All posts by Daniel Harding

Head of Music Performance, University of Kent: pianist, accompanist and conductor: jazz enthusiast.
Was It Good For You ?

Was It Good For You: Mitesh Khatri.

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Continuing the series profiling musical alumni of the University of Kent. This week, Mitesh Khatri. 

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Mitesh Khatri
In tune with the times: Mitesh Khatri

When were you at Kent?
2002 – 2005 

What subject did you study ?
Computer Systems Engineering 

What occupation are you now engaged in ?
Music – currently finishing my 2nd postgrad year at the Birmingham Conservatoire. I’m hoping to stay in the music industry as either a teacher or, preferably, an opera singer. 

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

How were you involved in music whilst at Kent ?
I sang with the University Chorus and Chamber Choir, both for three years. I was also assistant conductor to the Chamber Choir for one year. I was involved with the Music Society for all three years at uni, and I also received a bursary for singing lessons for three years. I was also a member of a barbershop quartet that was set up by four of us, called Fortunes (or possibly FourTunes, I’m not sure which!). 

What did you gain from your University music experience, and has this helped you in any way since leaving Kent ?
It gave me a release from the academic side of being at university, and in doing so also helped me get through uni by providing me with the opportunity to continue doing something I had already been doing, and that I already enjoyed. Since being Kent, and partly because I was involved with the music so heavily, I’ve never really looked back from singing, and I’ve continued to have lessons and sing with amateur groups, and go on to do a postgrad degree and aim to make singing my career. 

What was your most memorable musical experience at Kent ?
In December 2003 we did a performance of Carmina Burana in Eliot College, and I was the tenor soloist for it. That was my first solo experience with a full orchestra and it was one ofthe best things I’ve ever done. I’ll never forget it. There were also a number of Cathedral Concerts in my final year, the university’s 40th anniversary. The ones that stick out are the Verdi Requiem and the Elgar Nimrod Variations. I have to also say that everyone I worked with was so friendly and it was all so much fun! 

What would you say to current musical students at the University ?
Don’t underestimate what you can get from people like Sue, both on a musical and personal level. She’s put her heart and soul into music making at Kent and she does a terrific job. The variety of musical opportunities at Kent don’t present themselves outside university life so easily, and some are just less easily accessible. If you want to try your hand at something musical or if there’s a chance to do something you’ve always wanted to do but never been able to, then Kent ‘s the place to do it. It’s only because Kent doesn’t have it’s own music degree or department that anyone can get involved with projects and productions, and people do it for fun and to enjoy it, not to prove themselves. Everyone worked together, and had a great time doing it. So just dive in and see what you can find!

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If you’re an alumnus and would like to be featured, get in touch via the Music Department website: we’d love to hear from you!

Notes on Music

A Kurt dismissal: playing Cobain.

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It looks as though the Big Hollywood Movie about the life and (contested) suicide of Kurt Cobain, lead singer of glum-grunge-rockers Nirvana, may be looming ever closer. Kurt Cobain

Since Cobain’s death in 1994, his life and iconic status have seemed suitable fodder for the big Hollywood biopic also afforded to singers like The Doors’ Jim Morrison by Oliver Stone in the eponymous film from 1991.

As reported in The Sunday Times recently, the plot continues.

So, we’ve had Val Kilmer as a rock legend: who would you choose to play Kurt and Courtney ?

Jazz Booth

Prom Piece Preview: One Note Samba.

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The Chorus piece for this year’s ArtsFest Prom is nearly finished.

With the arrangement for Chamber Choir now all but completed, I was left with no displacement-activity excuse to avoid getting to grips with what has turned out to be something of a monster. There’ll even be an array of Latin percussion as well, if I can organise it.

Herewith a sneak preview of the first few pages: if you’re singing with the Chorus in the Prom concert, this is a little taste of what you’re letting yourself in for…

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Notes on Music

Feeling blue: Joni takes a pop at Bob Dylan.

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Legendary Canadian songstress Joni Mitchell has had a pop at equally legendary musician Bob Dylan for being a fake.

As revealed in the media yesterday, Mitchell has declared Dylan ‘a plagiarist’ and says ‘Everything about Bob is a deception.’

Album cover: 'Blue'Of course, those who live in the glare of publicity always have an element of deception about them, creating a public persona behind which to shelter themselves from the media’s remorseless stare. As the great French poet Jean Cocteau famously declared, ‘I am a lie who always speaks the truth.’

Dylan, it seems, has been accused of plagiarism before, connected with his 2006 album Modern Times.

Both Mitchell and Dylan have changed their names, but obviously Mitchell did not take kindly to the comparison in her interview with the Los Angeles Times.

However, Mitchell also pours scorn on Madonna, whom, she says, marks a turning-point in American culture which has been ‘stupid and shallow since 1980.’ Bear in mind, however, that this was the decade that gave film Oliver Stone’s Platoon (1986),  and literature Tom Wolfe’s classic Bonfire of the Vanities, (1987), as well as the photography of Cindy Sherman, to name but a few redeeming cultural icons.

There was blood on Mitchell’s career tracks in the 1980s, when  her career took something of a dive after her success in the 70s: it was only with Night Ride Home in 1991 that her career surged back to critical acclaim. Perhaps that’s what it’s all about, really….

Although anyone who can list Court and Spark, The Hissing of Summer Lawns and Hejira amongst their back catalogue deserves our respect.

Was It Good For You ?

Was It Good For You: Jo Pearsall.

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A series profiling musical alumni of the University of Kent. This week, Jo Pearsall. 

Jo Pearsall
On song: Jo Pearsall.

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When were you at Kent ? 

1989 to 1992 to study – from 2002 as a member of staff  

 What subject did you study ? 

History  

What occupation are you now engaged in ? 

Administrative Assistant, Central Secretariat, University of Kent  

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

Yes: I am a member of the University of Kent Symphony Orchestra, strategically placed at the back of the first violins.  I also sing with the Cecilian Choir, a small group of staff, students and alumni that’s a new venture this year, and I’ve also sung at Jazz @ 5.  I am a member of a chamber choir in Canterbury called Cantemus.  I also do other bits of singing and playing here and there. 

How were you involved in music whilst at Kent ? 

I was President of the Music Society!  Actually I couldn’t begin to list all of the music that I was involved in whilst at Kent, even if my poor old memory could remember it all, but highlights were singing in summer opera projects, playing in the Symphony Orchestra, singing with the Chamber Choir including a particularly memorable trip to Prague, playing in the orchestra pit of The Pyjama Game at the Marlowe Theatre, playing for various other dramatic performances and singing at ad hoc occasions including in local churches and at high table dinners. 

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

A huge amount of experience both musically and organisationally that has stood me in good stead to this day and probably led to my getting my first proper job.  

What was your most memorable musical experience at Kent ? 

Probably having a small solo part in the opera Die Fledermaus in 1992 at the Gulbenkian Theatre.  A gorgeous dress was made specially for me to wear which was too exciting!  I have been mercilessly mocked about my “acting” skills ever since. 

What would you say to current musical students at the University ? 

Enjoy yourselves, take part in lots of musical activities and organise some too and remember that the friends that you are making whilst making music now are probably the ones you will still have in twenty years’ time, so make sure you look after each other. 

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If you’re a musical alumnus and would like to be featured, please get in touch via the Music Department website: we’d love to hear from you!

Building for the future

Building the future: music at Kent.

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Exciting times for music at the University: in more ways than one.

Artist's impression of the new building hall
Artist's impression of the proposed building hall: courtesy Tim Ronalds Architects

The project for the new Colyer-Fergusson Centre for Music Performance is developing apace, in conjunction with the award-winning firm of Tim Ronalds Architects: we’ll be keeping you posted (literally) as to how the project is unfolding right here on ‘Music Matters,’ from clod to concert-hall.

The brochure for the new building is also now available, and I’m delighted to be able to present it here in what is a first for the Music Department: literature in an e-zine format.

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You’ve seen the future for music at Kent: in more ways than one…

Click here to download a copy of the brochure, or here to find out how to become involved in the project.