May/June 2019 Nicola Benedetti focuses on music education LSO Live: 20 years of using the latest technology to capture and share the excitement of concert performances The power of singing
ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
Welcome Well, we did not leave the EU on 29 March. Instead it looks like it could be any date from now until 31 October. Such uncertainty does not aid the ISM in supporting our members. For some time we have been briefing all the relevant government departments on the implications of leaving the EU for working musicians. We have consistently been asking for the introduction of a two-year multi-entry visa. While the House of Lords and some government departments sympathise with musicians’ plight, so far we have not received a positive response. Above: Deborah Annetts Photo: Mark Thompson
Our fourth report, the Impact of Brexit on Musicians, will be published later this month. Ahead of its launch, we can reveal that almost half of the music workforce has identified a negative impact of Brexit on their professional work. According to 63% of respondents, the biggest issue they face is difficulty in securing future work in EU27/EEA countries – and more than one in ten respondents reported that offers of work have been withdrawn or cancelled with Brexit given as a reason. We know from our research that freedom of movement remains the absolute top priority for musicians – 85% of the respondents said they visited the EU27 for work. Thank you to everyone took part in our survey – and for more information about our Save Music campaign, go to savemusic.org.uk before heading onto the members fund survey.
Front Cover John Wilson receives the ISM Distinguished Musician Award Photo: Samuel James Taylor See News on page 4 Inset images: An LSO Live transmission in Trafalgar Square Photo: David Parry See feature on pages 16–19 A Voices Foundation Early Years singing session
Thank you also to the 649 members who responded to the questionnaire about what services the ISM Members Fund should focus on. Your very honest responses really gave us an insight into the lives of many ISM members. It is very concerning that so many members struggle financially. The level of mental stress and muscular skeletal problems was also pronounced and this feedback has enabled us to determine where and how the Fund’s resources can be put to best use. As a result, we are pleased to announce the Fund will offer pilot schemes in physiotherapy and face-toface counselling very shortly. Lastly, we welcomed Jeremy Huw Williams as ISM President 2019/20 at the ISM Members’ Day 2019 in Birmingham on 16 April. An esteemed baritone opera singer, he brings to the ISM a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise. If you were unable to join us at this year’s spectacular event, there will be a full report on the day in the July/August 2019 issue of Music Journal. We know from our research that freedom of movement remains the absolute top priority for musicians – 85% of the respondents said they visited the EU27 for work. Thank you to everyone who took part in our survey – and for more information about our Save Music campaign, go to savemusic.org.uk.
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News & Campaigns ISM Members Fund – for Music Journal Legal & business Professional development
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Nicola Benedetti The music plays on: LSO Live The power of singing
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News from our members Classified advertising News from our corporate members Local events listings Ask me a question
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Volume 86 / Number 1 Published by: The Incorporated Society of Musicians 4–5 Inverness Mews, London W2 3JQ T: 020 7221 3499 E: membership@ism.org W: ism.org Incorporated Society of Musicians is a limited company registered in England No. 36882. Registered Office as address above. Editor: Deborah Annetts Sub-editors: Clare Stevens Francesca Treadaway Proofreader: Christine Gwyther-Scott
Design: cogdesign.com Typography: marcmarazzi.com Advertising: Cabbell Publishing Ltd, T. 020 3603 7940 E. jane@cabbell.co.uk Editorial and advertising copy date: 1 June for July/August issue Price: £7 per copy Subscription: £35 per year Circulation: 10,000 named recipients Views expressed in MJ are not necessarily those of the ISM. The publication of any advertisement does not imply endorsement of the advertiser or the product advertised.
All ISM publications are copyright Printed by Optichrome, Woking GU21 5HX
Photo: Courtesy of The Voices Foundation See feature on pages 20–21
Contents
ISSN 0951 5135
deborah@ism.org
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ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
News & campaigns John Wilson awarded the ISM Distinguished Musician Award 2018
Photo: Kris Brown
Jeremy Huw Williams appointed ISM President 2019-20
The eminent conductor, arranger and musicologist John Wilson, on the cover of this issue of Music Journal, has been awarded the ISM Distinguished Musician Award 2018 for his services to music. The presentation was made on Friday 15 March by the ISM’s current President, Professor David Saint, during a rehearsal of Walton’s Violin Concerto and Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony at the Royal Academy of Music with the Academy Symphony Orchestra. The ISM Distinguished Musician Award is always dated the year before it is awarded to correspond with the term of the ISM President. Established in 1976, the award recognises outstanding contributions that an individual (member or non-member) has made to musical life in the UK. Find out more at ism.org/news
The ISM is delighted to announce the appointment of Jeremy Huw Williams, the internationally renowned baritone singer, as ISM President 2019-20.
Right: John Wilson receives the ISM Distinguished Musician Award Photo: Samuel James Taylor
Jeremy will lead the ISM at a critical time of great change, both within the music sector and in the broader national and international context as the UK awaits its departure from the EU. He was presented with the medal by ISM President 2018-19 Professor David Saint, at ISM Members’ Day 2019. Of his appointment, Jeremy said: ‘The eminent Welsh composer William Mathias was President of the Incorporated Society of Musicians during my student days. As a Welshman I am humbled and honoured to follow in his footsteps as the new President of the ISM.’ For more information, visit ism.org/news
Budding bloggers – we want to hear from you! Have you got a burning issue you wish to share with the music industry? Are you fundraising for a special cause? Or do you simply want to share your experiences? If any of these sound like you, we invite you to contribute to the ISM blog series. To contribute a blog post, simply email jessica.salter@ism.org for our guidelines. We look forward to reading your posts. ism.org/blog
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ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
DCMS Select Committee The DCMS Committee has published its report into live music in the UK, calling for music and arts subjects to be included in the list of approved EBacc subjects. The predecessor committee recommended in its 2013 report on ‘Supporting the creative economy’ that arts be included in the list of approved EBacc subjects. According to the current committee, the concerns heard during this inquiry ‘suggest the need is no less pressing now’. The report, published on 19 March, also calls on the government to work with the music industry in supporting musicians after Britain leaves the European Union. Read more at ism.org/news
Teachers’ fees not rising with cost of living The ISM’s annual survey of teaching and accompanying rates has revealed that rates have not increased in line with the cost of living for the third year in a row. In some cases, rates have risen as little as only 12p per hour. Find out more at ism.org/news
Brexit update
At the time of going to print, the UK is still locked in the Brexit process. Whatever the eventual outcome, we will continue to campaign on Brexit where it affects musicians. In particular, the final trading agreement is expected to take years to negotiate, and is expected to have a huge impact on the UK and EU’s trade in services – including music. You can find out more about our Brexit campaigning work by visiting ism.org/savemusic and freemovecreate.org
Article 13 gets final approval from EU Council The EU Council voted to adopt the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market today (April 15), with 19 member states including the UK voting yes, six against and three abstaining. This latest development marks the final hurdle in the legislative process after Members of European Parliament (MEPs) voted to adopt the Directive last month, with 348 votes in favour, 274 against and 36 abstentions. The Directive includes the controversial Article 13 provision (renamed Article 17), which aims to make the likes of YouTube and Facebook liable for copyright-infringing user uploaded material. Find out more at musicbusinessworldwide.com/ article-13-gets-final-approval-from-eu-council
Bacc for the Future campaign letter On the Bacc for the Future website you will find a draft version of a letter to your MP asking them to write to the Education Secretary about reform of the EBacc. There is increasing parliamentary and public pressure for the Government to reform the key accountability measure, with a recent report by the House of Commons’ influential Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee calling for the EBacc to be reformed to include arts subjects. We know from years of campaigning that letters to MPs from their constituents really do make a big impact, and your letter could make the difference between an MP not having heard about the issue before and becoming a strong supporter. You can find the letter online at baccforthefuture.com/write-to-your-mp
The ISM podcast series The ISM podcast series explores a range of themes and issues professional musicians face in the world today with different guest speakers from across the music sector. Listen to our exclusive interviews with The Empowered Musician speakers and performers before and during the event about their careers and advice for musicians. http://bit.ly/TEMpodcast Continued overleaf È
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BBC Ten Pieces Trailblazers BBC Music has announced the launch of Ten Pieces Trailblazers for the 2019/20 academic year. Trailblazers aims to showcase composers and works that throughout history have redefined classical and orchestral music, breaking new ground and leaving an imprint on the musical world. Featured composers include Hans Zimmer, Delia Derbyshire, Antonio Vivaldi and Florence Price. The BBC Ten Pieces scheme encourages young people to develop their own creative responses to ten pieces of classical music. It now returns for its sixth year to build on its huge success to date. More information at bbc.co.uk/tenpieces External affairs team 020 7313 9312
Get £10 off your membership fee Take the hassle out of renewing your membership by setting up an annual Direct Debit. Your membership will automatically renew every year and you won’t have to contact us unless you wish to cancel or change your payment method. If you are a full member, you will get £10 off your membership fee if you pay by annual Direct Debit. It’s quick and easy to set up Direct Debit payments with us. Simply login at ism.org/my-ism and click on ‘set up Direct Debit’, call us on 020 722 13499 or email membership@ism.org
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The ISM Trust Primary Music Toolkit The ISM Trust, supported by the Schools Music Association (SMA), has published a free online resource for primary school music teachers. The Primary Music Toolkit, written by music education expert Dr Alison Daubney, is a concise six-part guide which aims to help specialist and non-specialist primary music teachers further their knowledge and self-assurance in the classroom. It is packed with practical help and strategies to give teachers the confidence to lead inspiring musical experiences and bring the primary music curriculum to life. The toolkit is free to access and download from the ISM Trust website: ismtrust.org/primary-toolkit
Play: A psychological toolkit for optimal music performance ISM members receive 20% off when they purchase pioneering toolkit Play from the ISM Trust website. The toolkit is available as an eBook priced at just £4 for members (usually £5) or a limited edition printed book priced at £8 (usually £10). A sample chapter is also available from the website. ismtrust.org/play Play: A psychological toolkit for optimal music performance is a ground-breaking guide by Gregory Daubney, CPsychol, MSc and Dr Alison Daubney. Play is packed with approachable practical strategies to help musicians of all ages manage performance anxiety and overcome common psychological obstacles.
ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
ISM Members Fund Over the past year, we have been conducting a review of the ISM Members Fund, thinking holistically about how best to support members across the three identified priorities of physical, mental and financial health.
For six weeks during February and March 2019 we invited every ISM member to tell us, through a survey, about the health and financial challenges they face in life.
Thirdly, there was a clear desire for support in relation to hearing health. Irrespective of age, gender or which area of the profession you work in, concern about preventing hearing loss was rife.
A staggering 649 members responded. With these responses, we have been able to identify the stresses and strains being a professional musician places on health, wellbeing, finances and family life.
These findings have informed the direction that the Members Fund will take going forward and we are delighted to announce that over the coming months the Fund will be introducing three new pilot services:
The results were analysed and confirmed overwhelmingly Firstly, the introduction of face-to-face counselling. that there are three areas where support is clearly We have seen a 5% increase in the usage of our required: confidential 24-hour personal support and advice line The first is in the realm of mental health. Over 44% of over the past year. Staffed by trained counsellors, it is there to assist members with a range of issues respondents reported suffering from a mental health condition, whether that be stress, depression, anxiety, including family issues, relationship advice, alcohol or drug issues, domestic abuse, retirement and PTSD or some other form of mental health illness. bereavement to name but a few. To access this service, The second was around musculoskeletal injuries call freephone number 0800 042 0136. Our current where 43% of respondents reported experiencing service offers up to six structured telephone counselling some form of RSI or joint problem. Most problems sessions and we are going to expand this to trial the were connected with the back or neck, followed by inclusion of face-to-face counselling as well. arms/hand, legs/feet.
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We are also going to launch a pilot physiotherapy service. We know that access to NHS physiotherapy services can involve a substantial wait and that service provision varies wildly across the country. Recognising the need to resolve injuries before they worsen, we are currently developing a physiotherapy service, which will aim to provide consultations, treatment plans for self-management, or up to three face-to-face sessions, depending on your individual circumstances.
Plans are also underway to develop support for hearing health by way of subsidised hearing tests and bespoke ear protection. More details will be announced in due course but our intention is to have this service ready for September. Alongside this we will be developing a suite of online resources on issues relating to health and wellbeing. Details of these, and all our new services, will be housed in a new area of the ISM website that is currently under development.
Both of these services will launch as pilots this month so please keep an eye on future issues of Music Journal These new services move us a step closer towards and our e-newsletters for more information. providing holistic, cradle to grave support to professional musicians through ISM membership, and we will share further updates about our plans with you over the coming months. Sarah Osborn, Head of Services and Operations
ISM graduate membership – now just £50 We understand that the start of your career can be a difficult time financially. In response to increasing graduate debt and your feedback, we have reduced our graduate membership rate to £50, increasing to £110 in the fourth year of membership. This represents a saving of £452 over four years. If you were previously a student member, we will give you an additional year of membership at £50.
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ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
Legal & business Developing resilience Psychotherapist Helen Brice explains how you can take the first steps in protecting yourself from bullying or threatening situations at work Like many psychotherapists, I came to this profession as a second career. My first one was in the music business as an artists’ manager and recording executive. Above: Helen Brice, Specialist Psychotherapist for Musicians Photo: Courtesy of Helen Brice
I founded Stimmung Therapy in 2010 to provide discreet and confidential psychotherapy for DJs, all genres of musicians, songwriters, composers, actors, broadcasters, writers, artists, theatre practitioners and designers. My experience comes from working in five different therapy settings: a London-based conservatoire for music and dance, the NHS, the prison service and young offender institutions, a private hospital, and private practice. Resilience is something that comes up a great deal in my private practice. Clients sometimes want to become more robust in their responses to life events and less prone to falling apart, so as not to have to put themselves back together again, particularly when it comes to their profession.
What is resilience? Here are two definitions from an online dictionary: 1. the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress; 2. an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. Contrary to popular supposition, resilience does not mean ‘never falling apart’. Nor is it being fiercely independent, or never experiencing embarrassment, shame, guilt, sadness, depression or anxiety. Nor is it being unaffected by misfortune. Rather, resilience is ‘bouncing back’ after disappointment; trying again having failed previously, coming back for more when you’ve been rejected, continuing even when you’ve been disempowered. Furthermore, resilience is being judged, and getting over it.
Here’s what might threaten resilience and mental health in the workplace: harassment, being verbally attacked, continuous criticism, denigration, consistent digs that can be plausibly denied as ‘teasing’, being given the ‘cold shoulder’ from colleagues and/or bosses, being ostracised or excluded. Psychological resilience, or weakness, can be associated with sensitivity; some people are born sensitive, so their resilience, and their ability to ‘bounce back’ from adverse situations, from misfortune, from setbacks, is already impaired. Musicians, performers, actors, writers and anyone who creates a piece of work that the public is going to witness, see, read or hear needs to be resilient in their profession all the time. Resilience includes being able to show a bit of vulnerability, because vulnerability connects us to people and says, ‘You and I are the same.’ Resilience comes up in my work as a psychotherapist with musicians and creative people when people have become thin-skinned due to a loss of confidence; or if they’re in a toxic workplace environment. We need resilience because it’s important for maintaining or building self-worth and selfconfidence, and for effective management of conflict.
Developing a resilient response to difficulties If you find yourself being excluded or ostracized or ignored, despite working in different environments, it’s worth considering whether there might be something in your character or style or behaviour that is inadvertently attracting this response from people. So, what can you do? • Ask a trusted friend whether there is an impression you might be inadvertently conveying to attract this behaviour from others • At early stages, having made a personal log of distressing incidents, face the intimidator. Make a personal log of this interaction too and follow it up in an email to HR/Management with the dates and times of the ‘assault’ as well as your interaction with the perpetrator
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3. Owning the experience, by saying ‘I’, and by using the script ‘…am aware of the emotion’, or ‘the sensation’, and so on, you can distance yourself from the experience in a nondissociative manner. You are therefore more likely to gain control in your response to a situation. You can more easily decide whether to speak up, to walk away, to tell someone to stop, or to report an incident to HR, and so on.
Techniques to lessen the threat
Imagery Techniques Imagine donning a ‘golden cloak’, a ‘Teflon coating’ as a layer of resilience before being in the presence of the person by whom you are intimidated or feel overpowered.
Coaching An experienced skills coach in practical mindfulness can help you to hone your awareness of emotions, physical sensations, thoughts, urges, and memories/ images with mindful observation and description. This is called an ‘Awareness Continuum’, as taught by Professor Tom Lynch. As an example, it sounds like this: ‘I am aware of the emotion of fear. I am aware of sensation of feeling my bones sitting on the chair. I am aware of a thought: “This person is being a bully”. I am aware of the image of this person smirking at me behind my back. I am aware of the sensation of the floor under my feet. I am aware of the urge to cry … etc.’ This is useful for three reasons: 1. Research in the behavioural and scientific world shows that labelling an emotion brings the intensity down by about 20-30% 2. Naming physiological experiences is a gateway to being able to recognise emotions; labelling what you experience through your five senses also prevents you from dwelling on your own thoughts, which is useful when you experience any unwanted emotion intensely (so you can choose to leave out thoughts when you practise this)
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Switch on your ‘Safety System’. This is a technique born out of Stephen Porges’s Polyvagal Theory and a skill honed by Professor Tom Lynch, which he calls The Big 3 + 1. When we experience threat, we tend to get tense. This includes the face, which becomes frozen of expression. When your face is flat, your Safety System is off, and the message to your brain is, ‘There’s a threat here,’ over and over. As soon as you start moving your face, you switch on the Safety System, and the message to your brain is, ‘There is no threat.’ Here’s what you do: breathe with your diaphragm, do a closed-mouth smile, wiggle your eyebrows and if sitting down, lean back. (It’s a good idea to practise eyebrow wiggles in the mirror; you need to be able to be subtly raise and lower your eyebrows at the start of each phrase you speak, for example.) You can also use Unique Mindfulness Meditation to invoke calm and peacefulness (not on Headspace or other Apps). Find out more about this on my website: stimmungtherapy.com If panic attacks have become established or you have already been forced to take time off work because of a stressful situation, then a different kind of coaching is necessary, and some deeper psychological work may be required. Helen Brice UKCP MBACP MUPCA (Accred) FRSA
STIMMUNG THERAPY 11 Golden Square W1F 9JB stimmungtherapy.com
ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
Professional development Webinars Setting up your business Tuesday 14 May, 7-8pm If you’ve got a great idea for a new music-related business, this free webcast with accountant and ISM council member Trevor Ford will help you understand some basic principles. Find out about the pros and cons of different business structures, including self-employment, informal and formal partnerships, limited companies and charities. Marketing essentials for musicians
How to… advice series The ISM has built on the successful The Empowered Musician event with a series of new resources, produced in collaboration with music industry experts. The How to… series highlights key skills and knowledge you need to succeed in your music career. How to… Connect with a digital audience, How to…Write a DIY release marketing plan and How to… Work with an Artist Manager are available now for ISM members, with more titles to come over the coming months. ism.org/advice-packs
Tuesday 4 June, 1-2pm Photo: ©iStock
Whether you want to get the word out about your teaching practice or promote your next gig, there are lots of tools out there to help you. Join ISM’s Communications Officer Jessica Salter and Marketing Officer Kirsten Peter for an introduction to websites, social media, mailing lists and creating a visual identity, in this free webinar. ism.org/webinars
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Nicola Benedetti Recently appointed CBE for her services to music, the violinist is deepening her commitment to supporting young musicians with the establishment of her own charity, the Benedetti Foundation. Clare Stevens ďŹ nds out more
Above: Clare Stevens Photo: Alex Ramsay
Left: Nicola Bendetti Photo: Andy Gotts
Scroll through Nicola Benedetti’s current concert diary and it looks pretty similar to that of any solo violinist. There are Mozart concertos with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in Perth, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Copenhagen; Szymanowski’s second concerto in Seattle; Elgar in Oxford with the Oxford Philharmonic, and at the Barbican with the BBC Symphony Orchestra; Mendelssohn in Parma, Italy; Bruch No 1 with the Philharmonia at the Royal Festival Hall and Bruch No 2 with the Aurora Ensemble in Wiesbaden, Germany; Tchaikovsky with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain LQ +DQOH\ DQG 6DͿURQ :DOGHQ
For most performers, that would be more than enough education work to make them feel they were giving something back to the community that nurtured them. Benedetti, however, recently announced plans to intensify and expand her commitment to supporting music education. She intends to set up her own charity, the Benedetti Foundation, which will provide enrichment, inspiration and variation to the UK’s education system and communities. Her ambition is to run a series of orchestra-based weekend workshops, designed to address the needs of both young musicians and music teachers.
But alongside her performing schedule Benedetti Ă€WV LQ DQ H[WUDRUGLQDU\ DPRXQW RI RXWUHDFK educational and ambassadorial work. Over the 12 months to the end of February she reached more than 2,000 young people through masterclasses, partnership projects and school visits; connected with more than 500 music teachers, providing support in the face of mounting pressures, and encouraging best practice; and contributed to numerous campaigns to save and preserve music services across the UK. She took over as president of the European String Teachers Association in July last year, and holds named positions in several youth music organisations, including the National Children’s Orchestras; National Youth Orchestras of Scotland; Music in Secondary Schools Trust; the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland; and Sistema Scotland, where she is known as a ‘Big Sister’ to the participating children and led Super String Sessions with 500 young people from diverse musical backgrounds last autumn to celebrate the organisation’s tenth anniversary.
Plans for that side of the foundation’s activities and the formal aspects of setting up the charitable trust and appealing for funding to supplement Benedetti’s own investment are still embryonic. But she has already launched another essential strand in her project: a series of online videos providing information, guidance and support for young musicians throughout their musical development. The content of these videos will become an integral part of the work of the Benedetti Foundation, and will also provide useful information for teachers looking to support their work with new ideas. ‘With Nicky’ will eventually cover a broad range of questions and themes, but QDWXUDOO\ WKHVH Ă€UVW YLGHRV IRFXV RQ 1LFROD¡V RZQ instrument – the violin. Nicola delivers workshops, masterclasses and educational activities throughout the year, but time is always limited and the desire for follow-up materials when the classes come to a close is ever growing. These videos mark the beginning of a long term project that hopes to be a useful resource and friendly support to young musicians, amateur musicians, educationalists and anyone interested in instrumental music from all over the world. They will enable young people and teachers to connect with her on a more regular basis.
No wonder, then, that she was awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music in 2017, by far the youngest recipient, and this year, still aged only 31, she was appointed Commander of the British Empire for her services to music.
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‘This is all very connected to performance nerves,’ she adds, ‘because if you are physically uncomfortable you’ll be more aware of your surroundings and that makes it hard to focus on the music and forget the audience.’
Above: Nicola Benedetti taking part in a GrassRoots workshop with Every Child (Achieving Their Potential) in March 2019 Photo: Benjamin Ealovega
Series one is underway and a new video is released every Tuesday at midday GMT on Nicola’s YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/ 1LFROD%HQHGHWWL2΀FLDO ZKHUH WKH\ FDQ DOO be viewed. 7KH PDLQ IRFXV RI WKH Ă€UVW IHZ Ă€OPV LV addressing issues to do with the discomfort often experienced by violin students when they practise or perform for long periods of time. This can be because they aren’t holding their instrument or bow correctly, or because their posture is poor. Asked if good teaching in the early stages of her career helped her to escape this sort of problem, Benedetti says that on the contrary, even though she had marvellous teachers, she herself has experienced all types of discomfort and has had to continue to manage it throughout her career. ‘That means I’m well placed to help other SHRSOH ¡ VKH VD\V Âś(YHU\ YLROLQLVW LV GLÍżHUHQW DQG HYHU\RQH KDV WR Ă€QG WKHLU RZQ VROXWLRQ WR SK\VLFDO SUREOHPV 6RPH SHRSOH Ă€QG UHOD[DWLRQ H[HUFLVHV or massage helpful, others don’t, but the one thing I’m convinced of is that if you are not addressing how you are with your instrument, no amount of external strategies will help you. ‘The biggest problem I see is students being extremely diligent and working very hard but through the wrong prism. That can do long-term physical damage, and their playing never improves, because you can’t play well and make the violin sound as it should if you are not poised and balanced or you are not holding it properly.
For two weeks in February and March this year Benedetti immersed herself completely in education work, visiting an extraordinary number of institutions and projects in and around London. Activity ranged from leading workshops with primary school children who are learning with London Music Masters, the London Music Fund, the Nucleo Project in North Kensington and Newham’s Every Child a Musician scheme to taking part in a Wigmore Hall Schools Concert, giving masterclasses with string students from Lady Eleanor Holles School, the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music. She also gave a keynote speech at the Music and Drama Education Expo at Olympia and took part in a œÀUHVLGH FKDW¡ DW WKH ([SR ZLWK &DPHURQ %UD\ editor of Music Teacher magazine. At the Menuhin School, where she herself was a pupil, studying with Natasha Boyarskaya, Benedetti found herself giving a masterclass to the whole school. ‘I told them to make the most of their time at school, where so much help is available to them – these are their golden years, and they should HQMR\ WKHP EHFDXVH UHDO OLIH LV YHU\ GLÍżHUHQW ¡ 5HĂ HFWLQJ RQ DOO WKH SURMHFWV DQG HVWDEOLVKPHQWV she visited and how her observations will inform her future work with her foundation, she says the experience has left her with an overwhelming sense that there is an enormous amount of great work going on. However it has also reinforced KHU FRQFHUQV DERXW KRZ WKH PDQ\ GLÍżHUHQW PXVLF HGXFDWLRQ SURMHFWV DUH UXQ KRZ WKDW DÍżHFWV WKH quality of their work and numbers of children who can be reached – issues to do with whether they are privately funded or state funded, whether they are the vision of one individual, and the contexts in which they operate. Âś6RPH RI WKH PRVW HÍżHFWLYH SURMHFWV DUH QRW doing enough to promote themselves – the work they are doing needs greater exposure. Some of them fear over-expansion, and they are wise to do so, but somehow there has to be a better way to show more teachers what is actually possible. 2QH WKLQJ WKDW GRHV VKRXW ORXGO\ LV WKDW GL΀FXOWLHV to do with society, family, infrastructure or culture are not actually appropriate excuses for children not progressing in music. Given the right encouragement any child will thrive.’ Clare Stevens nicolabenedetti.co.uk
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Y Brifysgol ger y lli Sicrwydd o lety yn y flwyddyn gyntaf Man diogel a chyfeillgar i astudio ynddo Cerddorfa Symffoni, Band Cyngerdd, corau, ensembles, gwersi unigol, adnoddau ymarfer a llyfrgell • Canolfan Gelfyddydau sy’n llawn bwrlwm
Manylion llawn o’r Ganolfan Gerdd:
University by the sea Guaranteed first year accommodation Safe and friendly place to study Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, choirs, ensembles, individual lessons, practice and library facilities • Vibrant Arts Centre
Full details available from the Music Centre:
| 01970 622685 | music@aber.ac.uk | aber.ac.uk/music
www.benslowmusic-ils. www .benslowmusic-ils.org org 01462 420748 Registered Re gistered Charity No No.. 313 313755 755
22019-0517
Mae Prifysgol Aberystwyth yn cynnig un o’r pecynnau gorau o Ysgoloriaethau a Bwrsariaethau ym Mhrydain
ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
The music plays on: LSO Live LSO Live is the London Symphony Orchestra’s own record label and uses the latest technology to capture the orchestra’s most exciting performances. In its twentieth year, Francesca Treadaway of the ISM catches up with Becky Lees, Head of LSO Live
Above: Francesca Treadaway
Top: LSO Conductor Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas conducting rehearsals at the Barbican Photo: Š LSO / Kevin Leighton Middle: Members of the LSO Digital Technology Group perform an annual concert at LSO St Luke’s Photo: Š LSO / Kevin Leighton Bottom: Melody VR recording of BMW LSO Open Air Classics Photo: Š LSO / Melody VR
Reading recent reviews of the London Symphony 2UFKHVWUD /62 ZRUGV DUH MXPSLQJ RÍż WKH SDJH RU WKH VFUHHQ DW PH ÂśPDJQLĂ€FHQW¡ ÂśVL]]OLQJ¡ ‘pungent form’, ‘gloriously vivid and vigorous’ – an array of the most dazzling adjectives to describe the vibrancy of one of the world’s leading orchestras. These are words from reviews of live performances; where the audience is present in the same room, and the stage is a real, living, breathing thing with musicians sitting upon it. Reproducing the experience is a tall order – but the innovative and groundbreaking LSO Live has managed just that. Its live concert streams, an initiative launched in 2016, are of exceptional high quality and now boast a reach of over 100 countries per concert date. Classical music is often accused of being elitist and inaccessible; unwelcoming, even. But the aim of the streams is to bring classical music to new audiences and allow them to ‘encounter new classical music in a “risk-freeâ€? environment’. Now in its twentieth year, LSO Live is the LSO’s record label, founded with the aim of reaching new audiences for classical music as well as dedicated OLVWHQHUV 7KH RUFKHVWUD ZDV WKH Ă€UVW WR ODXQFK LWV own record label and it has helped revitalise the market for classical music, as Becky Lees, Head of LSO Live for the past seven years, explains: ‘LSO Live was established in a period in the 1990s where there was a decline in commercial sessions for the orchestra, but this coincided with digital technology becoming much more accessible. The LSO reviewed its strategy in music recording and took the decision to make its own recordings.
‘We love the idea of that live sound, because it gives that sense of the energy and emotion that the orchestra projects in our concert hall. Making our RZQ UHFRUGLQJV PHDQW ZH FRXOG WUXO\ UHĂ HFW ZKDW we do on the stage each season – so from an Artists & Repertoire perspective it was interesting for us. We record symphony cycles in discussion with our “familyâ€? conductors [principal conductor Sir Simon Rattle, principal guest conductors Gianandrea Noseda and François-Xavier Roth, conductor laureate Michael Tilson Thomas and chorus director Simon Halsey], but we also put a spotlight on new commissions – things that are slightly more esoteric ² ZLWK WKH LGHD ZH ZDQW WKH ODEHO WR EH SURĂ€WDEOH EXW DOVR UHĂ HFW ZKDW ZH GR RQ WKH VWDJH ¡ LSO Live recordings are owned by the orchestra itself. The players, conductors and soloists are stakeholders in the recordings on which they appear and LSO Live works with some of the world’s leading producers and sound engineers. The musicians not only choose what should be recorded, but are also involved throughout the production process, ensuring only recordings they are happy with get released. They do not get paid a fee for the recording, but do get paid through recording royalty distribution. The label was launched at approximately the VDPH WLPH DV L7XQHV EHFDPH VLJQLĂ€FDQW LQ WKH PXVLF industry. ‘We have had to diversify and evolve with technology and the times – so we came to the label considering it as digital. We wanted to be a disrupter; so, we were the classical label to put our entire catalogue on iTunes,’ says Lees. ‘I would say that it’s over the last six years that we have had to diversify and innovate the most, in partnership with our musicians, taking the approach of moving to audio-visual, streaming and broadcast.’ Continued overleaf Ăˆ
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ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
Clockwise from top left: Left: Sir Simon Rattle conducts the London Symphony Orchestra with 50 LSO On Track young musicians from across East London and Guildhall School musicians at BMW Classics in Trafalgar Square, London, Sunday July 1, 2018. Photos (clockwise from top left): Doug Peters/PA Wire; Doug Peters/ PA Wire; David Parry/PA Wire; David Parry/PA Wire
Broadcasts of live concerts have been in H[LVWHQFH IRU GHFDGHV ² WKH ÀUVW WHOHYLVHG %%& Promenade concert was in 1947 – but they are now less prevalent on mainstream television than in the past. But internet streaming of performances by arts organisations is becoming more common, and with improvements to technology, including to the cameras in the Barbican concert hall, the LSO launched its 2016/17 season with a live streaming of the Verdi Requiem conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. As well as a sold-out hall, 4,000 people watched the performance live and in excess of 12,000 people in 139 countries have watched it since it was made available on demand online.
and community programme LSO Discovery and for marketing purposes.’ 7KH PRVW VLJQLÀFDQW GHYHORSPHQWV LQ /62 Live’s history of live streaming are its partnerships with YouTube and Spotify, which Lees sees as vital factors in audience development and engagement. œ3DUWQHULQJ ZLWK <RX7XEH ZDV D VLJQLÀFDQW strategy for us. Of course, the best experience of VHHLQJ DQG KHDULQJ D PXVLFLDQ LV LQ WKH à HVK E\ attending a performance, but we wanted to get our content beyond the concert hall,’ she says.
‘The motivators for the partnerships with <RX7XEH DQG 6SRWLI\ ZHUH QRW Ă€QDQFLDO EXW making the label an accessible point for people. ‘Since the launch of LSO Live, we have become We didn’t consider arrangements such as Spotify not only a record label but a media producer and as big income but instead as low barriers to entry content creator,’ Lees explains. ‘People want to for people to hear our music. Our live streams are know the orchestra, they want audio-visual content about access, bringing the orchestra onto a global in every facet of our activities – so we work with stage; it’s a relatively low-cost arrangement for our marketing team to produce a whole suite of us from a technology perspective but gets the material that can be repurposed throughout the maximum audience possible. We also receive organisation. For example, we will do a broadcast advertising revenue. YouTube has been supportive and LSO Live will be co-producer, and then and has given us tips and advice on best practice we can repurpose that content throughout the and how to approach things.’ organisation, including use by our music education
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ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
Because LSO Live owns the recording rights to the orchestra’s performances, it has been able to explore other ways of earning income from the streams. ‘There are sync supervisors in Hollywood who use YouTube to gauge where the engagement is (number of views, and so on). We have been fortunate enough to get some sync deals as we have quite a big portfolio on YouTube now,’ Lees explains. Spotify has also given the LSO some SURĂ€OH SDUWLFXODUO\ LQ HPHUJLQJ PDUNHWV While making giant leaps in using digital technology and innovating the concert platform, LSO Live is keen not to forget its illustrious past. ‘We have generated an amazing catalogue – over 100 recordings, reaching 139 countries, UHSUHVHQWLQJ WKH ZRUN RI RXU Ă€QHVW SULQFLSDO conductors, such as Berlioz’s Les Troyens for which Sir Colin Davis won a double Grammy award.
Having those magic moments is important – we wouldn’t have that living archive if we hadn’t established the label. ‘I also think the global reach has been important – we are buried in the brutal concrete jungle of the %DUELFDQ +DYLQJ UHODWLRQVKLSV ZLWK SHRSOH DURXQG the world because of our recordings is humbling – seeing people talking to us from Colombia and feeling excited about the next broadcast is really special. As long as we can be relevant and continue to evolve, things will continue to be really exciting for the orchestra.’ Francesca Treadaway LSO Live Store: lso.co.uk/Buy Music YouTube:Youtube.com/user/lso
Becky Lees’ top recordings 1999-2019 Elgar ‘Enigma Variations’ conducted by Sir Colin Davis – ‘British music at its ďŹ nest!’ Beethoven symphonies cycle conducted by Bernard Haitink – ‘a landmark recording from this legendary conductor’ ProkoďŹ ev ‘Romeo and Juliet’ conducted by Valery Gergiev – ‘multi-award winning recording for the label’
Bernstein ‘Wonderful Town’ conducted by Sir Simon Rattle – ‘a fun-ďŹ lled rendition which really highlights the beneďŹ ts of recording live. Energy and emotion abound!’ Thomas Adès, ‘Asyla’, ‘Tevot’ and ‘Polaris’ conducted by Thomas Ades – ‘an incredible British composer who really resonates with audiences.’ Mozart violin concertos, conducted by Nikolaj Znaider – ‘one of the new departures for the label as we move to record more concerto and small ensemble projects.’
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ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
The power of singing Ed Milner, newly appointed CEO of the National Youth Choirs of Scotland, celebrates the global impact of singing and calls for recognition of its importance in UK schools
Singing, as we all know, is a natural act. Who hasn’t sung? We might as well ask who hasn’t breathed. Or laughed. Or shouted. At its most stripped back, singing is a pre-language involuntary means of expression – a primal sound from our collective deep past. Our ancient ancestors used it to express themselves and communicate, accompanied by the whacking out of a rhythm on some resonant wood. We all have it in us – a personal voice that’s entirely our own, ready to go and be let out.
Above: Ed Milner
Being human we have, of course, manipulated singing over the passing millennia. By the time we get to 2019, we have created such complex singing structures all over the world that some people – even many people – don’t feel they can or want to access their voices. But singing has such power – for identity, for change, for community, for unity, for protest, for healing, for working, for doing things together. There is so much proof of the power of singing. In 1991, when the Soviet tanks approached Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, hundreds of thousands of citizens entered the city streets and sang. The end may have been approaching for the Soviet Union, but in the Baltic States it was singing that pushed it over the edge. More recently, in the shell-shocked aftermath of the Christchurch shootings in New =HDODQG D JURZLQJ DQG GHÀDQW JURXS RI \RXQJ people from every background – the future of the country – went viral with their spontaneous SHUIRUPDQFH RI WKH +DND 6LQJLQJ LV GHÀDQFH LW LV LGHQWLW\ DQG LW LV GL΀FXOW WR VKLIW In our country we have our own traditions and ways. Communal singing has been the backbone of our history, in schools, industry, religion, the military and in civic life. Group singing ensured communities could consolidate their identity -– ZRUNHUV VDQJ LQ WKH ÀHOGV ZRUVKLSSHUV VDQJ LQ church, sailors sang in the rigging. The Georgians and Victorians standardised singing beyond the royal chapels and the nineteenth- century
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PLJUDWLRQ WR WKH WRZQV OHG WR D à RXULVKLQJ RI FKRUDO societies. Mass singing took hold in most industrial cities, with Birmingham leading the way – we see the remainders of that on our football and rugby WHUUDFHV 7KH WZHQWLHWK FHQWXU\¡V FRQà LFWV ZHUH shaped through singing – those poignant WW1 songs remain part of our shared national identity. What better way to express your identity than by singing it? Yet somewhere in all of this history, attitudes shifted. Maybe the cliques and communities or the social hierarchy of songs from pubs to parliament meant that people felt the songs weren’t for them anymore. Or the exponential rapid rise in technology from radio onwards meant that we consumed rather than engaged. Or the noise of the machines drove the singing out and we sang along in our heads rather than out-loud with someone else. There is now more music and singing in our lives than ever before. No one need fear the end of music; it is a never-ending, readily-accessible commodity streamed at us in every space and platform. But fewer people are doing it. And the greatest shame of all is that somehow we let it go in our schools. Who would ever argue against children singing? Yet by the 1990s we had seen singing squeezed out of our primary schools (never mind our secondary schools), with a cyclical challenge of non-singing children becoming nonsinging teachers. Where had the singing gone? How on earth could we deprive even very young children of the opportunity to sing? Help came in the form of successful lobbying for government investment in the infrastructure of singing and music, with funding for a national singing campaign (Sing Up) and ambassador (Howard Goodall), music services, a National Foundation for Youth Music and for many organisations dedicated to increasing singing with our children and young SHRSOH 5HVRXUFHV WUDLQLQJ DQG VXSSRUW à RXULVKHG – and still does – and nobody can now argue against
ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
the power and importance of singing. We would be foolish to state that singing happens in every VLQJOH VFKRRO RU WKDW HYHU\ WHDFKHU LV FRQĂ€GHQW LQ leading singing, but it’s certainly true that all of the structures are in place to support singing. And now, with a divided society and an uncertain future, we face our greatest challenges of all. In Grimsby, 72% of people voted to leave the European Union in 2016. With a once world-famous Ă€VKLQJ LQGXVWU\ QRZ LQ WDWWHUV WKH WRZQ YRWHG IRU an alternative. Edward Heneage Primary Academy -– part of the David Ross Education Trust – sits near the port in the East Marsh area where in the past HYHU\RQH ZDV DVVRFLDWHG ZLWK WKH Ă€VKLQJ LQGXVWU\ The government’s indices of deprivation in 2015 ranked East Marsh as the fourth worst place in the UK for employment, the second for crime and the worst for education, skills and training. In the school, just over 50% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (the standard education measurement for deprivation). It is a town with many challenges, but also great pride and the school builds on that pride through singing. Every child sings in every classroom – led by every teacher – and the headteacher Dominique 2VERUQH EHOLHYHV VLQJLQJ KDV KDG D VLJQLĂ€FDQW impact on the school: ‘Not only has singing enabled our pupils to develop a strong sense of social inclusion, building an alternative community for children to build positive relationships with pupils they would not normally interact with, it has also enabled them to engage with opportunities which they would never previously have had the opportunity to partake in.’
but Mynott feels that the singing teaches the children phrasing – essential to their learning the English language and their ability to be part of their community. John states that ‘singing is a way that our community learns to collaborate, listen to each other and be together.’
Above: PHF Singing School Photo: Courtesy of The Voices Foundation
In both Grimsby and Watford, singing is the tool that the schools use to bind their communities and to prepare their students for the challenges of life ahead. Whatever happens with our own futures, if we are to remain a pluralistic, outward-looking and creative nation then our children’s experiences and attitudes are key. We will come and go but children will lead the way. Singing is not the only answer by Nearby in Grimsby Central Hall, Susan any means, but if our children sing songs of their Hollingworth is leading the Grimsby Philharmonic own communities and of the wider world, songs Society choir, founded in 1852 as part of that great in many languages and songs of their families, Victorian growth in singing. The choir of 80 has then they share a knowledge, an understanding recently completed Britten’s War Requiem in Lincoln of cultures that they can take with them into their Cathedral and are now working on Howard futures. Goodall’s Eternal Light. Singing is in the lifeblood of We learn about others by engaging, by sharing, WKH WRZQ LW XVHG WR ÀOO WKH SXEV KDOOV KRXVHV DQG by listening and with the voice. What better way to schools. Now it’s helping again and those children do that than by singing? are singing songs of their town and of the world the town once connected with. Ed Milner Central Primary School in Watford is a very GLͿHUHQW VFKRRO LQ D YHU\ GLͿHUHQW WRZQ 6LWXDWHG in Victorian buildings on the very edge of the town centre, the school is busy with 430 students from every corner of the world. The mobility of students at the school is very high and the percentage of children with English as an additional language is 74%. One of the ways the headteacher John Mynott binds this constantly shifting community is through singing. By singing together, not only are the children gaining a joint understanding of each other and a respect for each other’s culture,
voices.org.uk singup.org youthmusic.org.uk nycos.co.uk Ed Milner recently completed a year as interim CEO of The Voices Foundation and has just been appointed as chief executive of the National Youth Choir of Scotland, taking up the post in May 2019. He has previously been director of workforce development at Sing Up and head of music education at Sage Gateshead.
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New from Spring 2019
London College of Music Examinations
Music Theatre Syllabus 2019–2021 lcme.info/mt
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www.vocalzone.com
ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS We welcome your brief news (max. 150 words) and high res images. Please email mj@ism.org. The next deadline for copy is 1 June for the July/August issue.
Amir Konjani Together with the other two Krakensize instruments (a piano & a cello), Amir Konjani’s specialised harp, with its twenty outward-reaching tubular tentacles (ten on each side), is to be the centrepiece in two LSOcommissioned ‘living sculpture’ performances on 18 May at 2 pm, 3 pm and 4 pm at LSO St. Luke’s, Clerkenwell, London EC1V 9NG. The music score for these two performances (Amir’s own original compositions) will be graphically represented on a literal carpet as laid out on stage. Effectively, each musician plays their piece as they step on each note and walk through the score. Performers and Artist: Mina Kavani, Sioned Williams, Davoud Jafari Consultant: Maryam Nazari Script translation: Frank Fakhim amirkonjani.com lso.co.uk/lso-st-lukes
will be testing a double bass soon). You won’t need to alter your bike or the item you are carrying and the Airpannier is particularly useful for commuters, enabling them to make their own panniers from wheelie travel bags and rucksacks.
For this first of two volumes, presenting the first book of this famous collection of forty-eight preludes and fugues, Devine uses an exquisite instrument built by Colin Booth after an instrument by the eighteenth-century maker Johann Christof Fleischer.
Robert Max
A tough, ergonomic, safe and sound way to carry your instruments, Airpannier is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint – ‘the planet will love you for it,’ says Paul. ‘Get on your bike and carry what you like.’ Mundo Music Gear is very happy to give a 10% discount to fellow members of the ISM. mundomusicgear.co.uk
Steven Devine
Paul Martin ISM member and director of Mundo Music Gear, Paul Martin designs ‘Airpannier’ for musicians to carry their instruments safely and comfortably on bicycles. A brilliant and very affordable pannier that literally fits in a jacket pocket, it is incredibly versatile and rugged and can carry guitars, cellos, big keyboards and much more (Paul
returns to Resonus to record one of the great pinnacles of the Baroque keyboard repertoire, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Das wohltemperierte Klavier (‘The Well-Tempered Clavier’).
Following his acclaimed recording of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s complete solo keyboard works (RES10214), harpsichordist Steven Devine
Cellist Robert Max is performing Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello throughout the UK in 2019 and 2020. Upcoming performances include at the Frinton Festival on 24 May (frintonfestival.com), SJE Arts in Oxford on 14 June (sje-oxford. org), Penkhull Festival on 19 September (penkhullfestival.com), Moat Brae House in Dumfries on 12 December (musicindumfries.com) and Conway Hall on 10 May 2020 (conwayhall. org.uk/sunday-concerts). The first five suites are played on a beautiful Stradivarius cello dating from 1726 known as the ‘Comte de Saveuse’ and the sixth suite is played on a five-stringed cello as requested by the composer. Continued overleaf È
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ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
Richard Jeffries ISM member Richard Jeffries, a choral director and music educator from the Midlands, has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship for 2019 from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust (WCMT). Richard’s project focus is ‘Harnessing the power of music and its effect on learning’. The fellowship will enable him to travel to America, Canada and Finland to look at the very best in choral work, how it’s embedded in communities and schools, and how this has a positive impact on children’s learning.
and sounds. The CD was recorded in the wonderful Boxgrove Priory near Chichester. It is available from Linn Records and gothicvoices.co.uk catherineking.org
Derek Harrison
As a director of choirs, large and small (and over a wide repertoire from early through the choral classics to the lighter side), for over 40 years, Derek Harrison has been concerned that, for the less experienced singers, joining a choir can be a daunting prospect. More so perhaps if the choir uses music (‘I can’t join your choir because I cannot A former primary teacher, now working freelance, Richard has always read music’). To help those who would been fascinated by the power of music like to sing with a choir, he has written and is concerned that many schools do a booklet called Welcome to Choral Singing which starts from the premise little or no music at all. that it’s not necessary to ‘read music’ – On his return, Richard will share his whatever that really means! It covers global insights and recommendations many aspects of what choral singing with colleagues, professions, is all about under headings such as: organisations and communities to ‘What is the conductor doing?’, ‘When make change happen at a local level to mark the score’, ‘What signs to use’, initially, but at a national level too. ‘What is going on in rehearsals?’ and Richard says: ‘I feel very excited and ‘What to do in between rehearsals’ privileged to have been given this and more besides. opportunity, which I hope will bring ‘And it is not only those new to choral about change.’ singing who will benefit,’ says Derek. The WCMT was set up in 1965 as a living ‘ If all singers knew and practised all legacy to Winston Churchill’s leadership, that is in this short booklet, everybody empowering individuals to learn would enjoy the experience even more from the world to benefit the UK. – perhaps “choral amnesia” is more You can find out more from wcmt.org. widespread than just in my choirs!’ uk and follow Richard’s progress here: Welcome to Choral Singing is available richardjeffries.co.uk directly from dbharrison.dbh@gmail. com / derekharrison@hertfordchoral. Catherine King org.uk (or from Lindsay Music or Mezzo soprano Catherine King’s ChoraLine) recent CD with Gothic Voices ‘The Dufay Spectacle’ has been receiving phenomenal reviews, worldwide. The ensemble will perform this programme in the Norfolk and Norwich Festival (24 May), the Vantaa Festival in Finland (8 August) and as the final concert in Antwerp’s AMUZ Laus Polyphonie Festival (25 August). In a pageant of versatility featuring France’s greatest pre-Renaissance composer, the programme plunges the listener into the world of a grand New Year’s Day wedding feast, with an astonishing variety of music
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Len Rhodes FISM ‘A Night With Janis Joplin’ is now available on BroadwayHD. Len Rhodes was part of the original creative team, commissioned by Michael and Laura Joplin ( Janis’s siblings). Len and their production team recreated Janis’s music for this show – which after touring the US made its Broadway debut in 2013. Officially, Len was music arranger, orchestrator and music director for the original show. Len is credited with Music Arrangements and Orchestrations for the Broadway HD presentation. The link is: https://www.broadwayhd.com/ index.php/shows/watch/janis_ joplin#sthash.vbYYM3lN.0N7BIwa4. dpbs lenrhodesmusic.com
Rachel Shapey ISM member Rachel Shapey won the Outstanding Music Education Product category at the Music Teacher Awards for Excellence in London in March. Rachel founded ‘I can compose’, an online platform that teaches composition to GCSE and A Level students, last year. Since then, Rachel has won a Stelios Philanthropic Foundation Award for disabled entrepreneurs, and was a finalist in the 2018 Enterprise Vision Awards. Judges at the Music Teacher Awards described the platform as extensive, detailed and well presented.
ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
Diana Tarry, Director of Music at Blue Coat C of E School in Coventry, said: ‘I have been teaching music for 15 years and I haven’t come across anything so well designed and carefully thought out.’ A delighted Rachel commented: ‘The aim of the site has always been to make composing fun and accessible, and I’m thrilled that pupils and teachers are enjoying using the site and gaining confidence in the composing process.’ Rachel’s plans for ‘I can compose’ include more courses and building an engaged community for music educators and aspiring composers. Icancompose.com
Sioned Williams Sioned Williams has been working on another exciting project, performing on an extraordinary ‘harp’ with newly composed music by Amir Konjani, a London Symphony Orchestra Jerwood Composer + . Designed by Amir, and built in Iran by Master Abasi, the Soveida harp has twenty outward reaching tubular tentacles (ten on each side) extending into tombaklike conches. It will be unveiled for
the first time in two ‘living sculpture’ performances; several pieces will be performed with members of the LSO and the actress Mina Kavani, together with screened animation by Maryam Mohajer; Saturday 18 May at LSO St. Luke’s at 2pm, 3pm and 4 pm. These performances are part of the Barbican’s Sound Unbound weekend.
Alex Baillie and Annelies Scott Alex Baillie announces this year’s Cello Dynamo courses:
The four of us are able to offer complementary and experienced teaching skills to a wide agerange. We aim to support teachers by reinforcing and building on what they teach throughout the year. Annelies Scott will run: CELLO DYNAMITES Cellists aged 8-16 (minimum Grade 3) •
Visit cellodynamites.co.uk
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COURSE DETAILS cello chamber music cello orchestra technical workshops masterclasses
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performance opportunities
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social events
CELLO DYNAMO NEW Course for Cellists (age 14 – Postgraduate +) Inaugural residential course: 27-31 August 2019 at St Catherine’s School, Bramley The spirit of Cello Dynamo is a supportive mixed age cello fraternity. Cooperation with, and learning from each other is paramount.
Cello Dynamo BURSARY FUND We are kick-starting a fund with a view to offering financial support for any keen, talented cellist to come and join us.
THE TEAM Alexander Baillie, Michal Kaznowski David Burrowes and Joely Koos Visit cellodynamo.co.uk
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NEW EARLY KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS For Sale. Visit www.harpgear.net for details. FRENCH HORNS, Several from £150. 01747 828552 VARIOUS BRASS, WOODWIND & STRINGED instruments for sale and/or rental. Tel: 07974 412269. SPINNETT WITTMAYER (German) 4 octaves, C-D, light walnut. VGC needs tuning, hence £395 for a quick sale. Tel 07974 412269
DUETSFORALL INSTRUMENTS.COM publishes four instrumental duet books in many different editions, providing pieces DOUBLE BASS PAESOLD for orchestral and other concert model 590. instruments. These books Excellent condition cost include many mixed £3k plus in 1997, £895 instrument editions for ONO 01747 828552 adjacent, same-family ACCOMMODATION 2 miles instruments, in total 127 books. Pieces from these from Penzance: large comfortable 1950s house books have been used in rural setting. Sleeps 8. many times for exam Big garden · grand piano assessments including · internet ·ample parking. GSCE and A-Level. All books include CDs with All linen included. the correct instruments Extremely reasonable rates. Phone Vanessa on recorded. Also from 01736 362790, evenings. classtracksmusic.com.
HOLIDAY VIOLINS FOR SALE Full size Testore £500, Harris £1,500, Vissenaire £2,500, half size French £400. Nearest offers accepted. Telephone 07813 261908.
STUDENT CELLOS, mostly German, various sizes, from £100. Tel. 07974 412269 BASSOONS several. 07974 412269
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ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
Our new members We offer a warm welcome to the following members who joined before 31 March.
Full members Birmingham Ellen Alcorn PGCE Anton Clarke-Butler BMusHonsBCU Melanie Gunn BMusHonsBirm Iain Masson PGDipRNCM BMusHonsBCU Sophie Price BMusHonsBCU Rebecca Anne Shrewsbury Sam Wooster BMusHonsBCU Emily Wright BMusHonsBCU
Bournemouth Ann Phillips BMusHonsManch
Brighton Hannah Carter BAHons(Mus) Jill Gwynn BAHonsSussex LGSMD Matt Hobson Mark Anthony Moore Gail Powell Holger Skepeneit BMusHonsLeeds MMusLeeds Helen Whittington LTCL
Cheltenham
Lincoln
Robert Davidson BA(Hons) Alexandra Fullerton MAGlasgow Susan Mills Edward Rimmer BAYork
Matthew Jackson BMusHonsRWCMD Rebecca Swaby BMusHonsSheff
Jonathan Schranz Heather Webb GMusHonsRNCM Lydia White BAHonsRCS
Liverpool
London – West
Anna Powell PGDip PPRNCM BMusRNCM
Devon & Cornwall
London – North
Sophie Andrews BMusHonsRWCMD Maria Collings MAKent BAHonsKent Clair McColl BAPlymouth Keith Michael Hannah Woollacott BMusHonsBCU
Vasiliki Dimakopoulou Anthea Veronica Ferrell Lewis Furber BMusHonsRWCMD Robert Garland BMusHonsRWCMD Michael Leach BACantab Aleksandra Myslek BMusHonsRAM Emily Newman BMusCityUniv Claudia Nocera DipRossiniCons Samuel Pert MAMusTherapy Nathan Pigott BMusHonsManch Anderson Ribeiro BMusHonsICMP Jo Vaizey
Sergio Cabrera-Hernandez BSc Hung-Yu Chen MMusRCM Gemma Connor BMusHonsEdinburghNapier Roberta Mascia MAGöteborg Donald Robinson BMusRCM
Eastbourne & Hastings Michael Clark Philippa Kirby BAHonsLeeds
Guildford Eralys Fernandez MMusRCM PGDipMusGSMD Jayne Keepen Stephen Knowles Alex Maclean BAHonsACM Philip Trumble GGSM MAMusEd
Bristol
Hereford & Worcester
Malcolm Archer FRCM FRCO MACantab Nicholas Atkins MAMusTherapy Ruth Faber Timothy Greeves Louise Jeffery BAHons Joseph Topping MAFalmouth
Angie Grayson BAHonsKeele
Buckingham
Mary McNeill ARAM GRSM MA Jacqueline Varsey
Olive Walton PGDip MTPP ALCM
Cambridge Jessica Berners GLCM Belinda Goodship BMusSurrey Justin Miller BMus Simon Roberts BMus(Hons) PGCE
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Kent Melissa Harrison BAHonsBIMM
Lancaster Helen Tute BAYorkStJohn
Lea Valley
Leicester Louise Balkwill BMusHonsTrinityLaban Verity Morris AGSM DipAdvStudiesRAM LRAM Karen Silverwood GDipTCM
London – South East Holly Daniel Sarah Doyle BACantab Nicholas Feasey BAHonsChichester John Hargreaves BAHonsYork MMusLond Dasol Lee Sofia Livotov BALucerne Nicky Spence Thibaut Vandame MMusGoldsmiths
London – South West Ignacio Barcia MMusWisconsin Petra Casen Michael Craddock Peter Dennis LRAM Craig Hancock BAHonsSoton Julia Hart MMusHull Anna Holmes Alex Markham BAHonsHull MALCM
Manchester Kathryn Holbrook Julie Kent MAYork Clare O’Neill GRNCM Matthew Scarterfield BASoton Sandra Scattergood PGCE GMusHuddersfield Ian Wynne BMusHonsBCU
Oxford Fiona Cullen Harriet Warner BMusHonsRWCMD Paul Wisby BAHonsFalmouth
Portsmouth Elizabeth Ann Le Grove BMusHonsBangor EdDLond FRCO(CHM) MPhilWales PGCE Heather Uden BEd (Music & Education)
Reading Jenny Dobson Christine Dunford Amber Nunn BMusHonsKCL Tatjana Ognjenovic BAReading Florence Petit-Sibley MMusRCM Carole Peubey-Hogan
Scotland – North East Kim Anderson PGDipRAM Joseph Donmall BMusUAB
Mid-Wales
Scotland – South East
Tony Robinson BMusHonsICMP
Pok Lai (Percy) Leung MPhilCantab Kerry Turnbull BAHonsStevensonCol
North of England Tom Furniss BAHonsNewcastle Ryan Hanlon BAHonsCumbria Sarah Pike BAHonsLCOM Sean Whytock BAHonsLCOM Ian Wright BScHonsCityUniv
North Wales Jana Rowland Michael Rowland MMus
Northern Ireland Louis McTeggart BMusUlster
Nottingham Ruth C Etches GTCL LTCL Stephen Paul Johnson BANewcastle PGCE Sally Royds GGSM LTCL(PfT) PGDip MTPP
Scotland – South West Helene Holman MARCS
Sheffield Amy Butler Tara Exton BAMusOU Connor Heaton BAYorkStJohn
South Wales Claire Canning BAHonsWales Alex Glew BAHonsGlamorgan Lawrence Mansell BAHonsLCM Emily Scaglioni BAYork Glynis Williams AGSM
Southampton Josie Kaye Wells
ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
St Albans
Kent
Corporate members
Joseph Hammond BMusHonsGSMD Debbie Hanna PGDip(TCM) Daniel Hyatt BMusHonsCityUni Amanda Kaliski BMusWitwatersrand Mark Warner BMus (Hons) Rebecca Windram BAOxford
Katy Diamond-Jalloh BACanterburyChristChurch Lauren Hickman
Avalon Music UK colin@avalonmusic-uk.org 01372 563 740 avalonmusic-uk.org City Music Foundation info@citymusicfoundation. org 020 7600 7600 citymusicfoundation.org Entertainers Worldwide entertainersworldwide.com Inspiring Music inspiring.music@ centralbedfordshire.gov.uk 0300 300 6604 inspiringmusic.co.uk London College of Music Examinations lcm.exams@uwl.ac.uk 020 8231 2364 lcme.uwl.ac.uk London Sinfonietta info@londonsinfonietta. org.uk 020 7239 9340 londonsinfonietta.org.uk
Staffordshire Sharon Bill BA(Hons) Alexandra Hall-Gillions BMusHonsWolverhampton Daniel Keen BAHonsLCOM
Suffolk Louise Baulch Pamela Campanelli BMusMassachusetts Christopher Milton MAOxon Daniel Starling BAHonsColchester Karl Younger BMusACM
Warwickshire & Northamptonshire
Liverpool Stephen Banks Faye O’Hara
London – North Charles Brookes Emily Richou Nicholas Tall Sophie Timms BMusHonsKings
London – South East Konstantinos Korkodeilos Akvile Kozlovskyte Nicola Tagoe
London – South West Andrew John Laura Morrod Nika Pinter
London – West Bobby Scoynes Gina Thomas Francesca Hay
Northern Ireland Cathryn Lynch
Scotland – South West
West Yorkshire
Honor Whiteley
Wiltshire Eliza French
Student members Birmingham Ginevra Paniati Lucinda Rimmer Luan Shaw Lee Tadd
Bristol Mae Bradbury
Croydon Chris Jones
Devon & Cornwall
Obituaries With regret, we report the deaths of: Mr David Coram of Salisbury Mrs Helena M B Evans of Cardiff Ms Betty Hay of Peterborough Mrs Gillian M Sunderland of Rugby
North of England
Danae Eleni (Pallikaropoulos) Andrew Sherlock BATrinAllSaints
The London Singing Institute enrol@ londonsinginginstitute.co.uk 020 7127 0717 londonsinginginstitute.co.uk Tutti support@tutti.space 0333 050 4779 beta.tutti.space
South Wales Laura Deignan Juliette Llewellyn Kieran Smith
St Albans Katherine Thompson Daryl Williams
Suffolk Darcey Blake Ashley Nayler West Yorkshire Holly Chapman Thomas Leech
Letters after your name As a member of ISM you are automatically entitled to use letters after your name: MISM (Member of the ISM) or SMISM (Student Member of the ISM). If you have been in continuous membership for 15 years or more, you gain FISM (Fellow of the ISM) status. Download the appropriate logo from the members’ area of our website to add to your website, personal stationery and marketing materials. We also have a corporate member logo. If you are a platinum, gold, silver or bronze corporate member and would like to display the logo on your website or in your publications, please contact us on 020 7221 3499 or membership@ism.org.
Wiltshire William Lawton
Bryn Davies
Guildford Ella De Jongh
Hereford & Worcester Dougal Abbott
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ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
We are very grateful to all our corporate members for their support. GOLD CORPORATE MEMBERS
PLATINUM CORPORATE MEMBERS
ALFA Education Ltd ABRSM
Allianz Musical Insurance Duet Group Hal Leonard Europe Ltd
NMC Recordings
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Park Lane Group
Black Dress Code British Youth Band Association
Rhinegold Publishing Rocksteady Music School
Classic FM EVC Music Publications Ltd Henri Selmer Paris Impulse Music Consultants Len Rhodes Music
Insure4Music Kawai
The Royal Central School Of Speech & Drama
Lark Insurance
The Royal Philharmonic Society
London College of Music Musicians Insurance Services
Trinity College London Victoria College Exams
National Preparatory School Orchestras Portsmouth Music Hub The Curious Piano Teachers The Piano Teachers’ Course UK Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Trybooking.co.uk
Yamaha Music Europe
For further information about our different levels of corporate membership and a full list of 150 corporate members, visit ism.org.
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Music Mark
Oxford University Press Tido
Leeds College of Music
London College of Music Examinations
Tutti University of Huddersfield University of St Andrews
ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
NEWS FROM OUR CORPORATE MEMBERS We welcome your brief news (max. 200 words for Platinum and Gold members, max. 150 words for Silver members) and good photographs. Please email mj@ism.org. The next deadline for copy is 1 June for July/August issue.
Centre for Young Musicians CYM and LSSO plan its anniversary celebrations The Centre for Young Musicians (CYM) in London will be 50 years old in 2020 and will be celebrating with a Gala Concert at the Barbican Hall on Wednesday 10 June in that year. In 2021 the London Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO), which is managed by CYM, celebrates its 70th birthday. To mark this combined 120 years of excellence in music provision for young Londoners, a campaign has been launched to provide bursaries for less well-off children to access CYM and the LSSO for the next ten years. Entitled Young at Heart, the campaign was launched in January and is led by the Foundation for Young Musicians, the fundraising charity affiliated to CYM. The aim is to raise £1m in time for the two anniversaries. Details of how to donate, and how alumni can get involved in the celebrations, are available on the website cym.org.uk.
strength and stability of the traditional unstaged opera written by Dring in piano action, giving greater power and the 1950s. Recently published by control to the pianist. Classical Vocal Reprints in the USA and edited by Wanda Brister of Florida On top of this, the AURES gives State University, this witty ‘whodunit’ the pianist the ability to enjoy this receives its UK and European premiere revolutionary new action at any time staging. Musical Director is Claire of day or night without disturbing Innes-Hopkins; stage direction is by friends, family or neighbours. The PJ Harris with choreography by Liz AURES can be muted and heard Ranken and designs by Anna Yates. through headphones with its digital Performances take place 18-20 June tone generator; this can even be heard in St Andrews and 29-30 June in out loud through the soundboard Berwick-upon-Tweed. where the pianist can choose to lower the volume to suit the environment st-andrews.ac.uk/music/perform/ or time of day. By empowering the singers/opera/ pianist, the AURES is at the forefront of Kawai’s philosophy, The Future of Impulse Music Consultants the Piano. kawai.co.uk
People often come to us with questions about copyright. Sometimes these are from the copyright owner’s point of view, very typically about making scores available as downloads. Other questions are from the copyright user’s standpoint and may be about including a work on a recording or how to licence an event for a performance.
Kawai Kawai launches new hybrid piano Have you heard the new and exciting addition to Kawai’s class-leading line of hybrid instruments, the AURES? Available on the K-300 and K-500 upright models, the AURES adds to these renowned acoustic pianos with the cutting edge digital technology found in Kawai’s award-winning Concert Artist Digital Pianos, resulting in the finest hybrid upright pianos on the market today.
Copyright – do it right!
University of St Andrews Music Centre Madeleine Dring Opera Premiere
Byre Opera, the universityfunded opera company, presents a professionally directed and designed touring production every summer as part of its ongoing programme of work with student singers. This year Byre Opera mounts As a fully acoustic piano, the AURES a double bill of British works, including delivers all the nuances that discerning a premiere. Alongside Vaughan pianists would expect from a marketWilliams’ tragic tale Riders to the Sea leading acoustic piano, including the the company will perform Madeleine state-of-the-art Millennium III action Dring’s Cupboard Love, a hitherto Kawai developed to improve the
On 26 March, the European parliament backed the much-debated copyright directive by 348 votes to 278. Once implemented, the directive will help to safeguard composers and performers whose work is uploaded to the internet by holding technology companies responsible for material that is posted without permission. The copyright system in the UK is an economic right which exists to ensure that artists can expect an income from the use of their work. All musicians need to know how copyright works for them and to ensure that they find out and understand what they need to do to protect and earn from their rights. There are, of course, complexities and Continued overleaf È
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we hold a lot of information on our website to cut through the jargon and get to grips with the essentials. In tandem with the copyright information is a set of commission fee guidelines with rates recommended by Impulse. We find these are well used by both commissioners of new music and those who are commissioned. You can find our collected information at impulse-music.co.uk/resources/ or email us on contact@impulsemusic.co.uk.
Portsmouth Music Hub Music to conquer the world! Right: Child performing at Infant Voices Showcase at the Guildhall, Portsmouth Photo: Portsmouth Music Hub
Does creativity matter? Do children and young people benefit from taking part and working together to create great music? Recently Portsmouth Music Hub gave an emphatic answer to those questions by giving hundreds of young people the chance to perform.
Right: Builth Wells Photo: Ted Edwards/ RWCMD
On 13 March young people from schools, academies and colleges took to the stage in Soundsational, a ‘cabaret style’ concert, performing a variety of famous songs, stage hits and extracts from musicals. This was followed a week later by an Infants Voices Showcase. This event brought together more than 1500 children, aged six and seven, to perform songs inspired by fairy tales. Goldilocks, Puss-in-Boots, the Big Bad Wolf and the Gingerbread Man were just some of the characters brought to life by the children’s vibrant costumes and singing.
offering every child the opportunity to experience a wealth of culture. If we can fire up the imagination of young people then they may go on to conquer the world!’ portsmouthmusichub.org
Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Orchestradventure tours Welsh schools Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD) Symphony Orchestra performed Orchestradventure in Cardiff, Llandudno and Builth Wells in February. Supported by The Prince’s Trust and now in its third and final year, the college’s Orchestradventure initiative in partnership with local schools has brought high-quality orchestral performance and associated workshops to thousands of children across Wales, regardless of their economic or social background. The concerts, presented by Tom Redmond, introduced the instruments and inner workings of an orchestra using interactive presentation, puppetry and musical demonstrations. The Cardiff performances were linked to RWCMD workshop and outreach, enabling staff and students to use Orchestradventure repertoire and themes to focus their workshops in schools and lead into the concerts.
During the tour, receptions and meetings were held with local authority/education partners and RWCMD drama/music staff, enabling discussions about future projects and long-term strategies for collaboration.
Does creativity matter? Sue Beckett, CEO of Portsmouth Music Hub said: Orchestradventure 2019 attracted over ‘Hundreds of children and young people would definitely answer “yes”, 3000 audience members. and that’s why the team at Portsmouth rwcmd.ac.uk Music Hub remains committed to
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Association of Teachers of Singing The Association of Teachers of Singing (AOTOS) SouthEast Area Day on 24 March took place at the beautiful Gresham Centre in London. Paul Farrington gave us a tremendous day packed with information for reviving our teaching, all delivered with great humour. The audience was treated to demonstrations and masterful interventions working with young singers. Thanks to all who took part and came to observe. AOTOS has a busy calendar of events throughout the year and twice a year we hold conferences. Our Summer Conference will be held at Woodland Grange in Leamington Spa from 19 – 21 July on a theme of refreshing and revitalizing our teaching. The conference spans three days and gives everybody the opportunity to relax with like-minded individuals, take in some spa treatments, discuss ideas over a lovely meal and, of course, discover some new ideas on the art of teaching singing. This year our inspiring presenters are Dane Chalfin, Janet Shell, Kathleen McKellar Ferguson, Joanne Edworthy, Christopher Goldsack, Angela Durrant, Paul Harris and Paul Deegan. We have discounted early bird prices including payment by instalments until 31 May, so it is well worth going to the website and booking up early! Leading up to our conference, we continue our training programme with the Pathways course. Our access day is on 23 June at Royal Northern College of Music. Places are limited in order to offer a bespoke service. If you are a novice teacher, this may be ideal for you to hone your skills. aotos.org.uk
ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
Rocksteady Over 1000 children take part in free Foo Fighters sessions Rocksteady recently worked with the Foo Fighters to deliver free rock band sessions to children in music venues across England.
Right: Bohemian Rhapsody Photo: Alex Bailey
On 16 February children of all abilities took up the opportunity to be a rock star in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Northampton, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Guildford, Kingston and Romford.The event gave children aged between five and sixteen the opportunity to learn to play one of the band’s greatest hits as part of a full band. Rocksteady created arrangements of Foo Fighters songs at varying levels of difficulty, so the event was accessible to children already learning an instrument as well as those who had never played before. Children who took part also had the chance to win drumsticks signed by Dave Grohl and other exclusive merchandise including limited edition t-shirts. Rocksteady CEO Scott Monks said: ‘For most of the children involved this was a first in some way, the first time playing an instrument, the first time performing in public or the first time learning a Foo Fighters song. The memories created on this incredible day will help inspire the next generation of musicians.’ rocksteadymusicschool.com
Markson Pianos Markson pianos take to the stage Markson Pianos have been providing pianos for some great projects in the recent months.
Currently, our baby grand takes centre stage in Ivo van Hove’s adaptation of All About Eve at the Noël Coward Theatre in London’s West End.
of Composers – a listing of over 3,700 composers in chronological, and alphabetical order; a vital reference and resource for ‘trivia night!’ To receive your 20% ISM discount – type ‘ISM2019’ – at check out.
In addition to stage productions, we have also been providing pianos for film and television … one of our grands lenrhodesmusic.com appears in Bohemian Rhapsody, and in Mary Poppins, two fantastic motion Oxford University Press pictures released last year. Fiddle Time bursary awards Altogether, a busy but exciting time for Oxford University Press presented event hire, and also for our long-term two young musicians, Francesca and hire too! Aminata, with Fiddle Time bursaries on 6 March at the Music and Drama Education Expo at Olympia, London.
Len Rhodes Music New wedding sheet music arrangements Len Rhodes continues to create beautifully crafted arrangements of wedding favourites for a variety of settings. Best sellers include Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’; Mendelssohn’s Wedding March; Albinoni’s Adagio in G minor for cello and piano and the same piece for french horn and piano; Schubert’s Ave Maria; and Fauré’s Pavane. Other wedding arrangements by Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Elgar, Handel, Haydn, Liszt, Massenet, Purcell, Ravel, Saint-Saëns, and Wagner are also available. You can always download your music directly from lenrhodesmusic.com! Free downloads available to anyone who visits the site include manuscript / staff paper for piano; bass clef; alto clef and treble clef. Also free are two handy information sheets: ‘How to remember your Key Signatures’ and ‘Composition in the Private Studio – Twenty Ideas to get you Started.’
We provided an upright piano for Chichester Festival Theatre’s Flowers for Mrs Harris and also for the production of Hadestown at The National’s Olivier Theatre. Our Bösendorfer was a star at the recent ABRSM teachers conference in London, Len Rhodes Music publishes reference and our Yamaha CFX took the audience books including Perfect Pitch for You, by storm for the Star Wars spectacular Teaching Composition in the Private at the Royal Albert Hall with the LSO. Music Studio, and A New Dictionary
Francesca, who will attend the Arpeggione intermediate course in April, has a natural flair on the viola. Since gaining a distinction at Grade 8 in autumn 2018, aged 12, she is currently enjoying developing her technique and tackling some challenging repertoire. Arpeggione remains a high point of her year, where she can immerse herself in chamber music, play in and listen to masterclasses, and play in a viola orchestra. Aminata, who will attend the MusicWorks course in July/August, attends the Junior Royal Academy. According to her teacher, her concentration and attention to detail are phenomenal. Since gaining her Grade 8 violin with distinction, aged 11, she is now looking forward to being immersed in chamber music during the MusicWorks course and to tackling new and challenging repertoire. The bursaries, awarded to outstanding young musicians to help further their musical development, were presented in collaboration with ESTA UK, in the presence of ESTA President Nicola Benedetti. oup.com
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Faber Music
Middlesex University
Lang Lang Piano Book now available
Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning was presented with a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities achievement award at the National Creative Learning Awards in March for its work with The Garden School in Hackney, a school for learners with autism. Three schools have joined the scheme to take part in a range of tailored arts and learning projects, embedding an ethos of creative and cultural education that continues beyond the life of the programme.
Superstar pianist Lang Lang has just released his latest publication, Lang Lang Piano Book, in a collector’s edition with print publisher Faber Music. The release accompanied Lang Lang’s eagerly awaited new solo album Piano Book with Deutsche Grammophon. Featuring all 29 pieces from the album, it is a collection of the repertoire that first inspired Lang Lang to play the piano, beautifully presented as a highend hardback book, featuring marbled endpapers, page-finder ribbon and sewn binding. Lang Lang Piano Book includes exclusive photographs, comments from Lang Lang on every piece and an edition of Für Elise annotated with the pianist’s own performance notes. Lang Lang’s enthusiasm and commitment to inspiring others to learn and play the piano has remained ever-present throughout his career. Through this publication of favourite pieces from his childhood he hopes to ‘motivate pianists to enjoy and remain focused during their daily practice’. Lang Lang Piano Book is available to buy now ISBN 0571539165 Price £25.00 fabermusic.com
A busy term of student performances has been completed at Middlesex University, which was wrapped up by a phenomenal concert on 28 March at St Pancras Church in London. The Middlesex University Choir was joined by the university’s orchestra-in-residence the London Firebird Orchestra for a widely varied programme including concertante performances from no less than three of our final year students, who skilfully performed works by Piston, Alkan and Sejourne. Earlier in the term, students had been invited to submit compositions for the Middlesex University Chamber Orchestra Composition Prize. The entries for this were workshopped by the London Firebird Orchestra, in what was an insightful evening for all involved. Two compositions, by Clara Fielder and Pranav Nigam, were then selected as winners of the prize, and their compositions were premiered at the March concert. The Middlesex University Choir was also a highlight of the concert, performing extracts from Handel’s Messiah, Monteverdi’s Beatus Vir, and Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine. We look forward to another year of thrilling performances from our students. mdx.ac.uk
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Guildhall School of Music & Drama
We congratulate Guildhall singers Filipe Manu and Andrés Presno for being selected by the Royal Opera House to join the prestigious Jette Parker Young Artists Programme. The programme is formed of five singers and one stage director, selected from more than 508 applicants from across the globe. Guildhall School has been named in the top ten institutions for performing arts in the world QS University Rankings 2019. The school was placed seventh in the world and joins the likes of the Juilliard School of Music in New York, Austria’s University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna and the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia. ‘Beasts of London’ opens at the Museum of London this month: it is an immersive tour through London’s history, narrated by animals that once lived there, created by over 100 Guildhall School artists. gsmd.ac.uk
ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama New North Block building opened by HRH Princess Alexandra
The Really Big Chorus Messiah from Scratch and Scratch Youth Messiah now open for booking
Our flagship event at the Royal Albert Hall, Messiah from Scratch (7 The Royal Central School of Speech December), is now open for booking, and Drama (RCSSD) was visited by its Royal Patron, HRH Princess Alexandra, with the best seats expected to sell out before July writes Marianne in February for the official opening Barton. Also just launched is the of its new North Block building. The visit provided the princess and guests Scratch Youth Messiah (see our half-page ad elsewhere in this issue): with an opportunity to meet staff and students and observe a variety of could your school choir sing Messiah with us at the RAH? It is easier than student work. you might think! We’ve just returned At the opening event they were from another sell-out singing trip, this entertained by performances from time to Athens; our choral holidays are the Acting Musical Theatre course’s always hugely popular, with terrific production of The Life, MA Music feedback from participants. We’re Theatre course’s production of currently taking bookings for a cruise The Tunnel, and a short, criticallyon the Seine and a trip to Trieste. Back acclaimed film from the MA Acting in the UK there is the Verdi Requiem for Stage and Screen course. Princess (12 May, directed by Bob Chilcott), Alexandra also observed classes Carmina Burana (14 July, Brian Kay) from the school’s Drama, Applied and our Summer School featuring Theatre and Education and Movement: Poulenc and Puccini. And we’re on a Directing and Teaching courses. mission to persuade more men that they can, and should, sing! The North Block building, designed by an award-winning team at Tim Details of all our events at trbc.co.uk Ronalds Architects, has provided RCSSD with a major increase in rehearsal Hal Leonard Europe and performance space for its students. Hal Leonard Europe proudly represents It houses five large, double-height a range of instruments, accessories studios including a movement studio with sprung floors, a sound studio with and music tech gear alongside its extensive catalogue of printed music, facilities to prepare students for work including audio software from AVID. in broadcast, film and digital media, We’re very excited to announce the two fully equipped rehearsal studios, latest updates of the industry-standard a new workshop space, a full range for score creation and audio recording: of ancillary spaces including new Sibelius and Pro Tools. dressing and teaching rooms, and a new galleried Courtyard Theatre. Sibelius 2019 gives you the power to write beautiful scores, quickly and cssd.ac.uk easily. A host of new features include better performance and timesaving workflows, score-safe Review mode and idea-sparking loop and scrub playbacks. Pro Tools 2019 delivers an ever more powerful suite of features to enable you to create your sound, featuring 50% more voices/audio tracks as previous versions, twice as many MIDI tracks and fast and fluid creativity during playback. These are the platforms of choice for professional composers and producers, and while they’ve never
been more powerful, both are brilliantly accessible and perfect for use in the classroom and home. Both Sibelius and Pro Tools are now available from a wide range of resellers including musicroom. com. Contact your local reseller for educational pricing now.
ABRSM It’s been an exciting few months at ABRSM with the launch of a free practice app, new exams going live and our ongoing work to support music education. Using our new Music Case app, students can track their practice, make recordings and share progress with their teachers. It’s free and a great way for students to get motivated. We also hope that students and teachers are being motivated by our Singing for Musical Theatre syllabus, now available for Grades 1 to 3. We’re looking forward to meeting some of those teachers at our Singing for Musical Theatre events in Leeds, London and Edinburgh in May. Looking further afield, we’ve just awarded International Sponsorship Fund grants to eight organisations around the world, with a focus on widening musical opportunities, developing expertise and encouraging excellence. Finally, March saw the publication of The Music Commission report. The Commission was an 18-month inquiry, established by ABRSM and supported by Arts Council England, looking at how to best support young people to fulfil their musical potential. The report sets out a ten-year vision for making this a reality. You can find it at www. musiccommission.org.uk. For all the latest ABRSM news visit abrsm.org. Continued overleaf È
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Charanga Supporting music education Charanga’s Music School was recently voted the Best Curriculum Scheme at the inaugural Primary Music Magazine Awards. Over 35,000 primary teachers are now using the curriculum it offers to provide high-quality music for learning in their schools. ‘The award, our third this year, is timely, given ongoing discussions around the Model Music Curriculum,’ said Mark Burke, founder and director of Charanga. ‘We look forward to working with industry colleagues to help shape it.’
An exciting collaboration with the acclaimed violinist Nicola Benedetti brings her inspirational ‘With Nicky’ videos to Charanga’s web platform and global network. The educational series is available to everyone, everywhere [see feature on page 12]. There is no requirement to register or to become a Charanga subscriber. We’ve recently added some fantastic resources to our Musical School resource. Caroline Hobie’s superb musicals Nice Weather for Ducks! and The King of all Polar Bears are well worth exploring, while Sarah Baker’s Tuning the Tables helps children to learn their times tables through music!
If you would like more information about Charanga or any of our resources, please visit our website or contact info@charanga.com. We’d love to hear from you! charanga.com
ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
LOCAL EVENTS LISTINGS Full listings can be found on our website, ism.org
Sunday 26 May 2019
Sunday 2 June 2019
Saturday 15 June 2019
Lea Valley Adults Students’ Musical Afternoon
South Wales, Mid Wales, North Wales Complimentary Drinks Reception
Hereford & Worcester Student Concert
2.30pm, 15 Grosvenor Road, Broxbourne, Herts EN10 7JG All adult students (and teachers as well as any members) are very welcome to this informal afternoon. After we finish performances, including duets, we have a scrumptious strawberry tea in a lovely garden setting (weather permitting). £3 for refreshments on the day. Contact: Carolyn Richards 07768 086123 or Ismleavalley@ntlworld.com by 10 May 2019
12.30 pm – 1.15 pm, The Cardiff and County Club, Westgate Street, Cardiff CF10 1DA A networking opportunity for all Welsh members. Dress: Lounge suit. This will be followed by an optional luncheon, at a cost of £60 a head for three courses including wine. Partners are also welcome to attend. Please request tickets as soon as possible as numbers are limited. Contact: Dr Jeremy Huw Williams (ISM President 2019-20), 029 2084 3753 jhw@jeremyhuwwilliams.com
5pm, The Friends’ Meeting House, 1 Orchard Road, Malvern, Worcestershire WR14 3DA Adults and/or juniors may perform, depending on take-up. Members of the public may come in and out of these performances, so juniors would have to be accompanied by parents at all times. There is no charge for performers; audience charge £5/3.50 children/concessions. It would be most helpful if members could indicate ASAP their proposed performers and their preferred pieces. Emma will do her best to include everyone, depending upon numbers. Please contact her to book places for your students by 1 June at the latest. Contact: Emma Winscom, chairman, ism@emmawinscom.com
South Wales, Mid Wales, North Wales Beaumaris Festival Luncheon 1pm, Bishopsgate House Hotel & Restaurant, Castle Street, Beaumaris, Anglesey LL58 8BB Limited number of complimentary tickets to the Beaumaris Festival Luncheon (www. beaumarisfestival.org) Dress: Lounge suit. Contact: Dr Jeremy Huw Williams (ISM President 2019-20), 029 2084 3753 jhw@jeremyhuwwilliams.com
ISM Representative Vacancies We are currently looking for members to act as ISM Representatives for the following local groups:
Croydon Brighton Looking for ad-hoc volunteers to support the Representatives
Devon and Cornwall Bournemouth
Volunteering as an ISM Representative is perfectly suited to members who enjoy planning or organising events and meeting other members in their local area. Supported by the ISM, local group events provide networking opportunities, social events, professional development and performance opportunities in your area. They are a fantastic way to meet other musicians and enhance your career.
For more information or an application form please call 020 7313 9323 or email membership@ism.org. Deadline for applications is 1 July 2019.
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ISM MUSIC JOURNAL MAY/JUNE 2019
Ask me a question Paul Campbell Arranger, Orchestrator, Composer, Conductor
Tell us a little about yourself I was born in Belfast, the son of a preacher man! I vividly remember my first piano ‘lesson’, aged four, being taught groovy little exercises by my jazz-pianist-turnedchurch-organist Granda, Sammy. His sense of time was impeccable. I would watch and listen to him, wide-eyed and eared, as he passionately poured out his soul through his fingers. With my parents’ support, I studied piano and trumpet into my teens, leading to a place studying trumpet at the Royal College of Music (RCM). I still pinch myself that I had the opportunity to play there under worldclass conductors such as Bernard Haitink and Sir Roger Norrington. It’s said that many arrangers started their musical lives as brass players, because they
have so many bars rest to listen and observe their musical surroundings! I love the huge variety of sounds that musicians make, even in a chamber setting, so writing for orchestra is an immense privilege.
the new BBC Scotland TV channel in February 2019, arranging and conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with Scottish band Chvrches. Working on the orchestration team for the movie Aquaman last year was a Since graduating from the RCM and marrying lot of fun too! my childhood sweetheart a month later, Of my own arrangements, I most enjoy the I’ve been working primarily as an arranger/ Burns song ‘Ae Fond Kiss’, written for Nicola orchestrator from my home studio. I love Benedetti, as one of several contributions to hearing the bustle of the family around me. her acclaimed Homecoming album. They are my daily inspiration! Who is your all-time favourite artist Who (or what) has most influenced you and why? and your career? While not much to do with my day job (aside Quite honestly, my whole family have been the most influential people in my life and career. In a professional sense, there have been many, but without question the most influential has been conductor and arranger John Wilson. At college, I plucked up the courage to ask him for an arranging lesson. Afterwards, when I asked him what his fee would be he said, ‘When you’re good, you can work for me.’ True to his word, he commissioned my first professional arrangement a few months later, for the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. John has continued to be a wonderful mentor, colleague and friend. Reconstructing and transcribing scores for him from the golden age of Hollywood film musicals was the best training I could hope to receive. John introduced me to many of the clients I still work for on a regular basis; I can’t understate the part he has played in my career development.
from the good string arrangements), I’d have to say Steven Curtis Chapman. His songs on life and faith have been a staple in our house for a long time. (And J S Bach, obviously.)
What would you say is your greatest achievement to date?
In one word – support. I’ve not been a member for very long, but I’m really grateful to the team at ISM, as they provide invaluable support and advice in tricky times in our industry. I’m looking forward to getting to know more of the ISM member community at events in the months to come.
My next project, hopefully! I strive to grow and learn every day, but collaborating with great musicians is what really excites me most. It was a privilege to contribute the last notes of the Last Night of the BBC Proms in 2018 (‘Auld Lang Syne’) and the first notes of
What was the last CD/music download that you purchased? I would love to say it was something profound, but it was Mary Poppins Returns (OST). A modern classic, in my opinion, and the kids love listening to it in the car! What are your plans for the future? Recently, I’ve been beginning to compose more of my own original music and a longterm ambition would be to write music for screen. I also hope to continue to conduct more of my own work in the future and I am excited about developing established and new partnerships with artists and orchestras. Finally, what is your ISM membership to you?
studio-orchestrations.com
Recommend a friend and save up to £20 Every time one of your friends joins the ISM as a full or graduate rate member, we’ll give you money off your next year’s membership fee – £20 off if you are a full rate member, or £10 off if you are a graduate rate member. Your friend should use promo code FULLREC or GRADREC when they join, and if they join at the full rate we’ll give them £10 off their membership fee too. To claim your discounts, email membership@ism.org with the name and email address of the friend(s) you are recommending. Your friends must be working at a professional level to join us. They can apply to join via one of our routes to membership. Please note: the number of rewards you can redeem is limited to the value of your subscription upon renewal. Please ensure that you have the permission of the person you are recommending to give us their name and email address. Their data will be held in accordance with the ISM privacy policy, available at ism.org/privacy_policy.
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