Upbeat Issue 74

UPBEAT

Summer 2016 Issue No. 74

FOYER JAZZ AT MILTON COURT

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LSSO 2016 Season Peter Ash Artistic Director LSSO

Barbican Concert Hall - 7.30pm

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Wednesday 21 September 2016 A Musical Fairy Tale Sibelius (arr Ash & Sturrock) Roald Dahl's The Minpins Peter Ash conductor Leia Zhu violinist Narrator to be announced Patrick Benson

LSSO 2017 Season Preview

Thursday 5 January 2017

Thursday 20 April 2017

Schnittke Viola Concerto Shostakovich Symphony No.5 in D minor Sian Edwards conductor Lawrence Power viola

Tchaikovsky Suite from Sleeping Beauty Op.66 Five short works choreographed by students from the Rambert School to include world premieres by Misha Mullar Abbado & Danyal Dhondy Copeland Appalachian Spring (1945 version) Rambert School Paul Hoskins conductor Mark Baldwin choreographer

Soviet Sensibilities

Sian Edwards

On with the Dance

Contents LSSO Concert dates 2016-17 2 From the Saturday Centre...

3 Welcome to CYM London 3 CYM Forthcoming Events 4 Jack Petchey Award winners 4 A Fitting Finale 5 Competitions and Awards 5 Tutor profile: John Edney 6 CYM students in Poland 7 Piano 8-9 Percussion 10 LYWB February Concert 11 A night at the Opera!

12-13 LSSO 14-15 Masterclasses 16-17 CYM Annual Showcase Concert at Milton Court 18-19 Voice 20-21 Annual Chamber Concert 22-23 Strings 24-25 Wind & Brass 26-27 Recorders 28 The Train Journey 29 Sorana Santos – back from USA 29 Foundation for Young Musicians 30 Instrument Fundraising 31 Folk Artist Jeff Warner 32 Guitar Recital 33 Friends of CYM 34 BBC Proms – student offers 35 Editor Nicy Roberts Photography Rahul Patel & FCYM Design The Blue Moose Graphic Company Print The Blue Moose Graphic Company

Tickets £9-£26 available from the Barbican Box Office and quote special code below

Free tickets for schools Why not tell your school about our special offer? le FREE to Up to 30 tickets per school are availab students bring to any London school that would like an!

Barbic the at action in along to see the LSSO Ask your teacher/ office Head of Music to contact the CYM

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Special Ticket Offer Available when booking by phone or in person only Please quote the date of the concert as the booking code in order to receive a £3 reduction on any ticke price!

e.g. LSSO/CYM 210916

UPBEAT Summer 2016 The LSSO is sponsored by the City of London Corporation

Centre for Young Musicians Morley College 61 Westminster Bridge Rd London SE1 7HT Tel 020 7928 3844 Fax 020 7928 3454 info@cym.org.uk http://www.cym.org.uk CYM is part of the network of Centres for Advanced Training funded and developed by the Department for Education's Music and Dance Scheme (MDS). The scheme is for young people who have exceptional talent, potential and an interest in eventually pursuing a career in music.

From the Saturday Centre...

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am sure that all those present at the CYM Annual Concert on 19 March will agree that Milton Court proved to be an excellent venue for an extremely impressive display of musical talent from all the participants. To perform in a modern and finely equipped concert hall is a fantastic experience for the students and gives a real sense of occasion as well as a taste of how it feels to work in a professional level environment. The occasion also underlined CYM’s status as a Division of the Guildhall School, both through physically being in the School’s Barbican home and through the marking of Stephen Dagg’s move to a national CYM role.

There were equally impressive performances at the Chamber Concert at St Mary-at-Hill Church on 10 March and these two annual events really highlight the quality of teaching and learning going on at the Saturday Centre week in week out.

Many CYM students were involved in the immensely enjoyable LSSO concert at the Barbican Hall in April. This saw another aspect of our relationship with the Guildhall School, the orchestra being conducted by the Head of Opera, Dominic Wheeler and joined by singers from the Opera Course and actors from the Drama Course in scenes from

Oberon by Weber.

With the LSSO on tour in Sweden and the LYWB and CYM Dance Band in Holland in July the emphasis CYM places on performance is clear. These experiences may well inspire many students to pursue a career in music and will remain in all of their memories for many years.

Auditions for the LSSO and the LYWB for 2016/17 will be taking place in the Autumn Term and applications will already be accepted for these not only musically but also socially valuable ensembles.

Looking forward, we will be welcoming new students in September not only to the current CYM courses but also to the new Primary Years Programme for students aged from 5 years old. This exciting new development will provide a progression route all the way through children’s school lives and no doubt still further enhance the quality of musical outcomes from the Centre.

Geoffrey Harniess – Head of CYM (London)

WELCOME TO THE CENTRE FOR YOUNG MUSICIANS

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ince its founding in 1970, the Centre for Young Musicians has provided high quality progressive music training for thousands of talented children from all of London’s boroughs and beyond. The Centre is based at Morley College, close to Waterloo and the South Bank.

More than 420 young musicians aged 8 to 18 attend the Saturday Centre for 32 weeks of the school year, each following an individual programme of study across a range of genres from classical to jazz, gamelan, folk and music theatre.

Many also create their own music and songs.

Still more children benefit from CYM Holiday Courses– ranging from Junior and Intermediate Courses (up to Grade 6 level) to the highly regarded London School’s Symphony Orchestra and the London Youth Wind Band.

The Centre is committed to providing excellence in achievement alongside wide access. The CYM Saturday Centre is a Centre for Advanced Training within the Department for Education’s Music & Dance Scheme. As a Division of the Guildhall School since 2009 CYM also plays a part in the Guildhall Young Artists progression routes, from primary education right through to graduate and postgraduate studies in music.

CYM teaching staff are experienced and respected performers and teachers working in many areas of the music profession. Many CYM students go on to careers in music but all benefit from the skills gained in the vibrant, inclusive and stimulating environment that CYM provides.

This termly magazine UPBEAT gives you a snapshot of the scope of the CYM Saturday Centre. To find out more do look at the CYM website (details opposite).

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Forthcoming events

(in addition to the weekly student lunchtime concerts at both Notre Dame School & Morley College)

Jack Petchey Award Winners – Spring 2016

Sat 11 June

1.10pm The World of the Double Bass

with Becky Welsh (B08)

Vocal Dept Concert (ND)

Sat 18 June

1.10pm Gamelan Concert & Workshop (Morley)

Recorder Dept Concert

(Holst)

Piano Dept Concert (B05)

Informal String Concert (B08)

Sat 25 June

1.00pm Percussion Summer Concert & BBQ (Johanna Primary)

String Concerto Concert

(Holst)

Piano Dept Concert (B05)

Sat 2 July

1.10pm LOUIS WATT COMPETITION FINAL (Holst) 3.30pm ATCL Piano Recital (Holst) 5.00-7.00pm Guitar Dept Concert (Morley)

Sat 9 July

LAST DAY OF TERM PERFORMANCES OR OPEN REHEARSALS - ALL ENSEMBLES 1.10pm Informal String Concert (B08)

Piano Dept Concert (B05) 3.15pm Stagecraft Performance (ND) 4.30pm END OF TERM CONCERT

(Morley)

Anna Gunstone (Cello) Anna is a totally committed student.

She works hard as a cellist and is an asset in Chamber Orchestra, her piano trio and LSSO, and a percussionist!

Anna never gives up however difficult things are and always has a smile on her face! She is always willing to help where needed and supprt others.

Aneirin Hughes-Watts (Piano)

Nye has made strong progress with his piano studies since achieving a Distinction for Grade 8 last summer.

An accomplished all-rounder, he is also pianist for the CYM Dance band and plays violin in the CYM Symphony Orchestra as well as in the LSSO.

THE CRICHLOW CUP

17-23 July

This annual trophy is presented to recognise the hard work, commitment and motivation that a young musician needs to make excellent progress in their musical studies.

25-29 July

Any CYM Head of Department can make nominations and the Head of CYM (London), Geoff Harniess, selects the overall winner.

LYWB Summer Course & Tour to Amsterdam 23 July LYWB Concert at St Alfege

Church, Greenwich CYM SUMMER SCHOOL (see back page)

Sat 17 September

START OF AUTUMN TERM

Wed 21 September

7.30pm LSSO Barbican Concert

(see page 2)

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Nicholas Hasbani (Percussion) Nick has been an extremely reliable and enthusiastic member of the Percussion Department over many years, playing in every ensemble at CYM, together with the LYWB and LSSO. In addition he is always first to help out with moving instruments!

UPBEAT Summer 2016

The 2016 winner of the Crichlow Cup will be announced at the End of Term Concert on Sat 9 July at Morley College – 4.30pm

A FITTING FINALE

Stephen Dagg conducting the CYM combined choirs and Chamber Orchestra It was a real privilege and pleasure to attend the CYM Annual Concert in Milton Court in March.

I am most grateful to Geoff and the Senior Management team for

inviting me to conduct the evening’s performance of Handel’s great Coronation Anthem Zadok the Priest as part of my farewell appearance.

It was a particular treat to see

LIZBETH ELIOTT PRIZE for an outstanding Woodwind Musician Presentation on Sat 9 July at the End of Term Concert The prize is awarded each year to a student from the Woodwind Department who has made an outstanding contribution during the academic year.

LOUIS WATT ANNUAL COMPETITION Final Round - Sat 2 July 2016

This Annual Competition is open to students age 16 or over, minimum standard ABRSM Grade 8, who attend CYM, or CYM holiday courses including LYWB & LSSO. At the preliminary round, three performers are selected to go forward to the Final Round on Sat 2 July, a public lunchtime recital at Morley College.

Prizes are awarded to all three winners to help students to further their musical development. The overall winner, selected by the external adjudicator, receives a prize of £400, and the other two finalists each receive £200.

The adjudicator this year is Mr William Bruce, Head of Strings at Junior Guildhall, who will assess the finalists on general presentation, technique, interpretation and musicianship.

tutors, office colleagues and parents join the ranks of the excellent student choirs and I am indebted to both the combined choirs and CYM Chamber Orchestra, and their talented tutors, for making the occasion so memorable.

I am also grateful to my successor Geoff Harniess and Sir Bob Reid (Chair: FYM) for their kind and humbling comments from the platform in respect of my stewardship of CYM over so many enjoyable and eventful years.

It was another lovely experience to attend the superb April LSSO concert at the Barbican, purely as a guest with no responsibility attached. It is clear to me that both CYM and the LSSO are in a very good place indeed and I wish everyone continuing success in the months and years to come.

The fact that I have been invited to take the CYM model out of London and place it on a national scale is tribute to the work of all the many colleagues, students and parents I have worked with since 1984 (LSS0) and 1990 (CYM). Thank you for all you have given me over so many years. I feel privileged to carry on the legacy of CYM “out there” in the country.

Stephen Dagg, Director, CYM National Strategy

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JOHN EDNEY – brass tutor extraordinaire!

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s befitting someone who not only was a founding member of the LSSO in 1951, but has coached succeeding generations of brass players both within the LSSO and at CYM, the reception held to mark John Edney’s retirement coincided with the April LSSO Barbican concert. In his tribute given on that occasion Stephen Dagg said: "I was absolutely thrilled to see so many people there that evening in that all too short celebration of John’s distinguished career spanning some 40 years within the ILEA, CYM and the LSSO. Last July, at the end of the 2014-15 academic year, CYM said farewell to John Edney, one of our most eminent and long serving tutors. John’s retirement brought to an end one of the most illustrious careers in instrumental teaching and learning in the capital.

Few careers have witnessed so much change in systems and structures within music education – yet John has always been at the vanguard of protecting a simple truth - that high quality singing and instrumental learning rely on high quality teaching – irrespective of political intervention and meddling. John, together with the late and much missed Mike Hinton, nurtured a “who’s who” of young talented brass players in a system born in the ILEA which so many music services subsequently emulated.

John was appointed Brass Organiser with Mike Hinton in the Inner London Education Authority’s flagship Music Service and continued teaching at CYM after the abolition of the unitary authority in 1990. John was also a Chamber Music Coach and Professor of Trombone at Trinity College – now Trinity Laban. Many generations of young London brass players, a who’s who of the profession, have much for which to thank John. In addition to the richness of the performing talent he nurtured, John’s teaching legacy lives on in the hands of so many he taught, now high quality teachers in their own right – many of whom were there that evening.

I first met John in 1984 when I joined the ILEA Music Centre. I will never forget the support and kindness he offered me in my early, youthful and inexperienced days and weeks. Neither will I forget the many holiday courses we shared together with the LSSO, the London Schools Concert Orchestra, the London Schools Symphonic Band (the predecessor of the LYWB) and the London Schools Concert Band where he always demonstrated great friendship alongside the highest professional standards.

Some of you may not be aware that John’s association with music education in London precedes even the ILEA. In fact, John was a trombonist in the LSSO under Dr. Leslie Russell during the orchestra’s earliest courses in the 1950s. These were the days of the London County Council. It is therefore wholly appropriate that we paid tribute to John at an LSSO concert some 60 years later. John, of course, went on to become one of this country’s finest players. After studying with Geoffrey Lindon at Trinity College of Music, where he held a scholarship, John was a member of the Royal Opera House Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the London Mozart Players. John was also a member of the Orchestra of St. John’s Smith Square and the City of London Sinfonia. He was also secretary to the British Trombone Society and held a senior position with the Musicians Union for many years.

John is already hugely missed at CYM after more than forty years of service, but his legacy lives on through a wonderful team of talented tutors and students, some of whom were heard at the LSSO concert. In the mean time we wish John, and his wife Lilah, every happiness in his richly deserved retirement."

Stephen Dagg - Director, CYM National Strategy FAREWELL TO PAULA WYATT I was so very sorry to leave CYM after having taught there since the late 1980’s - so nearly 30 years of happy teaching. I was a pupil too for 4 years from the ages of 14-18 and loved every minute of it, with excellent tuition in all areas and wonderful orchestra rehearsals which then led on to LSSO and my huge love of orchestral playing. However the last 6 years have seen me take on far too much work, often 7 days a week, becoming ill too often, hence the need to make urgent changes and cut back on my teaching. It was incredibly hard to say goodbye to my lovely pupils but am so glad to have had this wonderful time at CYM. Gill Tarlton, Head of Strings writes: Paula will be greatly missed by her pupils and colleagues alike and I wish to extend a huge thank you from the String Department to Paula for her years of dedication to the teaching of young musicians.

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CYM students in Poland The 1st International Chamber Music Competition in Tymbark Poland was launched in April 2016.

CYM tutor Khac-Uyen Nguyen was on the panel for this competition and was keen to encourage CYM pupils to take part. So, on 19 April a CYM string trio: Mina Hobson-Mazur, Jamie Jones and Lucien Engelmann and a string quartet : Leon Human, Kamile Gowan, Emmeline Macdonald and Susannah Roman excitedly departed from Gatwick Airport.

The two ensembles worked incredibly hard in the run up to the competition and were rewarded by both groups winning awards.

Here are some reviews of the visit: On Tuesday 19 April, Leon, Kamile, Susannah and I flew to Poland to take part in the Chamber Music Competition hosted by Szkol Muayczniych in Tymbark. We did a lot of rehearsing from Tuesday until Friday and listened to other competitors, including one group who played one of the same pieces as us, which gave us a few ideas on how we could improve our performance. We performed our pieces on the Friday morning. They were the first movement of the Beethoven String Quartet Op.18 No. 4 and the whole of the Boccherini Quartet Opus 10 No. 2.We were very proud of our performance. After our performance we had a trip to Krakow with Mina and her mum. Most of the Polish children and some of the adults knew some English, but we also communicated using Google Translate which worked well. We learnt a few Polish words while we were there such as dziekjue ci (thank you) and chodz (come). We had different food from what we’re used to in England - some of it we enjoyed, but some of it we didn’t! On the last day we went up a mountain in a Landrover and we had dinner cooked on a fire in a log cabin. We played hide and seek in the woods and had a lot of fun with the children of our Polish hosts.When we had to leave we were very sad, because the experience had been amazing.

The five days felt like weeks.

Emmeline Macdonald

From Mina: I was so excited when I heard we were going to go for the music competition in Poland. And this was even before we arrived there and realised that it was taking place in a beautiful Polish mountain region.We spent the first two days practicing, eating lovely Polish food, getting to know the area and listening to the other competing ensembles - around 100 of them! On Friday it was our turn to play.We were all a bit nervous, but we tried our best. Now we had to wait for the jury’s decision - we were delighted when we were called up to the stage during the final ceremony.We were awarded distinction which was a sort of 4th place.What a great ending to our Polish adventure!

Many thanks to Khac-Uyen and his wife Domenika for their huge efforts to make this happen.

In April - Mina, Lucien and I formed a trio to compete in an International Chamber Music Competition in Tymbark Poland.You might recognise the name ‘Tymbark’ because the town is famous for making juice drinks which are sold around the world.

The competition was very tough with great players there. Our trio won a trophy and the CYM quartet won a prize also. When we were not playing music, we had time to play football as there was a pitch next to the music school.

We also walked through the countryside and up a very high hill. Tymbark is 427 meters above sea level and we had a great view!

Jamie Jones

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PIANO Jazz Workshop and Concert

On 6 February several CYM jazz piano students were treated to a workshop with the professional jazz bassist, Pete Hutchison. With the generous support of FCYM, this has become an annual event and a terrific way of enhancing ensemble skills for our budding young jazz pianists. This year we also had the addition of CYM student, Jordan Hadfield on drum kit.

Our thanks to Pete as well as to our three jazz piano tutors: Joseph Costi, Bruno Heinen and Steve Lodder for all their work in preparing their students for this. We were also very grateful to Bruno who especially brought in a drum kit for Jordan to use. It was a most enjoyable and rewarding day for all involved – see page 16 for more information and photos of the day’s events.

Piano Duet Day

We had another successful Piano Duet Day at Morley College on 19 March. A total of 45 students took part, performing a wide range of music in both classical and jazz genres. The concert was most enjoyable and great to have the support of a large audience of family and friends. A big thank you to our piano tutors, Petra Casen and Judy Taylor, for their coaching work and to FCYM parents for their help with registering

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arrivals and taking photos for Upbeat.

We are also very grateful to FCYM for continuing to sponsor this very worthwhile event.

Annual Concerts

Two piano chamber groups took part in this year’s Annual Chamber concert at St Mary-at-Hill on the evening of 10 March. The trio coached by Yoshiko Endo featuring Lola Grieve (clarinet), Anna Moreno (Basett Horn) and pianist Melissa Flynn gave a delightfully well shaped performance of Mendelssohn’s Konzertstucke No 2 in D minor Op 114.

This was followed by a stylish and strong performance of the Andante movement from Eight Pieces Op 83 by Max Bruch given by Jacob Omondi (clarinet), Lucy Roberts (cello) and Emily Hazrati (piano) who are coached by Clive Williamson.

I should also mention the extremely effective performance given by Sebastien Brooks (violin), Hassan Horack (viola) and Sussanah Roman (cello) of Train Journey written by young CYM piano student Adrian Angol-Henry who was ESTA Young composer of the Year 2015.

One of the highlights of CYM’s Annual Concert in Milton Court on the evening of 19 March was a performance of the first movement of Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos. CYM piano students Nye Hughes-Watts and Joshua Venables

together with CYM’s chamber orchestra gave a riveting performance of this fascinating and eclectic work (see p.18).

Music Places

tutors and colleagues, performing Beethoven’s Sonata in A flat major Op 26 (renowned for it’s famous funeral march), Two Preludes from the Op 32 set by Rachmaninov, La plus que lente

We are delighted to hear that Eyituoyo Awala has been offered a place to study jazz piano at Birmingham Conservatoire from September.

Congratulations also to Helen Cordina who has been offered a place to study music at Birmingham University.

Exams and upcoming recitals

Our congratulations to Sophia Kiely who passed Grade 8 with distinction and to Ariadne Aroukatos and Daniel Fernando who passed with merit in their recent piano exams.

This summer term promises to be exceptionally busy for performances with a record number of exam entries at advanced level. Four students sitting ATCL and Dip ABRSM diploma exams will be performing their full recital in the Holst Room at 3.30pm on 7 May, 2 July and at lunchtime on 9 July. Please come and support them.

First up was Emily Hazrati who presented a full recital of her ATCL Diploma programme on 7 May, the day before her diploma exam. She gave a mature and committed performance to an appreciative audience of parents,

by Debussy and Valse a la manière de Borodine by Ravel.

In addition we have a number of students sitting Grade 8 this term who will perform their full exam programme in the lunchtime piano class on 9 July, as well as our lunchtime piano performance classes taking place this term in room BO5 on 21 May, 18, 25 June and 9 July.

Petra Casen has given me news of her pupil Purav Menon, who recently competed in the piano section of the Croydon Music Festival, and was successful in winning the Twentieth Century Class for 12 and Under. He also received a commendation and a merit for the Recital Class and Classical Sonata Class. Many congratulations!

Cathy Riley Head of Piano

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PERCUSSION EVERYWHERE!

Percussion is everyone’s friend from the biggest orchestra, chamber orchestra, wind band, jazz band, folk group, gamelan, to of course percussion ensemble, marching band, military band, in western and eastern cultures. The same is true at CYM where percussionists have to be adaptable playing in all different musical setups. The CYM Percussion Department trains up young percussionists to be versatile in all these different musical groups where reading skills and performing skills go together. One minute students maybe playing a groove on a guiro, then military snare drum, then a vibraphone part or timpani in an orchestra. This makes percussion playing unique in the huge array of instruments everyone has to learn.

Techniques are very different in all the areas and need specialist teaching which, as tutors, makes our jobs very interesting.

Orchestral percussion consists of – timpani, snare drum, bass drum, clash cymbals, suspended cymbals, triangle, tambourine, xylophone, tubular bells, glockenspiel, tam-tam.

Wind Band needs the same plus concert toms, vibraphone, 10

UPBEAT Summer 2016

tubular bells, tam-tam, drumkit, and Latin American percussion (claves, bongos, cowbell, cabassa, congas, guiro etc…).

Jazz band uses mainly drumkit, Latin American percussion, and occasionally vibraphone.

A Percussion Ensemble would include all of the above, and that’s why the percussion ensemble is so important and is what we base our teaching on.

All percussion students at CYM play in a percussion ensemble and are encouraged to swap parts and gain experience on all the instruments.

The marimba has become a very popular solo instrument and some players make a career as a soloist.

Studies include using up to four mallets (two in each hand) which means that you can play a chord and a melody at the same time. We have two large marimbas at CYM and recently the Friends of CYM have bought for us a brand new portable four and a third octave marimba that we can take apart and assemble with ease for use in outside concerts and summer courses.

This new and exciting development has enabled us to think about performing away from our Johanna School base. A big thank you to Rahul and the Friends!

At our now famous Summer Barbecue and Concert on 25 June we will be featuring our new marimba in the programme.You are all invited to come and enjoy seeing and hearing all our students performing in ensembles and solo pieces, with of course one of our special hot dogs with Dolores’s favourite onions!

Every year we give an award in memory of Lennie Clarke, who was one of the first Percussion tutors at CYM, in the form of a specially

made brass snare drum which is engraved with the winners’ names from 1998. The winner is chosen by the tutors for showing not only great potential but great team spirit as Lennie would have liked.

WE ALL HOPE TO SEE YOU AT 1PM ON SAT 25 JUNE AT JOHANNA SCHOOL FOR OUR ANNUAL BBQ & SUMMER CONCERT! Tony Maloney (Head of Percussion) and his tutor team: Dolores Smallcorn, Trish Allardyce, David Holmes, Mark Bryant, Ben Lewis and Chris Pott.

LYWB

THE BEST OF BRITISH During the February half term the London Youth Wind Band (LYWB) held their first course of the year. It culminated in a concert at St Alfege’s Church on 26 February conducted by Geoffrey Harniess. The theme chosen for the February concert was ‘Best of British’. The concert began with the spritely March from Holst’s Suite in F. Holst is credited with being the first major composer to write an original work for military band – his Suite in E flat of 1909. The March was followed by Haydn Wood’s The Seafarer (very appropriate as we were in Greenwich!) this work includes several well known nautical tunes such as What shall we do with a drunken sailor? The first half of the concert ended with Philip Sparke’s Clarinet Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Band featuring ex CYM student Isha Crichlow. The concerto was much enjoyed by all who took part, not just because of Isha’s beautiful playing and mellow tone.

The concerto, although not well known, is jazz inspired and sounds in parts as if it is improvised. It is in three movements, the first being dance-like, followed by a plaintive and melancholy second movement.

The third movement features a repeated rhythmic ostinato in the brass and percussion, giving a real sense of energy and direction which is followed by a rhapsodic cadenza

in the clarinet part. It was a real pleasure to hear Isha play again.

She is now in her second year at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

The second half began with Edward Gregson’s Festivo. Gordon Jacob’s The Barber of Seville Goes to the Devil followed, featuring some beautiful playing on the oboe by Myfanwy Dew. The work is a tongue in cheek tribute to Rossini.

Malcolm Arnolds Four Scottish Dances arranged by John Paynter carried on the lighter feeling of the second half. The dances are intended to conjure up images of Scotland in the listeners’ mind and use musical features such as drones to imitate the sound of bagpipes.

The first dance is in the style of a Strathspey, the second a lively reel. The third dance evokes a calm summer’s day in the Hebrides with the final dance being a lively fling.

The evening ended with the band transporting the audience away from cold and wet Greenwich to sunnier places with Derek Bourgeois Calypso. I am very grateful to Geoffrey Harniess and Tony Maloney who coached the band during the course and particularly to Isha Crichlow for being so inspiring to the band members.

The next LYWB course is in July (17-23) and we will be travelling to Amsterdam to perform in concerts and a live radio broadcast followed

by a final concert in St Alfege’s on the 23 July at 7.30pm, where the programme will include Buglers Holiday (Leroy Anderson) and Dukas Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Julie Beaman Head of Wind & Brass

Soloist: Isha Crichlow

Julie Beaman, Gill Tarlton,Tony Maloney UPBEAT Summer 2016

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A NIGHT AT THE OPERA WITH THE THREE GENII

I absolutely ‘loved’ ENO’s Magic Flute. Such a stunning, beautiful, imaginative, funny and clever staging. And so, so proud of our former scholar Louis (Lodder) as 3rd Boy (extreme left on photo above). Wonderful singing and acting and just general brilliance. Not all children that the Mayor’s Music Fund support will go on to opening nights at ENO; but that doesn’t make any of their achievements any less wonderful. But tonight, Louis, you are a superstar and I am extremely proud!

Chrissy Kinsella The Mayor of London Music Fund

Louis Lodder, Anton May and Yohan Rodas played the parts of the three genii in English National Opera’s recent production of Mozart’s Magic Flute, which received rave reviews in the press. Here the boys tell us about the experience in their own words.

Anton May writes: We stand alone in the darkness - three shady, slouching figures in skeleton leotards, rotting-flesh tights and dishevelled white wigs - waving our old-man walking sticks at the legion of expectant eyes fixed on us.

3 "This pathway leads you to your quest..."

Our voices join in harmony and my heart starts beating again. The whole world drowns in spellbinding music.

3 "Men stand up proud and do their best..."

I am back in time in October 2015 with several other boys from our choir at CYM, going to an audition for the part in Mozart’s Magic Flute at ENO. “Sure, why not. How difficult could something like this even be?”

I realise just how difficult when I inspect the score 12

UPBEAT Summer 2016

for the first time. There are only four songs, but they look very, very complicated and vocally challenging. I am scared and nearly give up but not after listening to three boys singing cheerfully on YouTube ‘Zum Ziele führt dich diese Bahn’. However I am falling in love with this aria and the decision is made: to try for the first soprano part, even if it would only be ‘for the experience’.

3 "Love and success greet the deserving..."

I have only just got to grips with the songs in time for my first audition. Would I be behind all the others?

To my relief, most other boys only know ‘Zum Ziele’ and we are not asked to sing anything else, so it seems we are all in the same boat. I sing and my voice astounds me; somehow, I know that I will get through to the next round.

All too quickly, the day of the final audition comes.

Not everybody is friendly now, all fighting for the same position. I notice three other boys I remember from the first audition, my strongest competitors, and I wonder if it is possible to beat them.

Imagine my surprise, when after a long nail-biting

wait, one evening my dad greats me after school with a huge smile: “You got the part!” I have cleared both auditions and am invited to sing with the English National Opera. My friend Yohan also receives an offer for his part and Louis gets the third soprano - we are over the moon! And they tell us that we will be paid for all the performances and for the rehearsals too!

3 "Welcome again, oh friends courageous..."

We try our makeup and wigs on for the first time - I am shocked that in this production, the so-called ‘three boys spirits’ are old men. The make-up team certainly makes the skeletal face and decaying skin come to life. Unfortunately, it hurts quite a lot when we take the makeup and sellotape off. And sometimes after a performance, because we are all tired we would go home and then find some glue on the back of our neck.

presents into our helplessly dangling hands. I am holding my tears, but parting is painful. Is it really over? They were going to film the opera, but didn’t because of some ‘technical difficulties’, so no filming, no recording, only my memories and several pictures from rehearsals in our cute outfits with make-up and without it.

I wish it could have lasted forever. I truly loved all the performances. And I would like to thank everyone who supported me along this amazing journey. Firstly, Mark Wigglesworth, the conductor at the ENO, for prompting me with a friendly nod on the night when I almost messed up my solo part. Secondly, Linda Richardson, Head of CYM Singing Department, for all the hard work she put into helping me. And lastly, and most importantly of all, my mum, without whom I wouldn’t have even tried the first audition. Thank you!

3 "The sun commands the slopes of morning..."

This winter is almost over, it flew past me as a wind. Everything is a blur - late nights, missed lessons at school, constant travelling to and from London, (3 Mills Studio I miss most of all). A lot of work goes into our learning sessions, but once we are on to the later rehearsals there is more waiting to do than singing - we are killing time between our cues by playing cards or battleships.

3 "Come with us and you will see..."

I still cannot convince myself that this opera business is real and I am about to step onto the stage and perform in the Coliseum, the largest theatre in London.

Thirteen performances in total - six for our ‘team Anton’ and seven for 'team Louis'.

At every performance there is always somebody I know in the audience: friends, schoolmates, neighbours, my old head teacher or my choir matron, granddad and grandma, uncle and auntie, my dad and mom; and while preparing for my cue behind the stage, I try to work out where they are sitting.

Every performance is different: Papageno messes up his words; Pamina forgets to wave her knife at us; I almost get beheaded by a rapidly dropping screen; we start a fraction of a second late with “O stop! O stop!” and Papageno nearly hangs himself. Backstage, we chant in half-voice with the main characters and silently snigger.

3 "Farewell, we'll meet again..."

Last minutes at the Stage door of the Coliseum - time to say our goodbye’s. Trying to sooth our heartbreaking departure, our matrons thrust little farewell

Yohan Rodas and Anton May Singing in the Magic Flute at the ENO was a very valuable experience. It taught me to enjoy working in a group when I normally prefer working independently.

The musical and theatrical sides were also very exhilarating as Mozart wrote some astounding music, the kind that sticks pleasantly to your ear. I hear it in my head all the time now!

Simon McBurney (the director of this production) made an amazing job of puns and jokes, dotted around the whole piece. The staging and background are also very good; what I particularly liked was the use of a camera projector to project onto the scene words or drawings traced on a board (the terrible snake was just a harmless drawing on the board!)

The dark side to this opera also intrigued me as I love hunting for ‘easter eggs’ and the Magic Flute indeed is full of masonic hidden messages. Magic Flute seems like a light hearted opera but upon closer inspection, many secrets can be found. I feel I have just come back from a fascinating journey into a magic word and, already, I miss Papageno and his pranks!

Yohan Rodas UPBEAT Summer 2016

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LSSO Barbican Concert 12 April 2016

Dominic Wheeler, conductor, with LSSO in rehearsal

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One of the hoped-for developments for young instrumentalists who are members of youth orchestras is that they will join an established professional body and make their career as musicians.

To that end, the experience of giving concerts in major venues is invaluable. But some orchestras play in opera houses – and performing opera is an equally valid aspect for a professional orchestral musician.

With that in mind, the juxtaposition of Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe with Weber’s Oberon certainly expands the understanding of young musicians – from the concert hall to the theatre, and choosing an opera that is not so often heard (or seen) as it might be, adds greater interest.

However, the young musicians gave this wonderful music everything they had, which is saying something, and the result was impressive on any level, particularly the very fine flautist Daniel Swani – who is assured of a professional career should he want it. However, the principal reason for the success of the Ravel was the brilliantly compelling conducting of Dominic Wheeler, whose splendid technique and inherent musicianship drew the very best from these players.

The programme note for Oberon, by Donald Sturrock, mentioned that Weber conducted the premiere at Covent Garden (190 years ago to the day), although he died a few weeks later. The note was not the only contribution

by Sturrock, for the “highlights” – quite well chosen – were linked by dialogues written by him and delivered by two characters sitting at a table shaped as a large beer-barrel.

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These roles were somewhat updated versions of the cronies in the opera, Puck and Droll, dressed as if they had wandered in from the pub scene in Lionel Bart’s Oliver, and – perhaps as a nod towards the opera having been commissioned by Covent Garden – they chatted in what might be charitably referred to as mid-20thcentury ‘mockney’, Alf Garnett and Steptoe & Son not far away.

Authenticity did not come into this staging, therefore, but although purists might well have shied away in horror, the essence of the opera was not destroyed – far from it, for although the singers were in costume and came forward in turn to stand before the orchestra for their arias and ensemble numbers (albeit carrying their music with them), the lighting of the orchestra – plus a waft of upwardly-rising smoke throughout – contributed to the creation of the wonder-world that is the essence of Oberon the opera.

It began with a finely played account of the Overture – so fine, in fact, that the principal horn, Cameron MacDonnell, must be mentioned. With regard to the cut-down Oberon itself, those fearing a Readers’ Digest condensing were reassured: this was indeed the opera’s highlights. Individually and in ensemble the soloists were admirable. Dominick Felix cut a commanding figure; Dominic Sedgwick’s lengthy aria ‘From boyhood’ was particularly impressive, as was the Reiza of Joanna Skillett and the Fatima of Jade Moffat – their early scene, culminating in the duet ‘Ah, near me’ stood out: very fine singing from both. The 26-strong chorus did not have too much to do, but it was first-rate.

That this part of the evening was so successful is due to the excellent musicianship of the school pupils (from within the M25 area) and the achievements of their older soloists and chorus (made up of LSSO friends, family and Guildhall students). But ultimately, the triumph belongs to the rare skills of Dominic Wheeler, from whom the LSSO would have learned a great deal.

Robert Matthew-Walker for Classical Source

John Finden, Joanna Skillett, Dominic Sedgwick & Jade Moffatt

Joanna Skillett accompanied by Poppy Lashley (guitar)

Dominick Felix

Seleni Sewart (orchestra leader)

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LSSO Chorus

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William de Renzy-Martin (Mr Droll) & Rupert Henderson (Puck)

Jazz Workshop and Concert

On 6 February several CYM jazz piano students were treated to a workshop with the professional jazz bassist, Pete Hutchison. With the generous support of FCYM, this has become an annual event and a terrific way of enhancing ensemble skills for our budding young jazz pianists. This year we also had the addition of CYM student, Jordan Hadfield on drum kit.

The day began with individual sessions, during the students’ lesson time, followed by a lunch time informal concert in the Holst Room.

The following students took part: Artemis Ash, Eyituoyo Awala, Luca Gatta, Kamile Gowan, Thomas McCann, Nicholas Mesa, Sidney Moon, Henry Dixon-McGale, Simon Adugna, Naara Neto and Ben Gardiner.

They all rose to the occasion, coping impressively with the additional demands of working with bass and drums. Pete gave, as ever, a wonderfully sensitive backing to each student. Jordan Hadfield must also be complimented for his very accomplished playing, fitting in so well with each ensemble while adding his own imaginative touches.

Pete Hutchison continued his work in the afternoon, supporting the young bass players in the CYM jazz ensembles and delivering much 16

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valuable advice.

Our thanks to Pete as well as to our three jazz piano tutors: Joseph Costi, Bruno Heinen and Steve Lodder for all their work in preparing their students for this. We were also very grateful to Bruno who especially brought in a drum kit for Jordan to use. It was a most enjoyable and rewarding day for all involved.

Cathy Riley Head of Piano

Pete Hutchison BIOGRAPHY

Pete Hutchison originally hails from Hertford, Herts where he began playing the double bass aged six, followed by the bass guitar at thirteen.

Encouraged to pursue jazz by bassist Neil Charles (Empirical, Zed-U), he went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama under the tuition of Steve Watts (Jacqui Dankworth, Norma Winstone), Colin Paris (LSO Co-Principal) and Geoff Gascoyne (BBC Big Band, Jamie Cullum), graduating in 2014.

His time at the School gave Pete the opportunity to perform with several prominent jazz artists such as Michael Garrick, Iain Ballamy, Colin Good and Claire Martin OBE, as well as with the Guildhall’s own Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Singers Ensemble and UBU Ensemble.

Outside of Guildhall, Pete continues to enjoy a varied career spanning genres from jazz to pop, theatre, orchestral and world music, having performed with artists and groups such as Nicola Emmanuelle, Hofesh Shechter Company, Gamu, Abandoman, The Westenders, NYJO (National Youth Jazz Orchestra) and The Dixie Strollers.

Viola Day

Gill Tarlton conducting the combined forces of CYM viola players to perform Fanfare by Michael Rose

Nichola Blakey BIOGRAPHY

Nichola is a professional viola player living in North London. Since graduating from the Royal Academy of Music she has enjoyed a busy freelance career playing all sorts of music, and teaching violists and violinists of all ages. She especially loves playing chamber music as part of the Kruger Quartet. Nichola is also a certified Alexander Technique teacher, and finds it influences her teaching and playing.

The visit in February by violist Nichola Blakey was a success on many levels. Firstly Nichola gave a recital . She performed movements from the Bach Cello Suites on a Baroque viola and then moved to her modern instrument for the Allegro Moderato from Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata and Morpheus by Rebecca Clarke. Mark Kinkaid was her pianist. The mellow tones of the viola were beautifully projected by Nichola.

The concert ended with a performance of a striking Fanfare by Michael Rose performed by eighteen CYM viola players.

During the ensuing masterclass she talked about the physicality of playing – how to centre one’s body to support the instrument and to allow the full resonance to be projected.

Nichola worked with CYM students Jamie Jones, Danielle Lee, Nolitha Olusanya, Hannah Allen, Hassan Horack and Joscelyn Hilder. Each violist received gentle encouragement resulting in playing which was always more relaxed and open.

Nichola's comments included “allow more space for the music” “release the chin” “leave room for your arms” “don’t disturb the position of your head” Throughout the afternoon Nichola demonstrated perfect posture and calmness.

The session on viola playing for violinists revealed a good deal of potential and some violinists have started to play viola in their quartets. A wonderful day for everyone!

TRUMPET MASTERCLASS SAT 21 MAY 1.00pm in Morley College KATE MOORE

Principal Trumpet in BBC Concert Orchestra All visitors welcome UPBEAT Spring 2016

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CYM ANNUAL SHOWCASE CONCERT MILTON COURT with CYM Chamber Orchestra 19 March 2016

Joshua Venables & Aneirin Hughes-Watts performing Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos

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Dance Band

Senior Brass Percussion Ensembles 1 & 2

Guitar Ensemble

The Milton Court Concert Hall provided a stunning backdrop for the CYM Annual Showcase Concert in March which demonstrated the extraordinary breadth of musical performance and talent of our students. The photos on this double page just give you a snapshot of the variety of ensembles that took part, either on stage or in the foyer, and there are oher photos elsewhere: page 21 for the combined choirs; and with CYM Chamber Orchestra page 5; Chamber Orchestra itself on page 33; page 20 for the singer songwriter soloist; and page 27 for various CYM jazz groups who entertained the audience in the Milton Court foyer before the concert and in the interval... and of course the front cover!

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Recorder Ensemble

Voice

The Easter term culminated in a grand performance of Handel’s Coronation Anthem Zadok The Priest at Milton Court, featuring the Chamber Choir, SSA Choir and volunteers from the three Intermediate Choirs, the first time any students from these choirs had sung in an Annual Concert.

Also we were privileged to have vocal help from some parents and some ex-students to boost the tenor and bass lines, which was much appreciated. It was lovely to have Stephen Dagg conducting us, sadly for the last time, before he moves onward and upward in his new role of being a CYM “missionary” and rolling out more CYM centres all over the country.

Helen Cordina

Also performing in the Annual Concert was the lovely Helen Cordina, singing and playing her own composition Home, a really beautiful and creative song which quite rightly brought the house down.

For the vocal department contribution to the Annual 20

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Chamber Concert at St. Mary At Hill the week before, Jude Mackinlay, Sophia Dias Hudspeth and Derek Nightingale gave a moving performance of the trio from Mozart’s opera Cosi Fan Tutte, “Soave Sia il Vento”, ably accompanied by Alex Wells.

This term three of our boy trebles, Louis Lodder, Anton May and Yohan Rodas played the parts of the 3 genii in the ENO production of Mozart’s Magic Flute, which received rave reviews in the press. I was very proud to see them on stage singing and acting beautifully, and really impressed that they had managed to learn about 40 pages of three part music, each holding on to his own solo line immaculately for all that time.

That feat demands extraordinary musicianship, and I take my hat off to them all. Turn to page 12 to hear what the boys thought of their experience and see them in costume!

The Vocal Department Concert on 30 January again showed the versatility of our students, and items ranged from

Radiohead’s Pyramid Song through Defying Gravity from Wicked and the duet Let me be your Star from the TV series Smash, to singer-songwriters and classical items from the Chamber, SSA, Intermediate and Junior Choirs.

Guy Hughes, who has been taking our Intermediate Choirs was offered work with the Royal Shakespeare Company again this term, so I invited ex-CYM student Matthew Cullen O’Keefe to take over, and he has been doing excellent work with them, so much so that I have offered him the job, and he has agreed to do it on a permanent basis. I am hoping that he might start a CYM boys’ choir next year, to include Barbershop and close harmony work. Watch this space!

Matthew is in his 2nd year at Kings, and is already conducting major works with choir and orchestra, and I am excited that he is working with us.

My thanks go to Christine Bisatt, a CYM parent, who has been helping out with the choirs and often taking over and conducting some of them herself.

She is a real source of strength and commitment and I am very grateful to her.

Last term the Stagecraft Class worked in the round, presenting “Group Therapy” to an enthusiastic and sometimes misty-eyed audience. There was something for everyone here, drama, humour and pathos, and I have to admit that I also had tears in my eyes on more than one occasion, the acting and commitment of the students was so good. Bravo to all!

Lynda Richardson Head of Singing

UPBEAT Summer 2016 21 Choir, All three photos above feature the combined forces of CYM Chamber Choir, SSA Intermediate Choirs, tutors, parents and ex-students rehearsing Handel’s Coronation Anthem Zadok the Priest.

Back row L-R: Vinay Ostrolenk (flute), Poppy Lashley (guitar), Miles Simpson (saxophone) Front row L-R: Cherry Ge (harp),Talvin Jacobs (oboe), Myfanwy Dew (celeste) who performed the Sextet Mistico by Villa Lobos.

CYM ANNUAL CHAMBER CONCERT - 10 March 2016 This was our second visit to St Maryat-Hill Church for the CYM Chamber Concert, as we have found the intimate nature of the building as pleasing from an audience perspective as our players do from theirs.

It is always a pleasure to see and hear our students rise to the challenge of working in the small ensembles featured in these concerts. All Saturday Centre departments, other than Percussion, are represented and the repertoire extends from the Baroque to the late 20th century.

Working without a director stretches students’ musical skills in many ways,

Leon Human & Kamile Gowan (violins), Emmerline Macdonald (viola), Susannah Roman (cello), performing a movement from String Quartet Op.18 No.4 by Beethoven.

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increasing their understanding of the importance of communicating on stage, and their awareness of carrying a part ‘singlehandedly’.

The Chamber Music provision at CYM has produced significant successes in recent years in various competitions and festivals, and groups have also been invited to perform in events in prestigious venues.

As always I am grateful to all the tutors, who were involved in the preparation of the music with the students, for what was a splendid evening.

Geoffrey Harniess Head of CYM (London)

Ellen Wilkinson (flute), Myfanwy Dew (oboe), Alison Bayley (horn), Ruby Collins (bassoon), Sophy Leys Johnson (clarinet) playing three of Six Bagatelles by Ligeti.

Vinay Ostrolenk (flute), Melina Demetriou (oboe), Jerome Gaskell (horn), Jude Crofton (bassoon), Sasha Patel (clarinet), playing an arrangement of music by Mussorgsky.

Jacob Omondi (clarinet), Emily Hazrati (piano), Lucy Roberts (cello), playing the first of Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Cello And Piano Op.83

by Bruch.

Joscelyn Hilder & Natalie Russo (violins), Jude Crofton (viola), Bethan Francis (cello), performing a movement from Haydn’s String Quartet in D Op.20 no.4.

Sebastian Brooks (violin), Hassan Horack (viola), Brianna Ste Croix (cello), giving the 2nd performance of CYM student Adrian Angol-Henry’s composition The Train Journey.

Anna Raynaud & Francesca Cosattini-Barrett (violins), Carlotta Robson (viola), Amber Sheehan (cello), performing a movement from Wesley’s String Quartet No.1.

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Strings

London Schools Chamber Orchestra - April course London Schools Chamber Orchestra A small group gathered for this four day course. John Kirby, assisted

by Will Newell, worked intensively on string playing skills through an imaginative programme which included works by Mendelssohn, Charles Ives and Handel. Selected LSSO wind players worked with the orchestra. John invited LSCO members to compose for the group: Purav Menon’s Car Journey and Kathleen Archbold’s Caesium were given their debuts in the concert.

UPMINSTER Concert Jamie Jones, Joshua Pizzoferro, Mina Hobson-Mazur, Danielle Lee, Aya Pfeufer, and Rocio Ortega Lopez made the long journey to Upminster in half term to perform in a CYM showcase concert.

The host was Richard Brasier, known to CYM for his time on the desk at Morley, and currently Organist and Director of Music at St Laurence, Upminster. The young musicians clearly enjoyed the resonant acoustic of this beautiful 12th Century church. The audience takings of £250 were donated to CYM, so many thanks to all those 24

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who took part.

Cellist, Aya Pfeufer said: Travelling to Upminster was a pleasure. I really enjoyed being there, and of course performing my piece on

Mina Hobson-Mazur said: I really enjoyed playing at St Laurence Church in Upminster.The church was beautiful and had very good acoustics. Everybody performed very well and the audience was very friendly. I especially liked the lady who came to our rehearsal because she had a doctor’s appointment later and could not make the concert. She said that our music was just what she needed and that we made her day.

Aya Pfeufer the cello called Concerto in B minor

by Oscar Reading for the local people.

I’m pleased that the people there enjoyed the concert.

Jamie Jones said: Earlier in the year I was invited to play a solo at Upminster church with other CYM students. I played La Folia

by Marin Marais and Prelude by Bach on my viola with Gill accompanying on piano. I was pleased to see that a large audience had come to listen to us and they seemed to really enjoy our performances.

Joshua Pizzoferro

11 June WORLD OF THE DOUBLE BASS with Becky Welsh Come and hear about this versatile instrument.

Becky studied double bass at Trinity College of Music, then completed a Postgraduate Diploma at the Royal Academy of Music in 2006. Since leaving college Becky has built up a busy and varied freelance career in London.

She works very regularly with many of the major orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestras.

Becky is lucky to have had the opportunity to tour extensively with these orchestras abroad in North America, Europe, Japan and China. She has had the wonderful experience of touring with Sting and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in North America and Europe.

25 June STRING CONCERTO Concert This is a wonderful opportunity for string players to perform the repertoire of Bach and Telemann, both as soloists and tutti players. Do join us for a wonderful programme.

OTHER NEWS Congratulations to Brianna Ste Croix for gaining a Distinction in Grade 8 Cello.

On 5 March the Prelude Strings gave a full programme showing the amazing progress they have made as a group this year by demonstrating some of their warm up techniques.

Intonation was secure, dynamics were wide ranging and they showed a full range of bowing skills.

CHAMBER CELLOS Concert Cellist Kim Mackrell joined the String Department in September.

Outside of CYM Kim runs Chamber Cellos, an ensemble largely made up of adult players who either came to the instrument later in life or have continued to play as amateurs whilst pursuing other professions. The group visited CYM earlier this year and gave a truly enjoyable concert of music ranging from Purcell to Cy Coleman, and CYM pianist Natasha Mallett joined them to perform the slow movement from Shostakovitch’s 2nd Piano Concerto.

Chamber Cellos is a unique set-up for amateur cellists Grade 6 to advanced, where the emphasis is less on individual tuition and more on the art of playing together, creating a diverse programme for performance in a short time.

Listening, watching, counting, and communicating are the skills that make for good chamber music and are the main focus. Finding the core sound and style of each piece and learning how to achieve it introduces techniques along the way. This together with listening and awareness create real changes in the quality of the playing, and whatever style/period of music, when the listening rules are applied important ensemble skills are learned.

Gill Tarlton, Head of Strings

Chamber Cellos UPBEAT Summer 2016

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Wind & Brass

CYM Clarinet Ensemble

WOODWIND LUNCHTIME CONCERT 6 FEB The Woodwind Concert at Notre Dame Hall in February was a good example of the variety of student performance that we enjoy at CYM every lunchtime. Jacob Ormondi opened the concert with the Fughetta from Finzi’s Five Bagatelles for Clarinet and Piano. Claudia Araghez (alto saxophone) played a very atmospheric piece by the composer Henri Busser called Astturias. Eloise Tudman made her debut performance on the bassoon playing Sea Shanty by Michael Rose. You might recognise Eloise’s name as she was the first student to play the teneroon which was kindly donated by the Friends of CYM. CYM’s Clarinet Ensemble performed Bach’s Praeludium in D minor arranged by David Hite. Other performers were Isaac de Freitas (alto saxophone), Sacha Neugarten (bassoon) and Aditi Bhandari (oboe). Lola Grieve closed the concert with a musical performance of the first movement of Brahms Clarinet Sonata in E flat opus 120.

Julie Beaman Head of Wind & Brass

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OTHER NEWS Congratulations go to the following students who gained Distinctions in the recent ABRSM and Trinity Exams: Lola Grieve (Grade 8), Joshua Venables (Grade 8), Connor Moore (Grade 5), Thomas McCann (Grade 7).

Particular congratulations go to Lian Wan Tattersall who achieved 137 in her Grade 3 bassoon exam (ABRSM) and Alice Wooton, Grade 6 trumpet (Trinity), who gained 91 marks out of a possible 100, and Purav Menon who is on the oboe taster course and about to take grade 5 oboe – a great achievement.

The CYM Dance Band are on fine form and have been invited to Birmingham Town Hall for the Music for Youth National Festival on 8th July.

The Wind & Brass Departments were well represented in the Chamber Concert and the Annual Concert. As you will have already read in this issue, students are keen to take the opportunity to perform whether it is in an informal setting on Saturday lunchtimes, or on stage or playing jazz in the foyer at Milton Court!

Julie Beaman Head of Wind & Brass

FOYER JAZZ AT MILTON COURT

Martinu's Trio for Cello, Flute and Piano was performed in a lunchtime concert by Grace Twomey (flute), Jade Hogarth (cello), and Rhiannon Dew (piano) - coached

by Petra Casen.

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Recorders For the Recorder Department, the Spring Term revolved around the wonderful Concerto Il Gardellino or the Goldfinch, by the Italian Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi.

This concerto was originally written in 1728 for recorder with string orchestra, but we were playing it in an arrangement for a recorder ensemble to accompany the soloist, including the contra bass recorder to replace a string double bass.

Jane Sanders, the soloist for this concerto, quickly prepared the first movement for a Lunchtime Concert as part of the CYM Open Day on 23 January; that meant she, and the ensemble, had just three weeks before the performance! As you can imagine, a concerto for recorder, named The Goldfinch, imitates bird song, with cadenza-like moments that allow the soloist freedom, and for this Jane played the tiny sopranino recorder.

The next outing for Il Gardellino was in the Recorder Festival Concert on 27 February. This time the complete concerto of three movements was performed, with the contrasting beautifully simple slow movement and, finally, the exciting last movement with more bird song, this time from the orchestral recorders dueting alongside the soloist.

The Festival was an excellent performance of recorder music from all genres, from Renaissance to Jazz, with solos performed by all the CYM recorder students, as well as ensembles. The standard of playing was better than ever with truly beautiful sounds that impressed absolutely everyone present, and left me feeling very proud of the CYM Recorder Department once again.

So, the third and final performance of Vivaldi’s Goldfinch Concerto was at the CYM Annual 28

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Front left: Jane Sanders, soloist Concert on 19 March. This time the venue and audience were larger, and the pressure greater, but Jane’s sopranino playing was confidently secure and extrovert, with the accompanying ensemble well used to the task. The term’s work was clearly successful, with a skilful and exciting performance that gave excellent entertainment, with special congratulations to Jane Sanders, the recorder soloist.

Marion Scott – Head of Recorders & Primary Years

L to R: Freya Gordon, Isaac Greis and Bonnie Taborn CYM Recorder Trio marking the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death on May 3rd by playing music from Much Ado About Nothing – The Sick Tune.

LYRO players - March 2016

LONDON YOUTH RECORDER ORCHESTRA (LYRO) The second LYRO course was held at GSMD 29 March to 1 April with an excellent concert to finish featuring repertoire spanning the musical styles from Renaissance to contemporary.

A complex, lively Canzona by the Italian 16th century composer Giovanni Gabrieli began the programme and, as the course was just after Easter, Peter Philips’ beautiful and joyful Ascendit Deus followed.

Tango fur Elise made everyone smile and was followed by some skilful playing, followed by Arbos

by Arvo Part which changed the mood using slow-moving rhythm patterns that overlap and steadily extend towards a united conclusion.

The Adagio from The Serenade for Winds showed that Mozart can be wonderful on recorders! There was truly virtuosic playing in the Divisions on a Ground by Solomon Eccles, and again in the final Sinfonia by Scarlatti to conclude the concert.

The LYRO is open to all recorder players, Grade 5 and above, without audition and details of the next course (30 Aug-1 Sep) are on the CYM website.

Tracking The Train Journey

A delighted Adrian Angol-Henry (left) receiving applause for his winning composition The Train Journey performed at CYM on 5 March 2016.

Last year, CYM student Adrian Angol-Henry was given the award of ‘ESTA Young Composer 2015 - Junior’ for his composition The Train Journey. He was invited to the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff where the awards were presented and the winning compositions performed. This year fellow CYM students were able to perform Adrian’s composition in a lunchtime concert, to great acclaim.

Congratulations Adrian!

The competition adjudicators said: The Train Journey is a terrific piece. A really enjoyable and descriptive piece, with good use of tempo, rhythm, and interesting sound effects. We were particularly impressed by the way you have transferred the sounds from your imagination to the score, and the way you gauged how long this needs to be to sound and feel ‘just right’.

Adrian (composer) with CYM students Sebastian Brooks (violin), Hassan Horack (viola) and Brianna Ste-Croix (cello).

Sorana Santos – Back from the USA Celebrating 40 years of Joni Mitchell’s Hejira There is so much I cannot put in writing yet as I am waiting for the requisite permissions for all the media I’ve acquired.

However, there are a few things I can touch on from the self-imposed exile I New Orleans Street Band have placed myself in while I try to turn my creative ideas into tangible works while still fresh in my mind: The hard facts: I drove 4200 miles across several climates and four time zones, met over forty new people and musicians, and while it was definitely rewarding, it was also deeply mentally, and emotionally exhausting.

I recreated a few of the scenes in Hejira: visited the now-closed Mandolin Brothers’ Staten Island; looked

for the either-long-gone-or-entirely-fictional Cactus Tree Motel; and saw a gypsy on Bleecker Street for a tarot reading who told me I would come into a lot of money this year (which I look forward to as she cost rather more than the ‘eighteen bucks’ Mitchell paid).

I even unintentionally took a photo that echoed the original album artwork: The next journey lies in completing and releasing my re-imaginings of Hejira for release in the not-too-distant future, in writing the new songs from the journey itself for yet another album, and in sharing the footage and media Black and white photo I gained on the trip with my of Sorana in Atlanta singer-songwriting group. I look forward to sharing these journeys with you too. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1305422782/ celebrating-40-years-of-joni-mitchells-hejira UPBEAT Summer 2016

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Foundation for Young Musicians (FYM) We are immensely proud that the Centre for Young Musicians (CYM) uniquely offers students the chance to perform and collaborate with people from all walks of life and of all ages.

CYM receives higher than average passes at merit and distinction in instrumental exams, 25% of our students study music at Higher Education and many of our alumni teach, write and work as professional musicians.

If you visit us at the Centre on a Saturday you will experience an eclectic, energetic and positive environment for the students to learn in and most of all an over-riding sense for both children and their families, that learning music together is great fun!

We want to be able to offer this valuable opportunity to as many children across London as we can.

It costs £2,000 per student each year to provide this level of quality training. Currently 50% of our students would not be able to attend without a bursary.

The Foundation for Young Musicians exists to secure funds for these bursaries to enable many young people to attend the Centre. To date, the Foundation has raised £8.5 million in bursaries.

“Growing up as a young black male in south east London has not always been easy. (At CYM) I feel equal to the rest and we all play together trying to achieve the same goal – the best possible performance. I’m now 18, start University in a few weeks – play music and stay off the streets.” Krystian, former bursary student If you would like to help support our students, together with our Friends membership, we have launched a new Patrons scheme to enable you to help talented young people to access bursaries.

Join our programme from £500 a year (£42 per month) and your money will directly benefit young Londoners giving them the opportunity to reach their potential.

Please do find out more by contacting Claire Barlow: clairebarlowconsulting@gmail.com 07709 442852

“For me, without coming to CYM I would not be about to finish my music undergraduate degree, nor would I be thinking about doing my PGCE. It’s thanks to CYM that I am the musician that I am today, and I will always thank the Foundation for Young Musicians for my bursary. Now I think it’s time for me to see the potential in other young kids and help them get the opportunities I did.” Cleo, former bursary student

Rescue and Liberate your Musical Instruments!



A current initiative from FCYM inviting CYM & LSSO parents, family, friends, alumni and others to donate musical instruments they are no longer using for use by CYM students. We want to ensure there is no barrier to students’ musical development either as a beginner or when moving on to more advanced instruments.

Don’t worry about the condition of instruments as FCYM will get them back into playing condition. We also need accessories such as cases, covers, bows, etc.

• What instrument? Any • Does size and condition matter? No

• Can we pick up? Yes, London M25 or as close • When can I do it by? Any time! This is a permanent FCYM scheme.

Please email friends@cym.org.uk or ring 07956 579466 as soon as you can!

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INSTRUMENT FUNDRAISING

An excited Cathy Riley, Head of Piano, as she and fellow tutor Steve Lodder choose a piano for CYM. The Friends of CYM’s (FCYM) main purpose is to advance the musical education of young people in maintained schools across the London area, by providing practical and financial support to CYM to enable them to continue and enrich their musical training at the Saturday Centre. With this in mind, we set ourselves the task this year of purchasing some much needed instruments which the Heads of Department at CYM had requested.

I am delighted to say that as a result of Friends of CYM fundraising activities from our Spring £500 Club match funding exercise, cake sales and weekly canteen purchases we have been able to purchase the following instruments for CYM use, in conjunction with CYM’s charitable arm, the Foundation for Young Musicians (see adjacent page).

So…we bought: - two tenoroons (small bassoons) which are being purchased as we go to press…, - a small double bass which is already in use in beginner’s group Prelude Strings, - a quarter size cello which was put to immediate use in the String Department, - a quality Yamaha teaching piano and stool, to the delight of students and tutors at Notre Dame, - a portable marimba and carry kit which will enable outside performances with full percussion

- a wooden tenor recorder which is already in use within the Recorder Department All of these instruments will benefit and further enhance music education for all those attending CYM both as individuals and as members of the many and varied CYM ensembles, bands and orchestras.

The total cost worked out at around £12,600! However, thanks to your generous help and contributions, together with the Foundation of Young Musicians (FYM) we were able to achieve this ambitious aim. Although we have not been able to send individual thank you letters to all those who donated and played their part, baked and sold cakes, volunteered in the canteen, helped with refreshments at concerts and music sales, and in many other ways; through the medium of UPBEAT we do want to say a brilliant thank you to you all from FCYM, and the Heads of Department, tutors and students at CYM. An amazing achievement!

If you haven’t had a chance to contribute or simply forgotten amongst all the other things on your busy schedule we still have lots of instrument repairs on our ‘Wish List’ to action so it is never too late to contribute!

Rahul Patel, Chair of Friends of CYM

A ‘Thank you’ letter from the Chairman of the Foundation for Young Musicians (FYM), the charitable arm of CYM. The Centre for Young Musicians, the London Schools Symphony Orchestra, the London Youth Wind Band and the London Youth Recorder Orchestra have produced young people whose competence has won the support and admiration of their audiences.

This is all made possible by the generosity of people like yourself in providing the instruments on which they can perform. Fundraising activities and recent initiatives such as Rescue and Liberate Your Musical Instrument by the Friends of CYM has helped enormously.

It is this beneficence which has helped keep the Centre alive for well of forty years and allowed it to become part of the musical infrastructure which enhances our city.

Please accept our thanks and continue to enjoy the performances which you have helped make possible.

Yours sincerely Sir Bob Reid Chairman, FYM UPBEAT Summer 2016

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JEFF WARNER – FOLK ARTIST Jeff Warner is one of the USA’s foremost performer/ interpreters of traditional music. His songs from the lumber camps, fishing villages and mountain tops of America connect 21st century audiences with the everyday lives, and artistry, of 19th century Americans. He grew up listening to the songs and stories of his father, Frank Warner, and the traditional singers his parents met during their folksong collecting trips through rural America.

As well as being entertaining Jeff was very informative explaining the origin of the banjo from African slaves to the American minstrel movement. He described how children growing up on farms in America used bits of cow bone to make percussion instruments that sounded like castanets. Although very simple, when he demonstrated what looked like two small shin bones,

Jeff Warner with CYM Folk Groups

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it was amazing that they were capable of producing complex and syncopated accompaniments to the songs that he sang.

One of the students, Connor Moore, was particularly interested in the wooden puppet that Jeff made dance to produce an accompaniment to one of his songs. It was in the shape of a man, and the legs and feet bent to make tapping sounds on a wooden footboard.

During the concert Jeff encouraged the audience to join in, teaching them several choruses to songs dating back to a couple of hundred years ago which everyone enjoyed.

Jeff then spent the afternoon leading workshops with CYM’s Junior and Senior Folk groups – a unique opportunity to connect with past traditions and music with such a prominent figure on the folk scene.

MILTON COURT CONCERT – student perspective

Peter Ash rehearsing with the CYM Chamber Music for their performance in Milton Court of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture Op.84.

Playing at Milton Court was an unforgettable opportunity. It gave me the chance to experience what playing in a real concert hall to a large audience was like. I enjoyed it thoroughly and was very privileged to share the stage with such talented musicians, and hope for several more opportunities like this one.

Ifeoluwa Ogunjobi (trumpet)

GUITAR RECITAL

The Guitar Department were delighted to welcome Andrew Blanch to CYM for a lunchtime recital on 16 April. His choice of programme showed the variety of repertoire for the instrument from Bach to contemporary composers, including our very own CYM tutor Vincent Lindsey-Clark.

Andrew Blanch is a classical guitarist from Sydney, Australia who picked up his first guitar at the age of six, and hasn’t put it down since. Now in his midtwenties, Andrew plays in concerts and competitions around the world and is developing a reputation as

My experience of playing at Milton Court was a fantastic opportunity for me to get an idea of what it would be like to perform at a professional venue. Performing in front of such a large audience, as intimidating as it was, provided me with a rush of confidence and was a great chance for me to expand my musical experience.

Xochitl Ongay-Perez (saxophone)

one of the country’s leading young classical guitarists.

Andrew has won prizes at numerous competitions, most recently the Maurizio Biasini International Guitar Competition in San Francisco (3rd). In December 2015, Andrew released his debut solo CD, Spanish Guitar Music, to critical acclaim: “beautifully lyrical... awesome playing, pulsating with suppressed Spanish machismo... rich imaginings of some well-known (and slightly lesser known) Spanish pieces presented wonderfully”.

Andrew has a Bachelor of Music with first-class honours from the Australian National University studying under renowned guitarists Timothy Kain and Minh le Hoang. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Australian National University researching classical guitar pedagogy. As part of his research, Andrew has spent three months this year based in Paris, studying with, and researching the teaching methods of renowned French guitarist Judicael Perroy.

Tim Pells, Head of Guitar UPBEAT Summer 2016

Far left: Tim Pells, Andrew Blanch & Vincent Lindsey-Clark

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Friends of CYM (FCYM)

A word from the chair...

The Friends of CYM’s main purpose is to advance the musical education of young people from maintained schools across the London area, by providing practical and financial support to CYM to enable them to continue and enrich their musical training at the Saturday Centre. With this in mind, we set ourselves the task this year of purchasing some much needed musical instruments as identified by the Heads of Department at CYM. Do turn to page 31 to see how we got on!

Holding the CYM Annual Showcase concert at Milton Court (Barbican) really presented CYM at its best. The concert was sold out and there was a large queue for returns. In the end with the help of the management team at Milton Court everyone was accommodated for a fantastic concert. The Friends took the view that this year’s event had been greatly improved by the use of this prestigious venue, both beneficial for CYM students and their audience, and are unanimous in expressing their hope that Milton Court will be the preferred venue for the future.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank Elaine Lewis in the CYM office for organising the Higher Education Fair for CYM students in February. FCYM were really happy to host this event in the Friends canteen. Those colleges who had their stalls at the Fair were Birmingham Conservatoire, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Music at Goldsmiths, Leeds College of Music, Royal College of Music, Royal Northern College of Music and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. I could see CYM students really

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appreciating the chance to have an informal as well as informative discussion with all of them. The colleges in turn appreciated and welcomed the really good work and the high standard of musicianship that is evident at CYM, and also noted the hugely supportive environment that CYM offers students every Saturday.

For the Summer term FCYM are organising two events which we hope you will join with us to support the work of CYM. SATURDAY 22 JUNE - MUSIC SALE in the Notre Dame canteen. Parents and others have been donating music, and over the last few weeks have also been helping to sort the music out into easily identifiable categories. Having gone through this process we have discovered that we are short of advanced music in nearly all categories. We are therefore asking all readers and their friends to maybe take a little bit of time to consider sifting through their music and donating it to enthusiastic young musicians at CYM. We are also taking in, under our Rescue and Liberate your Musical Instrument scheme, any music instrument that you feel would benefit a young musician. I do want to thank all those people over the last couple of years who have donated instruments. In nearly all cases they have been put to immediate use.

SATURDAY 25 JUNE - SUMMER CAKE SALE. We are giving advance notice and asking all those bakers out there to get ready in preparation for that day. Our Cake Sales each term are greeted with great enthusiasm and as always we sell out well before the end of the day. The Cake Sales have again provided funds to buy music instruments for the benefit of young musicians attending CYM, and this is the time to acknowledge all those wonderful bakers during the year, and to take this opportunity to say a big thank you and ‘Keep On Baking’.

Rahul Patel Chair, Friends of CYM (FCYM)

BBC Proms

15 July – 10 September 2016 Booking now open

(L-R bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, presenter Katie Derham, conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, cellist Leonard Elschenbroich) Photo credit: BBC Jonathan Ford The Proms are a great way to discover live music and we encourage anyone over 7 years old to attend. With 91 concerts over 58 days, you can hear some of the world’s greatest orchestras and musicians perform a brilliant range of music. Tickets for ages 18 and under are half-price and Promming (standing) tickets are £6 and always available on the day. There’s a Prom for every music lover, as well as FREE musical workshops and events for all ages and abilities. Book Proms tickets via bbc.co.uk/proms or call 0845 401 5040. Contact getinvolved@bbc.co.uk to find out more about FREE workshops and events.

UPBEAT Spring 2016

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C C || Y Y || M M

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9.30am— to 3.30pm daily 9:30am 9:30am —3:30pm 3:30pmDAILY DAILY St Saviour’s & St Olave’s CofE School Venue: Venue:Deptford DeptfordGreen GreenSchool School New Kent Road, London SE1 4AN Edward EdwardSt StSE14 SE146AN 6AN