Interview with Kieran Hughes, Director of Music at Queen’s

Interview with Mr Kieran Hughes, Director of Music at Queen’s

INTERVIEW BY JOSIE BAKER, EDITOR, QUEEN’S TODAY

What were your aims to develop music at Queen’s when you first arrived?

I arrived at Queen’s in 2018 and India (Miss D’Arcy) had been here for a year already. I felt lucky as I arrived at a well-established department. I wanted to build on that, maximise student involvement and involve staff, generating a sense of community and making music a central part of the school. India arranges music which helps involve everyone. We have a team of 14 visiting teachers too, and we’ve started new ensemble groups such as Crescendo Strings, Top Wind and the Cello Ensemble. The cellos have increased from 2-3 members to 12 and Brass Ensemble now has 12 members. What are you enjoying listening to at the moment?

I’ve been listening to Aretha Franklin and Bill Withers. I’ve loved Anouska Shankar’s music for a long time. It’s a fusion of different styles with Indian classical music and very meditative. I listen to everything from Post Modern Jukebox, to Brahms and Mahler symphonies and Clara Schumann’s songs. It’s exciting to broaden and expand your musical experience.

The pandemic has been so challenging for music! How have you kept going?

We’ve been doing virtual projects to maintain community. To put these together, we rely on Miss Emily Mitchell, one of our visiting teachers, who is really gifted with technology as well as being a fabulous brass player. The various Queen arrangements such as ‘I Want to Break Free’ were a highlight and it was really good for the pupils to have that opportunity and also helps staff wellbeing. Our concerts this year have been livestreamed from school, with students social distancing within their bubbles. And the one-to-one teaching has continued. Planning remote lessons is a challenge as we can’t assume students have instruments, so we use software called Soundtrap. It provides ‘loops’ to explore. Pupils who are less confident composing can use it to be creative. We give them options, for example, Class 3 learnt to play the pentatonic scale. Then they could use their instruments, or we gave them the link to a free keyboard app to record and upload what they played.

What has made you most proud so far?

Perhaps the Come and Sing events – ‘A Night at the Opera’ and ‘A Night at the Movies’. It’s seeing so many people come together – students, staff, parents, wider family members. The Gala concert that launched our 175th Bursary Appeal in 2019 was a highlight too. There were so many pupils taking part; I felt really proud of them. We had the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and four talented student soloists with incredible maturity; they were undaunted. Gospel choir singing ‘Feelin’ Good’ in Assembly last October for Black History Month was a great moment. There are also less high profile but equally significant moments, such as when a student who suffers with nerves performs in a concert or assembly. And of course, moments in the classroom are also important.