January Scholar of the Month
After a year of celebrating LMF Graduates and marking their achievements since completing their Scholarships, we’re going to be sharing news and success stories from current LMF Scholars again in 2022!
13 year old Georgina is one of our 2019-23 Scholars from Hillingdon, and plays the violin. She has worked extremely hard during the first two and a half years of her Scholarship and has made great progress. Her listening, technical and theory skills are very strong, and her sight reading has improved greatly. She achieved a Merit for her Grade 4 exam last Easter. More Georgina has learned vibrato, a complicated technique, picking it up quickly and impressing her teacher.
Georgina at our Awards Day in 2019
Georgina is a dedicated member of Hillingdon Music School, and has excellent attendance at her ensembles (even when these were online during the pandemic). Last summer she led the string ensemble which was a responsibility she took on brilliantly. Georgina is also an extremely enthusiastic member of her school’s music department, and she often spends time helping her peers who are less experienced than she is. In addition to her commitments at Hillingdon and at school, Georgina has taken part in workshops with the Benedetti Foundation, and has always attended our Playing Days!
Georgina takes on every opportunity offered to her and is blossoming into a very talented young musician. We are so proud of her achievements so far and look forward to continuing to follow her journey.
In November Georgina was interviewed by Music Teacher magazine for their feature on the London Music Fund. It’s a lovely article featuring Georgina and other current and past LMF Scholars, and you can read it below!
We asked Georgina some questions reflecting on last year and looking forward to the year ahead:
Please could you tell us about what you got up to with your music last year?
In January 2021, we were in lockdown, and my Saturday Music School was closed. It was sad. It was hard to do orchestra practice on zoom because we all played at the wrong time and could not hear each other. I used the lockdown to learn as much Music Theory as I could. I passed Grade 3 in March, Grade 4 in June and have just taken Grade 5 in December. In the Spring, the Strings group re-opened, and then in the Summer, the orchestra started again. I was so happy! I got chosen to be the 1st violin at my Music School concert in July. In September, I moved up from the Junior to the Philharmonic Orchestra.
What has been the highlight of your Scholarship so far?
I have received a very nice letter from a LMF sponsor and musician who lives in Hong-Kong. She was really encouraging and told me about her experience of learning the violin as a child. It made me feel like I am part of the big family of violin players all over the world. It felt good. Another highlight was the Nicola Benedetti concert in July. We managed to go because the LMF helped with the tickets. I sat so close to the stage that I could see Nicola's fingers move on the board and how she was breathing with the music. I did not dare to move my legs or make a single noise with my chair, as I was worried that it might distract her. After the performance, she even came out to talk to us. I will never forget that day.
What’s your favourite thing about playing the violin?
Georgina (left) in sectionals at our Playing Day in June 2021
My favourite thing is that the violin can sound happy or sad, excited, worried, scary, or charming and all the other feelings in-between. It is just like singing, but with a wooden box. Another thing I like about playing the violin is that there are many of us in the orchestra, we are like a team or an army, and together we can make a lot of noise! And the last thing I love is that my violin is quite small and light so I can take it with me everywhere, on the bus, to school, to church, to parties and weddings, on holiday, we are always together. It was the perfect choice for me.
Is there anything you’re especially looking forward to in 2022, or a specific goal (or goals) you have for the year ahead?
This year, I will try to pass Grade 5 Violin. I am also very excited to be going to the anniversary concert in the Queen Elizabeth Hall and to play with my LMF friends again. I have never played in such a big auditorium before! I have discovered that there is a Museum of Instruments in London, and I will try to visit it this year to see if they have old stringed instruments I am interested in, like the viols.
Do you have any motivational advice for other Scholars to get the year off to a positive start?
I have been using the sandwich technique for my instrument practice and it works well, especially when I struggle with a new scale or a hard piece. The idea of the sandwich is to put the hard bit between 2 soft bits. So, start your practice with something fun and lively, say a pop song or a very happy Irish jig (that is the first slice of bread) then crack on with the scales and hard technical pieces (that is the corned beef and the gherkin) and always finish with some music you really love, like a bit of baroque or a very beautiful Lewis Capaldi song (that is the final slice of bread on top). There you are; a delicious violin sandwich. Good luck with your practice!