East Sussex Academy of Music (ESAM) celebrates a successful term

East Sussex Academy of Music (ESAM), based at East Sussex College (ESC) Lewes, is celebrating a remarkable end to the year.

Last month, an ensemble from the Pre-Professional Course were invited to take part in the Music for Youth Schools Prom at the Royal Albert Hall. This marked the second year of ESAM having a band included in the event, which John Sims, Head of ESAM, notes is a rare occurrence. The band, Fighter of the Nightman, performed to 5,000 people, making it an incredible experience for the talented young musicians.

It’s thought that Music for Youth is the biggest arts festival in the world specifically for young people. 40,000 people performed at the regional events, from which approximately 8,000 were invited to attend the National Festival in Birmingham. After that, 3,000 students were invited to play at the Royal Albert Hall over three nights.

November also saw the London Philharmonic Orchestra visit ESAM to work with the students. This was a phenomenal opportunity for students that saw world class composers including Oscar-nominated artists visit the College.

This month, internationally respected tenor, Mark Padmore, performed for ESAM students at the Lewes campus, talked about his work and held a Q&A with students. The talented tenor, who is currently working on two world premiere operas and is seen as one of the best tenors in the world, was also a guest artist for the Berlin Philharmonic in 2018. His daughter, Maisie Simon Padmore, 18, is currently a student with ESAM.

John comments: “ESAM runs a diverse enrichment programme and there’s plenty for non-music students to experience, including “main” choir, chamber choir by invitation for stronger singers, an a cappella group, orchestra and jazz band for Grade 5+ players, a percussion ensemble and a session band for Grade 4+. Music in Lewes is really flying and we are proud to be producing high quality, authentic work.”