Perform in Perth – summary, results, final night and special awards
“The hundredth Perthshire Musical (Competition) Festival, now referred to as ‘Perform in Perth’ but also known as Perth Festival in past years, came to its conclusion in St Leonard’s-in-the-Fields Church on Saturday 16 March, narrowly avoiding, by about 20 minutes, the power cut which was the result of a major SSE cable fault in Scott Street,” reported Mrs Eileen Waterston, the festival Secretary.
Singing finals
“The final night started with the Gold Medal competition for adult Art Song, the winner being Iona Melloy, and the Silver Medal competition for adult Scots Song, the winner being Shannon McKinney, both young women being members of the Jambouree Choir & Cabaret Singers.”
Young Ambassadors
“Young Ambassador certificates were awarded to 14 young people aged between 12 and 25, who had contributed to the success of the festival over the past year.”
https://www.perthshire-music-festival.org.uk/young-ambassadors/
Instrumental finals
“The other two competitions of the evening were the Larg Rosebowl class for the best of the winners of the Advanced Instrumental Solo classes, and the Premier Trophy class for the best of the Open Instrumental Solo classes. They all performed the items that they had earlier presented in their original classes.
5 performers had qualified for the Larg Award, the ultimate winner being Lucas Plowman of The Community School of Auchterarder on alto saxophone, the other participants being Finlay Rutherford (violin), Rory Abel (drum kit) & Daisy Ramsey (cello), all representing Kinross High School, and Esmé Davies (flute) of Glenalmond College.
6 musicians performed in the Premier Award competition: Eva Seba (The Community School of Auchterarder) on xylophone, Angus Sloan (Perth Academy) on drum kit, Maden Paris on violin, Majka Wereszczynska (Blairgowrie High School) on cello, Kirk Robb (Perth Academy) on flute and Isabel Hathaway (Glenalmond College) on oboe. Adjudicator Libby Crabtree announced the winner of the Premier Trophy, the highest instrumental award of the festival, as Majka Wereszczynska, who had previously won the Larg competition in 2023.”
Special Awards
The Arthur Bell and Sons Trophy, for the best Primary School Choir, was awarded to Dollar Academy Prep Choir; The Premier Percussion Co.’s Shield, for the most promising entrant in the Drum Kit Solo Classes, was awarded to Rory Abel (Kinross High School); The Wilkie’s Music Shield, for the most promising entrant in the Xylophone Solo Classes, was awarded to Zoë Neave (Kinross High School); The Wilkie’s Music Shield, for the most promising entrant in the Snare Drum Solo Classes, was awarded to Eva Seba (The Community School of Auchterarder); the Cup presented by The Music Industries Council, for the best individual competitor in Vocal Classes, was awarded to Iona Melloy (Jambouree Choir and Cabaret Singers); the Gold Medal presented by her relatives in memory of Miss Elspeth Stirling, awarded to the competitor with the highest mark (87 or over) in the Advanced and Open Solo Stringed Instrument Classes was won by Majka Wereszczynska (Blairgowrie High School); The Louis J. Barnett Memorial Trophy presented by Perth Amateur Operatic Society, for the competitor with the highest mark (87 or over) in the Advanced and Open Solo Woodwind Classes was awarded to Kirk Robb (Perth Academy), who also won the Stuart McNab Memorial Trophy presented by Mrs Barbara McNab, for the competitor with the highest mark (87 and over) in the Advanced and Open Flute Classes.
Unable to attend were Marley Macgregor (Crieff High School) for The Joan and Stewart Tennant Quaich, awarded to the best individual competitor in Vocal classes (under 18) and Blair Cunningham (Morrison’s Academy) for The John Ritchie Memorial Cup, best under-18 in Musical Theatre.
Results
Results can be accessed via this QR code.
Summary
Mrs Waterston went on to say, “Over the course of the two-week festival, over a thousand performances took place, performed by nearly two thousand and two hundred individuals, mainly, but not exclusively, pupils from schools in Perth & Kinross, both state and independent. This was a remarkable increase on recent years and indicates that there has been, generally, a recovery from the impact of Covid-19.
It was, therefore, distressing to discover that our local Councillors have agreed a savage cut in the budget for instrumental tuition in Perth & Kinross state schools which, unless rescinded, is going to have a devastating and long-lasting impact on the quality of instrumental tuition in these schools, which will, of course, impact on Perform in Perth for years to come.”
