Scholars’ Spotlight: David Curtiss plays Phil Woods

Our Scholars’ Spotlight series of filmed short recitals by Music Performance Scholars and Award Holders resumes tomorrow, with second-year saxophonist reading Physics, David Curtiss.

The continuing series, filmed without an audience in Colyer-Fergusson Hall, highlights many of this year’s students, and this week’s screening at 1.15pm sees David perform the wonderfully colourful, jazz-infused slow movement from the Sonata for Saxophone and Piano by the great Phil Woods.

Join us at 1.15pm when the film airs, or catch-up with it anytime afterwards.

From Biosciences to Bridgerton: a podcast interview with Catriona Bradley

Welcoming the new year with a new episode in the podcast series, Zoom For Thought, featuring University alumna, Catriona Bradley, who moved from reading Biology to RADA and whose work is currently gracing our screens in the series ‘Bridgerton,’ currently taking Netflix by storm…!

Alongside reading Biology at Kent, Catriona sang in the University Chorus, Chamber Choir and Minerva Voices, and was involved in making costumes for the Musical Theatre Society.

Catriona Bradley

In the short interview, she talks about making the change from science to the creative sector, the benefits and transferable skills earned from her studies, and compares her experience at Kent with that at RADA.

Listen to the episode on Spotify here.

There’s also a web interview with Catriona on our YouTube channel, a longer discussion about her experience, which screens on Friday 8 Jan at 1pm and will remain online thereafter.

Thanks to Catriona for taking the time to share her experience; this is a short part of a longer filmed web-interview, coming soon….

#Beethoven250: Music Performance Scholar plays Beethoven

An historic moment on the 250th anniversary of the birth of Beethoven; first-year Music Performance Scholar, Michael Lam, in the Kent and Medway Medical School performs the Piano Sonata no.28 Op 101.

Filmed in one single, continuous take in Colyer-Fergusson Hall, Michael plays from memory one of the most formidable challenges in the piano repertoire.

 

Filmed by Thomas Connor, Luke McCann and George Morris.

You can watch a series of performances by Michael in a dedicated playlist here, including pieces from the Anna Magdalena Notebook.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside: a jazz recital for Christmas now online

It’s not Christmas without a performance in the Music Department of Santa Baby, and we’re delighted to bring that annual tradition round again this month, albeit in a slightly different format.

Although we can’t bring you the traditional Christmas Swingalong, we hope you enjoy this short jazz session, featuring third-year singers Elle Soo (reading Social Anthropology) and Robbie Frederick (Comparative Literature and Drama) in a handful of festive favourites, concluding with the evergreen seasonal duet, Baby It’s Cold Outside.

A little festive cheer for us all…

 

Filmed in Colyer-Fergusson Hall; with thanks to Thomas Connor, Luke McCann and George Morris.

Scholars’ Spotlight recital series goes live

Our new series of short filmed recitals, Scholars’ Spotlight, has launched this lunchtime with a performance of twentieth-century flute repertoire by third-year Music Performance Scholar reading Legal Studies, Meg Daniel.

The developing series showcases Music Performance Scholars and Music Award Holders here at the University, in an ongoing series of closed-door performances filmed in Colyer-Fergusson Hall.

You can watch Meg’s recital here:

The series will continue with further performances, screening each day at 1pm on the Music Department’s YouTube channel.

With thanks for technical support to Thomas Connor, Luke McCann and George Morris.

Bleach My Mind: an interview with altrock band, HollowHead

Hot on the heels of the recent release of their debut EP, the Music Department hosted a live webchat with the members of HollowHead about the challenge of releasing an EP in the COVID era, their inspiration and influences, and what we can expect next from this unique trio.

The group includes third-year Drama student, Amy Tokel, and postgraduate Joshua Mitchell, reading an MA in Film Studies, both from the School of Arts.

Hosted by Dan Harding, the interview includes the band talking about their approach to writing and recording, exploring new ways of collaborating during lockdown, and brief extracts from the EP.

Music Performance Scholar to mark Beethoven anniversary

A remarkable event next week, in our first ‘virtual’ Lunchtime Concert – first-year international pianist from Canada and Music Performance Scholar at Kent and Medway Medical School, Michael Lam, will mark the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Beethoven next week with a filmed performance of the mammoth Piano Sonata in A major, Op.101.

A keen enthusiast of Beethoven’s rich repertoire for piano, the performance, which was filmed in Colyer-Fergusson Hall earlier today on the University’s Steinway piano, will be Premiered on the Music Department’s YouTube channel as part of this year’s Beethoven anniversary celebrations.

Michael’s performance will be a continuous, unedited take, of the first of Beethoven’s Late Period piano sonatas, rich in complexity and a formidable challenge to pianists everywhere.

The Premiere is free to watch online on YouTube on the Music department’s channel here: to whet your appetites, you can watch Michael performing three pieces from Bach’s Anna Magdalena Notebook, filmed earlier this term, online here.

Because it does. Doesn't it ? Blogging about extra-curricular musical life at the University of Kent.