Re-imagining the new concert-hall

I’ve spent a very productive and exciting afternoon in the new concert-hall, exploring some new ideas for next year.

Without giving too much away, Mark (our new technician) and I have been finding ways to re-imagine, or redefine, the hall for a particular concert I’m planning – this afternoon we mocked up the event, played with lighting and multi-media, and photo_01crafted a completely different space in the hall.

It feels almost as if we’re imposing, digitally, a new identity on the hall, re-purposing it both visually and acoustically using digital technology to make it feel very different to its customary incarnation. There’s some additional avenues to explore resulting from this afternoon’s efforts, which will enhance the effect further still.

We’re already very excited about the event – and the academic year hasn’t even begun! Watch this (re-imagined) space sometime in the spring…

You can’t take it with you. Wait, yes you can!

Over on the University’s Employability blog, the first of three articles I’ve guest-written about musicians, transferable skills, and employability.

This first feature looks at the array of skills with which musicians are often equipped – sometimes without even realising….

Writing
Mightier than the sword…

(There’s even a reference to Hugh de Bonneville too…)

Read the article here.

Now listening: Trish Clowes on Jazz Line-Up

From the opening, hypnotic circling of Atlas to the final, concise and vibrant rendition of Master & Margarita, jazz afficionados should grab the chance to hear Trish Clowes’ recent gig at King’s Place, broadcast on Jazz Line Up on BBC Radio 3 on Sunday. Regular readers (yes, both of you…) will have seen I’ve written about Trish before here, and a couple of features over on the Big Band blog here, since hearing her burst onto the scene at the ‘BBC Presents’ stage at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival back in 2011.

Trish_ClowesTrish is currently enjoying the status of this year’s Radio 3 New Generation Jazz Artist, and the gig showcases both familiar tracks and some new pieces. Her ear for sinuous, lyrical improvisation is always apparent, whilst the new Chorale is an understated exploration of the ballad form.

The quintet features the superlative drumming of James Maddren, and the dextrous pianistic skills of Gwilym Simcock (himself a former Radio 3 New Generation Jazz Artist), who delivers a scintillating solo-for-the-age in the final piece.

Here’s a live version of Atlas from last year:

Catch the King’s Place gig on iPlayer until next Monday online here.

In review: Britten on the Beach at the Deal Festival

The strange behaviour of neighbours leads to an unforgettable evening of music at the Deal Festival for postgraduate student and soprano, Hannah Perrin.

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This was entirely by accident. I bumped into my upstairs neighbours on the driveway and wondered where they were heading out to at twenty to ten at night. With the explanation, and having sung Britten earlier this year with the University Cecilian Choir, I thought it would be interesting to hear a different presentation of his work, so along I went, notebook in hand, to (as it turned out) Britten on the Beach.

At 9.45pm it was half-dark, with the lights of the pier visible from the beach and the shops along the Strand lit up, the chip shop doing a very brisk trade! We walked along the prom to be directed onto the beach between two of the fishing huts, with the instruction “keep the glow sticks to your right”. The scene was amazing – lit by a “sea” of multicoloured glow sticks and storm lanterns were two traditional wooden fishing boats, either side of a smallish open-sided shelter for the musicians, and a large, sun-bleached tree trunk acting as a seat. In the semi-darkness, the effect was very atmospheric.

Britten on the Beach
What harbour shelters peace

Spilling out of the sides of the shelter were Chroma, a chamber ensemble based in London and known for their dynamic performances of contemporary works. This evening’s septet included a large percussion section along with flute/piccolo, violin, oboe, cello, horn and harp (kudos to whoever lugged everything across the shingle). They warmed up as the audience arrived crunchily across the beach, exclaiming over the set and asking “is this patch of pebbles taken?”, and making conversation with their neighbours in the way that the English doing something unusual with strangers tend to do. The more seasoned festival-goers had brought folding chairs, but I was quite happy sitting by the front. One of the most noticeable things was the smell – an evocative mixture of beach, sea, and the faint waft of barbecue from further up the beach.

The music began with a solo flute, joined by the violin in a melancholy, sea shanty-like introduction. The narrator came to sit on his tree trunk and read from Crabbe’s poem The Borough, on which Britten’s Peter Grimes was based. Verses were interspersed with sections of the sea interludes from the opera, brilliantly dissonant crashing waves from the strings and percussion, screeching gulls and sea spray on the cymbals, the harp depicting shimmering sunlight on calm water. The poetry moved to a piece written by a local author telling the story of a shipwreck and rescue on the Goodwin Sands, interspersed with a haunting tenor solo from Mark LeBrocq.

Breathing solemnity in the deep night...
Breathing solemnity in the deep night…

The music continued to embody the changing emotions of the sea – beautiful swelling scales starting in the cello and going all the way to the top of a very agile piccolo and back depicting receding waves, and ominously long notes from the cello and horn foretelling bad news from the rescue effort as the narrator told of “horrors in the night”. As the story developed, the crew did actually return over the crest of the beach with flaming torches, along with the young apprentice, the old skipper and the cynical mate. It was a very effective use of few actors to tell a very evocative tale – the sights and smells of the beach itself along with Britten’s brilliant evocations of the sea in all its moods combining into an unforgettable evening.

Text and images: Hannah Perrin.

Hannah is a PhD student in the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research at the University of Kent. Follow Hannah on Twitter.

 

Blogging live from #kentopenday

It’s Open Day today, and we’re very excited as it’s our first opportunity to welcome visitors to the University interested in music – in the new Colyer-Fergusson building!

Cathedral
In-spiring future students…

We’ll be here throughout the day until 3pm with information on all the extra-curricular musical activities open to students at Kent, as well as details about Music Scholarships for more advanced performers.

We’ve been setting up in the foyer this morning, and are now ready to go: follow us on Twitter throughout the day, or follow #kentopenday; either way, we’ll see you later!

11.00 and we’ve seen visitors from Norfolk, Surrey, Sussex, London, but the contender for the informal Visitor from the Farthest-Flung Shore has so far come from Toulouse! Lots of people interested in studying History as well… Clearly this year’s President of the Music Society, flautist and Historian Kathryn, has inspired them!

11.45am: a new contender for the Visitor from the Farthest-Flung Shore coming to talk about music – Rome! I wonder if anyone might beat that today…

1.30pm and we’ve seen a steady stream of visitors, over thirty interested in the musical possibilities offered as part of life at Kent. Quite a few interested in Musical Theatre as well; watch out, Music Theatre Soc, you might be very busy next year…!

3pm: and that’s it for the day. Many thanks to all those visitors who came to see us about making music here, safe trip home to wherever you may be going, see you in 2014 perhaps!

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Employability: arts vacancies Pinterest board

As a means of organising all the arts vacancies advertisements that I’ve hitherto been posting to our Facebook group, you can now Follow a special Arts Vacancies board on Pinterest.

As we come across arts vacancies in the south-east region (mainly Canterbury, but occasionally further afield – there’s currently one for Plymouth on there!), I’ll be adding them to the board with the closing date for applications indicated, so you can quickly see all the extant opportunities, together with direct links to the relevant website.

VacanciesBoard

This will be your one-stop guide to current arts-related opportunities, as well as provide an idea of various arts organisations and institutions that provide them.

Click here to visit: keep watching…

Scholars’ Spotlight: Philippa Hardimann

Continuing the series profiling some of this year’s Music Scholars. This week, soprano Philippa Hardimann.

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From a young age it was apparent that I had a particular flare for music, to which my parents invested much time helping me explore various creative avenues. Commencing my musical journey, at Brentwood Pre-Preparatory School I was encouraged to take up piano classes. With a growing interest in musicianship I then went on to play the ‘cello, which opened the door to a spectrum of new and challenging possibilities.

On song: Philippa Hardimann
On song: Philippa Hardimann

I actively participated in numerous festivals and concerts, exposing me to a vast variety of instruments including the voice. This inspired me to build on the foundations of the vocal skills I possessed and I then began classical vocal training at the age of 9. Excited by the immediate progress in my vocal lessons I entered the Chelmsford Music Festival competing against competitors much older that my primary age and to my surprise I was awarded first place in my first every class by Betty Roe. In addition I have taken part annually in the Havering borough’s Junior and Young Musician of the Year Vocal Masterclasses, with adjudicators such as Tim Travis-Brown and opera singer Lynda Russell. These achievements have showcased my talent and commitment.

In 2005 I received a Music Scholarship to Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School, where I became an ambassador for the school. Later that year I was offered a place in the prestigious School Chamber Choir, a great honor, as this was a choir for older students who had passed though an audition. Consequently I was selected to sing with an orchestra and choir in the performances of Rutter’s Requiem in Brentwood Cathedral where I sung the ‘Pie Jesu’ solo. Although this was a thrilling experience I found it somewhat daunting. Some would perceive the grand scale of the orchestra and choir to be dominating; however my excitement provided the drive to overcome this challenge!

My local church choir funded an opportunity to take my Bishops Chorister exam following this I gained my Bishop’s Chorister Award with Distinction (equivalent of RSCM Silver Award), going on to pass my RSCM Gold award. Thrilled with my ABRSM grade 7 singing distinction result, I auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music – Junior Academy, studying there from 2008-2010 under the head of Vocal faculty, Sara Reynolds. Manifesting a serious approach to my vocal career I advanced my choral singing to the next level with this in hand I passed the audition for Chelmsford Cathedral’s Consorts, intern becoming a Music Scholar.

Astonishing opportunities began to unfold before me.  With a career in mind I gladly embraced them, commencing with the Tour of Disney Land Paris as part of the Brentwood Ursuline Singing Sensation. A milestone for me however, was the tour of Venice and Verona; with the Chamber Choir performing in several religious establishments amongst these were St Marks’s Basilica where were we sung mass. This exhilarating experience paved the way for my solo as the cantor at Westminster Cathedral signifying the Days of Peace before the Olympics as part of the Youth Mass of Thanksgiving.

Summer 2012 was a major turning point for me with my success in the Rotary Clubs of Harlow and Bishop’s Stortford Young Musician of the Year Competition, winning 3rd place. This armed me with the confidence and self-belief to embark upon my journey at Kent University. In recent weeks I auditioned for Genesis Sixteen, before Harry Christophers and Eamonn Dougan. It was a phenomenal experience and I am so pleased that I participated in this event.

Philippa Hardimann

Read the other profiles in the series here.