檚 much more free and the player has to be much more involved with interpreting it because there鈥檚 no direct literal meaning. It鈥檚 about getting the orchestra a bit more involved.鈥
Second year Linguistics student and flautist Rebecca Kershaw received the David Crighton Award from the Master. First given by David鈥檚 wife Joanna Crighton in 2001, the prize is awarded to a first- or second-year undergraduate who has shown outstanding craft as a performer or conductor. Kershaw concluded the evening by performing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart鈥檚 Flute Concerto in D Major, using this notoriously challenging piece to explore the instrument鈥檚 full range.
Former Master Professor David Crighton, who passed away in 2000, had a lifelong passion for music. The David Crighton Music Fund supports Jesus鈥檚 vibrant music community by providing financial assistance with music tuition costs, the award of an annual prize, and sponsorship for special nights such as this one.
