Fanfare magazine spring 2019

fanfare

Fanfare ~ the magazine for Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Association is a voluntary organisation supporting the work of Conservatoire students.

Spring 2019

Birmingham City University

Welcome to the spring 2019 edition of Fanfare Magazine A very warm welcome to the Spring edition of Fanfare.

With fortuitous timing this issue focuses on our Keyboard Department which continues to go from strength to strength. Recently we have announced an unprecedented agreement with Naxos Records to make début recordings with five of our most outstanding pianists (front cover image). To the best of my knowledge this is a unique partnership between a conservatoire and an international recording label, which will open the door to international careers for all the artists involved.

The Recital Hall is also proving to be in demand from recording companies, which leads me to pay tribute to acoustician Michael Whitcroft, who designed all five performance spaces at RBC – the Eastside Jazz Club, the Organ Studio and The Lab make up the five – all of which are performing exactly as intended.

In the excellent article on pages 4-5 by our Head of Keyboard Studies, Professor John Thwaites, attention is drawn to RBC’s International Piano Festival. From 1518 June 2019 a host of international pianists will gather together at the Conservatoire to celebrate the piano in all its splendour. It will be an occasion to relish for all lovers of this most versatile of instruments.

The recordings will be made at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s acoustically superb Bradshaw Hall, a space that is proving to be a huge asset for the Conservatoire. Our Vice-President, Peter Donohoe, has recently completed his widely acclaimed cycle of complete Mozart Piano Sonatas for Somm Records which was also recorded in the Bradshaw Hall, and the BBC are now regular visitors too.

Professor Julian Lloyd Webber Principal, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

James Cheadle

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Front cover image of Naxos recorded musicians by Candian Li

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Contents 2 | Welcome from the Principal

18 | Accepting all approaches to creating new music

4 | Welcome to the Keyboard Department

19 | RBC announces first ever Recording Artist in Residence

6 | Birmingham International Piano Chamber Music Festival

20 | Conservatoire news

8 | Interview with Pascal Nemirovski, International Chair in Piano

22 | Alumni news

9 | Lauren Zhang – “A Total Phenomenon”

24 | Fundraising and Development news

10 | A new dawn in the Organ Studio

25 | Supporting the future of RBC

12 | Stage Management celebrates 10th Birthday

26 | Conservatoire graduates awarded Alumni of the Year

14 | Student spotlight: Seb Yates Cridland

27 | Death of John Joubert, Honorary Fellow of RBC

15 | 88 Pianists – creativity, invention, music and engineering

28 | Our supporters

16 | The first year of the NEXT programme with BCMG

Lixin Liu as the Queen of the Night in our spring opera, Mozart’s The Magic Flute. ©Graeme Braidwood

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Welcome to the Keyboard Department One of the joys of my post is to support and marvel at the extraordinary achievements of the Organ and Early Music Departments, whilst being enabled primarily to focus on Piano.

The Keyboard Department has almost doubled in size in a decade, so that it is now the equal of any department in the UK. More importantly, we have also raised the standard. This has required the whole Department to engage in the building of relationships with those countries that have the most well-developed piano schools. We have added focus Professor John Thwaites to the important strategic links with the Far East and Hungary and added successful and fruitful links with Bulgaria, Georgia, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Israel, the States, Japan and Korea.

Lebhardt (a member of the Young Concert Artists’ Trust) has just won representation by Askonas Holt. In 2016 Domonkos Csabay became the first Birmingham student since Di Xiao to win the Brant (Birmingham) International Piano Competition. Perhaps most remarkable of all, Angus Webster, an extraordinarily gifted collaborative pianist in BMus 2, has just won the 7th International Jorma Panula Conducting Competition in Finland.

I’m sometimes asked if a particular well-respected teacher teaches unbelievably well, or simply attracts the best students. Usually I can reply: ‘both’. When the brilliant 16-year-old Lauren Zhang became 2018 BBC Young Musician she had spent most of her pianistic life at the Junior Royal Birmingham Conservatoire studying with Dr Robert Markham, so there was no doubt as to the source of her pedagogical pedigree.

Competitions may have their detractors, but they do enable the greatest of young talents to gain attention regardless of their socio-economic or national status, and they can be an objective test of a department’s credibility.

We can still enjoy (on YouTube) Luigi Carroccia’s stunning Quarter-Finalist Van Cliburn performance. Similarly, we can also enjoy Roman Kosyakov’s Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic as he won the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition (and audience prize) in the same year that he became the first Birmingham student to win the Sheepdrove Intercollegiate Prize (and audience prize). Roman has just become a Kirckman Concert Society Young Artist. Daniel

Talking of pedagogical pedigree, I’m minded to observe that whilst many of us have gained a lifetime of experience teaching thousands of students in varying institutions over decades, it can sometimes be just as successful to appoint someone with almost no teaching experience at all. Just as the greatest solo pianists are in some sense making chamber music with themselves, so the most extraordinary performers are those who have magnificently self-taught, and are now ready to teach others. The staff in the Keyboard Department are a body of people of whom we can be immensely proud, and to whom a huge debt of thanks is due for their tireless devotion.

Rehearsing with Lucy and Kate Gould and Robin Ireland during 2018 Birmingham International Piano Chamber Music Festival

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The staff in the Keyboard Department are a body of people of whom we can be immensely proud, and to whom a huge debt of thanks is due for their tireless devotion.

When students who already play at a professional level discuss matters of interpretation with older artists who have spent a little longer under the skin of a particular piece, then the results are exhilarating. In recent years we have welcomed Peter Donohoe, Imogen Cooper, Norma Fischer, Robert Levin, Christian Blackshaw, Martino Tirimo, Hamish Milne, Andrei Gavrilov, Fabio Bidini, Louis Lortie, Howard Shelley, Natalia Trull, Paul Badura-Skoda, Stephen Hough, Idil Biret, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and many more, to our Masterclass series, which is without equal on a global basis.

Pianists are always in need of performing opportunities.

That is why our suite of carefully crafted and complementary internal competitions are so important.

In addition, we’ve had wonderful festivals in recent years: Ireland and Delius; Skryabin and the Russians; Debussy; Brahms; Chopin; chamber music festivals and international piano festivals, the next of which will be June 15th-18th 2019, Artistic Director Pascal Nemirovski.

Birmingham City University is a University for Birmingham. From September we open the Birmingham Piano Academy, where on Sundays local people will be invited to study with our finest young students and teachers. This is essential at a time when music education is under threat, and half of the schools in the West Midlands don’t have a single real piano. Together with the Junior Department on Saturdays we will expand as a hub for the serious and necessarily long-term training of music-loving young pianists in this area.

This Conservatoire has always championed chamber music and taught it seriously and intensively. We are about to begin still more serious work with internationally exceptional young piano trios, where we can make a contribution to the debate about what a piano trio might be. Whilst often a trio is simply three soloists coming together, how much more rewarding to have piano trios where issues of balance, blend and unanimity are taken as seriously as they must be in a string quartet.

Professor John Thwaites Head of the Department of Keyboard Studies

Roman Kosyakov at the Vice-Chancellor’s Recital ©Nick Robinson

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Birmingham International Piano Chamber Music Festival November’s inaugural Birmingham International Piano Chamber Music Festival was immensely inspiring; four days during which our Conservatoire felt like the centre of the chamber music universe. Livestreamed on the RBC website, our daytime concerts were viewed around the world.

The grand final concert, additionally streamed by Classic FM, was watched by thousands online as well as an enthusiastic audience in the Bradshaw Hall. Amidst innumerable events that feature the string quartet or solo piano for instance, our Festival stood out in celebrating the richness of piano chamber music and the specific skills required to realise this truly great repertoire.

Daniel Tong, Festival Director

Memorable evening concerts in our magnificent Hall were given by musicians of true international standing: The Gould Trio, my own London Bridge Trio, Michael Gurevich of the London Haydn Quartet, cellists Alice Neary and Christoph Richter, pianist Katya Apekisheva and our own faculty members, Robin Ireland (for many years a member of The Lindsays) and John Thwaites.

A fascinating selection of music featured new works

by James MacMillan and Colin Matthews, as well as D minor piano trios by Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, and Robert Schumann. Three works by Brahms completed the evening programme, and it was a delight to see these artists coming together to deliver profound yet spontaneous music-making; an object lesson in chamber musicianship. Two concerts on the final day showcased advanced chamber music from our own RBC students, such as piano trios by Tchaikovsky and Clara Schumann, duos by Schubert and Beethoven, and a two-piano version of the Symphonic Dances from Bernstein’s West Side Story.

sessions. Christoph Richter worked with two duos on Beethoven cello sonatas, and Michael Gurevich gave a memorable class with a student ensemble on Schubert’s E flat Trio. We also hosted student visitors from the Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Trinity Laban, who travelled to Birmingham to observe the Festival and take part in the masterclasses.

A programme of fourteen masterclasses led by our visiting musicians complemented the concert activity, meaning that events were taking place constantly from 10am until late into the evening every day. Numerous RBC students benefitted from the wisdom and inspiration of the amazing musicians who had landed on our doorstep and I was lucky enough to sit in on several of these wonderful

Perhaps the main focus of the Festival was our International Piano Chamber Music Competition. In a process that started nearly a year in advance of the Festival itself, we received more than 40 entries from 11 different countries. These were narrowed down to eight ensembles who were invited, after both live and video preliminary auditions in the spring, to join us in Birmingham and give a daytime recital as part of our Festival. Each of these eight ensembles would also take part in masterclasses, with the aim being to create an atmosphere that was as collegiate as possible to foster learning and discovery, and minimise the downsides of competitive music-making. Each of the visiting ensembles would take something valuable home from their visit, experience the beautiful subjectivity of our art, and gain exposure as part of the event, even if victory was not eventually theirs.

In the event, the standard of chamber music-making from these eight young ensembles was mesmerising. Every

Competition winners Kapoor-Leung Duo with Christoph Richter

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Mader-Papandreopoulos in the grand final

one of their recitals felt like a real event and the playing was as committed as it was accomplished. We heard a violin-piano duo from Italy, a piano trio based in Germany, two ensembles from the Netherlands and several from London, including many international players. The final ensemble was part-based here in Birmingham – RBC postgraduate pianist Edward Leung with his violinist partner Usha Kapoor, presently studying in Cologne.

The job for the jury after the last of these recitals was a difficult one, but the voting and scoring system provided three clear leaders to progress on to the grand final, where they would compete for a first prize that included a Wigmore Hall recital, a début recording with Resonus Classics (whose founder and artistic director Adam Binks was part of the competition jury), several other public engagements, a year’s mentorship and £4,000.

ensembles. The Kapoor-Leung Duo, who played sonatas

by Ravel and Corigliano, were joined by Trio Opal, who played Smetana, and lastly Duo Mader-Papandreopoulos, performing contemporary works for saxophone and piano and an arrangement of a section of Berg’s Lulu.

The diversity of experience provided by these three minirecitals was surely one of the reasons for the complexity of the judges’ task, but more than anything it was simply hard to imagine three more vital and engaging ensembles.

A decision was reached however, by blind vote as in the previous round, and Edward Leung and Usha Kapoor were announced as deserved winners at around 10pm on Friday night.

The event was exhilarating from beginning to end and a wonderful advert for our brand new RBC building, as well as the art of piano chamber music. We very much hope to repeat the Festival on a triennial basis.

The Grand Final itself was an evening that I will never forget. Three stunning performances left the jury split, with advocates for each of the three competing

Daniel Tong Head of Piano Chamber Music

Trio Opal play Beethoven

The grand final concert, additionally streamed by Classic FM, was watched by thousands online as well as an enthusiastic audience in the Bradshaw Hall.

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Interview with Pascal Nemirovski, International Chair in Piano What competitions have your students been involved in/won prizes at?

Many students in the Keyboard Department at RBC have won important national and international prizes, and they are not only my students! This success is very encouraging and can be a source of inspiration to other students.

A few of the most recent successes are listed below: Young Concert Artists auditions (YCA), New York: 1st Prize. Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT), London: 1st Prize. Sydney International Piano Competition (2016): Most Promising Pianist prize.

Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition (2018), UK: 1st Prize, the Audience Prize and the “Royal Philharmonic Orchestra” Prize. Winner, BBC Young Musician 2018; 1st Prize at the 15th Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists.

Winner Chamber Music Prize at the International Telekom Beethoven Competition in Bonn 2017. Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (2017), USA: Quarter-Finalist. Valencia International Piano Competition (2017), Spain: 4th Prize and winner of the “Best Interpreter of Spanish Music”. Birmingham International Piano Competition (2018): 3rd Prize.

Sheepdrove Inter-Collegiate Piano Competition (2018), UK: 1st Prize and the Audience Prize. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry International Piano Competition (2017), France: 4th Prize Gold Medal Winner Donohoe Prize (2017). Piano Campus International Piano Competition (2018), France: 3rd Prize etc.

Pascal Nemirovski

What is your role at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire?

I was appointed the Conservatoire’s International Chair in Piano in September 2016. My role is intended to help to promote RBC internationally, and I work closely with John Thwaites, the Head of Keyboard, and Lamberto Coccioli, Associate Principal responsible for our international presence.

What is your background, and what have you achieved previously in your career?

I played many concerts in my professional career.

However I decided to concentrate on teaching, several years ago. I taught for 10 years at the Royal Academy of Music in London before getting my current position at RBC. This new role has allowed me to fulfill one of my life’s dreams – to be able to help shape the future careers of pianists at one of the world’s leading institutions.

Why do you feel RBC is a good place to study; what do you think we offer pianists?

I feel the image of the Conservatoire has changed considerably in recent years. The Conservatoire became Royal and opened its fantastic brand-new building; Principal Julian Lloyd Webber and his team worked hard to make it all happen! RBC can now really be compared with other famous institutions in the world. Actually, international representation in the Keyboard Department is already very strong, with young pianists coming from all over the world including Belarus, Bulgaria, China, France, Georgia, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan and the USA.

What are your methods with the students you teach; what are the main things you encourage them to do?

In my teaching I don’t believe there is such a thing as methods! Every time I work with a student, I try to analyse firstly what is most needed, and then focus on a particular point, which could be technique, musical analysis, the character of the piece and its historical context, and so on. I also try to help the students have self-confidence and make sure they clearly hear the score “like a conductor”, and then listen to themselves. Those aspects are probably my priorities.

There is also a very friendly atmosphere in the Department between colleagues. The students can sense it, and I think it helps them feel they can develop and learn without too much pressure. Our students are the best Ambassadors for the success of our department, after all.

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Lauren Zhang – “A Total Phenomenon” Few professional pianists would approach Prokofiev’s legendarily difficult Second Piano Concerto without considerable trepidation, but 16 year-old Lauren Zhang made light of its demands.

Her spellbinding performance with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, before a national television audience, earned her the title of BBC Young Musician 2018. This accolade merely served to confirm what those of us who have known Lauren and witnessed her development over the past few years already knew – that she is a once-ina-generation talent. Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Principal Julian Lloyd Webber summed it up thus: “Having spent a lifetime making music with some of the world’s finest musicians, I can honestly say that Lauren is up there with the best – she is a total phenomenon.”

already led to appearances in venues including London’s St Martin-in-the-Fields and the Royal Albert Hall. Future appearances include performances with the London Mozart Players at St John’s, Smith Square and, further afield, at Munich’s Herkulessaal, the Tonhalle in Zurich, and Klavierfest Ruhr in Germany. We were delighted to welcome her back to RBC in March, to perform a special concert that included Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 28 in A, Op.101, Ravel Gaspard de la nuit M.55) and Chopin Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise, Op.22.

I have taught Lauren at the Junior Royal Birmingham Conservatoire since September 2011, and have observed her unfaltering progress from that time until the present.

American by birth, Lauren has lived with her family in Harborne, Birmingham, since she was eight years-old.

She joined the Junior Conservatoire in September 2010, and both her native ability and huge potential made an immediate impression. Timothy English, Head of the Junior Conservatoire, recalls that, “From the moment that Lauren auditioned for the Junior Conservatoire it was clear that she had an exceptional talent.” As a Birmingham resident, Lauren has benefitted from the best the city can offer in terms of schooling; firstly, at Harborne Primary School, and subsequently at King Edward VI High School for Girls in Edgbaston. Lauren’s tally of 11 GCSEs, all with top grades, testify both to her academic prowess, and to the quality of the teaching she has received.

Greg Milner

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Through all these successes, Lauren has retained her personal qualities of modesty, quiet self-confidence, focus and commitment, which will surely serve her well in the years to come. She fully recognises the benefits the Junior Conservatoire has brought, which she describes thus: “There are two things that I love most about the Junior Conservatoire. The first is that education here is of the highest quality. What I appreciate above all is that I can genuinely trust my teacher, Dr Markham, and benefit from his knowledge and invaluable advice. I am extremely fortunate to be able to learn with him and improve with his guidance. The second is the many fond memories and friendships that I have made over the years. These factors have helped me realise and nurture my love for music, and for that I am very grateful.”

Upon joining the Junior Conservatoire, Lauren spent a successful year studying with Rebeca Omordia, herself an alumna of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, before beginning lessons with me. The speed of Lauren’s progress has always been phenomenal, and her ability to absorb new ideas and learn new works at an astonishing rate has enabled her to acquire an enviably large repertoire, and an exceptionally reliable technique for a pianist of her age. Her commitment to her work has never flagged. Her time at the Junior Conservatoire has been punctuated by frequent performances, including an appearance as soloist with the Junior Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra in Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto, and numerous examination and competition successes. At the tender age of nine, she was awarded a distinction mark of 142 in ABRSM Grade 8. 2016 was a bumper year, with two notable competition successes, namely, first prize in the 15th Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists in Germany, and first prize in the EPTA-UK Piano Competition in the 18 years and under category. And, let it not be forgotten that Lauren is also an accomplished violinist, having studied with Sam Mason.

Equally, we at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s Junior Department are proud to have been able to provide just the nurturing environment that Lauren’s talent has needed in these crucial years. Timothy English speaks for us all when he says,” It has been an enormous pleasure to witness Lauren’s stellar development under the guidance of Dr Markham, emerging now as a young artist with her own distinctive musical voice.”

Dr Robert Markham DMA, The Juilliard School Senior Tutor in Piano, Accompaniment and Coaching, RBC, Tutor in Piano and Co-ordinator, Junior Department

Lauren’s spectacular triumph in BBC Young Musician 2018 is but the latest in a series of successes, and has 9

A new dawn in the Organ Studio The opening of the new Royal Birmingham Conservatoire building in 2017 heralded a new dawn for the institution. The facilities were, from the outset, envisaged to be all-encompassing and fit for the century ahead.

Daniel Moult

The initial target of £3 million to equip the site with new organs has not yet been achieved, but the goal remains as alive as it is essential. Our Organ Department is the destination of choice for many young organists, and has an enviable reputation for the quality of tuition (both in the home team and with our visiting professors from Leipzig and Eastman). We also have a proud recent track record of next generation leaders and competition winners who have studied with us, all of which place our Department, it seems to many in the profession, as the UK leader.

our annual routine. We have packed our rucksacks and headed, over recent years, to Amsterdam, Caen, Paris, Leipzig, Merseburg (where many of the major Liszt organ works were premièred) and elsewhere to gain a greater understanding of our performance art. Whilst some German and US conservatoires might have up to a dozen or so hand-crafted, repertoire-specific organs, our initial objectives are more modest in scale, although not in quality. Once the Flentrop is complete – and opened to great fanfare, we are sure – our intention is to commission a meantone organ (envisaged for the performance of Frescobaldi and Rossi, but also suiting Sweelinck and the English school of Byrd and Gibbons etc.) and a symphonic organ to provide something of the experience of nineteenth-century sound worlds and console control. We are extremely grateful to the Wolfson Foundation, without whose generosity the Flentrop organ might have remained – please excuse the pun – a pipe dream.

But we currently have one major deficiency – a range of sufficiently excellent organs on which to teach and practise. The commissioning of the new central German Baroque organ in the Organ Studio will be our first notable and exciting step to remedy this, and will furnish RBC with an instrument of world-class quality. Built by the renowned Dutch firm of Flentrop (in Zaandam, just north of Amsterdam), the organ will be the first in England to be built without any compromise in the tradition of J.S Bach. Aside from the electric blower (although raising the wind by hand will remain an option), everything will follow eighteenth-century German practice, from the method of casting the pipe metal down to the smallest detail of the complex internal construction. There are many other organs in England which have been inspired by the Bach tradition (including larger organs by Flentrop at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and the Royal College of Music, for instance), but none which has been envisaged and designed with such singularity of vision and lack of modern compromise. It will be a superb teaching and concert tool for the exploration of the greatest organ music – that of Johann Sebastian Bach – although its quality and the demands it makes on the player will also no doubt make it useful to explore other areas of earlier repertoire.

Organs are as complex as they are expensive. Before the Industrial Revolution, the organ was one of the greatest achievements of the Western world: a synthesis of musical vision, engineering, craftsmanship and artistry. In our increasingly mechanised and plastic world, new pipe organs remain both phenomenal creations (our Flentrop organ will be built and regulated entirely by hand) and a living link with traditions of old. Their relative demise in the English culture since the Second World War is due to a number of complex factors, but we are proud at RBC to be a part of the instrument’s renaissance in the nation’s musical life. If you, like Stravinsky, need convincing of the instrument’s huge musical potential, come along to the opening event when the Flentrop is completed in 2021.

Or better still, pop in to the Department and say hello! We would be delighted to show you the joys of the music and the instrument, but be warned: you might get bitten by the organ bug…

The organ, more than any other musical instrument, differs hugely from country to country and era to era. This is one of the many challenges facing the dedicated organ student, and study trips are an important part of

Daniel Moult Head of Organ 10

One of Hinsz’s famous organs, whose work is the tonal inspiration for the first of the new RBC organs - Grote Kerk, Harlingen (1776, restored by Flentrop in 2011).

Our Organ Department is the destination of choice for many young organists, and has an enviable reputation for the quality of tuition.

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Stage Management celebrates 10th Birthday Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s BA (Hons) Stage Management course celebrated its 10-year anniversary in October 2018. The course was launched back in 2008 after a gap in the market for quality training outside London was identified.

We had five students in the first cohort back in 2008, a fantastic group that had a huge impact in shaping the course into what it is today. At the time I wasn’t sure how the course was going to be received and what our graduates would go on to do, but looking at what they have achieved in their careers I could not be more proud.

2011 graduate Jordan Goff pictured on tour in China with the West End production of The Bodyguard.

With only 14 students per year, the Stage Management course has an atmosphere that is a bit like an extended family. With that said, it is still often difficult keeping track of what each graduate is doing, especially in a field where changing freelance contacts is frequent. With this in mind we were delighted that so many of our graduates attended our 10 year birthday celebration in October, and it was great to catch up with everyone to find out what they have been doing since graduation. It was also nice for our current students to meet our graduates and see what they are doing now.

“Here’s to the next 10 years! And the future generations of great stage managers.”

Anna Lambert, graduate 2014 I opened the event with a welcome, talking through the course from its beginnings through to the present day.

Following this, we went straight into the morning session where we discussed various current ‘hot topics’ in the industry.

Following the afternoon session there was an opportunity for networking and a chance for everyone to catch up in much livelier circumstances than the dark backstage we are used to! In total we had around 70 guests in attendance, including the Course Team (myself, Louise Turner and Helen Gibbs), the Production Department (John Bailey, Jacki Cottom, Rob Dicks, Jonathan Pearce and Leonie Hamilton), ex staff, friends, industry professionals, alumni and current students.

The afternoon session was delivered by three of our first graduates, Jordan Goff, Matt Smith and Matt Breen. Jordan has gone on to be a Stage Manager on the international tour of CATS in China, Matt Smith is Assistant Stage Manager on Book Cover on the national tour of Les Miserables, and Matt Breen is Ticketing Manager for England Netball. The three graduates spoke about what they would tell their third year selves, how they got into industry and transferrable skills, and then answered questions from the audience.

Happy 10th birthday to Stage Management at RBC! Jacqui Findlay Stage Management Course Director

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“So proud to be graduating in the tenth year of this amazing course! Ready for the big, wide (scary) world.”

Bobbie Calnan, current third year

Attendees at the celebratory event

“This course was the best thing that’s ever happened to me! I learnt so much, and could not have asked for anything better. Here’s to another 10 years!”

Olivia Dudley, graduate 2012

“So many memories of the team and experiences we shared. Thank you for all the knowledge, wisdom and experience.” Matthew Breen, graduate 2011 13

Student spotlight: Seb Yates Cridland My name is Seb Yates Cridland. I grew up in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire and will graduate from the BA Acting course at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in the summer of 2019.

Missing the final half of third year was a prospect that scared me; what would I be missing? I was up for BBC’s Carlton Hobbs Radio Awards and had just been chosen to represent RBC at Stephen Sondheim’s Performer of the Year Awards. Not only that, but the rehearsals started right at the same time as our Birmingham and London Showcases. Would I have to give all these things up? Fortunately I was able to attend all of the showcase performances in Birmingham and my director was generous enough to give me the afternoon off rehearsals to attend the London Showcase where I was lucky enough to gain representation with agency ‘Principal Artistes’.

I was also able to fly back to the UK to compete in the Sondheim Competition in March.

After two weeks of rehearsals for The Little Prince, my three cast-mates and I hit the road in our tour bus and began our four-month adventure. My advice to future Conservatoire students is an Emma Rice quote that they’ll probably end up hearing a lot from a certain acting tutor at the school; “Hold your nerve, stay open and delight in the privilege”. You never know where the training will take you, but every pathway is unique and wonderful. I loved my time at RBC; it’s not only cracking training, it’s a unique family of like-minded individuals that supports and uplifts each student to achieve their best in an industry we all love!

I found a love for theatre at an early age after seeing a production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance.

I was, and still am, obsessed with pirates, so to see them singing and dancing on stage blew my tiny mind and I ended up joining a local youth theatre that very week. Fast forward 17 years and I have just started my first professional acting job touring around Austria with Vienna’s English Theatre’s production of The Little Prince. At the beginning of my third year at RBC I never imagined I would be leaving my training early to pursue a professional job, but after an amazing last few months of drama school I am doing just that.

Seb Yates Cridland Third year BA (Hons) Acting

I got the job just after Christmas after being invited to audition by director Sean Aita, who spotted me in my final year production of As You Like It – for which I also wrote the music, alongside a composition student from the Conservatoire. I then had just one month before I started rehearsals, and a lot changed in that very short space of time. I was juggling showcase rehearsals with contract reading, learning about tax, learning my lines, learning all the music and preparing myself for the stark reality that in a few short weeks I would be making the transition from student into professional. I was finally going to do what I had spent three years training for; this terrified and excited me in equal measure.

Seb appearing in As you like it ©Aimee Spinks

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88 Pianists – creativity, invention, music and engineering Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s busy and diverse Learning and Participation Department is always looking for new and inventive ways to achieve our objectives of inspiring the next generation of musicians, training RBC students to work in education and community settings, and encouraging creativity.

When we were approached by the University of Cambridge Faculty of Engineering and asked if we could collaborate on two world record breaking attempts, the answer was of course a resounding ‘YES’!

Led by Professor Julian Allwood (University of Cambridge), in partnership with engineering faculties from major universities across the UK, and with RBC as the primary music partner, a team of musicians and engineers have been inspiring over 2,000 young people in primary schools. The challenges are complex: • Break the world record for the number of people to play a piece on a piano at the same time – using their hands.

• Break the world record for the number of people to play a piano at the same time.

Over the past six months RBC piano students, along with engineers, have been visiting primary schools to work with children to understand the creativity and engineering processes inside the piano. Children have been challenged to design the most creative and innovative mechanical extendable fingers to make 88 pianists, playing one piano at the same time, achievable.

CAD drawing of the project

Combining engineering and music, students, children and teachers are learning that creativity and its main attribute – to have original ideas that have a purpose – are essential no matter what career you decide to pursue.

88 Pianists has given the opportunity for our pianists to leave the practice room and explore their own creativity in education and community settings.

88 Pianists playing one piece together, so that it sounds amazing, is the responsibility of RBC and its commissioned composer, pianist and Visiting Tutor, Martin Riley. The commissioned pieces will celebrate the life of Leonardo da Vinci in the 500th anniversary of his death, an artist who dreamt of new musical instruments, some of which have only recently been built.

Martin has a unique task; to compose music dependent on children’s innovative design ideas, engineered with different characteristics. For example, how quickly can a mechanical flying rabbit or person cycling repeat a note?

How long will it take for the note to be played from the five metre distance it needs to be triggered from?

Children at one of the participating primary schools

The question remains…can 88 young pianists play a new piece of music together on the ultimate combination of engineering and music, the Steinway Model D grand piano?

On the 19th August 2019, in the International Convention Centre Hall 1, both of the above record attempts will open up the largest international conference of production engineering in the world.

Follow our progress at www.88pianists.com

The challenges and records have been determined, the children have created their designs, the music is being composed, the designs are being engineered and the young musicians are being recruited to play the pieces.

Richard Shrewsbury Head of Learning and Participation

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The first year of the NEXT programme with BCMG The first of its kind in the UK, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire have developed a new, innovative programme of study to support early career musicians wishing to dedicate their professional career to contemporary music.

Launched last year, NEXT is the only programme in the UK providing intensive, year-long training in contemporary music performance practice, including instrumental teaching, artistic planning, lectures from guest artists, and a variety of performance opportunities.

with an Honorary Doctorate from Birmingham City University. His degree presentation formed part of an event that featured performances of his music from NEXT musicians, BCMG’s flautist Marie-Christine Zupancic, and the Arditti Quartet, with whom Brian Ferneyhough has long enjoyed a fruitful relationship. Both Brian and the Arditti Quartet were able to provide invaluable insights into the music in the run up to concert through coaching sessions, workshops and lectures. Violist Nathanael Gubler says “It was a highlight to work with Brian Ferneyhough, one of the most significant composers of our time.” Nathanael, along with violinists Ed Pether and Boglarka György, and cellist James Heathcote performed Ferneyhough’s String Quartet Adagissimo, a short but highly complex piece written in 1983. Cellist James comments “The repertoire that we’ve been doing has been challenging and interesting, and we’ve had the opportunity to work with figures such as Brian Ferneyhough and Rebecca Saunders.”

“NEXT builds on Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s long-standing relationship with BCMG and is designed to have a significant impact on the next generation of contemporary music and musicians”, comments Professor Julian Lloyd Webber, Principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. “We pride ourselves in being a forward-looking institution. NEXT will be at the cutting edge of new music creation and performance, offering students a unique opportunity to develop their careers in novel and exciting directions.”

NEXT year one is now in full swing, with this year’s cohort comprising flute, oboe, bassoon, piano, percussion, two violins, viola, two cellos and a conductor. Each participant receives up to 15 hours specialist one-to-one tuition in contemporary performance techniques, as well as coaching and workshops from composers and top-level contemporary performers.

Winner of the 2019 Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, British-born Berlin-based composer Rebecca Saunders visited Birmingham in March, for a concert of her music with BCMG on 21st March, preceded by a day of coaching NEXT Musicians on her work. BCMG’s March concert also featured the world première of a concerto written for the Chinese Sheng, played by Wu Wei, one of the world’s greatest sheng players. While in Birmingham, Wu Wei also spent a day at RBC working with NEXT musicians on improvisation techniques.

One such composer was Brian Ferneyhough, himself an alumnus of what was then known as Birmingham School of Music, which has now evolved into Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. To celebrate his 75th birthday, he was invited back in December to his alma mater for a day of events devoted to his work, where he was also presented

NEXT string quartet perform Ferneyhough’s Adagissimo

NEXT flautist plays Murail’s Garrigue on bass flute

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NEXT violinist performs in Centrala

NEXT players through the window at Centrala

The 2018-19 NEXT cohort with tutors

NEXT performances so far have included the second ever performance of emerging composer Joel Jarventausta’s Piano Concerto, and a concert centred on the work of contemporary Eastern and Central European composers in Digbeth’s Centrala Gallery. Looking forward to the rest of 2019, NEXT will perform alongside RBC’s Thallein Ensemble in a performance of work by RBC students, graduates and staff that celebrates the output of RBC’s very own record label, Birmingham Record Company, and take part in the Flatpack Film Festival with a special concert of music and film. At the end, in June, French contemporary ensemble Ensemble Court Circuit will be giving a concert at RBC, which will feature NEXT musicians playing side-by-side with players from both Ensemble Court Circuit and BCMG, before the

year is rounded off with a final NEXT concert featuring a performance of Gerard Grisey’s 1999 work Vortex Temporum.

For musicians, the course is challenging and rewarding, with violinist Boglarka György summing it up by saying “The NEXT course has given me a great opportunity to meet and make friends with fantastic fellow musicians!

It has also allowed me to work with some of the most sought-after contemporary music composers, and that has been a great experience.”

Applications for NEXT 2019-20 will open in Spring 2019.

Find out more at www.bcmg.org.uk/next Miranda Heggie Project Manager, NEXT

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Accepting all approaches to creating new music One of the most immediate advantages I found when I began studying composition here in Birmingham was the amazing sense of community I felt in our Department. Having fortnightly sessions in the Lab to try out ideas in a safe space welcomes healthy discussion and opens the doors to new ideas and approaches to my work. There’s no pressure to present fully formed and perfected pieces in these sessions, in fact I find you can get so much more out of them by taking in early stage ideas and concepts for pieces and just trying them out.

I quickly discovered that my work goes against everything I thought about what it meant to be a composer. I don’t work well sitting alone at my desk carving away at manuscript paper, instead preferring to collaborate with my peers and even artists from other practices.

Whilst some of my peers do in fact work solo, studying composition at RBC allows you to discover how you work best; the course gives you the space, time and connections to experiment with different practices and ways of making new music.

This term has seen multiple collaborations in our department, a number of which I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved with. Throughout February, James Abel, Peter Bell and I worked with Dauvit Alexander (School of Jewellery Course Director) to create a piece for the opening of his exhibition ‘A Waste Land’, which dealt with issues such as fly-tipping and the wasteful culture our society breeds. After weeks of devising together, trying different ideas and combining our very different approaches to music and art, we performed our collaborative piece Responsible Consumption and Production, a drone piece in which we rubbed, wrapped, tapped and tore discarded sheet music I have been collecting from college. The piece was well received, sparking very interesting and charged reactions from the audience.

Another collaborative project on offer to students this term was led by Andy Ingamells and Paul Norman.

This project saw myself, James Abel and Rob Roberts participate in workshop sessions with Andy and Paul across a couple of days, creating and discussing performances we made in these sessions. At the end of these workshops we devised an installation piece LINE LINE LINE LINE LINE which was attended by students and staff of the Conservatoire. Whilst the Composition Department organises a multitude of amazing opportunities to write for ensembles such as BCMG or the Orchestra of the Swan, I have found that devised collaborative projects have resulted in some of my most interesting and inspired work.

I’m currently working on a piece that deals with the topic of sustainability and renewable energies, and so I ended up with the entire Department fanning a solitary harp to try and generate noise. This idea still needs work.

George West Second Year BMus Composition

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RBC announces first ever Recording Artist in Residence Music Technology students at Royal Birmingham Conservative are benefiting from an innovative new scheme which will allow them to gain hands-on experience working alongside an experienced recording artist.

Sara Colman ©Ian Wallman

The exciting new initiative, the first of its kind at a conservatoire, will see a musician or composer with a track record as a recording artist spend a year working with students of our Music Technology Department.

Head of Music Technology Dr Simon Hall said: “We are very lucky to have Sara Colman as our first Recording Artist in Residence. Sara is an exceptional singersongwriter and composer who has been a vocal tutor here in the Jazz Department for some years, and is also an Honorary Fellow and alumna of the Conservatoire.

Sara has been recording for more than twenty years both as a session musician and band leader, bringing a wealth of invaluable experience.”

The first Recording Artist in Residence is singersongwriter Sara Colman, who recently released her third solo album What We’re Made Of, the title track of which recently won the Jazz/Blues award in the UK Songwriting Contest. Students will gain hands-on experience working alongside Sara in active practical projects, which requires not only technical knowledge but also interpersonal skills to maintain a professional relationship with the artist.

Sara added: “We recorded strings and piano for my latest album at RBC, so I have a good idea of the superb quality, and I’m really excited to record in all the different spaces. The Eastside Jazz Club will be great for some live recording, and of course there is also the remarkable Bradshaw Hall.“

Overseen by Teaching Fellow in Music Technology Ben Markland, the scheme will make use of the outstanding recording spaces available in the Conservatoire building, as well as facilities elsewhere. Starting with the annual visit to Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, students spent a day watching and assisting the engineers as they recorded five specially-arranged Joni Mitchell songs played by Sara and her ten-piece ensemble including a jazz quintet, flugelhorn and string quartet.

As part of her residency, which runs from January 2019 to January 2020, Sara performed a gig for the first time at our Eastside Jazz Club in February.

Ben Markland Teaching Fellow in Music Technology

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Conservatoire news Composer Brian Ferneyhough receives Honorary Doctorate

Orchestra of the Swan in residence

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tratford-upon-Avon based Orchestra of the Swan has become the first orchestra-in-residence at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. This opportunity allows students to gain first-hand experience of working within a professional orchestra by sitting alongside the players in rehearsal. Selected composition students are offered the opportunity to write for the ensemble and then have the piece performed in one of the five concerts the Orchestra are giving this year. During their residency, the Orchestra’s soloists and core players are giving performance and composition masterclasses to students.

The Tin Mens’ interactive concert experience residency

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ighly-acclaimed Amsterdam-based group Tin Men and the Telephone visited the Conservatoire for a residency in November, comprising a series of concerts which allowed them to test out and experiment with new material and concepts. They returned for a further concert in February, incorporating electronics, projected visuals and audience participation. Audience members are asked to attend with a fully-charged smartphone to participate in the concert experience via the Tinmendo app.

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nternationally-renowned composer Brian Ferneyhough received an Honorary Doctorate from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in December to recognise his immense contribution to contemporary classical music. The honour was awarded as part of a special day of concerts and events, arranged by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) and the Conservatoire, to celebrate his 75th birthday.

Peter Donohoe’s critically acclaimed Mozart Sonatas recorded in the Bradshaw Hall

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ur Vice-President, Peter Donohoe, has recently completed his widely acclaimed cycle of complete Mozart Piano Sonatas for Somm Records which were recorded in RBC’s Bradshaw Hall, which he praised as having a “fabulous acoustic”. The recording was made BBC Music Magazine’s recording of the month and awarded 5 stars.

Kavakos violin masterclass

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nternationally renowned violinist Leonidas Kavakos led a unique two-hour masterclass at the Conservatoire in December. This was the first event of its kind Kavakos had hosted at any of the UK’s Royal Schools of Music.

Leonidas Kavakos Tin Men and the Telephone

Award-winning building design

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ur new building was granted the ‘Design through Innovation’ award by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) at an annual ceremony awarding national honours in November. Earlier in the year the building was also crowned the West Midlands building of the year 2018 by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Former and current RBC staff collaborate on Skryrabin book project

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ormer member of staff, HonFRBC, RBCA Honorary member and acknowledged Alexander Skryabin expert, Simon Nicholls, has, with current member of staff Michael Pushkin, translated the notebooks of the composer Russian composer Alexander Skryabin (1872–1915). The book has been published by Oxford University Press and is available through their website, Amazon and Waterstones.

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New Vice-Principal

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n October, Dr Shirley Thompson was announced as our new Vice-Principal (Music). She has achieved an international reputation as a musicologist, specialising in French Baroque music, particularly that of Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Dr Thompson joined the Conservatoire in 2001 and was appointed Director of Postgraduate Studies in 2009.

A trip to Abbey Road

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n October composer Rosie Tee and a band of Conservatoire musicians featuring Kai Chareunsy, Tom Harris, Dan Cippico, Lizze Chan-Foxley, Helena Britten, Ning-ning Li and Sara Gale, took a trip to Abbey Road studios to run one of the Record Production workshop/networking events. Our students did us proud on the day, with the string players (Riot Quartet) making quite an impression.

Dr Shirley Thompson

Composer Rosie Tee (centre) with RBC musicians at Abbey Road Studios

Brass Band success at UniBrass Championships

The Choir with No Name

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t the start of 2019 we welcomed The Choir with No Name, a charity that runs choirs for homeless and marginalised people, to use our state-of-the-art recording facilities as part of our charitable partnership with the organisation. We look forward to working together on future projects!

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oyal Birmingham Conservatoire’s Brass Band were awarded second place at the UniBrass championships in February. They also received the award for best percussion, best section for euphonium and baritone, and most entertaining performance. The entire Band is made up of current students, and they are aiming for the top prize next year!

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Association Membership

Jonathan Kelly receives Honorary Fellowship

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n January we were delighted to award Jonathan Kelly with an Honorary Fellowship of RBC, ahead of the masterclass he delivered to our students. Jonathan became principal oboist of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 1993, before joining the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as principal oboist in 2003.

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Association (RBCA) was established in 1981 to support the work of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and its students. Membership is subscription-based and open to everyone who wishes to be associated with the life and achievements of the Conservatoire.

Current membership includes alumni, present and former members of staff, parents and friends.

For more information and a membership application form, please contact: John D Smith, RBCA Hon Secretary, 359 Heath Road South, Northfield, Birmingham, B31 2BJ; T: 0121 476 4741; E: johnsmithhrs359@gmail.com

Jonathan Kelly

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Alumni news Graduates in international tour of War Horse

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our Royal Birmingham Conservatoire acting graduates are appearing in the internationally acclaimed production of War Horse for the production’s UK and international tour. Rianna Ash and Khalid Daley both graduated in 2017, while Lewis Howard and Gareth Radcliffe come from the classes of 2012 and 1997 respectively; all appear in the 34-strong cast for the play’s upcoming international tour.

Cycling Viola teams up with human toilet for latest fundraiser

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esearch assistant and alumnus Alistair Rutherford and Keyboard Tutor Anthony Hewitt cycled 180 miles from the Conservatoire to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, for the 45th International Viola Congress in November.

Alistair, better known in his previous guise as ‘The Running Viola’, has secured two world records, for running both the fastest marathon and half marathon while dressed as a musical instrument. The funds raised are for ARCO, which has provided 24 string students aged 8-17 in South Africa with weekly instrumental Skype lessons.

War Horse on stage

Alumna in Mozart’s Magic Flute with Opera North

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BC graduate Samantha Hay has made her début with Opera North as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. The show ran from February to March in Leeds, Salford Quays, Newcastle and Nottingham.

Alistair Rutherford and Anthony Hewitt

Alumnus returns to Birmingham with ROH Orchestra

Acting graduate in The Full Monty

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cting alumnus Alex Frost appears in the first ever UK and Ireland tour of Simon Beaufoy’s The Full Monty. The opera runs from January to May 2019.

iolinist and alumnus David Chadwick returned to Birmingham earlier this year to perform at Symphony Hall with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

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Actors land sought after roles with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

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ach year Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has open auditions for their ‘Actors Aloud’ in-house company.

During a year-long contract, actors perform in the Shakespeare Gardens with training on speeches from practitioners working within the RSC and local companies. Only two positions were available this year and out of hundreds who applied and auditioned, Kate Gee-Finch and Will Keetch (both RBC graduates and represented by Bazan Talent Agency) got the jobs!

Di Xiao tour and album celebrates the work of female artists

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BC Visiting Tutor, alumna and Honorary Member Di Xiao’s current project Femmes de Légende is a concert tour and album that features female artists and celebrates their achievements and talents. The international tour included an evening recital at Birmingham Town Hall in March, and the album, recorded

by RBC associate sound engineer Minos Koutedakis, was launched on International Women’s Day. Di Xiao

Kate Gee-Finch

Animation voiced by MA Acting graduate wins BAFTA

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t the 2019 BAFTAs award ceremony, Roughhouse, a film by Jonathan Hodgson and Richard Van Den Boom, won best British Short Animation. The film was voiced by Conservatoire MA Acting graduate Stuart Ash.

Alumna joins PolyArts

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ongratulations to alumna Tabitha McGrath who is joining PolyArts (a subsidiary of HarrisonParrott) as Artists and Special Projects Manager. Tabitha, who graduated from the BMus course in 2011, will join in April having previously worked at IMG Artists, Harrison Parrott and City Music Foundation.

Stuart Ash

Derry Girls second series

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hannel 4 comedy Derry Girls, starring MA acting graduate Nicola Coughlan as Clare Devlin, returned to our screens in March for series two after a hugely successful first series.

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Fundraising and Development news Funding helps to save ‘endangered’ instruments

Investing in the future – two new endowed scholarships

The Headley Trust has also supported the Conservatoire with a grant of £60,600 to fund six postgraduate scholarships (‘the Headley Music Scholarships’) on its Advanced Postgraduate Diploma (‘APD’) course over the next three years.

RBC is delighted to announce that two new undergraduate scholarships have been endowed in perpetuity thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Mrs Margaret Beesley.

Known as the ‘Roy and Margaret Beesley Scholarship’ and the ‘Jack and Suzy Fryer Scholarship’, the scholarships will help students who, due to their financial circumstances, would otherwise not be able to afford their tuition fees.

The APD is the Conservatoire’s flagship course in classical music performance and is intended for postMaster’s level performers who are on the verge, or in the process, of embarking on a professional performance career. It combines personalised one-to-one tuition, coaching and mentoring provided by world-leading artists with the flexibility to undertake high-profile public performance opportunities and professional engagements. It therefore offers a stable and supportive platform from which to launch a successful career in classical music performance.

All eligible students who have been offered a place on next year’s BMus(Hons) performance course will be given the opportunity to apply, with the expectation that the first two scholars will commence their studies at the Conservatoire this autumn.

“Mrs Beesley’s exceptionally kind gift could not have come at a better time for RBC”, said Professor Julian Lloyd Webber.

The Conservatoire and the Headley Trust hope that their new partnership will incentivise and support postgraduate study in classical music performance whilst addressing a growing national shortage in certain areas of specialism.

Preference for the Headley Music Scholarships will be given to those studying so-called ‘endangered’ instruments which are less commonly played.

“We have seen an unprecedented rise in both numbers and quality of talented young people applying this year, many of whom would not be able to take up their offer of a place without significant financial support. These scholarships will therefore make it possible for aspiring musicians to pursue their dreams, free from financial concerns or constraints.”

Commenting on the award, Professor Julian Lloyd Webber said, “The generous support of the Headley Trust will not only enable us to increase our investment in the next generation of talented young performers at a critical stage in their careers, but also enable us to address a national shortage of instrumentalists such as bassoonists, oboists and French horn players.”

“We are indebted to Mrs Beesley for this outstanding example of philanthropic leadership, which will continue to benefit Conservatoire students for many generations to come.”

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Supporting the future of RBC Inaugural Legacy Fellows reception – December 2018 ©

The inaugural Legacy Fellows reception was held on Friday 14th December in the Organ Studio.

Candian Li

Speaking at the event, Professor Julian Lloyd Webber said, “Legacy Fellows play a crucial role in RBC’s bright future, helping to ensure not only that it can continue to be available for generations of students to come, but also that it can fulfil its potential as a world-class institution.

We are extremely grateful to this founding group of Legacy Fellows for their leadership and support!”

The purpose of this very special event was to recognise and thank all those people, both alumni and non-alumni, who have included the Conservatoire in their Wills, and to admit them formally as Legacy Fellows.

All Legacy Fellows received a certificate, a commemorative pin badge, and were thanked in person by the Principal, before attending the end of term concert performed by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s Repertoire Orchestra in the Bradshaw Hall.

If you are interested in naming the Conservatoire as a beneficiary in your Will, or if you have already done so, please get in touch with Robin Leonard on 0121 331 5534 or at robin.leonard@bcu.ac.uk who would be happy to guide you through the process of enrolling as a Legacy Fellow. ©

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Candian Li

Conservatoire graduates awarded Alumni of the Year Acting graduates Dhafer L’Abidine and Danielle Pinnock were two of three graduates to receive a prestigious Alumni of the Year award from Birmingham City University at a graduation ceremony that took place in January. The awards, in recognition for ‘Excellence in the Arts’, were presented by Chancellor Sir Lenny Henry at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall.

Danielle Pinnock’s successful one-woman stage show started life as her dissertation project whilst studying on the Master’s Acting course at the Conservatoire. Based on a series of interviews with women in the UK and USA, Body/Courage set out to raise awareness of the varying perceptions of body image. Following graduation, Danielle entered her play into the 2013 Strawberry One-Act Theatre Festival in America, landing her a ‘Best Actress’ award as well as nominations for ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Play’. She then took it to the stage in Chicago where it won a Time Out theatre award.

In 2016, Danielle decided to challenge herself artistically by moving to Los Angeles and auditioning for TV roles.

She secured her first role in the hit US drama This Is Us, followed by parts in Scandal and Get Shorty. Danielle currently plays the recurring role of Sheldon’s maths teacher Ms Evelyn Ingram in Young Sheldon, the prequel to hit comedy The Big Bang Theory, shown on E4 in the UK.

Danielle Pinnock and MA Course Director Lise Olson

‘Studying in Birmingham changed my life, and I am forever grateful to all of the professors who accepted me and gave me the courage and skills to pursue acting full-time,’ said Danielle. ‘I now have a solid work ethic and training that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. It is my greatest hope to create a space for actresses of size in film and television. Melissa McCarthy, Chrissy Metz, Amber Riley and so many more have paved the road for actresses like myself. I hope to break some of the barriers Hollywood has created for plus-size actresses.

One day, I hope to change the narrative of what roles we can be seen for. I want to create more opportunities for women like me.’

Dhafer L’Abidine has enjoyed significant success as an actor since graduating in 2002. He went on to secure roles in numerous British TV series including Casualty, Spooks and Wire in the Blood, as well as hit French series Spiral and American programmes Transporter and The Looming Tower. He also appeared in feature films including Children of Men, Centurion and Sex and the City 2.

Danielle Pinnock ©David Muller

Television and film roles in Dhafer’s native Tunisia, as well as in countries including Egypt and Lebanon, have secured him a number of Best Actor awards. He has also seen success as a TV presenter, hosting Prince of Poets – a prestigious talent show which attracted over 20 milllion viewers per episode – and the Dubai-based version of worldwide gameshow hit The Cube.

Commenting on his time studying at the Conservatoire, Dhafer said: ‘I’m thrilled to be honoured as one of the University’s Alumni of the Year. I had a brilliant time at the University and what I remember most is the quality of the teaching.’

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Death of John Joubert, Honorary Fellow of RBC Birmingham composer John Joubert, honorary fellow and tutor at the Conservatoire, has died aged 91.

He was well known for his works including the carol Torches and his opera Jane Eyre. This earned him prizes and positions from an early age up until his retirement, when he continued to compose as well as teach privately at the Conservatoire.

Graham Boulton

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John Joubert was born in Cape Town on March 27, 1927 and educated at the Diocesan College in Rondebosch.

The director of music there was Claude Brown, who had been an assistant to Ivor Atkins, organist at Worcester Cathedral (and therefore only one handshake away from Edward Elgar), who instilled in Joubert a love of the English choral tradition which would later inform so much of his work.

in Moseley ever since. John Joubert became a highlyregarded figure in the musical life of his adopted home city, serving for 25 years as chairman of the Birmingham Chamber Music Society, frequently attending performances by the CBSO and opera companies visiting Birmingham Hippodrome. He retired from the University in 1986.

Novello Managing Director, James Rushton, paid tribute to him, saying:

He came to England in 1946 after winning a Performing Right Society Scholarship which enabled him to study for four years at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London. By this time he had already started his portfolio of both choral and orchestral music, performed in South Africa. In 1950, his first string quartet was accepted for publication by Novello and, with a few exceptions, his entire output of works from then on was made available through them – he takes the medal for the composer with the longest ever association with that house. After gaining several prizes for composition at the RAM, and gaining a BMus degree from the University of Durham, Joubert took up a position as Lecturer in Music at the University of Hull. It was during his time there that he composed the carol Torches for his wife Mary to teach to her primary schoolchildren, and it has been a favourite throughout the Christian world since.

“During a 60-year professional composing career, extending right to the very end of his life, John created a substantial catalogue of music that has enchanted all who have heard it. Whilst it is the choral music that has entered the global repertoire, with very few choirs untouched by his immediately singable, beautifully heard and sensitively felt work, the output is broad and varied, always sympathetic to the needs of performer and audience alike. John was a gentle man, and one of wisdom and humour. He was also very much in demand as a teacher, guide and adviser. He will be missed by us and by all who came into contact with him.”

John passed away on 7 January 2019. He is survived by his wife Mary, his violinist son Pierre and cellist daughter Anna.

Adapted from an obituary by Christopher Morley published in the Birmingham Post

He moved to Birmingham in 1962 to teach music at University of Birmingham and the Jouberts have lived 27

Our Supporters Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is extremely grateful for the generous support of all its donors, in particular the following individuals and organisations.

Individual Donors Helen Allen The Family and Friends of Margaret Asher Andrew Banks Margaret Beesley Dr Keith Bradshaw OBE DL Tony & Veronica Bridgewater Anita Davies Tony Davies & Darin Qualls Professor Andrew Downes Steve Elliott The Estate of Pauline Faulkner Elisabeth Fisher Jill Godsall John Gripton & Rosemary Phillips David & Erica Hart Mark Hopton Gail Lawrence Betty Milne John Morris Marita Morrison Andrew Rackham Richard Rathbone Jean & John D Smith Margaret Tait Professor Graham Upton Dame Gillian Weir DBE The Family and Friends of Gwyn Williams Jane Williams & Bob Walker

Trusts and Foundations PRS Foundation Signatur Sophie’s Silver Lining Fund The Alan Edward Higgs Charity The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation The Aspinwall Educational Trust The Brooks Van Der Pump Charitable Trust The Carne Trust The Denis Matthews Memorial Trust Fund The DMC McDonald Foundation The Ernest Cook Trust The Fidelio Charitable Trust The George Cadbury Trust The Headley Trust The John Avins Trust The Leverhulme Trust The Michael Bishop Foundation The Music and Dance Scheme The Nicholas Boas Charitable Trust The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Association The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Trust The Schubert Ensemble Trust The Wolfson Foundation Universal Music UK Sound Foundation If you would like to support the work of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and its students, please contact Robin Leonard at robin.leonard@bcu.ac.uk or on 0121 331 5534.

Legacy Fellows Tony & Veronica Bridgewater John Gripton & Rosemary Phillips Marita Morrison Jeremy Patterson Richard Rathbone Jane Williams & Bob Walker

Thank you for your support!

Nick Robinson

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Issue 8, spring 2019

Birmingham City University