Musical Party at Mayfield

Attendees at the Mayfield Festival’s Musical Party at Mayfield on the 15^th of October were treated to some exhilarating, fun and energetic performances by young classical musicians who are well on their way to becoming the stars of the future. The Concert Hall in Mayfield School was almost at capacity for an event that featured six of the finalists at this year’s Tunbridge Wells International Music Competition and the audience members were not disappointed by what they heard. Following an address of welcome from the Headmistress of Mayfield School, Antonia Beary, the concert opened with Wilhelm F Bach’s Duet for two flutes (although in this case the piece featured varying combinations of flute, clarinet and saxophone) before proceeding to the only solo performance of the night; a quite outstanding rendition of Franz Liszt’s Fantasy and Fugue after B.A.C.H by the German pianist Tabea Streicher that was acclaimed by the loudest and longest applause of the whole concert.

 

The Liszt piece represented the start of a busy night for Tabea: she featured in all but one of the remaining pieces and this particular burden was graciously acknowledged by saxophonist Richard Scholfield before he and Tabea closed the concert with a performance of The Devil’s Rag by contemporary French composer Jean Matitia. It was also pleasing that some of Mayfield’s Ukrainian residents were in the audience given that two of the performers – flautist Sofiia Matviienko and clarinet player Stefan Bulyha – are Ukrainian themselves and that the Mayfield residents were able to meet with them after the concert.

 

At the end of a fabulous evening many in the audience were reflecting on how fortunate it is that the Mayfield Festival and the Tunbridge Wells International Music Competition continue to bring high quality musical events to the village of Mayfield.

 

The performers at the concert (as shown in the photograph, left to right) were:

Richard Scholfield (saxophone), Sofiia Matviienko (flute), Tabea Streicher (piano), Stefan Bulyha (clarinet), Alicja Pustula (violin) and Adele Theveneau (cello).