We have once again had a successful festival thanks to so many people.
Forest School are very supportive, from the warden, the bursar, the staff, the catering staff and, this year, in particular, the cleaning staff, who did an amazing job getting the dining hall ready for the piano competition.
The people at St Mary’s Parish Church are also very helpful, getting furniture moved in order to accommodate the choirs and orchestras.
We have a good number of Friends of the Festival, some of whom are able to give assistance in preparing for the festival, but all faithfully renew their subscriptions each year.
Karen and her band of helpers are invaluable – we could not run the Festival without them. They do anything we ask, from moving chairs, to helping to serve teas and coffees, welcoming people at reception, rescuing the lost and so on.
Then we have the committee who get everything organised – the Festival doesn’t just happen by itself.
The convenors take charge of their sections, publicity is important, the syllabus and programmes have to be prepared and distributed, entries have to be sorted into days and times, cups have to be checked and cleaned ready to present to winners.
The Chairman has to keep an eagle eye on everything and the Treasurer has to keep careful checks over all.
We are lucky in that we have very hard working teams but we could still do with more help. Please contact us if you would like to get involved.
This year we had fewer problems with parking – at least as far as we know.
Most people paid and collected their wrist bands and most can now find their way around the various buildings.
In the past, many competitors brought their own accompanist but gradually we have received more requests, some at the last minute. We have now got two accompanists but there were still some problems and hopefully we have reorganised their programmes for next year.
As for the festival itself, we had about the same number of entries as last year and our very competent adjudicators were again impressed by the very high standards reached. (Thanks to the teachers who ensure this).
We had many more competitors for the Millennium classes which we had moved from the Saturday – this was thanks to a parent who suggested reasons why Saturday was difficult.
We are always pleased to listen to any suggestions for improvements – please see Ron, our Chairman.
We congratulate all our winners, in particular:
Miyu Kudu, winner of the Felix Marr Piano Award
Zara Jealous, the Concerto winner
Pryanshi Patel, winner of the Dacia Stephens Cup
singer, Amy Young, who is our Young Musician of the Year.
Our final evening proved difficult for our adjudicator with so many wonderful performances to choose from. Our guests, including the Mayor of Redbridge and the Mayor of Waltham Forest, Councillor Joyce Ryan, Roger Fallows and Jennie Cresswell from the Rotary Club, all praised the outstanding performances.
Thank you to everyone.
Maureen Westcott
Festival Secretary