Music Festival 2026 – A Week to Remember!

We have enjoyed a truly fabulous week of music making at this year’s Music Festival, celebrating the incredible talent, dedication and courage of our students across five exciting days of performance.

Day 1 – Piano with Ben Carnell
The festival opened with piano, expertly adjudicated by Ben. We were delighted to see Summer (Year 7) named both first finalist and winner of the Beginner Class, with Clarice (Year 7) as runner up. In the Intermediate Class, Ben (Year 7) took first place with James (Year 8) as runner up. The Advanced Class showcased outstanding musicianship, with Max (Year 10) winning and Hanako and Julia (both Year 12) awarded runner up.

Day 2 – Strings with Cameron Smith
A superb day of string performances, with an especially high standard on display. Rinah (Year 9) won the Beginner Class, with Isabel (Year 11) and Bria (Year 9) as runners up. Emilia (Year 8) was selected as Intermediate winner and subsequently the finalist, with Valerie  (Year 11) as runner up. In the Grade 8+ Advanced Class, Charmon (Year 12) claimed victory and Charlotte (Year 9) was runner up. The level of playing in this category was truly unbelievable!

Day 3 – Rock & Pop with Josh Fowley
It was a loud and lively Rock & Pop day (with plenty of “feedback” from drummer Josh!). Evie (Year 9) was chosen as winner of the Beginner session and as Finalist, with Noah (Year 10) as runner up. Kitty (Year 8) won the Intermediate Class, with George (Year 12) and Eddy (Year 10) as runners up. In the Advanced Section, Luca (Year 12)  took the top spot with Toby (Year 10) as runner up. There were certainly many budding rockstars on stage that day!

Day 4 – Vocals with Riona Penny
Our vocalists took centre stage next. Imogen in year 8 (Beginner), Harriet in year 12 (Intermediate) and Winter in year 10 (Advanced) were named winners of their respective classes. Clarice (Year 7), Nyla (Year 11) and Maria (Year 11) were chosen as runners up. The confidence and expression shown by all singers was a joy to witness.

Day 5 – Woodwind & Brass with Alice Eddie and Pat Hayes
The final day of heats was a busy one, featuring both brass and woodwind. In the Brass category, Imogen (Year 7) and Toby (Year 11) were stars, winning their sections and being selected as finalists. Jibreel (Year 8) was runner up in the Beginner section.

Woodwind was particularly well represented, with flute, clarinet, bassoon and oboe all featured. Clarice (Year 7) won the Beginner Class, with Maya (Year 7) on bassoon as runner up. Ben (Year 7) won the Intermediate Class and was selected as Woodwind finalist, with Isabel (Year 9) as runner up. In the Advanced Class, William (Year 12) stole the show, with Zoe (Year 10) as runner up. 

The Finale Concert

All of this led to last night’s spectacular Finale Concert  which was a huge success! The audience was treated to fantastic performances from Orchestra, Shrek, Concert Band and Black Velvet, who had the crowd waving torches in appreciation. It is wonderful to see how supporting students are of their fellow musician peers. Black Velvet wrote their own songs and performed brilliantly!

Mrs Morrow-Plant was joined by adjudicators Ben and Edd, who faced the very difficult task of selecting two overall winners from the 12 outstanding finalists.

In the Beginner/Intermediate Final (Summer, Imogen, Ben, Emilia, Evie and Harriet), Ben Khorshidchehr (Year 7) was named this year’s Beginner/Intermediate Hockerill Musician of the Year, with Emilia Tejero Fernandez (Year 8) as runner up. 

In the Advanced Final (Max, Toby, Will, Charmon, Luca and Winter), Luca Burli (Year 12) was crowned Advanced Hockerill Musician of the Year, with Winter in year 10 as runner up.

It was a fabulous and memorable evening that reflected the enormous amount of hard work and commitment shown by all our students. Performing solo in front of an audience of 200 people is no small feat and we are incredibly proud of everyone who took part.

Well done to all involved in making this year’s Music Festival such an outstanding success!