We are celebrating the musical achievement of two of our recent alumnae, Sophie Loftus (DH 2022) and Sara Lee (DH 2023), who performed with the Berkshire Youth Symphony Orchestra on Saturday 16 September at St George’s Chapel, Windsor as part of the Berkshire Maestros concert.
Sophie and Sara’s musical talent was nurtured by Downe House’s passionate Music Department. In turn, these two young women contributed greatly to the musical life of the School; being inspirational role models for the younger years and, of course, playing at their fair share of events.
For this special concert, Sophie was invited to perform a piano concerto as her prize for being Berkshire Young Musician of the Year in 2022 and Sara played in the orchestra to accompany the concerto.
I’ve chosen to perform the 2nd and 3rd movements from Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.13 in C major. I am excited to play a piano concerto accompanied by strings for the first time and chose to play this piece because I love the expressive 2nd movement and how it creates such contrast with the dramatic and lively 3rd movement.
– Sophie Loftus (DH 2022)
We caught up with Sophie to ask her about her favourite musical moments at Downe House and how she’s getting on at Durham University.
“While I was at Downe House, I loved playing in several different ensembles, including playing clarinet in Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, as well as singing in Prima Voce. I also really enjoyed playing in smaller ensembles including Wind quintet and Piano ensemble. Performing at Founder’s Weekend every year was a highlight for me and another one of my favourite memories would have to be performing with Prima Voce at the Royal Festival Hall when we won Barnardo’s Senior Choir of the Year.
I am currently studying Music at Durham University and have just finished my first year. I really like being able to study different aspects of Music, going beyond what was covered at A Level. This year, I particularly enjoyed the Historical Composition Techniques module and next year I am looking forward to taking the Conducting module. Outside my degree, I enjoy playing in the university orchestra and singing in the choral society, performing in concerts in Durham Cathedral, as well as playing in smaller chamber groups and pit bands.”
We are so proud of Sophie and all that she continues to achieve musically. She is a fine musician who loves music and continues to do wonderful things.
– Dr Charlotte Exon (Director of Music)
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