One of my students has been invited to play in an AB High Scorers' Concert as a result of her Grade 5 exam last summer.

It says in the letter that students can, if they wish, perform a piece from their current repertoire, but I think it would be nice for her to play one of the pieces she scored so highly on.

What do others think?

Back when I did my grade 5, I got invited to one.

The way our local exam centre runs them is that they are held once a year for the high scorers in the last three sessions. Performers were allowed to bring their parents, siblings and teachers.


There are rehearsals with the concert accompanist in the morning of the concert day and then the performance itself, with profits to charity, is in the evening.


I sang the song I'd scored highest in the exam with. And endured a lot of snotty comments about an adult taking part in the event. And, although I've had some better exam marks since, haven't been invited back.

I think they are a great celebration of achievement. I would just have enjoyed it more if the centre had been a bit more positive about having someone taking part who wasn't still at school.

I'd let her choose but with advice that it would be best if it's something that she is VERY comfortable with and that she enjoys playing.

I don't think all centres have a high scorers concert. If they do 142 for my grade 1 clarinet wasn't high enough to get invited.

I don't know how frequent they are, i certainly don't recall another one post the one I did im my area in 2005 after my grade1 disctinction.

We were allowed to do duets/ensembles or solos so I did 2 duets with a girl who'd done gr3 with distinction in the same session.... so 2 new pieces, one around gr2/3 the other gr1 as it was about 5months after the exam so I'd moved on and could cope with more stuff and it was ok as we were both confident with them as we had about 8weeks notice (it was after the summer holidays so my teacher probably knew before then).

It was nerve racking but it was one of the best things for me tbh...and I got a prettiful ABRSM pin badge, tis very nice

I was surprised when the letter arrived, as it's the first time any of my students have been invited. But we tried a different venue last summer (my students weren't happy with the piano at our usual one) and apparently three local venues join together for these concerts. I hadn't heard about them before. There is an afternoon concert and an evening one and she can choose which one to play in.

I think she'll probably want to play one of her exam pieces, as they won't take much refreshing and she did play all three very well. I haven't heard back from her yet, so don't know if she'll be excited by the idea or not!

I accompanied a couple of local fiddle players at a high scorers' concert a short while ago. It was not a good experience as so many of them had chosen the same few pieces and had to do their own introductions, one after another. No local rep spoke or introduced the event and it was all rather depressing. I would suggest that your pupil choses something else that isn't on the exam lists.
This may just have been a badly run one. Yours may well be better. Good luck to your student.

They are often mentioned in Libretto, both in the UK & abroad, but I've never heard of one being arranged in the areas where I teach, despite having quite a lot of distinctions with my students. They sound like quite a good idea, but there's probably much potential for things going not quite as I would like. I'm certainly appalled by Katyjay's experience - I think it's quite a hard thing for an adult learner to join in a concert which is mainly children & they should be commended for doing so. I think it's probably better to stick to events where I'm concerned with the organisation, so I know my pupils will be properly supported.

Katyjay, that experience sounds really unfortunate. My local centre has one every 2 years. I was invited for 136 in Grade 7 Saxophone, and one of my pupils was invited to the same one (lower grade, similar mark). I was surprised, because I didn't think those were astonishingly high marks. I was the only adult taking part - I was 26 or 27, but I was made to feel very welcome. It was nicely run, with proper programmes, and we were encouraged to dress up. The steward made sure that everyone was playing something different and planned the order well. We all got an ABRSM badge, pen and pencil at the end!

In another session, a pupil and I scored 140 and 141 for grades 3 and 8. We weren't invited back that time so I guess it depends on the amount of good marks in the area at the time, and perhaps on the spread of instruments which they encompass.

That's great to hear, Elliewelly, and congratulations on some smashing results

I don't think that it is the centre that is not positive, but the attitude of other attendees. I was stewarding at last year's event at this same centre, when an adult flute player performed (grade 5 and I believe he was around 65). He did not have to sit with the children, and he was not expected to drink orange juice! I did not hear anyone complain about an adult being included. One of the examiners who had been examining at the centre during the year was invited as guest of honour and he said in his speech how good it was to see an adult present. The whole concert was excellent. It encompassed a wide level of playing ability and included jazz candidates. Most of the performers played one of their exam pieces.

The HLR decides who to invite and it's quite a daunting task as the programme has to be balanced so that you get a good spread of grades and instruments. The chances of getting in if you play, say, the bassoon or tuba, are better than if you play piano, simply because there are more entries and more distinctions for the popular instruments. Our centre is a large and well patronised one, usually running the full five weeks for each session, so there is potential for a large number of Distinctions. The HLR also gets details of Distinctions from special visits which come within the geographical area.