Young Grittleton: Rhys (17)

Young Grittleton:  August 2021

I would like to thank the Joan Dickson Chamber Music Fund for allowing me to attend the Young Grittleton chamber music course. The course gave me the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded young musicians on challenging and engaging repertoire. During my time at the Young Grittleton course I covered a wide range of chamber music from Haydn to Shostakovich.

A unique aspect of the course was the opportunity to play larger chamber group works, such as Mendelssohn’s Octet and Dvorak’s quintets, that are rarely played by young musicians due to the number of players required. Towards the end of the course, I rehearsed and performed the first movement of the Beethoven Quartet opus 18 no.4. The intensity of the piece, paired with the energy and enthusiasm of the tutors, created an inspiring yet educational experience.

The feedback from the tutors significantly improved my chamber playing skills, notably in balance and style. Due to the quick-fire nature of the course, I believe my sight-reading skills have greatly improved, as well as my confidence when approaching difficult unseen repertoire.

Also, the course was useful as it provided freedom to work independently as a chamber group and gave a constructive lesson to young musicians aspiring to work professionally in the future. These experiences are particularly valuable to young musicians like myself, who live in areas where classical music is less prominent and high level musical education opportunities are often scarce or inaccessible.

Overall, the course was a fantastic opportunity to improve my chamber music skills and will be immensely useful in the future. Once again, I would like to thank the Joan Dickson Chamber Music Fund for allowing me and other musicians to attend this course and enabling equal chamber music education opportunities for young musicians.

Rhys (17)  -  cello