The Magazine for the Royal College of Music I Autumn 2013

Leading the way

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Front cover – RCM Sparks © Olivia Woodhouse

Inside front cover – RCM International Opera School’s production of Offenbach’s La vie parisienne © Chris Christodoulou

Inside back cover – RCM Alumni Reunion 1965-1975 © Chris Christodoulou

4 In the news

Updating you on recent RCM activities

10 Research – what’s in it for me? Amanda Glauert explains why

research is so important to the RCM

11 Listening Experience Database A new project which aims to

produce the world’s first database documenting the impact of music on people’s lives

12 From X-rays to A clarinets 73 year old Keith Bowen explains

how his research influenced a performance of Wagner at the BBC Proms

13 Randall Scotting & Claire Bracher

Two doctoral students discuss their fascination with uncovering lesser known baroque works

14 Remembering two RCM Friends Upbeat remembers David

Poultney and James McAlinden

16 Student notes… Current student success stories

18 Staff notes…

News from professorial, academic and administrative staff

20 Alumni notes… Updates from RCM graduates

22 Obituaries, Births and Marriages

Welcome to upbeat...Here at the RCM, we’re proud to be ‘leading the way’ on many fronts: from our ground-breaking outreach programme RCM Sparks (pictured on the front cover) to our innovative performances, far-reaching building projects and world-leading career development programme.

We’re also leading the way in research, and in this issue we focus on the extraordinary activity of the RCM vibrant community. If you’re unsure why this matters to you, turn to page 10 to read Amanda Glauert’s passionate account of why every musician is a researcher, whether they realise it or not. Elsewhere, we introduce a new major collaboration with the Open University (page 11), we hear from the most mature student at the RCM (page 12), and two early music specialists explain their fascination with uncovering and performing lesser known baroque works (page 13).

Elsewhere, we also welcome a host of new students and staff while saying a fond farewell to David Harpham who is leaving us after 39 years as Registry Officer.

We’re always keen to hear from students past and present, so if you have anything you would like us to feature in the next issue of Upbeat, send your news and pictures to news@rcm.ac.uk by Monday 9 January 2014.

NB: Please note that we cannot guarantee to include everything we receive and that we reserve the right to edit submissions.

What’s inside...

Contents

Upbeat online Did you know that Upbeat is available to read online at www.rcm.ac.uk/upbeat If you’d prefer to read it in this way, do contact us at news@rcm.ac.uk and we’ll stop sending you a paper copy. If you’d like us to send you an email notification when Upbeat is published, let us know your email address too.

RCM Symphony Orchestra performs Messiaen’s Turangalila-Symphonie at the Royal Festival Hall

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In the news...

A student from the RCM has made history by becoming the first graduate in a traditional Chinese instrument in the institution’s 130-year history.

Singaporean Chew Jun Ru graduated in July with a BMus in performance on the Erhu, a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, sometimes known in the Western world as the “Chinese violin”. His studies have been principally undertaken at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) in Singapore, and ratified with an RCM degree thanks to an historic agreement signed between NAFA and the RCM in 2011.

Jun Ru said of his unique achievement: “It is a great honour to be the first Chinese instrumental graduate of the RCM. I first visited the RCM when I was on a trip with my family to London some years back. Being thoroughly impressed by the RCM, it has always been a dream of mine to be an RCM student, even though I majored in a Chinese instrument.”

In all, 20 NAFA students – the other 19 specialising in western instruments – graduated with RCM degrees in 2013. This is the first time that any RCM degrees have been conferred outside the UK.

Stephen Fry at the RCM

RCM students have had the opportunity to workshop a brand new opera with music by RCM graduate Louis Mander and libretto by Stephen Fry.

On 2 July, Stephen Fry visited the RCM to direct the students in a one-off workshop and informal presentation of three short scenes from The Life to Come, an opera based on the short story by E M Forster. Composer Louis Mander conducted the RCM Opera Orchestra as well as singers from the RCM International Opera School.

Stephen Fry tweeted: “Having fun workshopping my operatic version of Forster’s ‘The Life to Come’ @RCMLatest – the students are stupendous”.

The cast included Peter Kirk, Bradley Travis, Matt R J Ward and Katherine Crompton, all fresh from their appearances in the International Opera School’s hit summer production of Offenbach’s operetta La vie parisienne.

Instruments Out and About

Two treasures from the RCM Special Collections were loaned out to special exhibitions over the summer.

The National Gallery’s special exhibition ‘Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure’,

included the RCM Museum of Music’s bass viol by Barak Norman (pictured), made in London in 1692. Meanwhile, National Museums Scotland displayed the guitar attributed to Rene Voboam, c 1650, as part of their summer exhibition ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’. This instrument has a spurious association with Mary’s private secretary David Rizzio, and appeared in the section of the exhibition dedicated to the myths which surround our interpretation of Mary’s life.

The instruments are now back in the RCM Museum of Music, which is open Tuesday to Friday 11.30am to 4.30pm and is free to visit.

RCM graduate Ben Johnson has won the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.

The prize – named after the much-loved RCM alumna and soprano – was voted for by audiences in the hall and across the globe. Ben wowed those audiences with his musicality and committed performances, including stunning renditions of songs by a number of British composers associated with the RCM.

This year marked the 30th anniversary of the prestigious competition. Ben is the second RCM graduate to win the Audience Prize, following the 2007 triumph of baritone Jacques Imbrailo.

Ben Johnson – the audience favourite!

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Chew Jun Ru: RCM Pioneer

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Giving is Good for You

RCM Council member and scholarship donor John Nickson has published a new book that sheds light on the benefits of being generous.

Giving is Good for You was launched at the RCM on Thursday 6 June, and is available to buy from Biteback Publishing. RCM staff, students, friends and supporters can get the book at a special price of £14.99 by visiting www.politicos.co.uk/promotions and entering the promotional code “RCM”.

A Summer of ProgressStaff and students returning to the RCM after the summer break have noticed a number of improvements.

Following the renovation of the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall in 2008, a chequerboard of reflective panels has been added to the lighting bars above the stage. This addition is designed to enhance the clarity of sound for the performers.

Two practice rooms have also been completely refurbished and decorated. New dimmer lights in the ceilings, acoustic floor panels, air conditioning units and more mirrors have improved their aesthetic and acoustic qualities. One room has also seen the addition of a new lectern and SMART interactive whiteboard. These new rooms are the first in a long-term strategy to refurbish all rooms in the Blomfield building.

The RCM’s commitment to providing the best possible environment for students, visitors and staff will continue in the coming months and years – keep an eye on Upbeat for details!

RCM graduates Charlotte Harding, Mika Sawai and Marcos Fernandez have been selected to participate in a new project at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to help with patients’ treatment and rehabilitation.

The composers have been tasked with writing relaxing pieces of music for a special audio guide tour of the paintings, sculptures and installations of Chelsea and Westminster Hospitals’ impressive art collection. Delivered in partnership with the RCM’s

Woodhouse Professional Development Centre, the project is an innovative new way of motivating patients to get out of bed and explore the hospital, beginning the recovery process.

RCM Head of Composition William Mival is mentoring the composers, guiding the development of their compositions and exploring with them the role that art can play in the healing process. RCM musicians will be recording the new works when they are completed later in the year.

The Rhapsody Project

ISPS 2013The fourth International Symposium on Performance Science (ISPS) was held in

Vienna at the University of Music and Performing Arts (MDW) in August.

The 2013 theme of ‘Performing Together’ encouraged debate on the science of collaborative performing

activities. Many engaging topics were discussed including the psychological and physiological processes behind ensemble performance, and the most recent findings on performance health and wellbeing.

More than 200 delegates from 30 countries attended the symposium with around 25 representatives from the RCM. MSc student Nicola Pennill commented: “It was fantastic to experience first-hand the multidisciplinary nature of performance

science. I was especially struck by the number of different approaches and perspectives; and how inventive researchers can be when seeking reliable, repeatable ways to measure ‘performance’!”

The ISPS is convened biennially by the RCM Centre for Performance Science. To find out more and download articles from the 2013 symposium please visit www.performancesience.org

The 2015 ISPS will be held in Kyoto, Japan.

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In the news... New Halls of ResidenceThe RCM is delighted to announce a £44 million development of its halls of residence in West London.

The RCM has appointed Campus Living Villages (CLV) to create a brand new state-of-the-art facility to house its students. The new accommodation, replacing the current facility on Goldhawk Road, will comprise 177 studio apartments, 170 en-suite rooms and 63 standard rooms. The buildings will

include an open plan central amenity space which breaks out onto external courtyards, an informal performance space, kitchens and a gymnasium.

The costs of the project will be borne by CLV, who will take responsibility for the project in its entirety, provide investment, manage the build programme and operate the accommodation once complete in 2015. Ensuring value for money and affordable rents for RCM students are cornerstones of the project, and the RCM will take a minor shareholding in the development to ensure these objectives continue to be delivered.

Suitable alternative accommodation arrangements will be made for students in 2014/15. Further details to follow.

Success for RCM GraduatesAccording to statistics published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), RCM graduates are some of the most likely to move on to employment or further study.

Of those who completed HESA’s survey, 98% of RCM full-time first degree leavers reported that they were in employment and/or further study six months after graduating.

This figure of the 98% is the fourth highest reported by graduates across 152 UK higher education institutions. All of the figures are available on the HESA website: www.hesa.ac.uk

Britain’s Greenest ConservatoireFor the fourth year running, the RCM has scored highly in the People & Planet Green League, which assesses the environmental performance of UK universities.

The RCM scored a solid 2:1 rating, not only maintaining our position as the UK’s greenest conservatoire for the fourth year running, but also securing first place among all of the UK’s smaller specialist institutions.

The Science of MusicRCM Chairman Professor Robert Winston has sought to understand our relationship with the power of sound in a four-part series for BBC Radio 4.

In The Science of Music, Robert Winston discussed topics ranging from music’s evolutionary origins to the physics behind what we hear. The programme also featured conversations with a variety of experts across science and music including RCM Director Colin Lawson and Professor of Performance Science Aaron Williamon.

Music and Monarchy

The RCM has featured in David Starkey’s BBC Two television series Music and Monarchy.

In the four-part series, historian David Starkey explored how the story of British music has been shaped by the monarchy. Several scenes in the final episode were filmed at the RCM, documenting the RCM’s foundation in 1882 and the music of former RCM Director Sir Hubert Parry.

Two rarely-seen items from the RCM Special Collections featured in the programme: the autograph score of Parry’s celebrated work I Was Glad and a baton (pictured) that was presented in 1899 by Queen Victoria to the highly respected organist and choral director Sir Walter Parratt, Master of the Queen’s Music and the first senior organ professor at the RCM. Alumna Susanna Hurrell also made an appearance as soprano soloist in a performance of Parry’s Jerusalem with the Choir of Merton College, Oxford.

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The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2013Challenge opens: Thursday 5 December 10am

The Royal College of Music is proud to be part of The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2013, during which we seek to raise £160,000 for the RCM Scholarship Fund. The Donors of

the RCM and The Big Give have created a fund to match donations, meaning that for every £1 donated online, the RCM will receive £2.

If you have ever considered making a donation to enable talented young musicians to train here, there is no better time. From 10am on Thursday 5 December, please visit www.theBigGive.org.uk

to have any donation you make to the RCM (from £1 to £5,000) doubled. Contact Irisa Frankle for further details on 0207 591 4861 or irisa.frankle@rcm.ac.uk

RCM Live!The RCM has continued in its ground-breaking series of online broadcasts via the RCM website.

In July, the RCM broadcast the entire Graduation Ceremony for the first time. With students from more than 60 countries graduating, it provided a unique opportunity for more than 1,000 families and friends from all around the world to share their special day.

Some of our broadcasts are now available to watch on the RCM YouTube channel, including past masterclasses with baritone Gerald Finley, legendary violinist Ida Haendel and pianist András Schiff.

Also available on YouTube are new videos showcasing various aspects of RCM life. You can witness trumpeter Ryan Linham prepare for a performance of Turangalîla at the Royal Festival Hall, or watch percussionist Kizzy Brooks take West Side Story into schools as part of the RCM Sparks outreach programme.

You can visit our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/rcmlondon

The RCM and the BBC PromsIn 2013, the RCM was delighted once again to enjoy a close association with the BBC Proms, the world’s biggest classical music festival.

As usual, the RCM hosted more than 70 pre-concert “Proms Plus” events in our Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, which were broadcast regularly on BBC Radio 3 and included many appearances from RCM students and staff.

In addition, the renowned RCM Sparks team delivered their biggest ever series of participatory events for families, children and teens. They offered opportunities to explore the RCM and the Royal Albert Hall, to create compositions inspired by music at the BBC Proms and to take part in fun-filled workshops led by inspirational musicians.

And in a welcome new development, the RCM also hosted “Proms Extra” – the brand new six-part BBC2 TV show in which presenter Katie Derham and famous guests from the music world discussed the week’s performances.

RCM Sparks

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In the news...Georgian Music Revealed!RCM musicians are enhancing a major exhibition at the British Library this winter.

‘Georgians Revealed: Life, Style and the Making of Modern Britain’ runs from Friday 8 November 2013 to Tuesday 11 March 2014. Marking 300 years since the Georgian period began, the exhibition showcases more than 200 fascinating and rare artefacts, and explores the roots of today’s popular culture.

To accompany the exhibition, RCM musicians have recorded a number of key musical works from the period, in some cases working from rare

original manuscripts from the British Library’s collection. Soprano Katherine Crompton, harpsichordist Marie van Rhijn and violinists Magdelena Loth-Hill and Ellen Bundy visited the RCM Studios to record famous works by Handel and Arne, as well as a fascinating selection of anonymous tunes and songs. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to listen to the music within the galleries, or purchase an exclusive CD.

The project was developed by the British Library in association with the RCM’s Woodhouse Professional Development Centre, and the recording sessions were produced by RCM Artistic Director Stephen Johns.

For more information, visit www.bl.uk/georgians-revealed

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Primary Proms On Thursday 10 October, the RCM Junior Department Chamber Orchestra performed at a pair of very special events.

Taking place at the Royal Albert Hall, the two London Primary Proms – run by national music charity Music for Youth and hosted by CBBC’s Barney Harwood – offered 7,500 young Londoners the chance to hear outstanding music-making by some of the capital’s leading young performers.

The enthusiastic audience enjoyed performances by a brass band, percussion ensemble, a big band and a choir, as well as the Junior Department Chamber Orchestra’s vibrant performances of Warlock’s Capriol Suite.

From Community to Concert Platform

Alina Ibragimova

RCM Sparks

We are delighted to announce that the RCM has received a major commitment from the Georg and Emily von Opel Foundation to support the teaching of string instruments at the Royal College of Music.

The donation will support RCM Sparks Juniors, which offers intensive training for 40 local children who have demonstrated potential and would not otherwise be able to afford music tuition. As well as this work at grassroots level, which inspires children to take up a musical instrument, Mr and Mrs von Opel are supporting the training of elite RCM string students. Their donation is enabling annual residencies in the String Faculty for cellist Johannes Goritzki and violinist Alina Ibragimova, who will be presenting a series of inspirational masterclasses.

Mr von Opel commented: “As a keen violinist who has benefitted from the inspiring tuition of an RCM professor, I am delighted that this donation will underpin the depth and breadth of stringed instrument activities at the RCM. I hope it will have a transformational effect on the lives of the next generation of world-class musicians, as well as those being encouraged to try for the first time.”

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Hello and goodbye...

New scholarship recipients

Welcoming new arrivals…

StudentsWe are delighted to welcome a total of 360 new students from 53 different countries for this new academic year at the RCM.

This year, we have awarded more than £2 million in scholarships to RCM students, helping more young musicians than ever to fulfil their dream of studying at the RCM. Thanks to generous donors, we are delighted to welcome 13 new scholarship titles including the Neville Wathen Scholarships, the John & Marjorie Coultate Scholarships, the Future of Russia Scholarship, the Ernest Hecht Scholarships, the Charles Knoll Scholarship, the Dasha Shenkman Scholarship, the Gary & Eleanor Brass Scholarship, the Betty Brenner Scholarship, the Greenbank Scholarship, the Robin Ritzema Scholarship, the Humphrey Searle Scholarship, the Victoria Sharp Scholarship and the Tait Trust Scholarship. We extend sincere thanks to our supporters for making these new scholarships possible.

Stephanie Bissell has been newly elected as President of the Students’ Association. Stephanie and her team will represent and support the student body, and provide a full programme of social events and activities.

Stephanie Bissell (second from right)

Professors and StaffWe’re delighted to welcome four new professors this September: Norwegian violist Ida Bryhn, Italian double bass player Gabriele Ragghianti, American mezzo soprano Lucy Schaufer and Dr Wiebke Thormählen as Area Leader in History. We also welcome Gabriele Rossi Rognoni as the new Curator of the RCM Museum of Music and RCM Collection of Instruments.

Miranda Francis joins the RCM as the new Head of Junior Programmes. In this new role, she succeeds Peter Hewitt as Head of the RCM’s Junior Department and will also work closely with RCM Sparks, the RCM’s wide-reaching learning and participation programme.

To coincide with the start of two new research projects – Musical Impact and Creative Practice as Mutual Recovery – we’re delighted to welcome three new Research Associates: Liliana Araújo, Sara Ascenso and Daisy Fancourt.

New Junior FellowsThe RCM welcomes a host of new Junior Fellows for 2013/14 academic year including Maksim Stsura (Mills Williams

Junior Fellowship), Jens Lynen (Constant & Kit Lambert Junior Fellowship), Ian Tindale (Lord and Lady Lurgan Junior Fellowship), Simon Callaghan (Anthony Saltmarsh Junior Fellowship), Marie van Rhijn (Linda Hill Junior Fellowship in Harpsichord) and Richard Carne Junior Fellowship holders: the Albany Piano Trio (Pippa Harrison, Gemma Sharples and Verity Evanson).

We also welcome back for a second year Jennifer Hughes (Gilbert and Eileen Edgar Junior Fellowship), Jocelyn Freeman (Phoebe Benham Junior Fellowship), Jennifer Carter (Adami Award for Piano Accompanists) and Quartet in Association: the Sacconi Quartet (Ben Hancox, Hannah Dawson, Robin Ashwell and Cara Berridge).

A fond farewell...David HarphamThis October marked the end of an era when we said farewell to David Harpham, who retired as Registry Officer after an incredible 39 years at the RCM. After first coming to the RCM as a singer, David acted as representative for the Students’ Association before joining the staff in 1974.

David carried out a huge number of roles over the years, but many students and staff know him best as the principal organiser of the RCM auditions. David was often the first point of contact for applicants, and generations of students have expressed their gratitude for the help he offered in steering them through this often nerve-wracking process.

We send David all best wishes for a very happy retirement.

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Amanda Glauert explains why research is so important to the RCM, and why every musician is a researcher, whether they realise it or not…

I have always been inspired by what I call the ‘John Wallace view of research’. John Wallace (Head of Conservatoires UK and Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) is a great model for combining a top-class artistic career with a passion for enquiry of all kinds. When speaking to conservatoire students, he used to say that ‘research’ should mean anything from working out what might bring in an audience, to finding some new repertoire to keep your enthusiasm alive, to sorting out which instrument (in his case, which trumpet) a particular piece would work best on. He saw research as a continuum from market research, to practical problem-solving, to outright innovation in a quasi-scientific sense.

To quote our very own Director Colin Lawson, another great model for conservatoire-based research: all artists have to be advocates for what they do, and advocacy is fuelled by a sense of context. Performers and composers

are inspired and inspiring if they know something of the traditions they inhabit. Against that sense of context they can map their own power to transform. 

One of the many things artists do is to use the past to project into the future. Researchers too are required to be aspirational; research is about drawing up a blueprint for new knowledge and understanding. Research and art empower each other if research is viewed in that creative sense.

Research at the RCMThe distinctiveness of the conservatoire research environment is that the benefits of new knowledge can be tested immediately in performance and with audiences. The research venue is not the ivory tower, it’s the concert room.

This is even true of our most scientific strand of research activity: performance science. The RCM’s Centre for Performance Science draws performers into investigating their own practice though the lens of empirical psychology and sociology. It involves expert scientific analysis and experimentation, but the object of study is still the business of how performers seek to communicate with audiences, how they overcome performance anxiety, how they can enhance their own creativity.

Of course much RCM research is inspired by the amazing richness of our Special Collections, which help bring the past alive. For example, we have possibly the earliest example of a keyboard instrument as well as the autograph of Mozart’s much-loved Piano Concerto in C minor. Much of our research involves responding to what these sources tell us, be that through the ‘pure’ research of editing manuscripts and studying historical instruments, or through the ‘applied’ research of finding new ways of programming concerts and communicating with audiences.

Three flagship projectsIt is exciting to see projects that draw different aspects of the RCM’s research environment together. Our Performance Simulator can offer all sorts of hard evidence about the effects of performing on our minds and bodies, but is also a practical tool for performers to explore what the ‘live-ness’ of performance

actually means. Perhaps the Performance Simulator can help us understand the differences between performing in the concert hall and in the recording studio or between notions of ‘stage presence’ in different artistic and scientific disciplines? There are research projects developing in this very area, stimulated by the RCM’s growing partnerships with Imperial College, the Science Museum, and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Another example of collaboration is the Singing a Song in a Foreign Land project, which explores music written by émigré composers, and shows how historical awareness can transform the experience of performers and audiences. The RCM’s own history is illuminated by the accounts of exiles from war, rebuilding their lives around music. The working of archival material into curated concerts has confirmed how research and artistic perspectives can reinforce each other.

And then there are listeners. The question of how different audiences listen to music and make sense of what they hear is the subject of the RCM’s large-scale collaboration with the Open University: the Listening Experience Database. (see page 11).  

Performers and composers Research is always partly a self-defined activity. If musicians are to be involved it requires them to embark on a process of enquiry, and then be able to demonstrate to others the benefits of their newly gained knowledge and understanding. Many composers can demonstrate just such benefits; in fact musical composition has historically been viewed as a science for that reason, revealing new understanding of the phenomenon of sound.

Some composers and performers choose to embark on that process of enquiry and demonstration very explicitly; some prefer to leave the enquiry implicit. But whichever camp they fall into, all conservatoire students need to question what they are doing if they are to reach their full potential. Research tools provide one way of provoking questions and it is vital students experience the benefits they can bring. A conservatoire is a place of self-realization, and every kind of tool and resource should be employed to that end.

Research - what’s in it for me?

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In 1964, RCM alumnus Benjamin Britten gave a speech in which he described “true musical experience” as a “holy triangle of composer, performer, listener”. When this concept is turned into a diagram, it is usually drawn as a triangle with three equal sides, as if all three participants in the musical experience are equal partners. However when it comes to the written history of music, things aren’t quite so equal; a visit to the library or a quick internet search will reveal huge amounts of information on historical composers and performers, but not very much at all on listeners.

So – if we accept Britten’s idea that the listener is an intrinsic and vital part of the experience – how can we hope to understand the history of music if we’re only getting two thirds of the story?? Fortunately, in Britten’s centenary year, the RCM is leading the way in rectifying the situation.

The RCM has joined forces with the Open University for a ground-breaking scheme called the Listening Experience Database (LED). This ambitious three-year project, funded by a £750,000 research grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, aims to produce the world’s first database documenting the impact of music on people’s lives.

The Listening Experience Database will – for the first time – gather in one place records of people’s personal experiences

of listening to music of all kinds. It will include a huge variety of information: not only what people are listening to and where and when they are listening to it, but also – crucially – the effect it has on them. As Professor David Rowland (Dean of Arts and Humanities at The Open University) has said: “Music is a deeply personal thing. Whether it’s a nursery rhyme we remember from childhood or a song we have come to love as we grow up, each of us has our own individual soundtrack. Now, for the first time, we will be able to capture and bring together a massive range of personal listening experiences from any historical period and from any culture.”

In addition to gathering together pre-existing information from a variety of archives and historical sources (such as the RCM’s very own Bradley Bulletins, from the mid-20th century) – the RCM and OU team will also be inviting the public to take part. Listeners worldwide will not only be able to upload their own documented evidence, but will also be able to search the database themselves to discover how other people have been affected by music.

Beyond that, of course the database promises to become a valuable resource for a wide range of sectors and groups, such as performers, educators, social historians, libraries and museums. The RCM’s very own Dr Ingrid Pearson explains its relevance: “The database will

help us to form a better understanding of the effect of music on listeners and the ways in which it is, and has been, valued and understood in society. We believe it will enhance our understanding of how recording and broadcasting technologies have affected people’s relationship with music, and offer a new range of evidence of how music is studied and learned. It will also sharpen our insight into the settings and ways in which music has been performed.”

On 17 December, the RCM will play host to the inaugural Listening Experience Database Symposium. Project managers Simon Brown (RCM) and Helen Barlow (OU) will reflect on the first few months of activity and outline the future of the project, while RCM and OU researchers will explore a wide variety of subjects, including “Listeners’ responses to the BBC’s music output”; “Women listeners in the 18th and 19th centuries”; “English listeners in Italy”; and, appropriately enough, “Listening to Britten”.

If Britten himself is listening in somewhere – we hope he would approve.

Visit the LED website at www.open.ac.uk/Arts/LED

In 2014 we will be asking for listeners to contribute to the database. For more information keep an eye on future issues of Upbeat, or email Arts-Listening-Experience@open.ac.uk

Listening Experience Database

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From X-rays to A clarinets

How did a retired scientist influence a performance of Wagner at the BBC Proms? 73 year-old Keith Bowen, the oldest student at the RCM, explains all…

Music and ScienceAs a serious and enthusiastic clarinettist, I had to face up to a difficult career choice between music and science. I thought, probably correctly, that I would be a better scientist than musician, and worked first as a professor of engineering at Warwick University, then as a technical director of a small public company making X-ray instruments for industry.

With semi-retirement from my ‘day job’, I once more had the chance to study music seriously. I started out at the Open University, first with their excellent Diploma in Music (which I completed mainly on trains and aeroplanes while commuting around the world for my industrial job) and then their MA in Music.

The Bass ClarinetMy MA dissertation topic – The Rise and Fall of the Bass Clarinet in A – was suggested by Daniel Leeson, editor of the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe volumes on Mozart’s wind music. This topic was ideal; small enough that the study could be made fairly complete within a year, with a world catalogue of instruments numbering fewer than 20, and a comprehensive list of works numbering just over 60.

It is very gratifying that my research has already had some impact. Partly as a result of this dissertation, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment used an historical bass clarinet in A at their concert performance of Act II of Tristan und Isolde at the 2010 BBC Proms. The player in question told me: ‘When played on the correct instrument, I felt that the music played itself, whereas on the B-flat I felt that I had to work hard on phrasing and the right kind of sound’. Since then, the Robert Schumann Hochschüle in Düsseldorf has restored its bass clarinet in A, the provenance of which traces back to the first performance of Tristan in Bayreuth.

Doctoral StudiesThis work led directly to an invitation from professors Ingrid Pearson and Colin Lawson to continue studies for a doctorate at the RCM. Originally I had no such thought, nor did I think the RCM would be interested in a geriatric research student! But one visit convinced me that I would be welcomed as part of the growing research community, and that the environment would be incredibly rich for my interest in clarinet development, which is now focussed on the early, so-called “bassoon-form” bass clarinets.

Having just begun my second year of part-time study I have already gained so much. Colin Lawson and Ingrid Pearson insisted that the paramount questions must always be about the music and the sound: that has resulted in amazing lessons from professor Michael Harris on bass clarinet and from Colin Lawson on classical clarinet. I have also included within my project the construction of a replica bass clarinet by Catterino Catterini from the Oxford Bate Collection (shown below). This has seen me form contacts and gain practical training in instrument building at the Cambridge Woodwind Makers foundation, led by Daniel Bangham.

Life at the RCMThe RCM is an environment in which one can learn so much. My interaction with a stimulating group of fellow doctoral students (to my mind, one of the key elements of a graduate school) has been fascinating and satisfying. I always enjoy attending masterclasses, whatever the instrument or voice; it is always an advantage to understand as much as possible about the other instruments. I attend as many concerts as I can, limited only by the need to commute from my home in Warwick. And I enjoy the sounds of other students practising as I walk around the RCM, with thoughts ranging from ‘OMG that is unbelievably awesome’ to ‘Play it slowly and stop practising your mistakes’!!

By this stage in my life, while I’m quite confident with many aspects of my life, I see no reason to stop learning! The RCM environment is an ideal one in which to continue this process, and if some of my experience also rubs off onto my fellow students, as I learn from theirs, so much the better!

Bass Clarinet by Catterino Catterini (Oxford University Bate Collection) that Keith is replicating at the Cambridge Woodwind Makers foundation

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Randall Scotting & Claire Bracher

Doctoral student Randall Scotting and Viol consort coach Claire Bracher discuss their fascination with uncovering lesser known baroque works…

Where do your research interests lie?RS: As a countertenor I’ve sung a lot of Baroque opera, particularly Handel, but have always been curious about other, less well known music from that period. Starting my doctorate was my first step into scholarly academia. The idea is to unearth baroque manuscripts from the first half of the 18th century and create modern editions of them from which my ensemble Ballo Baroque can perform.

CB: I’m interested in recording and performing a small collection of music from the RCM Collection for viola da gamba including a rarely heard and unrecorded Trio Sonata by Johann Christoph Pepusch. So along with my duo partner Jadran Duncumb and RCM violinist Guillermo Martinez we’ve been exploring this work. Incidentally, we also discovered a set of Violin Sonatas by Pepusch and would love to hear from any violinists interested in learning them!

RS: One of the reasons I was keen to study at the RCM was because of the Collections. I like the idea of research and performance going hand in hand. I’m not an academic, I didn’t want to be stuck looking at these pieces without giving a voice to them!

What interests you about uncovering these lesser known works? CB: Well the Pepusch Trio Sonata hadn’t been played since about 1700, when the composer arrived in England. So to be the first ones to put a voice to it is pretty exciting.

RS: You have these pieces that haven’t been heard for centuries. For example I’m currently working with a manuscript of a baroque opera by the Italian composer Giovanni Antonio Giaj which is in the RCM Collection – even the most seasoned performers have rarely heard that name. So it’s exciting to discover that the music is really great, and really very unique.

What process do you go through from discovering the piece exists to performing it in front of an audience?CB: I originally found out about the Pepusch through Michael Mullen in the RCM Library. My approach is to stick with the original manuscript as I feel very strongly that the way it is written on page influences the way I perform the piece. I’m more creative playing from the original edition.

RS: I start with the original manuscript, but as I’m often dealing with a larger ensemble, I need to go through each part correcting mistakes and making editorial decisions. I then create a modern edition for my ensemble to play from.

CB: Being able to use the Kessler viols, which is one of the best collections of English viols in the country, is incredible. They’re all in playing condition and it really changes how you perform the music.

What condition are the manuscripts in?RS: It really varies. With some manuscripts you’ll find there are bits missing or the manuscript itself can be quite messy or badly preserved. There’s one manuscript from 1707 I’m looking at where the ink has melded into the paper and so I’ve had to find ways of making sense of it all. I’ve even started using technology to remove some of the ‘background noise’ so I can isolate the original markings. In contrast, the opera I mentioned earlier by Giovanni Antonio Giaj is so beautifully presented and preserved – it found its way into British Royalty and was donated to the RCM by Queen Victoria – and so working from this manuscript is a dream.

How do you make your research appealing to audiences? CB: I think you have to mix the programme up with well-known composers to draw people in. But I hope a lot of audiences pick up on our excitement on performing these unfamiliar works.

RS: I always try to find connections with other composers from the time to help audiences put them in context. I think the venue also helps – I’ve done a couple of concerts at Handel House where you’re performing to an audience who already have a vested interest in the period.

Where next?CB: I’m looking forward to performing at St George’s Hanover Square with my duo partner on Friday 21 March next year as part of the London Handel Festival and the release of my new CD.

RS: We’re working towards a concert at London’s Holy Trinity Church on Tuesday 3 December, which features the opera by Giaj. We’ve also been invited to Germany next February to participate in the Göttingen Historical Music Series International Competition for Young Ensembles.

Find out moreYou can follow Claire and Randall on twitter @ClaireLBracher and @RandallScotting.

Recordings of the Pepusch Trio Sonatas are available at www.youtube.com/DuoLabyrinthe

Find out more about Randall’s ensemble Ballo Baroque at www.ballobaroque.com

Randall Scotting Claire Bracher

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Remembering two RCM FriendsHe had a life-long passion for music and the Welsh proverb: “To be born Welsh is to be born privileged. Not with a silver spoon in your mouth, but music in your heart and poetry in your soul” was close to his heart. He was also a member of the highly acclaimed all-male vocal group “Men in Scarlet”, made up of seven Chelsea Pensioners, who went on to release a hugely successful album which sold more than 100,000 copies.

David was born on 16 March 1929 in Pontypridd, Wales. At 14, he enlisted in the army where he completed a three-year Engineering Apprenticeship before being transferred to the Royal Engineers in 1946. His posts included many places in England and as far away as Egypt. For his loyal service, David was awarded the 1939–1945 War Medal and the General Service Medal – Canal Zone Clasp. Following his 16 years of service in the Army, David was employed as an Office Manager at Casson Condor & Partners architectural firm. It was here that he met the architect, Sir Hugh Casson, who later designed the RCM’s Britten Theatre.

David joined the Royal Hospital Chelsea in May 2002 where he fully involved himself in the daily routine of the Hospital and took on the role of a Tour Guide and, concurrently, the Editor of the Royal Hospital’s Tricorne magazine. He worked tirelessly raising substantial sums of money for a number of charities including the RBL, RNLI, ABF and the Institute of Cancer Research.

Never short of a word, David made friends with everyone he met and was a familiar face at the RCM. He will be greatly missed by all of us here.

David died in the Margaret Thatcher Infirmary of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea on 10 October 2013 aged 84 years.

James McAlindenAn RCM Friend for more than 26 years, James was one of our longest standing supporters and was a well-loved and familiar face around the RCM. With the benefit of living locally, James frequently attended concerts and events at the RCM including the 2013 President’s Visit. His philanthropic generosity ranged from the restoration of the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, the annual Big Give campaign and Restore a Score scheme. James also had the privilege of attending the final dress rehearsal before the Royal opening of the Britten Theatre

With their enthusiastic attendance at concerts, recitals and masterclasses, RCM Friends provide vital support to the RCM and its talented young musicians. Recently, two of our most loyal and committed Friends sadly passed away and here we remember them.

in 1986. This remained one of his fondest memories which he would recount to staff and patrons alike.

Born in Ireland in 1927, James McAlinden moved to England as a young man. He followed a distinguished career as an accountant with both The British Council and The British School of Rome. He maintained a strong relationship with family in Ireland and made regular visits back home.

Two current students Josephine Goddard and Tyrone Whiting performed at his requiem mass in the Carmelite Priory, paying a lovely tribute to a treasured and loyal member of the RCM family.

All who knew James will recall his love and enthusiasm for music making. We offer our thoughts, sympathies and best wishes to all his family and friends.

James died on 22 September 2013 aged 86, surrounded by dear friends.

Welcome to new Friends and SupportersWe are delighted to welcome the following people who have recently made their first donation to RCM

Mr Stephen AnsonMs Jennifer BarlowSusan BartlettOrest BiszkoDan BleicherMrs Maxine Buchanan-MichaelsonMr Clifford CaesarMrs Margaret CarmichaelMr Philip CurryMike HolmesReginald HorrocksRobin KentKate KingPenelope MaclachlanOriana TrustBhumika PatherRicardo PereiraMargaret Richter-OentrichMr Peter WallMr Dominic WardMr Stephen WatersZhaocai WeiMs F Wynne

David PoultneyDavid Victor Poultney had a close relationship with the RCM, and for many years was an RCM Friend and Patron. He was passionate about his connection with the RCM and took every opportunity to tell people he met about the events and concerts he attended.

David Poultney

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Supporting the future of music...Music has the power to transform lives. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, generations of gifted students from around the world have been guided and inspired at the RCM. We would like to thank in particular those who have made donations of £1,000 or more in the last twelve months. Gifts are listed in descending order.

Supporters of named scholarships, bursaries and Junior Fellowships Estate of Dr Neville Wathen The Estate of Humphrey SearleABRSM Leverhulme Trust Soirée d’Or Scholarships The John and Marjorie Coultate ScholarshipEstate of Roselyn Ann Clifton Parker The Richard Carne Charitable Trust Laurie Barry and the John Barry Scholarship for Film Composition Estate of Dr John Birch FRCM The Wolfson FoundationH R Taylor Trust H F Awards Andrew and Karen SunnucksJohn Lewis Partnership Scholarships The Tsukanov Family FoundationRichard and Rosemary Millar The Worshipful Company of Musicians Hester Laverne Award Charles Napper Award Lydia Napper Award The Michael Bishop Foundation The Big Give Trust The Reed Foundation Croucher Hong Kong Charitable Trust The Hon Ros Kelly Opperby Stokowski Collection Trust The Lee Abbey Award Celia and Andrew Curran Scholarship Stephen Catto Memorial Scholarship The Worshipful Company of Drapers The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers The Estate of Mr Charles Knoll Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust Ian Stoutzker CBE FRCM Ian and Meriel Tegner The Ernest Hecht Charitable FoundationThe Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation UK Gilbert and Eileen Edgar Junior Fellowship Phoebe Benham Junior Fellowship The Mills Williams Foundation The Dasha Shenkman ScholarshipThe Derek Butler Trust Monica and Guy Black Scholarship The Boltini Trust ScholarshipThe Charles Peel Charitable Trust The Ackroyd Trust The Richard Toeman/Weinberger Opera Scholarship The Wyseliot Charitable Trust The Wall Trust The Stanley Picker Scholarship Professor Lord Winston Lark Insurance Scholarship Steinway & Sons The Gary & Eleanor Brass ScholarshipThe Estate of Betty BrennerThe Robin Ritzema Scholarship (Lady Harrison)Richard and Debbie Ward David Laing Foundation Scholarship The Greenbank Scholarship Independent Opera Artist Scholarship South Square Trust

The Tait Trust ScholarshipSir Peter and Lady Walters Edward Brooks FRCM Sir Gordon Palmer Scholarship Douglas and Kyra Downie Mark Loveday Scholarship Arthur Wilson Trombone Award Else and Leonard Cross Charitable Trust Yehudi Menuhin Award Midori Nishiura Bell Percussion Kirby Laing Foundation Peter Granger Paul BoothThe Donald Paterson Award The Bliss Trust Norman Reintamm

Supporters of RCM Sparks J Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust John Lyon’s Charity David Ross Foundation The Ernest Cook Trust Universal Music The Hedley Foundation John Lewis Partnership The Stanley FoundationMayor of London’s Fund for Young MusiciansDr Susan Sinclair and Rodolphe Olard Anonymous The Oldhurst Trust HPS Trust Angus Allnatt Charitable Foundation

Members of the RCM Chairman’s Circle Philip Carne HonRCM and Christine Carne* Michael and Ruth West* Dr Leonard Polonsky and Dr Georgette Bennett* Victoria Sharp*The Vernon Ellis FoundationJane Barker* Sir Roger and Lady Carr HonRCM* Guy Dawson and Sam Horscroft Emma Rose and Quentin Williams* Linda and Tony Hill James and Clare Kirkman* John and Catherine Armitage* Gisela Gledhill* Alethea Siow and Jeremy Furniss* Dr Mark Levesley and Christina Hoseason*

Members of the RCM Director’s Circle Vivien McLean Richard and Sue PriceJudy and Terence Mowschenson Charles and Kaaren Hale Terry Hitchcock Sir Peter and Lady Middleton FRCM Metherell Family John Nickson and Simon Rew* Peter and Dimity Spiller Louisa Treger Sir Sydney and Lady Lipworth

Members of the RCM Patrons’ Circle John Ward Russell Race* Ellen Moloney Mrs Piffa Schroder Rhoddy Voremberg Mrs Victoria Moore-Gillon FRCS David and Sue Lewis Mr and Mrs Charles Robinson Halina and John Bennett

Tania Chislett Sir Anthony Cleaver FRCM and Lady Cleaver Mrs Carol J. Hagh Ms Greta HemusMr and Mrs John Heywood Monica Moezinia David Poultney (1929-2013) Mrs R Rothbarth Dimity and Kerry Rubie Barbara Simmonds Betty Sutherland Dr Yvonne Winkler John Cheng Costas Kaplanis

Corporate PartnersRoyal Garden HotelHatch Mansfield

Other generous donors Georg and Emily von Opel Foundation+Leopold de Rothschild 1959 Charitable TrustThe Henry Wood Trust The Robert Fleming Hannay Memorial Charity Karen Cook The Hon Richard LyttletonMiss Kathleen Beryl Sleigh Charitable Trust The Seary Charitable Trust St Marylebone Educational FoundationJohn Hosier Music TrustRoland Rudd The Sharp Foundation Centrica plc Daniel ChapchalThe Rothermere Foundation Knights of the Round TableGeoffrey Richards HonRCM Dasha Shenkman HonRCMMark Messenger FRCM, LRAM, ARAMAnn Driver Trust Fidelio TrustSerena Fenwick Mark Wood Paul Wayne Gregory Webster and Davidson Mortification for the Blind Sir David Cooksey The Derek Hill Foundation Professor Colin Lawson FRCM Janis Susskind HonRCM Blair Wilson Award Moira D WittyDavid D SieffIrisa FrankleEdward Mandel/Jacques Samuel Pianos Bursary Michael Steen OBE HonRCM The Nicholas Branston Foundation Mrs Terry Collins-Tveter Helena Morrissey Nicola Jones Sir David Lees Kilfinan Trust Richard Davey Friends of the National Libraries Brian and Hana Smouha

* also support a named award + also support RCM Sparks and the

Strings FacultyFor more information about supporting the RCM, visit www.rcm.ac.uk/supportus Alternatively, contact Irisa Frankle on 020 7591 4861 or irisa.frankle@rcm.ac.uk

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Student notes

Composition congratulationsElectronic musician, film composer and DJ Kate Simko has joined forces with multi-disciplinary artist Bruno Levy to release an innovative new audio-visual work. Crystals is available on Vimeo and combines visual footage of the microscopic evolution of crystals with orchestral music… RCMJD composer Luke Fitzgerald’s four-part choral work A Wish will be premiered as part of the Britten Centenary Weekend celebrations in Aldeburgh and broadcast on BBC Radio 3… Works by RCM students Erick Flores (And The Crowd Wept), Arne Gieshoff (The Viagron) and Na’ama Zisser (Black Sand) have been performed at the Tête à Tête Opera Festival at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith… Sam Delves has re-scored and recorded the music for the video game Ni No Kuni… Josephine Stephenson’s work Abend has been premiered by Sinfonia d’Amici at LSO St Luke’s… Laurence Osborne has won Second Prize in the Junior Category of the International Antonin Dvořák Composition Competition with his piece pisen for two brass quintets and percussion… Andrew Howes’ work Spirits of Earth and Wind has been performed by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

String successesViolinist Benjamin Baker has been selected as a YCAT artist… Cellist Ariana Kashefi has been awarded the 2013 Royal Philharmonic Society Julius Isserlis Scholarship… Violist Ellen Nisbeth has been awarded the 2013

Kate Simko

Lara Melda

Vasco Dantas Rocha

Alexander Krichel

Junior Fellow Jennifer Hughes has won the Pianist Prize of £1,000 at the Patricia Routledge National English Song Competition. She accompanied RCM singer Bradley Travis, who was also awarded Third Prize… Vasco Dantas Rocha has been awarded the Antena 2 Prize by the Portuguese National Radio, at the Óbidos Piano International Week in Portugal. The prize includes a live recital on the Portuguese National Radio next year… Pianist Alexander Krichel has been named Newcomer of the Year 2013 at the Echo Klassik music awards.

Norwegian Soloist Prize at the Bergen International Festival… Violinist Algirdas Galdikas has performed works by Szymanowski and Saint-Saëns at the Vilnius Philharmonic Hall for the Mstislav Rostropovich Charity and Support Foundation concert... Junior Department violinist Itamar Rashkovsky has won Fourth Prize at the Kloster Schontal International Violin Competition… Junior Department double bassists Philip Nelson, Marcus Gaved and Ketan Curtis have visited New York for the International Society of Bassists Competition and Convention with JD teacher Caroline Emery. Philip won Second Prize in the under 18’s solo competition and First Prize in the Bottesini Prize. Marcus and Ketan were finalists in the under 14’s competition… Junior Department cellist Catherine Porter has taken part in a masterclass with Steven Doane at the European String Teachers Association annual conference in Oxford.

Keyboard accomplishmentsLara Melda has performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no 3 with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Swansea’s Brangwyn Hall and with the National Youth Orchestra of New Zealand in concert halls in Wellington and Auckland… Dinara Klinton has won First Prize of £2,500 at the Sheepdrove Intercollegiate Piano Competition, while Third Prize of £500 was awarded to Kausikan Rajeshkumar… Anna Fedorova has been signed by Stephen Wright of International Classical Artists for worldwide management.

Benjamin Baker

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Student notes

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Huw Montague Rendall performing in Cratoule, France RCM Junior Department students in Moscow

Vocal achievements

Other newsKensington Brass, a dectet featuring Ryan Linham, Toby Street, Adam Stockbridge, Tom Griffiths, Finlay Bain, Tom Barton, Adam Taylor, Gordon Maclachlan, Jim Alexander and Stephen Calow, has performed at the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch. Their programme included works by Handel, Dvorák, Harry James and John Williams.

Doctoral student Tamara Thompson-Brock has spent six weeks in Thailand working with HIV positive orphans and single mothers. A major part

of her work included music and art therapy with a 12 year-old autistic boy who suffered from a hearing impairment and severe behaviour issues. One of his artworks ‘Love Has Won’ (shown above) was exhibited at the Chiang Rai art gallery and quickly sold to a buyer in Bangkok.

Tai Oney

Baritone Morgan Pearse has been selected as a YCAT artist… Countertenor Tai Oney has reached the final of the Cesti International Singing Competition at the Innsbruck International Early Music Festival… Soprano Sinéad O’Kelly has been crowned NI Opera Voice of 2013 by BBC Radio 3’s Sean Rafferty, after a gala final that marked the climax of this year’s Glenarm Festival of Voice… Soprano Galina Verana has won Third Prize at the Les Azuriales competition in Nice… Tenor Peter Aisher, bass baritone Matthew Buswell, soprano Sinéad O’Kelly and baritone Huw Montague Rendall have attended a week of workshops at Cratoule in Provence, run by RCM professors... Tenor Nick Pritchard and soprano Hannah Sandison have been awarded First and Second Prizes respectively at the Dean and Chadlington Singing Competition. For Nick, the top prize included £1,000 plus an appearance at next year’s Dean and Chadlington Summer Music Festival.

Castleton Festival

RCM musicians James Kenny, Andrea Amat, Toby Street, Merce Escanellas, Thomas Barton, Elliott Perks, Alix Lagasse and Sarah Joyce have

performed at the annual Castleton Festival in Virginia at the invitation of Lorin Maazel. The trip was supported by Daniel Chapchal.

Lorin Maazel with RCM musicians

Five RCM Junior Department students – pianists Martin James Bartlett, Dominic Doutney and Tomoka Kan, violinist Freya Goldmark and flautist Daniel Shao – have visited Moscow to perform at the Vladimir Spivakov Foundation Festival in Moscow. The Foundation was set up in 1994 with the aim of assisting young people gifted in music and arts, and organises masterclasses, concerts, tours and exhibitions.

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Staff notesGuitar professor Gary Ryan has performed at London’s Bolivar Hall with tenor Thomas Hobbs. The new programme featured his acclaimed composition Benga Beat alongside works by J S Bach, Britten, Henze and Walton.

Gary Ryan

Kenneth Hesketh

Yuri Zhislin

Development Assistant Irisa Frankle has completed the Edinburgh Marathon in 4 hours and 12 minutes, raising more than £1,000 for the RCM Hardship Fund Campaign.

Brass Band in Residence Zone One Brass has won Third Prize at the All England International Masters Brass Band Contest in Kettering. The prize included a cheque for £750 and the Biggs Franklin Cup. Founding member Eoghan Kelly also won the Maxwell Thornton Award for the Outstanding Trombonist.

Professor Colin Lawson has appeared at the Edinburgh Festival, discussing the value of using period instruments alongside Alexander Hayward from National Museum Scotland.

Flute professor Gareth Davies, Principal Flautist with the LSO, has hosted his own show on Classic FM. In the hour-long programme, based on his recently published book The Show Must Go On, he told the story of the LSO’s tour to America in 1912 and compared it to orchestra tours a century later.

Junior Department piano teacher Clara Rodriguez has organised a three-day piano festival at the Teresa Carrena Centre in Venezuela. She also arranged for the transportation of a Steinway piano from London’s Southbank Centre for the festival, with the help of an ingenious piano engineer Peter Salisbury.

Junior Department clarinet teacher Alex Allen has been elected to The Royal Society of Musicians. His company, Clarinets Direct, is also now the main UK and European dealer for clarinets by the Argentinian maker Luis Rossi.

Composition professor Kenneth Hesketh’s Horae (pro Clara) – 12 short pieces for piano, written for the British pianist Clare Hammond – has been premiered at the Cheltenham Music Festival. A recording of his large ensemble and orchestral works has also been released on NMC Recordings.

Professors Andrew Robinson, Richard Jackson, James Bonas and Russell Smythe have held six days of workshops for students (including four from the RCM) at Cratoule in Provence. The end of course concert was held in the ruins of the château at Montclus where students performed to nearly 200 hundred tourists, locals and friends.

Violin professor Natalia Lomeiko’s latest CD of Prokofiev’s music has been released on Atoll Records. The recording features three sonatas – one with her violinist husband Yuri Zhislin and two with pianist Olga Sitkovetsky.

Area Leader for Masters Programmes in Composition for Screen Vasco Hexel has spoken at the Transatlantyk Festival in Poland, exploring the opportunities and challenges for media composers using production music libraries. His talk examined the benefits and drawbacks for filmmakers in using production music. and what this means for composers of ‘bespoke’ music.

Head of Historical Performance Ashley Solomon directed a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony no 9 in Gloucester Cathedral for the Three Choirs Festival. The 69-piece orchestra included a number of RCM students and professors, as well as members of RCM Ensemble in Association Florilegium. Ashley and harpsichord professor Terence Charlston have also given concerts, lectures and masterclasses at Juilliard, Yale and MOMA in America.

Research Fellow in Performance Practice Ingrid Pearson has performed with her ensemble The Shackleton Trio at the International Basset Horn Festival in Germany and on the modern clarinet with the Edinburgh Quartet. Ingrid’s book chapter, ‘Research degrees in the Conservatoire context: Reconciling practice and theory’ has also been published by Springer.

Yuri Zhislin has performed concertos by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky in Spain, and Sitkovetsky’s string trio arrangement of J S Bach’s Goldberg Variations in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. His ensemble ‘The Russian Virtuosi of Europe’ has also toured Russia, following their success in Moscow and St Petersburg last year.

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Janis Kelly

Jane Chapman

Janis Kelly returns to the role of Mrs Naidoo in Philip Glass’ Satyagraha at the ENO in November. This is the third ENO appearance for Phelim McDermott’s celebrated production, which was first produced in 2007.

Vocal Faculty Assistant Simon Davis has produced and performed the music for five Cartier jewellery commercials. Each of the commercials for their ‘Nouvelle Vague’ range of rings features a different contemporary arrangement of the Cole Porter classic I Love Paris.

Research Fellow in Music and Visual Impairment and intrepid guide dog owner Jackie Clifton has taken part in the Blind Drive Challenge at the Llandow Race Circuit in Wales. The event was in aid of Guide Dogs Cymru.

Jonathan Pitkin has written the preface for a new reprint of Glazunov’s Violin Concerto, published by Musikproduktion Höflich, Munich. It can be found online by browsing the Repertoire Explorer catalogue at www.musikmph.de

HR advisor Vicki Brock has played the part of a froglet in the Wimbledon Light Opera Society’s performance of Honk! at the Lost Theatre in Lambeth.

RCM Professor of Performance Science Aaron Williamon has written an article for the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Based on his work with pianist Melvyn Tan, the study examines the physiological response of the concert pianist during low- and high-stress performance conditions at the 2013 Cheltenham Music Festival.

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Spotlight on…

Dmitri Alexeev has been appointed to the position of Professor of Advanced Piano at the RCM.This personal chair was created especially for Professor Alexeev, in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to the RCM’s world-renowned Keyboard Faculty. Since his triumphs at the 1974 Tchaikovsky Competition and 1975 Leeds International Piano Competition, Dmitri Alexeev’s skills as a performer have become well known throughout the world. But this new position also recognises the extraordinary dedication, integrity and great musical intelligence that he has brought to his teaching of some of the world’s most brilliant young pianists. He currently teaches some 16 students at the RCM, including international prize winners and outstanding up-and-coming soloists.

Professor Colin Lawson, Director of the RCM, commented: “I am delighted that Professor Dmitri Alexeev has been appointed to a Chair of Advanced Piano at the Royal College of Music. He is one of the world’s most highly regarded pianists and has played a major role in securing the reputation of the RCM Keyboard Faculty as a natural first choice for students from around the globe.”

Harpsichord professor Jane Chapman has been appointed Turner Sims Fellow at the University of Southampton and an Affiliate Artist of the AHRC Research Centre for Musical Performance as Creative Practice.

Baroque violin professor Adrian Butterfield has released two CDs of Leclair’s second book of Violin Sonatas with Jonathan Manson and Laurence Cummings on Naxos.

Director of Development, Samir Savant has taken part in the Florilège International Choral Competition in France with Pegasus, the London-based chamber choir which he co-founded. The group returned victorious, winning both the Chamber Choir category and the special Francis Poulenc prize.

Vocal professor Sally Burgess has directed a performance of Così fan tutte at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. The production featured alumnus Nicolas Darmanin and RCM soprano Galina Averina.

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Alexandra Abel is part of the organising committee for TedMedLive, a day of inspiring talks on health and medicine at the Royal Albert Hall. Held on 21 April 2014, the event will include talks from RCM Chairman Robert Winston and other world-class speakers.

Choral conductor Gregory Batsleer has been appointed Artistic Director of the first choir in residence at the National Portrait Gallery. The choir will perform a range of pieces in the gallery and aims to provide visitors with new ways of appreciating portraiture and music.

Silver Song Clubs, a singing programme directed by Adrian Bawtree reached the finals of the National Lottery Awards for the best health project. The Clubs aim to improve the health and well-being of older people living with long-term health conditions, and provide singing sessions in care homes, hospitals and the community.

Guitarist Julian Bream has won the Lifetime Achievement award at the 2013 Gramophone Classical Music Awards. The 80-year-old guitarist collected his well-deserved award from guitarist Miloš Karadagli at the Gramophone Awards Ceremony on Tuesday 17 September.

Singers Eleanor Denis, Anthony Gregory, Ben Johnson, Rhian Lois and Catherine Young have been accepted on the 2013/14 ENO Harewood Artist Programme. Eleanor also stood in last minute to sing the role of Ginevra in Handel’s Ariodante at the Salzburger Landestheater in Austria.

Alumni notesPianist Ivana Gavric has released her third album on Champs Hill Records, featuring works by Grieg. She launched the disc in the USA with debut performances at the Phillips Collection in Washington DC and at the Gilmore Festival Rising Stars Series, and in the UK with a recital at Wigmore Hall.

Ewan Clark has orchestrated an 80-minute film score by New Zealand-based composer David Long. The 3D feature film, Beyond the Edge, documents Sir Edmund Hillary’s monumental and historical ascent of Mount Everest in 1953.

Anthony Gregory

Joanne Marie D’Mello

Christina Lawrie

Countertenor Rupert Enticknap has won the Opera and Lieder Prizes at the 2013 Stella Maris Competition, as well as coming second in the competition’s Oratorio Prize. His prize includes a test recording with Deutsche Grammophon and a recital at the Canadian Opera Company.

Paul Farmer has been made an MBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honours List. After graduating from the RCM Paul moved into teaching, initially as Head of Music and then as Head Teacher. He also worked as a choirmaster and music examiner, and has been credited with creating the first public examination in pop music. His influential music education books have sold more than 300,000 copies.

Pianist Christina Lawrie has performed music by Rachmaninov and Ronald Stevenson on BBC Radio Scotland’s Classics Unwrapped series. The BBC also broadcast a live recording of her performance of Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy from the Perth Concert Hall in Scotland. 

Soprano Joanne Marie D’Mello has been invited to sing at this year’s Europalia Festival in Belgium. For its 24th anniversary, the festival focuses on India and Joanne presents a selection of Bollywood melodies and Goan folk and popular songs.

Violinist Michael Foyle has won the Croydon Concerto Competition with a performance of Elgar’s Violin Concerto. His prize includes concerto performances with the Croydon Symphony Orchestra, Guildford Symphony Orchestra and Epsom Symphony Orchestra.

Jennie Joy Porton is currently completing a PhD at Royal Holloway University of London. Her thesis is a study of the music conservatoire, experienced as a social, political and learning environment from the student perspective. If you are interested in taking part in her research, please contact her on jjporton@gmail.com

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Mezzo soprano Emilie Renard has won First Prize and the Audience Prize in the Cesti International Singing Competition at the Innsbruck International Early Music Festival. Also in the final was soprano Katherine Crompton. In addition, Emilie has been awarded a special prize of an engagement at the Theater an der Wien.

Composer Chris Roe has won Second Prize at the International Lutosƚawski Composition Competition for his work Lavoisier’s Mirrors. He has also won the St John’s Waterloo Film Score Competition with the prize of hearing his work for clarinet quintet premiered at St John’s Church by members of the Southbank Sinfonia.

Pianist Katherine Tinker has been accepted onto the 2014 Park Lane Young Artist scheme with her duo partner Max Welford. They will be performing as part of the New Year Series in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Countertenor Benjamin Williamson has won the Nei Stëmmen International Singing Competition in Luxembourg. For the final, held at the ARCA Centre Concert Hall, Ben performed Es ist vollbracht from Bach’s St John Passion and Venti turbini from Handel’s opera Rinaldo.

Clarinettist Brenden Guy has launched a new concert series in San Francisco. Curious Flights is dedicated to presenting new and rarely heard pieces by English composers, and has included performances of works by alumni Benjamin Britten and Edwin Roxburgh.

Pianist Nicholas McCarthy has spoken and performed at the Royal Albert Hall’s TEDxAlbertopolis. The afternoon event featured a host of inspiring, thought-provoking and entertaining talks exploring how art and science coexist together in the modern world.

Vanessa Howells and Hannah Grayson from Music Off Canvas have performed as part of the centenary celebrations of the Rookery Garden on London’s Streatham Common. Following workshops with 150 children in three local schools, the group worked with a dancer, actor and artist to create a 40-minute work which led the audience around three areas of the garden.

Alumni reunion

On Saturday 7 September, the RCM was delighted to welcome more than 100 alumni to a special reunion at the RCM.

The event was held for all those who attended the RCM between 1965 and 1975 and offered an opportunity to reconnect and reminisce with fellow alumni.

See the inside back cover for a selection of photos from the occasion, or visit our Flickr pages at http://bit.ly/14zcBxa

We are continuing to reach out to all our alumni – please do get in touch with your up to date contact details at alumni@rcm.ac.uk

Brenden Guy

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Music off Canvas

Mezzo soprano Kitty Whately has been made a Radio 3 New Generation Artist. Now in its 15th year, the scheme supports emerging young artists by providing a wide range of performance opportunities including live broadcasts with BBC orchestras, lunchtime concerts and regular studio recordings.

Benjamin Williamson

Emilie Renard

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Obituaries, births and marriagescataloguer, ever interested not only in the finer details of a description, but in the whole history and provenance of volumes. She embraced new challenges with enthusiasm, not least when the RCM’s new library opened in 1985 and far more contact with students, their loans and their needs became part of her work. Her long admiration for the RCM’s first Director Sir George Grove led to extensive research on him, including transcribing and annotating many of his letters in the RCM Collections. In retirement, her Grove research continued, as did her affection for and generosity to the RCM. She contributed significantly to the renovation of the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall and was a regular donor to the Library’s Restore-a-Score programme. She will be greatly missed by her many friends, who will not forget the kindness, selflessness and keen sense of humour that made her such good company.

Lawrence “Larry” Ashmore, who studied composition, double bass and tuba at the RCM between 1952 and 1954, died on 5 March. Lawrence’s first professional engagements came via the then RCM Secretary Percy Showan and included opportunities to play under Gerald Finzi, a relationship that resulted in his orchestration of Finzi’s Five Bagatelles for Clarinet. On leaving the RCM he played double bass with both the LSO and RPO under the likes of Klemperer, Walter, Barbirolli and Beecham. Later in life he became a highly respected arranger and orchestrator. He worked in all fields, arranging works for TV, ballets and concerts. His most well-known work was within the film industry where, for more than 40 years, he orchestrated many film scores including  Lawrence of Arabia, Carlito’s Way, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Gosford Park and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. His most famous working relationship was with Patrick Doyle, for whom he orchestrated more than 20 films alone. The RCM would like to acknowledge his widow’s generous gift of Mr Ashmore’s library of published scores.

Former RCM professor and student Ranken Bushby died on 6 April, aged 86, following a long illness. Ranken studied at the RCM with Gordon Clinton and Hubert Dawkes. After graduating, his successful performance career took in competition wins, numerous radio broadcasts and recordings. His concert performances included two

New Zealand mezzo soprano and RCM alumna Felicity Smith tragically died on 9 September. Felicity studied with Tim Evans-Jones as a Vocal Masters student at the RCM, graduating in July 2012 with Distinction. She was a hugely talented and intelligent young artist who contributed significantly to life at the RCM during her years of study. While at the RCM she performed roles in two new operas for the RCM’s Great Expectations project. She sang in masterclasses with Sarah Walker, Dame Felicity Palmer and Roger Vignoles, and was the alto soloist for a series of Bach Cantata concerts directed by Helmut Rilling for Musikfest Stuttgart. A keen exponent of new and modern repertoires, Felicity premiered three major works by emerging composers at the RCM, and performed works by Cage and Reich with the RCM New Perspectives Ensemble. Her funeral and cremation took place on 18 September at the Hither Green Crematorium, and a memorial service was held in Wellington on 10 October.

Celia Clarke, a former member of the RCM library staff, has died. Celia’s relationship with the RCM started in 1964 when she worked with Oliver Davies in the Parry Room Library, then the RCM’s research and reference library. In June 1969 she was employed as a part-time assistant librarian and soon took on further roles in both the Museum of Instruments and the Department of Portraits. Celia had a distinguished archival background, having worked at the Bodleian Library and as Cecil Hopkinson’s research assistant on his 1978 Verdi bibliography. She was a meticulous book

appearances at the BBC Proms and a series of international concerts. Ranken also taught widely – three of his private students entered the RCM and went on to good careers – and adjudicated at festivals in Europe and North America. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth Bushby (née Davies), who also studied at the RCM.

Former RCM student William Lewarne Harris died on 17 August, aged 84. William was a composer whose works include opera and chamber music. His Rescoria Variations, written about the Cornishman Rick Rescoria (who helped to save lives when the Twin Towers were hit in 2001) was premiered in 2006. Other operas include The Shining Ones, set in the East End in the 1930s.

MarriagesAlumna Sophie Stanley and current student Pedro Faria Gomes married on 27 July in Northamptonshire.

BirthsEleanor Jane Warwick was born to alumna Anna (nee Harpham) and Ben Warwick on 9 July.

Josie May Redpath was born to Head of Learning and Participation Hayley Clements and alumnus Alex Redpath on 19 September. 

Bryn Patrick Fosbrook-Rance was born to RCM Press and Marketing Manager John Fosbrook and his wife Madeleine Bradbury-Rance on 21 September.

Felicity Smith

Obituaries

Josie May Redpath

Bryn Patrick Fosbrook-Rance

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