Ninety-five students take practical music exam |14 July 2018

Sixty-one students from the School of Music of the National Conservatoire of Performing Arts (NCPA) and thirty-four more from the Baha’i Choir of Seychelles, have taken their international practical music exam.

The exam was held at the conservatoire from Monday to Wednesday this week.  

The students were assessed on their practical skills in playing the guitar, piano, violin and singing for an Associated Board for Royal Society of Musicians (ABRSM) certificate for different grades.

ABRSM is a world recognised music institution which has been affiliated with NCPA for the past ten years. The aim of the examination is to evaluate the progress of the students and based on their results they will be promoted to higher grades.

There were no students for the wind instruments assessment.

Students, from eight years onwards, were assessed by British examiner Anthony Overwell from the ABRSM in UK.

Mr Overwell, a professional flutist, is a music examiner of fifteen years and has conducted practical music exams assessment in many countries except in South America.

Most of the musical instruments for the exam were provided by the school apart from some students who came with their own instruments. On a one to one with the examiner, the students had to play their musical instruments for a ten minute prep test for some and a more serious level grades of twelve minute playing assessment for grade 1 contenders going up to half an hour of assessment for those in grade 8.

According to the head of the School of Music, Antoine Souris, grade 8 is equivalent to an advance level certificate which makes way for a candidate to enter a music conservatoire or a university worldwide, especially in the UK. He noted that grade 5 to 7 certificates are equivalent to IGCSE level of certificates.

“This is a chance for the students to test their level as compared to other students in other music institutions worldwide and this also serves as a guide for the school to evaluate its level of music teaching,” said Mr Souris.

Mr Overwell, who is on his first visit to Seychelles, said the exam went very well as everybody were well prepared.

He added that even though naturally some students were nervous when they came in to take the test, he tried to make them as relaxed as possible.

“It is a very useful thing to be able to measure your progress whatever your skill or hobby or past time. It a very good thing to be able to just take a small test and find out where you stand in relation to the whole gamut  of learning,” advised Mr Overwell.

The director of NCPA, Pierre Joseph, said that students did their written exam three weeks earlier by local examiners and as the conservatoire doesn’t have a practical examiner, the practical exam is assigned to ABRSM.

He added that the conservatoire will in the future look at the possibility to develop a music school for Praslin and La Digue so that musicians from the two islands can also get to take part in the international exam and obtain an international certificate.

He said at the moment it is very costly to undertake such activity on both islands unless they get permanent live-in instructors.

“Since we have been doing the examination, we have always recorded 98% pass with very few failures,” Mr Pierre said.

The vocal exam students took to the stage on Thursday evening for a concert at the Theatre Des Palmes in the company of the National choir as a fund raising activity for the school.

Last year seventy-three students took the exam which also included percussions. The exam is held every year.