By Dan Harding, Head of Music Performance
23 October 2012 marked a revolution in extra-curricular music at the University; the moment the doors of the new Colyer-Fergusson Building opened for the first time. Since the vibrant Gala opening which took place the following December, the award-winning facility has been the centrepiece of campus-based music-making in Canterbury, with nightly rehearsals and weekend performances galvanising the space.
Sir James Colyer-Fergusson was a passionate supporter of the University music at Kent, and his generous legacy laid the foundation for the building’s construction. This, alongside contributions from over 200 individual doners and support from the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Matched Funding Scheme, means the building resounds during term-time with music by students, staff, alumni and members of the local community coming together to explore a wide range of music.
Some of the highlights include the Music department’s popular Lunchtime Concert series. This has provided a welcome respite from the working day once a month during term-time, hosting concerts ranging from Scottish folk group Fara to the Deptford Rivieras, sitarist Jonathan Mayer, saxophonist Martin Speake, and others. Students have also had the opportunity to engage with visiting performers in workshops and coaching sessions, including working with the Glyndebourne Touring Orchestra, the London Conchord Ensemble, percussionist Denis Kucherov, and Dame Anne Evans.
Alongside this, a wealth of internationally acclaimed musicians have performed in the prestigious concert-hall over the past 10 years, including Sir Willard White, the Brodsky Quartet, Joanna MacGregor, Robert Wyatt, the London Community Gospel Choir, Stile Antico, Jess Gillam, Imogen Cooper and Rachel Podger. Renowned harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock has even recorded the entire series of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier in the concert-hall for the Deutsche Grammophon label.
Over 250 students and staff regularly use the practice rooms each academic year, and the Music department’s annual programme of events comes to a flourishing climax each summer in Summer Music Week, celebrating the end of the musical and academic year.
And it’s all thanks to Sir James’ visionary legacy that this can take place, offering remarkable, memorable opportunities to all those who both come to participate as well as come to watch. This December, we’ll be launching the start of a year-long series of events across our music-making, welcoming back many musical alumni, and continuing to celebrate extra-curricular music at the heart of the artistic life of the University community. We look forward to seeing you!
As part of the anniversary celebrations to mark the ten-year anniversary of the opening of the Colyer-Fergusson, the Music department is delighted to have commissioned a new piece by the composer Russell Hepplewhite.
The piece, written for mixed-voice choir and string orchestra, is a setting of the Magnificat interspersed with four new poems written by Nancy Gaffield in the School of Creative Writing, each inspired by an historic painting. There will be two performances of the piece next year, on Friday 31 March in the Colyer-Fergusson Hall at 7.30pm and Friday 9 June in the Colyer-Fergusson Hall at 7.30pm, as part of Summer Music Week.