By Alice Jenkins, Year 11 Journalist Leader

On October 2nd, eight of our string players participated in a masterclass led by Rosie Ventris, a prominent advocate of the viola, who works as a performer, teacher, researcher and writer. As a recitalist and chamber musician, she has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals, including the Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, West Cork, Purcell Room, Aldeburgh Festival, Auditorium du Louvre, Bozar, Great Music in Irish Houses, Slovak Philharmonic and Het Concertgebouw. She has been invited to perform concerti with the European Union Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru, l’Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie and the Belgian National Orchestra. We were very lucky to have her come to NHEHS! 

Rosie worked with us to improve our performance skills and technical control. She gave me plenty of helpful pointers on how to improve one of my current pieces, which I can apply to my playing in general. She talked about various aspects; from posture, to dynamics, to bow control. One exercise, which several of us tried, included attempting to play with the bow upside down in order to improve bow pressure control, which was very useful and an exercise which I will definitely be repeating! One of the best parts was watching other students play and learning from their individual strengths and Rosie’s comments. I, personally, was very nervous leading up to the event but Rosie was so kind and the atmosphere so supportive that I really enjoyed myself.

Thanks so much to Rosie for coming, and to Mrs Sheard and Ms Dunne for accompanying.