Rich flower arrangements on the stage, an elaborate presentation, well-known and lesser-known works performed by some eighteen students, a broadly spread reception: a host of ingredients that together deliver a high-quality product that has no equal, neither in our own country nor in the surrounding countries. It is a kind of luxury to be able to experience this, like a member of the family. For yes, this school is in a way a family: the children are the students, the parents the teachers, (sugar) uncles and (sugar) aunts the audience. Recently the school has even come under the patronage of Queen Mathilde.
Discussing the 18 young soloists is an impossible task. As in previous reviews, we pick out a few students. Know that the piece they performed was first rehearsed about five weeks ago, from the second week of this school year. It is bold to already have such young musicians, who also attend school in a demanding programme apart from music, perform a solo piece on stage so soon, before a sold-out hall. The hall is always full. In the little over seven years that the institute has existed, a loyal audience has been built up. It is almost impossible for others to secure a seat at the concerts.
Let us begin with the South Korean Chaewon Kim (16), who played the Spanish Dance No. 1 from the opera La Vida Breve by Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), in an arrangement by Marcel Grandjany (1891-1975), on the harp. A very pure performance, fresh and at the same time warm, legato, singing in full lines and sparkling in a way as if it were the umpteenth time she had played this repertoire piece. It moved the audience. Then the violin sounded... Playing with great technical strength, the Belgian-Polish 17-year-old Antyoni Jarosz performed the first movement of the violin concerto by Jules Conus (1869-1942), which sounded very supple and youthful, even though it was a work by the young violinist herself.
Pianist Liam Nassereddine from the Netherlands (15) is no longer an unknown in the Dutch classical music world, where he has been taken under the wing, among others, by the winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition piano 2025, Nikola Meeuwsen. That says a lot. He played the third movement of Beethoven's Appassionata in a breathtaking manner. This flamboyant young man with a mischievous look is a true "stage animal" who undergoes a metamorphosis the moment the first note sounds, just as with nearly all the greatest of the greats. Another brilliant pianist is the now 17-year-old Argentinian Joaquin Garcia, a rather modest young man who at the piano becomes the composer he performs, in this case Chopin with the second movement of his second piano concerto. Both the finesses and the dark colours come fully into their own under his hands.
On the cello it was a compatriot, Angelina de Nigris (15), who played a sonatina by Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967). She is not only virtuosic and already very accomplished; her musical maturity comes strongly to the fore with a deep understanding of this work. On the viola, that other full-bodied string instrument, Diana Garcia (14) from Spain introduced the audience to the first movement of the concerto by York Bowen (1884-1961). A very good choice to include such a fine work by a forgotten composer in the programme. In this way not only the young soloist learns, but the audience also gets to know something other than the "average" pieces that are performed again and again. And when this is then done by a talent of high calibre, everyone benefits all the more.
The audience's hearts were won most of all by the 12-year-old Luciano Petik. Just the way he walks onto the stage self-assuredly, like a grown-up soloist who knows the ins and outs of the trade, and clamps his instrument under his chin. Although, clamps? He holds his violin firmly in hand, his head moves along with his facial expression, here on the notes of Fritz Kreisler's (1875-1962) Prelude and Allegro in the style of Gaetano Pugnani (1731-1798). A very strong composition full of virtuosity and musical hidden corners that only a born musician can discern and interpret. This talented young teenager does so like no other. Do not forget his name and all the others: they are, each one, young people with a future who will command the stages for many years to come, each in their own way.
The piano accompanists deserve an extra word; they take up their positions unobtrusively, making music at the highest level, just like the young people they accompany. A round of applause for Karine Sélo, Sofia Raychenko and Nargiz Aliyeva.
Those who could not attend can listen again to the entire concert via the school's YouTube channel:
Make a note of the next concert on 16 December 2026, at the (difficult to reach) Musica Mundi School in Waterloo. It is best to order tickets well in advance. Turning up on the evening itself is, certainly for the Christmas concert, not possible. Check the school's website and follow the concert agenda on our website.