On Thursday 12th December, ACMS will close at 4:45 pm for all Music activities. The Boarding house has very kindly agreed to host Christmas dinner for all ACMS pupils (borders and day pupils). Christmas dinner will start at 5:15 pm and will go on for about 90 minutes. 

Please note that this is the same night as the Dyce Academy Christmas Concert which will begin at 7pm in the MPA.

It was delightful to see so many S1 pupils performing at our 7.45 concert last night. Performing for older peers is no small feat, and they did a marvellous job sharing pieces, excerpts, and works-in-progress. Thank you to our older pupils for being such a welcoming and supportive audience.

Best of luck to Lewis G, who will perform on Sunday evening at the Fife Arms in Braemar as part of their Classical Strings by Candlelight recital series. What a wonderful opportunity!

What an outstanding concert this was! I was inundated with glowing comments about the high standard of preparation and professionalism on display. Our performers introduced their pieces with confidence and poise, thanking their pianist when appropriate, and bowing graciously after each performance. A heartfelt congratulations to all involved - you should be incredibly proud of your achievements.

Congratulations to our eight pupils who recently visited Newmachar Primary to present a concert featuring music from Bach, Disney, jazz, and pop. The school was delighted and has invited us back soon. Thank you to Miss Donati and Mrs Smith for organising the trip.

We’re halfway through the exams for our S4 students, and I’m thrilled to see so many smiling faces among them. Credit to our S4s for managing their timetables and workload so well during what can be a challenging time. Keep it up!

What a fantastic weekend of focused work we had! Most of the weekend was dedicated to preparing for our Christmas concerts at the end of term, as well as our performance at the Beach Ballroom in the penultimate week of term. We also spent some time learning an arrangement of The Rose of Kelvingrove, specially arranged by Alan Haggart for the Beach Ballroom concert. This piece will be performed in collaboration with other musicians on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We’re eagerly looking forward to the concerts.

The ACMS Secret Santa event is a highlight of our year, and I’m delighted that Freya R has kindly offered to organise this year’s festivities. Many ACMS pupils have signed up, and we will be hosting the reveal to all pupils  immediately after dinner on Thursday 19th December in the ACMS building just before our final concert of the calendar year.

A few notes:

• The minimum spend is £5. If pupils wish to spend more, that’s fine, but overspending is discouraged to keep things fair.

• Please ensure your gift is thoughtful and inclusive – humour is welcome, but nothing that could exclude or offend others.

• Please hand in presents to Ms Donati by Tuesday 10th December

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I’ll pass them on to Freya.

Last week’s challenging weather meant some of our guest string players couldn’t attend. Thank you to our ACMS string players and Mr Maunder for running this Open Rehearsal event so that more young musicians could experience making music at ACMS. 

It was wonderful to welcome Kai H back on Monday after a weekend of rehearsals with the National Youth Pipe Band. He had a fantastic time and shared plenty of insights about the experience.

Three of our pupils recently auditioned for NYCOS. Thank you to their tutors for helping them prepare, and to parents for supporting with transport. We wish them all the best of luck!

Technical assessments are scheduled for:

• S1–S3: January

• S4–S6: February

These short, audio-recorded assessments focus on technical exercises our young musicians work on daily. Unlike the summer assessments, these won’t include repertoire and are purely a reflection of ongoing process and progress. There’s no need to practise frantically – we are looking for evidence of steady, consistent effort.

A huge thank you to our Boarding staff for organising a relaxation and pampering evening on Monday after early closing. What a lovely way to unwind!

A quick reminder that the deadline for entries to this competition is 12th December. Full details can be found on the online bulletin board.