Monthly Archives: May 2011

Was It Good For You ?

Was It Good For You: Siobhan Harper

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Continuing the series profiling musical alumni of the University of Kent. This week, Siobhan Harper.

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Siobhan Harper
Skempton fan: Siobhan Harper

When were you at Kent?

I was at Kent from September 2006 until July 2009.

What subject did you study?

English Literature and Film Studies.

What occupation are you now engaged in?

I’m doing a Masters degree in English at the University of Exeter.

If music is not your profession, do you participate in any musical experiences now?

I’m not sure I’d cope if I wasn’t doing something musical! After I graduated I was in the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus for a year, which was fantastic; we did loads of amazing pieces with some renowned conductors, and went on tour to Kuala Lumpur! Currently I’m in the Exeter University Singers, which is basically like a larger chamber choir. In fact, we’ve done a few of the same pieces that we did at Kent!

How were you involved in music whilst at Kent?

I was in the Chamber Choir and Chorus for the whole of my three years, in the society committee for the last two, and I had a singing scholarship and a music lesson scholarship. I also performed at Jazz @ 5, and at ArtsFest as part of Three Divas and a Piano. I think I had more contact hours with the music department than with my course!

What did you gain from your University music experience, and has this helped you in any way since leaving Kent?

Definitely most importantly, I made some of my best friends through the music society, friends that I still can’t seem to get rid of! Every crypt concert we’re reunited as a big group and it’s always one of the best nights of the year.

Knowing that I can handle doing a university course and being an active part of a society is fantastic. Both required so much organisation and time management, and it’s great to know that I am capable of handling those two disparate things. The knowledge that I wanted to be doing all things musical alongside all my work was also fantastic; music has always been such a big part of my life and I loved being able to continue with it at university.

And, of course, my balloon-blowing skills have come along in leaps and bounds, thanks to ArtsFest.    

What was your most memorable musical experience at Kent?

One particularly wonderful memory is of Jacob Barnes, Chamber Choir’s accompanist for my first two years of university. In our first crypt concert in 2007, Jacob performed, and it was the highlight of the concert; he was an extraordinary musician and we were all blown away by his performance. I wasn’t lucky enough to know him as well as others did, but I have the deepest sympathy for his friends and family. Rest in peace, Jacob.

My musical experience at Kent was so rich, it’s far too difficult to pick just one memory. So I won’t:

Every Chamber Choir crypt concert, and every post-concert trip to the Buttermarket. Paris Tour 2008. African drums in the cathedral crypt. All of Sue’s quotes that we noted down gleefully in every Chorus rehearsal. Sop Central. Tippett Spirituals. Every committee handover meal. Chili con Carne. Sneaking into the VIP tent at ArtsFest. Every chamber choir rehearsal in the OTE. Eric Whitacre’s Sleep. When my party popper didn’t go off during the ‘Champagne Polka’. Here Come The Girls. Having the chorus sing me ‘Happy Birthday’ on my 21st. Howard Skempton, and the signed photographs. Boozy Ss. Staying up to watch the sunrise after ArtsFest 2008.

What an unforgettable experience.

Jazz Booth, Keeping It Real: reviews., Notes on Music

Worried about the future of British jazz ? Then listen to this…

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Anyone who might be apprehensive at the future of jazz in Britain need only listen to last night’s broadcast of the ‘BBC Presents’ stage at this year’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival on Radio 3 to be reassured that the future looks bright.

The show presents two hours of live sets from earlier this year, and features the emerging talents Trish Clowes, Rachel Musson’s Skein, Saltwater Samurai, and Edinburgh-based The Discordian Trio.

Music ranges from the dextrous sax-playing of Trish Clowes, with her wonderfully agile group (including a cellist) – special mention to drummer James Maddren for his vibrant yet subtle drumming – to the deft, bright-sounding improvisations of Rachel Musson, the elctro-dance-infused Saltwater Samurai from South London, and the free-ranging explorations of The Discordian Trio.

The programme also includes interviews with some of the young players of today, who may well be the stars of tomorrow, if the quality of their music-making is anything to go by. Trish Clowes talks in particular about the benefits of studying at the Royal Academy, including working with luminary of the British saxophone world, Iain Ballamy, and about the challenge of being a working jazz artist. All the groups demonstrate an assurety and confidence in their playing that bodes well.

Check them out on iPlayer, and see photos from the event on the Jazz on 3 Flickr site here: the future of British jazz, in the hands of these young musicians, is very bright indeed.

Notes on Music, Now Hear This!

A feast of contemporary music: Sounds New festival starts soon!

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With just over two weeks until Canterbury is bursting with contemporary music, cast your eye over the events listings for this year if you haven’t already done so. The festival celebrates the music of the Baltic, with compositions and performers from countries including Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania alongside a veritable banquet of contemporary works by other composers.

The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge will be giving the UK premiere of Arvo Pärt’s Adam’s Lament in a concert in the Cathedral on Friday 27; Pärt is this year’s Guest Composer, and the same concert also features his Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten as well as Britten, Gorecki and Nicholas Maw.

Choral evensong earlier in the afternoon on the same day will include Pärt’s I Am The True Vine and Magnificat, with the Choir of Canterbury Cathedral directed by David Flood. Elsewhere during the festival season, there’s also a conference on Baltic music and musicologies, and papers on the music of Pärt in particular.

The BBC Big Band will be appearing in the Gulbenkian Theatre on Sunday 21 with Duke Ellington’s jazz-wise glance at Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, whilst the New Perspective Ensemble on Friday 27 presents music by Magnus Lindberg and Oliver Knussen. There’s also a premiere by the festival director Paul Max Edlin, and music by Sofia Gubaidulina, Poul Ruders, Ligeti, Sørensen, Nørgård and others. Some of the festival will be broadcast on Radio 3’s ‘Hear and Now’ series, including Glass’s Symphony no.3 for strings and pieces by Terry Riley and Pärt on Thursday 26.

This year marks the launch of Sounds New Poetry, and includes the University’s very own Patricia Debney, Senior Lecture in Creative Writing, in a discussion about the relationship between words and music called ‘Roundtable’ on Tuesday 24 at 6pm.

WIth a host of other events including poetry, workshops, film and talks, there’ll be something for everyone. Full details on the Sounds New website, or click here to download the flyer.

Stimulate your senses…

Now Hear This!

Elegance, a dance and a prayer: Brodskys at the Wigmore Hall

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Brodsky Quartet
The Brodsky Quartet

If anyone missed their last performance here when they visited the University back in February, when they brought a flavour of the exotic to Canterbury – and given the packed Gulbenkian Theatre that night, there might well have been a few who couldn’t get a seat! – then you’ll be pleased to hear the world-renowned Brodsky Quartet is back in action again next month at London’s Wigmore Hall.

The group’s concert  on Friday 3rd June at 7.00pm includes two masterworks of the twentieth-century string quartet repertoire, as well as the chance to hear something slightly off the beaten track. The programme includes Ravel’s lyrically translucent and only String Quartet, Bartok’s mighty String Quartet No. 1, and Turina’s La Oracion del Torero, a little-known Spanish work coloured with the vibrant rhythms and harmonies of Spain.

This concert celebrates the release of the Brodsky Quartet’s new CD, ‘Rhythm and Texture’ (Orchid/Brodsky Records), which also includes a recording of Ravel’s sublime masterpiece.

As regular audiences and fans of the group will know, the Brodskys deliver their concerts with verve, passion, considerable flair and tremendous vitality – their February concert this year saw them in their usual fine form, and this concert is not to be missed!

Tickets can be booked on-line via the Wigmore Hall website here; download your copy of the flyer by clicking here (PDF), and catch up with the Quartet and their blog on their own website here.