Category Archives: Notes on Music

The philosophy of music: or the music of philosophy ?

Notes on Music

At the Festival: Scholars recital this afternoon

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The slightly damp weather this morning will be lightened with the forecast of some sunny music-making this afternoon, as some of our Music Scholars give their annual lunchtime recital in this year’s Canterbury Festival.

After weeks of rehearsals, the Festival Club will come alive at 1pm to the music of Gershwin, Saint-Saens, Delibes, Granados and more, as some of the stars of tomorrow appear today. We’re in the process of gathering all the logistical equipment together as you read this: music stands, copies of the programme, posh frocks for the sopranos (of course!) and all the other paraphernalia that accompanies a public performance.

See you at the Festival Club on St. Alphege Lane at 1pm; admission is free – last year’s concert was packed out, so make sure you get there early!

Notes on Music

Granados to Gershwin: Scholars star in Festival concert this Friday

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Several of the University’s Music Scholars will take centre stage in a lunchtime recital on Friday 28 October, as part of this year’s Canterbury Festival.

Talented singers and instrumentalists on the Scholarship scheme will present a programme rich in variety at the Festival Club on St. Alphege Lane, including instrumental music by Gershwin, Saint-Saëns and Bach, and songs and duets by Granados, Puccini and Delibes, accompanied by the Deputy Director of Music, Dan Harding.

The Festival Club

There’s the chance to enoy a rare pair of duetting tubas,  some well-known soprano duets, a dazzling firecracker for flute by Chaminade, and more.

Come and enjoy the buzz of the Festival Club, and hear some of the University’s top musicians in fine form. The recital starts at 1pm; admission is free.

Further details on-line here.

Festival logo

Notes on Music

Lunchtime Concert series featured in EK One magazine

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I’m delighted to see that the current Lunchtime Concerts series, now celebrating its ten-year anniversary of sponsorship with Furley Page Solicitors, is featured in the recent issue of EK One, the luxury bi-monthly lifestyle magazine for East Kent.

Flip to page 10 for the feature, including a photograph.

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Notes on Music

On Radio 3 this week: Shorter and the Queen of Sheba

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Just to draw your attention to a couple of highlights on Radio 3’s iPlayer this week.

First up, the colossus of the saxophone world Wayne Shorter leads his quartet in a live session recorded at the Barbican earlier this month. Former Miles Davis sideman, one of the original members of fusion giants Weather Report, and a player who showed there could be life after Coltrane, this is Shorter’s first UK appearance for a number of years.

Also on iPlayer is a rarity, a piece from composer Alec Roth: his Departure of the Queen of Sheba, (1999)  received its first broadcast in a concert with the Orchestra of the Swan in Loughborough last night. Roth has written some fantastic pieces: his Chinese Gardens for tenor and guitar is a miniature gem of immaculate refinement, whilst his choral work Shared Ground displays a rich harmonic language with sumptuous colour, with the occasional hint of Vaughan Williams.

Roth’s companion piece to Handel’s lively depiction of her arrival depicts the famous Queen and King Solomon meeting in the Garden of Earthly delights; Roth includes Handel’s theme in an altered fashion, and the work is scored for the same forces as Handel’s but includes a cor anglais. The emotional atmosphere of Roth’s work is far removed from the buccolic jollity of the Queen’s arrival, and instead is profoundly lachrymaic, with the oboe and cor anglais weaving heart-rending melodic lines in a tender dialogue over an almost minimalist accompanying texture.

The piece beings forty minutes in to the programme, and is preceded by a short interview with the composer.

Don’t miss either.

Notes on Music

All that jazz: the KD Jazz Orchestra at the Canterbury Festival

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With the Canterbury Festival in full swing, the music department has a foothold in events both this week and next.

KD Jazz Orchestra

This Friday, our very own conductor of the University Concert and Big Bands, the light-fingered Ian Swatman, is appearing at the Festival Club, St. Alphege Lane, at 8.30pm as part of the exuberant and lively KD Jazz and Dance Orchestra. Alongside Ian are several of our visiting instrumental teachers: Peter Cook (sax), Steve Wassell (sousaphone) and Chris Hall (drums), whilst Kevin Dickon (trumpet) also guests with the University Big Band.

Featuring a foot-tapping programme of music including Dixieland jazz and the music of Michael Buble, this’ll have you dancing in the aisles! (If they permit it, he added hastily…).

Next week, some of the University’s young and talented Music Scholars appear in a lunchtime on Friday 28 October: more on that anon…

Notes on Music

Reporting live from Open Day…

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It seems but scant moments ago that we were here at the music stand at the University’s Open Day; checking back, I see it’s been about four weeks since last we were here; how time flies when you’re busy getting music together at the start of the academic year!

I walked across to the Sports Hall this morning at 8.30 to set up, accompanying a chap who was coming to the Open Day; he’d come straight from working a night-shift directly onto the campus to come and find out about courses of study in IT: now that’s dedication – hats off to you, sir!

It’s now 9.30am, and we’ve already had two visitors to the ‘Making Music’ stand asking about choral and piano-playing opportunities.

We’ll be reporting live from the stand throughout the day – and on Twitter – keep up via @Unikent_music.

New this time are live updates from the University on Twitter (or via text) from @UniKentLive; follow them for live updates and assistance throughout the day!

10.20am; our usual competition for ‘Visitor from the Farthest-Flung Corner of the World’ has had a strong contender with someone coming from Spain. Nine visitors so far….

12.30pm: we’re now up to thirty-five visitors: no further challenges to the ‘Farthest-Flung’ competition, although a tip of the hat to visitors from Bath and Torquay! A variety of singers and instrumentalists coming to the stand. When’s lunch ?

2pm: heading into the final hour of the day, I notice the Twitter-trending on #kentopenday is keeping the Twitterverse busy, lots of reaction to today’s events from visitors.  Visitors from Southampton, Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Hertfordshire and elsewhere having been keeping the music stand busy. Lots of awareness of, and interest in, the new Colyer-Fergusson music building and the opportunities to use it when it opens net summer. And we’ve not even finished the ‘Revels’ that we opened at 10 o’clock this morning: that shows you how busy we’ve been. I wonder if there’s a recognised system for measuring levels of industry by the amount of sweets that have been unconsumed ?

3pm: and that’s it! Good to see so many people interested in making music at the University from September next year, save travelling home, we look forward to seeing you in the new music building!

Notes on Music

Meet the Music Society: music social tonight

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With the heady excitement of Freshers’ Week behind us, this week sees the musical gears of the University begin to grind into action.

Tonight, the Music Social gives students new to the University the chance to meet this year’s Music Society, and find out about all the music going on this year; it’s your chance to network like-minded musicians, from string and brass players looking to form quartets to singers wanting to audition for Chamber Choir or join Chorus, lovers of ‘Glee’ to find out about Sing! or form their own ensembles, or guitarists and bass-players looking to form a band. Free refreshments, musical entertainment (and possible even a quiz); tonight, Eliot Hall, 7.30pm.

On Wednesday, Concert and Big Band swing into action: Concert Band rehearsals begin at 7.30pm, Big Band at 8.45pm, again in Eliot Hall.

On Thursday, the Orchestra stirs into life: string players at Grade 6 standard and above welcome, woodwind and brass players may also come along and will need to sign up at the end of the rehearsal for principal player auditions this coming Saturday.

Next week: Chorus and Chamber Choir. More details on those two soon.

Notes on Music

Whatever you do: make music!

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Whatever your musical tastes and interests, the University has something for everyone! From Chorus and Orchestra to Concert and Big Band,  Chamber Choir, jazz, Sing! and Guitar Club, plus a range of music societies catering for your desires: make music a part of your university life.

University Big BandVisit the music department website to explore the range of music-making activities on offer, and use the ‘Getting Started‘ page to guide you through all the auditions and first rehearsals as term begins.

Whatever you do: make music!