The annual Pontefract Music Festival took place last week and Leeds College of Music was well represented by a number of successful BA and MA students.
Students taking part included BA Music students Neil Balfour, Carl Schofield, Jemma Matthews and Dominic Mountain alongside MA Performance student Namrata Shah.
Neil (pictured) was placed first with distinction in the Vocal Solo British Composer (Open) Class, winning the ‘Pontefract Amateur Operatic Society Cup’. Partnered with Jemma Matthews, he also won the Vocal Duet (Open) class, winning the Warde-Aldam Cup.
Jemma and Dominic Mountain won the Schubert Open Class Trophy with a joint vocal/piano performance of ‘Gretchen am Spinrade’ (Schubert) and ‘An den Mond’ (Schubert) .
Carl Schofield won the Recital Class as well as the Piano Solo (Open) class. In addition, he came second in the Schubert Open Class Trophy.
Namrata Shah (MA Performance) won 1st prize in the Vocal Open Solo Class as well as the overall Premier Cup for Mature Musicians which she received at the Winner’s Gala Concert on Saturday 13 March.
After their successful week, and having impressed judges with their performances, Neil and Namrata were both invited to perform in the Winner’s Gala Concert.
Tags: Carl Schofield, Dominic Mountain, Jemma Matthews, Namrata Shah, Neil Balfour, Pontefract Music Festival