Guildhall News Spring/Summer 2013

newsGuildhall School

Sir James Galway“I did 11,900 hours of practice before my first job”

Spring/Summer 2013

p5 Milton Court Opening Season

p7 Guildhall and the Economy

p17 School Triumphs in National Student Survey

2 GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING / SUMMER 2013

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Guildhall Symphony Orchestra and ChorusThursday 21 March • 7.30pm

Gianandrea Noseda, conductor Michael Petrov, cello

Prokofieff Sinfonia Concertante Rachmaninoff Symphony No 2 in E minor

BaRBicaN hall

The Laramie ProjectFriday 22, Saturday 23, Monday 25, Tuesday 26, Wednesday 27 March • 7.30pm Monday 25, Wednesday 27 March • 2pm

Wyn Jones director, Libby Watson designer, Paul Colwell lighting designer, Anna Pool composer, Helen Skiera sound designer, James Adkins video designer

In October 1998 the small American town of Laramie, Wyoming, caught the attention of the world’s press when a young man was discovered bound to a fence, savagely beaten and left to die.

A group of actors travelled there six times during the next eighteen months to listen to the inhabitants’ reactions. What emerged was this complex portrayal of the depths of intolerance and the heights of compassion that humanity can reach.

SilK STREET ThEaTRE

Guildhall Annual Jazz FestivalSaturday 23 – Thursday 28 March

Major visiting artists and exciting up-and-coming talent perform at this year’s Jazz Festival, which promises to be bigger and better than ever. Six days of lunchtime, rush hour and evening concerts will see Guildhall jazz musicians, alumni and guest artists collaborate.

MuSic hall

The Gold MedalThursday 2 May • 7pm

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra David Syrus, conductor

The Gold Medal, the Guildhall School’s most prestigious prize for musicians, was founded and endowed by Sir Dixon Kimber in 1915. 2013 is for singers and the finalists are Lucy Hall (soprano), Joshua Owen Mills (tenor), Magdalena Molendowska (soprano) and James Platt (bass baritone).

BaRBicaN hall

May ‘08Monday 20, Tuesday 21, Wednesday 22, Thursday 23 May • 7.30pm Tuesday 21, Thursday 23 May • 2pm

Richard Wilson and Dinah Stabb directors, James Cottrell designer, Johanna Town lighting designer, Ceri Hazelden sound designer

A devised piece by final year actors at the Guildhall School based on research of their own lives in May 2008.

BRidEwEll ThEaTRE

Owen WingraveWednesday 5, Friday 7, Monday 10, Wednesday 12 June • 7pm

Dominic Wheeler conductor, Kelly Robinson director, Madeleine Boyd designer, Mark Jonathan lighting designer

Commissioned as an opera for television but now enjoying more and more frequent appearances in the theatre, Britten’s pacifist opera is presented by the Guildhall School in a co-production with the Banff Centre, Canada.

SilK STREET ThEaTRE

RagsTuesday 2, Wednesday 3, Thursday 4, Friday 5, Saturday 6, Wednesday 10 July • 7.30pm Friday 5, Monday 8 July • 2pm. Summer Gala evenings: Monday 8, Tuesday 9 July

Martin Connor director, Chris Giles designer, Bill Deamer choreographer, Richard Howell lighting designer

A young Russian immigrant mother, arriving in America with her son, sets out to find her husband and is forced to work in a sweatshop while she searches for him.

SilK STREET ThEaTRE

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Forthcoming Events

For further information about any Guildhall School event, please go to www.gsmd.ac.uk/events

Tickets: available from the Barbican Box Office 020 7638 8891 (www.barbican.org.uk).

3GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING / SUMMER 2013

EditorialContents

Welcome to the Spring/Summer 2013 edition of Guildhall School NewsGathering together all the elements of this edition, two themes seemed to emerge: the Guildhall School in a national context and on the international stage. What could be more fitting then, than to interview a British soloist and alumnus who lives in Switzerland and performs all over the word? Step forward, Sir James Galway!

On the local level we report on the very large social and economic benefits that three London conservatoires (including the Guildhall, of course) bring to London and the UK; the theatre technicians who helped the London 2012 Olympics celebrate the best of Britain in the opening and closing ceremonies; the School’s triumph in the 2011/12 National Student Survey; and our landmark collaborations with the BBC Symphony Orchestra involving student actors, singers and instrumentalists.

Meanwhile, developing our international theme are reports of Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning’s work with Palestinian musicians to establish new approaches to Arabic music teaching; the Drama department’s work with actors and teachers from the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing; and Research playing a leading role in the development of the Innovative Conservatoire project, hosting one international conference (Getting it Right?) – and making preparations for another – the first Mechanical Musical Instruments and Historical Performance Conference.

We also have an update on progress of the Campaign for Milton Court, with an introduction to our seat-naming campaign Take Your Seat, the video for which features our very own Simon Russell Beale and can be seen on the website at www.gsmd.ac.uk/takeyourseat, as well as information about some of the key events that will take place in the Milton Court Opening Season.

I hope you enjoy reading the magazine and if you have something that you would like us to consider for a future edition, please email your submission with any accompanying images to [email protected].

With best wishes,

Rachel Dyson Editor

FEATURES

7 Guildhall and the Economy The economic benefits of conservatoire training

11 London 2012 Guildhall theatre technicians help make the greatest shows on earth

13 Innovative Conservatoire International collaboration to share practice, reflect, research and innovate

14 Sir James Galway Interview We interview The Man with the Golden Flute

NEWS

4 Milton Court Campaign update

6 Landmark collaboration with BBC SO Guildhall actors, singers and chamber ensemble get involved

9 Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning is Unleashed

10 A Royal engagement

26 Obituaries

ALUMNI COMMUNITY PAGES

19 Close-up with Damian Lewis Jacob Lloyd reports on the actor’s recent visit to the School

21 Over To You Written by and for alumni

22 Reunions Recent and coming up

23 Class Notes Alumni news

Editorial Group

Rachel Dyson (Editor), Alumni Relations Manager

Jo Hutchinson, Head of Marketing

Duncan Barker, Head of Development

Richard Grosse, Full Cycle

Contact: [email protected]

(Please note, we cannot guarantee to include everything that we receive and we reserve the right to edit submissions.)

The Guildhall School of Music & Drama is

provided by the City of London Corporation

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GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING / SUMMER 201344

News

Milton Court Campaign UpdateWith less than a year until the opening of the School’s new, additional facilities, the Board of the Campaign for Milton Court has secured over £9.5million or 70% of the £13.5million needed to transform Milton Court into a vibrant, world-class performance venue and training school that will benefit future generations of young students. This now leaves £3.9million to be raised and we are closer to our target than ever before.

Over the past few months, the School was delighted to receive five- and six-figure pledges from the Trustees of The Dorset Foundation, the City Bridge Trust, the J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust, and the 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust. We are incredibly grateful to all of these trusts for their support, particularly The Dorset Foundation whose grant forms part of a long-standing relationship with the School during which the Trustees have supported awards for young musicians and music therapists through the establishment of the Harry Weinrebe Endowment Fund and annual donations. In addition, over 40 livery companies have pledged their support for the City Livery Company Bar within Milton Court.

We are also pleased that the Campaign has benefited from a legacy from the estate of the late Carl Sutton. Carl was a former member of staff at the Guildhall School for over 30 years, most recently in the Audio Visual (AV) Department, who sadly passed away last year. He requested that his legacy benefit the training of technical theatre students and, with the agreement of his executors, a new room within

Milton Court to be used primarily by technical theatre students will be named in his memory.

At the end of September 2012, we launched the Take Your Seat appeal at the annual Season Preview with the premiere of a specially-filmed video featuring the names of some of the School’s alumni and a special appearance by Simon Russell Beale (visit www.gsmd.ac.uk/takeyourseat to view).

We have already had a fantastic response to the appeal with significant donations from long-standing friends of the School and members of staff. Over 100 seats have now been taken across the new Concert Hall and Theatre and the amount raised so far stands at £144,000. We hope that many more friends and supporters of the School will take their own seats through the appeal in the coming months.

During the autumn, the Campaign Board hosted two major events to introduce people to the School and its plans for Milton Court. Sir David Brewer CMG, Chairman, and Gerald Ronson CBE hosted a private reception at The Heron Tower on Bishopsgate. In addition to speeches about the School and the project, guests heard performances by soprano Sky Ingram who graduated from the School’s Opera Course in 2012, violinist and Gold Medal finalist Jonathan Chan, and pianist Justin Snyder.

In November, Tiffany & Co. hosted a small reception at their Sloane Street store in support of the Campaign. The event was attended by four celebrated alumni of the School: Kate Royal, Toby Spence, Alistair McGowan and Freddie Fox. We are extremely grateful to Tiffany & Co. for their support and their subsequent donation to the Campaign.

v Duncan Barker Head of Development

Left to right: Alistair McGowan, Lois Cox, Kate Royal, Lisa Ronson, Freddie Fox, Nicole Ronson and Toby Spence at the Tiffany & Co. reception in November

http://www.gsmd.ac.uk/takeyourseat

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News


After years in the planning, and just under two years of construction, Milton Court will finally open this September. The School’s additional facilities will house world-class performance venues, and Guildhall School alumni will play an integral part in the opening season of these spaces, with many returning to the School for the first time since graduating for exclusive and highly-anticipated performances.

The autumn season will kick off on 4 October with a major concert by the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra under the baton of young American conductor James Gaffigan, featuring

Opera Course alumni Katherine

Broderick, Cátia Moreso, Timothy

Robinson and Derek Welton as soloists in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

On 5 November we are delighted to welcome back esteemed composition

alumnus Thomas Adès, who will perform a selection of works, including his own Lieux retrouvés, Catch and Court Studies, alongside fellow alumni

Anthony Marwood, Matthew Hunt

and Louise Hopkins (now Head of Strings at the School).

Internationally-acclaimed mezzo soprano and Guildhall alumna Anne Sofie von Otter will visit on 23 November for an eagerly-awaited recital with pianist Bengt Forsberg. And in February 2014, we welcome back renowned violin alumna Tasmin Little for a special performance with Guildhall piano professor Martin Roscoe.

There’s plenty more to choose from in the opening season showcasing the very best of Guildhall School musicians, actors and theatre technicians. The Drama department presents a mini Chekhov season with The Seagull and The Three Sisters running in tandem in the new theatres, while Opera Scenes become public for the first time, semi-staged with piano accompaniment in the new Studio Theatre.

Guildhall Circle members will be the first to receive full details of the autumn season with priority booking for selected events available from Easter.

To join the Circle and be the first to hear, email [email protected]. Or listen out for our official announcement at the Gold Medal on 2 May, when most events will go on sale to the public.

Milton Court Opening Season

Anne Sofie von Otter

Tasmin Little

Thomas Adès

mailto:[email protected]



News

For over 20 years the Guildhall School has collaborated with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in celebrating the work of contemporary composers, initially through its Composer Weekends and more recently in its celebrated Total Immersion series, giv-ing an ideal opportunity for the School’s musicians to explore the music of today’s living composers. This year two other collaborations with the BBCSO took place:

On 1 December 2012, the full force of the Guildhall School’s Vocal Department joined the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Jiří Bělohlávek to form the chorus for Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony. This opportunity came at the special invitation of the BBC SO following a highly-acclaimed performance of the work by the School’s vocal students in 2011 under its Chorus Master David Vinden.

Meanwhile in a landmark collaboration on 15 December, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and six final year actors from the Guildhall School performed Grieg’s complete Peer Gynt, with Alain Perroux’s script from Ibsen’s play of the same name.

In a review for The Guardian, Tim Ashley wrote, “The real stars, though, were the Guildhall students, above all Patrick Walshe McBride as Peer – witty, charming and wonderfully touching, notably in the scene in which he tells his mother fantastic tales as she dies. Fusing speech and sound into an indivisible unit, it ranks among the greatest passages in all music theatre, and proved extraordinarily moving.”

This year’s Total Immersion series focuses on the works of Takemitsu: Tōru Takemitsu was a pivotal figure in opening up an authentic creative dialogue between Western and

Japanese music. He inspired two

generations of uniquely cosmopolitan

Japanese composers, whose works

appeared alongside a fascinating

exploration of Japanese traditional

music in the BBC SO’s Total Immersion:

Sounds from Japan. The Guildhall

Chamber Ensemble performed works

by Takemitsu, Dai Fujikura and Jo

Kondo in LSO St Luke’s on 2 February.

Guildhall actors, singers and Chamber Ensemble work with BBC SO in landmark events


Guildhall and the UK and London Economy

In these days of increased accountability and value for money, it’s more and more important for institutions to quantify the benefits they bring to the local

and national economy. That’s not because we attach overriding importance to the purely instrumental arguments for what we do. But we do expend quite large amounts of public money in the pursuit of truth and beauty, and Treasury officials tend to respond more readily to quantitative arguments than qualitative ones.It’s not easy to quantify the economic benefits of training musicians, actors and theatre technicians. The government’s own figures suggest that the creative economy is worth about 8% of GDP. But how much of that is attributable to the performing arts, and how much of that to conservatoire training, is much more difficult to judge. In order to make some inroads into these questions, three London conservatoires – the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School – with some additional financial support from Universities UK (UUK), jointly commissioned a report from the London research group at the LSE led by Tony Travers. The report was published in July 2012 and is available from the LSE website.

The report is generally very supportive, but it underlines, in a way, just how difficult it is to quantify the impact of conservatoire training. The opening sections analyse in some detail the income and expenditure profiles of the three institutions (Guildhall figures are usually for music only, as

far as this can be determined). Between us we spend about £48million a year, against a collective income of just under £50million, of which about two-thirds comes from government grants and fees. About £17million of income is attributable to non-EU fees and is therefore a direct contribution to UK exports. Average unit costs are £18,600 per student per year, higher than those for clinical medicine and clinical dentistry and not far short of veterinary science. Guildhall unit costs are considerably lower than those at RAM and RCM.

Later sections analyse the benefits of conservatoire training, including provision of manpower to the performing arts, numbers of orchestral players and other performers. Of the 50,000 performing musicians in the UK, the three conservatoires produce many of the highest achievers. Ticket sales for live classical music in London alone are worth more than £8million every year, and related expenditure (travel, accommodation, food and drink) at least ten times that amount. Other media (film, TV, broadcasts and recordings) generate many times more income in sales and indirect benefits to the UK economy.

The report gives full weight to the social benefits of conservatoire work, particularly at under-18 level, where the contribution to early years music education in formal, informal and non-formal modes is vital. Conservatoires also have an important role to play in training future generations of music teachers, promoting excellence and building audiences for the future.

The report concludes that ‘conservatoires are a key factor in the development and sustainability of London as a world music centre. Their graduates are heavily involved in the classical and modern music production which is crucial to London’s role as a leading centre of the arts… [They] are an integral part of a network that provides London with benefits arising from this agglomeration both in terms of the music industry and through its symbiotic relationship with tourism, other creative arts, and the cultural industries generally... The cost to government of advanced musical training at these three conservatoires should be seen as an investment that helps generate very large benefits for the London and UK economies.’

v Professor Barry Ife CBE FKC HonFRAM Principal

The Impact of Three London Conservatoires

on the UK and London EconomiesA Project for the Royal Academy of Music,

the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and

the Royal College of Music, with Universities UK

Final report July 2012

London

A Cappella Choral, Music Theory: Beyond Grade 5, Prop Making Skills

Following on from the successful launch of Creative Music Training, Essential Music Theory, Scenic Art Skills and Stage Lighting Skills in summer

2012, the School is expanding its summer school programme to include three new courses for young people

and adults – A Cappella Choral,

Music Theory: Beyond Grade 5

and Prop Making Skills.

The A Cappella Choral Summer School is suitable for anyone with choral singing experience. Attendees can expect to sight read and polish vocal material spanning 400 years of English Choral history. The course will sharpen qualities of singing and performance and will culminate in a concert, of selected songs worked on during the week, in nearby St Giles’ Cripplegate.

Music Theory: Beyond Grade 5 is open to students aged 16 and over who have passed, or are working at a level equivalent to, ABRSM Grade 5 Theory. Participants can expect to cover such topics as: how to write a Trio Sonata completion from figured bass; how to complete short Classical or Romantic keyboard pieces and how to continue solo melodies.

The Prop Making Skills Summer School will offer an introduction to prop making and will focus on using easily obtainable tools, materials and objects. As well as teaching participants how to turn a brown paper bag into a roast chicken, the course will cover: mould making in plaster and silicone; polystyrene carving and scrimming; working on sculptures, textures and surface finishes; tricks, tips and cheats. This course is suitable for teachers and staff responsible for school productions, keen amateurs,

school leavers and BTEC students with an interest in production design, and early career prop makers.

Additionally, the School will be

running an Advanced Jazz Summer School this year, for musicians aged 17 or above who wish to experiment with and extend their knowledge of different jazz playing techniques. The two-day course will include small band sessions, a jazz club and finish off with an end of course concert. Auditions are not required but participants will be asked to submit information detailing any prior training and performing experience.

Finally, and as a complementary addition to Essential Music Theory (for individuals working towards Grade 5 exams) the School is running a follow-

up Essential Music Theory Refresher

Day in the autumn of 2013, ahead of ABRSM Grade 5 exams.

For full listings of all summer courses, including dates, go to www.gsmd.ac.uk/youthandadultlearning

If you have any queries regarding our new summer schools, please contact our short courses hotline on 020 7382 2310 or email [email protected]


News

New Summer Schools launched for 2013

Guildhall Leadership students collaborate with Palestinian musiciansStudents and tutors from the Guildhall’s MMus Leadership programme work with Palestinian musicians and teachers to establish new approaches to Arabic music teaching.

Narrow the Distance, which took place from 22-26 October, was a cultural, collaborative and creative exchange project that brought together musicians from Palestine, the UK and around the world to share their rich cultural and musical traditions.

MMus Leadership students and tutors welcomed participants from the Beit AlMusica Conservatoire in Shefa’amr and The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Ramallah (Palestine) to collaborate on creative

work, participatory workshops and

skills sharing.

This project focused on pedagogical,

creative and interactive tools in order

to address resource gaps and establish

new approaches to Arabic music

teaching.

As part of this residency, the group

of global musicians devised music

together and collaborated with young

people from the local community –

including pupils from the Fellows Court

Suzuki Hub and Marion Richardson Primary School – leading to a free community event in the Fellows Court Community Centre Hall and concluding with a free concert at Hackney Cut.

v Jose Martins Administrator, Barbican/

Guildhall School Creative Learning

Unleashed

9GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING / SUMMER 2013 9

Five-star reviews and standing ovations greeted the cast of 150 young musicians, drummers, dancers, poets and filmmakers who, along with 20 artists and leaders, including Guildhall School alumni, current Masters in Leadership and Electronic Music students, created the show Unleashed in the Barbican Theatre last November.

We started this project with a blank canvas 18 months before the performances. Creative Learning had been working for several years with young people on drumming (Barbican Guildhall Drumworks works with 200 young people every week in schools across East London), poetry, music (Future Band – which grew out of the Guildhall Connect programme) and a recently launched young filmmakers group. We also had a close association with street dance company Boy Blue

Entertainment’s youth divisions, Da Bratz and Da Bluez.

Our ambition was to collaborate with these incredibly talented young people to create a show – not individual showcases but a cohesive devised performance. It was immensely important that the creative process was led and owned by the young people, so we complemented their regular rehearsal sessions with ‘laboratory’ workshops and specially commissioned cross-arts groups. Artist leaders and a professional theatre team, who provoked and shaped the process, provided continuous support.

The young people made everything which took place on stage – lyrics, choreography, spoken word, films, beats, grooves and soundscapes. The show’s interlinked segments included passionate responses to the

London riots and London’s gang and postcode wars as well as reflections on love, dreams and the young people’s relationships with their parents.

But Unleashed was always about more than the final show, spectacular and moving though that was – this was a major expression of Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning’s work in creating a community of artists who share ideas across their artforms, with artists of all ages and experiences having an equal and valued voice. This community now has a home and sense of belonging to the Barbican and the Guildhall School – and will continue to grow, thrive and create further inspirational moments on the School’s and Barbican’s stages, across East London and beyond.

v Sean Gregory Director of Creative

Learning, Barbican & Guildhall School

News

UnleashedBarbican Theatre 23 and 24 November 2012


News

Junior Guildhall Brass Ensemble Plays for The QueenThe Junior Guildhall Brass Ensemble was invited to perform for the Queen at the Barbican Centre on 5 December.

Her Majesty was attending a London Symphony Orchestra gala concert at the Barbican to present the prestigious Queen’s Medal for Music to the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYO). The annual award recognises an individual or group that has had a major impact on the UK’s musical life. It is the first time the award has been given to an organisation. Previous recipients have included oboist and conductor Nicholas Daniel, Welsh opera singer Bryn Terfel and soprano Dame Emma Kirkby.

The ensemble consisting of Zachary Eastop, Emma Edwards, Joseph Fenning, Gregory Huff, Christopher Karwacinski, Matilda Lloyd, Natalie Mellers, Robert Moseley, George Pertwee, Elliot Phelps, Peter Rayner and Christopher Wheatley was conducted by Spencer Down, Junior Guildhall’s Brass Coordinator. The ensemble entertained the audience before the Queen arrived and then performed Paul Harvey’s arrangement of Gershwin’s I’ve Got Rhythm for her.

Junior Guildhall currently has six players in the brass section of NYO, including principal trumpet and principal tuba. This is the second time that brass students at Junior Guildhall have performed for the Queen this year. In June they joined with colleagues from the other London Junior Departments to form the Mayor’s Jubilee Band conducted by Spencer Down which performed on the River Thames as part of the Diamond Jubilee Pageant.

v Alison Mears Head of Junior Music Courses

Actors from the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing visit the School for collaborative project

Ten actors from the Central Academy

of Drama in Beijing visited the Guildhall

School in December for a collaborative

musical theatre project with seven

actors from the Guildhall School and

six actors from the Arts Educational

Schools (ArtsEd).

On 12 December the group presented

two devised workshop productions.

The project was directed by Fan Weihua

in association with Zheng Xinwendi,

Li Xionghui and Zhang Xiao from the

Central Academy of Drama, Beijing.

The Musical Director was Dane Preece from ArtsEd and the production team was completed by Movement Director Danny McGrath and Associate Producer Stuart Calder, both from the Guildhall School. Guildhall Technical Theatre students also worked on the production.

The idea of the collaboration between the three institutions arose from a conference held at the Barbican Centre in February 2009 entitled China-UK Education and Industry Musical Theatre Forum. Following this conference, in April 2011 five students from ArtsEd and five from Guildhall flew to China with a production team from both schools to create and perform a musical theatre version of Romeo and Juliet with final year students from the Central Academy in Beijing. The visit last December was a reciprocal visit for students from the Central Academy.


News

Throughout May, June and July 2012 over thirty Technical Theatre Arts students joined teams of stage managers, prop makers, lighting and sound engineers, staging crew and stadium logistics in presenting the Olympics and Paralympics opening and closing ceremonies.

Throughout the months of rehearsals for the four ceremonies, 8,000 radio packs needed their batteries changing and constant maintenance to ensure that everyone in the arena could tune in to the relevant set of instructions and move to the right place at the right time – essential if you want to avoid getting mown down by a three-ton inflatable house or several hundred hospital beds. Those hospital beds, by the way, had to make three separate moves before they even made their entrance into the stadium – each move choreographed to the second by the stage management to avoid collision with vehicles, performers and of course all that turf in a scene change so enormous that it might just be a world record in its own right!

The 1,000 drummers (all with their radio packs) had to have 1,000 drum straps – all manufactured in the pop-up props workshops in Dagenham over the preceding months.

Our students were integral to every part of the Olympics, from follow spots to vehicle logistics, from sanding and painting hundreds of chairs for the “street party” to sound engineering in the various venues for commentary and national anthems during the medal ceremonies. Our students carried clouds and operated the giant puppets, they pushed and pulled and smiled and chivvied and in all respects demonstrated what it means to be a professional. They have come back to us with a new energy and a new understanding of their craft and their abilities.

And the man who coordinated all those radio packs and national anthems? Colin Pink (class of 1989). And the woman who kept her cool and gave the instructions to all those Assistant Stage Managers, performers, follow spots, staging crews etc? Julia Whittle (also class of 1989). Jonathan Lyle (2008) was Associate Video Designer for the Opening Ceremony, Ben Delfont (1998) was a Senior Stage Manager for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and Ryan Quelch (2007) a Stage Manager. Guildhall Technical Theatre Arts was in there from top to bottom – our students and graduates made an enormous contribution and will never forget that they were a part of the greatest show on earth.

v Ben Sumner Director of Technical Theatre

The making of the Olympics and Paralympics opening and closing ceremonies

In our last edition, we asked alumni involved in the Olympics to let us know about their Olympic stories, a couple of whom are mentioned here and in Class Notes.

It has been fantastic to discover what a huge number of Guildhall alumni, students and staff contributed to last summer’s joyous London Olympic Games. It would be great to get an overview of just how many Guildhall people were involved in London 2012, and acknowledge their phenomenal achievements, so if you were involved please do get in touch (see page 27 for contact details).


Research

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Getting it Right? conference 2013On 6 February Julian Anderson, Professor of Composition at the School, brought together leading figures in contemporary music including Colin Matthews, George Benjamin, Hans Abrahamsen, Helen Grime, Judith Weir, Julian Philips, Kathryn McDowell, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Matthew Kaner, Paul Newland, Richard Causton, Ryan Wigglesworth, Stephen Maddock and others to explore the relationship between the contemporary composer and the orchestra in the second Getting it right? conference in collaboration with Centre for Orchestra at LSO St.Luke’s.

The orchestral concert is one of the most public forums for musical performance. It is an area many composers still reserve for some of their most substantial and personal creations. At times in the past 100 years, the repertoire of orchestras has seemed quite remote from the interests of most composers,

whatever their stylistic hue. Sometimes orchestras have felt correspondingly alienated from the new music of their day. Yet just now, despite the recession, the relationship seems more fruitful: music of the past 50 years appears fairly regularly in the repertoire of many orchestras around the world, composer residencies abound, young composer schemes proliferate. Communication between living composers and orchestras appears to be a matter of daily reality, rather than the exception. Getting it Right? 2013 examined the changing relationship between those who create orchestral music and those who play it. Calling on the resources of expert orchestral composers from many countries, of leading conductors of new orchestral music, on the experience of leading orchestral managers and players, the conference explored what’s going on, what’s going wrong, and what we’re getting right.

Mechanical Musical Instruments and Historical Performance ConferenceResearchWorks and the National Early Music Association will host a two-day Mechanical Musical Instruments and Historical Performance Conference on 7 and 8 July, focusing on all aspects of how mechanical musical instruments might serve as sources both for historical repertoire and performance practice.

From water organs to player pianos, the production and reproduction of music by mechanical means has been a source of fascination to many cultures. But what impact can the study of these machines have on live musicians studying the music, and the particular ways of performing music from past eras? What are the advantages, issues and problems connected with this type of research?

The conference will aim to explore these questions and will feature keynote speaker

Peter Holman, Arthur

Ord-Hume, a performance by Guildhall School students and a visit to the Colt Clavier Collection – home of the Barrel Organ featured on the ERATO recording of two Handel Organ Concertos (among other pieces) in the 1980s.

For further information about these Conferences and details of other ResearchWorks events in 2013 visit www.gsmd.ac.uk/research

Guildhall ResearchWorks goes from strength to strengthLaunched in 2009, the School’s ResearchWorks programme is a major focus of the School’s research community and offers students, staff and members of the public the opportunity to attend a variety of research-focussed events ranging from conferences and lecture demonstrations to workshops and study days centred around the School’s research strands. Speakers have included Helmut Lachenmann, Jonathan Dove, Patsy Rodenburg and Graham Johnson and the series will welcome a number of guests in 2013, with two key conferences planned.


Research

An international collaboration is bringing teachers from music conservatoires together to share and explore practice, reflect, research and innovate.

First initiated in 2006, with support from the Polifonia Project of the European Association of Conservatoires (AEC), the Innovative Conservatoire (ICON) project centres on tailor-made professional development for conservatoire teachers, focused on bi-annual residential seminars designed to stimulate knowledge exchange and collaborative reflective practice.

Directed by Dr Helena Gaunt, Assistant Principal at the Guildhall School and cellist Bart van Rosmalen at the ArtEZ Conservatorium, ICON uses reflective practice and action research to address the challenges of development at the heart of conservatoire education, and to position creative and performing artists’ practice more centrally within the global knowledge economy.

The project, which includes a network of over 100 teachers from over 20 conservatoires worldwide, enables teachers to engage with core values, change and innovation in the heart of the process of teaching and learning, to articulate professional knowledge, and to become key players in the growing international community of practice-based inquiry.

Seminars are held each Spring and Autumn around the globe, from Dartington Hall to Villecroze to Helsinki, with between 25 and 40 teachers attending. Seminar formats differ significantly from conventional conferences/seminars, with themes explored through participants own artistic practice, through improvisation and through a number of innovative and creative working methods.

Seminar themes have included:• Improvisation, communication and innovation• Voices of the Artist in Society• Effective one-to-one, small group and masterclass teaching• Practising, health and well-being• The role of coaching/mentoring.

The seventh seminar, held at Kallio-Kuninkala, Finland, in October 2012, was premised on a core commitment: to search for the ways in which assessment and feedback can best enable student learning, and support the development of skills and attributes needed to develop successful professional careers. The seminar explored case studies of innovative processes developing within curricula, for example using peer and self-assessment and/or digital media. Diverse ways in which the skills and qualities of musicians in the 21st Century might be assessed were debated and the group reflected on potential for development and next steps for their own individual practice and also for their institutions.

Throughout the year, smaller spin-off Innovative Conservatoire projects and events were also held at institutions across the globe. At the Guildhall School, a spin-off pilot project brought together Armin Zanner, Deputy Head of Vocal Studies and Dinah Stabb from the School’s Drama department to work in tandem once per week with a class of year one vocal students. Through involvement in ICON, the two tutors have encountered new models for their own one-to-one and group teaching. On a larger scale, this pilot on collaborative teaching has encouraged other connections to be forged between the Drama and Music sides of the School as a whole and the process has been captured in a series of films.

ICON will return to Dartington Hall in 2013, bringing together teachers from across music and other disciplines including drama to explore its next theme: Discovering the process: The Craft of Collaboration.

For further information about the project visit www.innovativeconservatoire.com

Innovative Conservatoire

http://www.polifonia-tn.org/

http://www.aecinfo.org/


Interview

What made you apply to study at the Guildhall School, was it particularly to study with Geoffrey Gilbert?

Yes. At that time Geoffrey Gilbert stood out amongst all the flute players. He had a great technique, very nice sound and he was different. I was dying to study with him. He actually got me a place at the Guildhall before I went to the Royal College [for three years].

In the meantime John Francis heard me play and he said ‘if you send this boy to the Royal College I will teach him and he can live in our house’.

Was it quite a shift coming from

Belfast to London?

Well it was a real riot I can tell you!

First of all let me explain what it was

like living in our street. This was around

1957. Nobody had TV and there was

one guy who had a car [an Austin

Seven] and it stood out a mile.

So it was quite a change then, coming to London!

Oh yeah. The Austin Seven was replaced by a two-tone Rolls-Royce that John Francis had and, not only that, I lived in Marlborough Place – a very upper class neighbourhood – so for me to land there was something of a culture shock… for everybody concerned!

Interview with Sir James Galway

A consummate entertainer whose appeal crosses musical boundaries, Sir James Galway is arguably the most famous flautist in the world.

Belfast born, Sir James studied in London and Paris before embarking on his orchestral career in such prestigious orchestras such as the Sadlers Wells and Royal Covent Garden Operas, the BBC, Royal Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, before taking up the coveted position of solo flautist with the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan.

Since launching his successful career as a soloist in 1975, Sir James has maintained a busy touring schedule, performing with the world’s leading orchestras and most prestigious conductors. Each year, he makes time to share his expertise through the International Masterclass Series he holds with Lady Jeanne Galway in Switzerland.

Here he talks with Jo Hutchinson, our Head of Marketing (and lapsed flute player), about his Guildhall studies and his journey to becoming an internationally-acclaimed soloist.

How did you find your studies with Geoffrey Gilbert?

The first lesson I had prepared Prokofiev, Bach G Minor and Hindemith Sonata and he played the piano. When we’d finished playing through some of this he said to me, “Galway” – he always called me Galway – “Galway, do you always play so loud?” I said, “No, only when the piano player plays so loud”…

I came along for my next lesson, and he said, “Okay, Galway, did you practice your scales?” “Yes, sir.” “Let me hear them.” I said, “Which one?” He said, “All of them.” He was the first teacher to listen to all of my scales.

The study that I was going to play [that day] was by Leonardo De Lorenzo and they are hugely difficult, so I started playing it and Geoffrey said, “Wait a minute, it’s a little bit quicker” and he got out his flute and he played the whole thing. This immediately set the barrier very high. None of my other teachers did this.

The School was in John Carpenter Street at the time.

Yes, the head was Edric Cundell.

I came across him in Belfast when he gave me second prize in something. The next time I saw him I was practising in a room [at John Carpenter Street] which was used for painting scenery and he said, “What are you doing playing in here?” I said, “Well there’s nowhere else to go in this place!” because it was very small.

I had a good time there because there was a good orchestra and I met David Measham who became a lifelong friend of mine.

So it was a time of really making strong friendships.

That’s right. We played together in the London Symphony Orchestra when Bernstein came to conduct, it was great. David was leading the seconds with Neville Marriner.

How did you go about finding those first orchestral jobs?

There was a job going as second flute in Sadler’s Wells so I came over for the day and got it. William Bennett was playing first flute – he was also a Geoffrey Gilbert student – and after a while he left the orchestra and they auditioned me for first flute and I got it.

The interesting thing is I calculated the other day the number of hours’ practice I did before I got my first job was 11,900. This was before the age of 22.

When did you make the decision to become a solo flute player?

It was always in the back of my mind.

In those days you couldn’t get a job playing a flute concerto because it

just was not an established thing, so I had little ensembles that I used to play in and we would rent the Queen Elizabeth Hall – and the Festival Hall put out a flyer listing all of the events for the month so we would be in the event listing for the month.

Everybody thinks, “Oh you have to get a manager, an agent, all that stuff” but you don’t really have to do that. What we did, me, Colin Tilney, Adam [Scabin] and Mike James… Mike was our ‘manager’. He booked the hall, set up the whole thing and we sold the whole thing out and collected all the money.

So we got an inside view of how much money managers and agents were making.

Interview

The number of hours practice I did before I got my

first job was 11,900. This was before the age of 22.

GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING / SUMMER 2013 15

Junior Guilldhall flute students met Sir James after a rehearsal at St-Martins-in-the-Fields


Interview

What was it that made you want to go down the soloist route?

I decided to leave the Berlin Philharmonic but just before I left I had a few words with Karajan and he said, “I hear you’re leaving.” I said, “Yes, I think I am at the end of the season, because I really want to play solo.” And he said, “Well if you don’t do it, you will never know if you could.”

So with those words ringing in my ears, I [left]!

Some of the people that will read this will be musicians who are graduating now or recent graduates. Do you think there are any particular skills that they need in order to face the demands of being a 21st century musician?

You know, this is a very good question and the answer is very long and complicated.

Classical music is in decline because generally speaking the agents and managers don’t make enough money off it. You see in my time, it was not so bad; Brahms had died just forty years before, you see, so it was another sort of time. There was a feeling for classical music and new music.

Are there things you know now which you wish you’d known when you were a student?

Yes, I think I would have been much more active in getting a career going before I left the Guildhall. I think I would have been more active.

You’ve worked with a huge range of artists across the spectrum, you’ve performed a broad repertoire and recorded with all sorts of people. What would you say is the secret to being a versatile musician coming out of a conservatoire environment, and perhaps being able to turn your hand to all types of activities?

Well, you know, in my case I was prepared for it because when I was a kid growing up we used to play tunes from the musicals and in the flute bands we played arrangements of Traviata and things like this. So I knew a lot of these melodies and how to play them naturally because I grew up in the music business; my parents were both amateur musicians and my granddad played the flute in the opera and my Uncle Joe, who learned from my granddad, taught me. I grew up in a musical environment.

This is what we did, we played all these pieces. So then I came to the College and learned how to play Bach and all that sort of stuff and learned how to play in orchestras.

You share your expertise with students all over the world with your own master class and you are launching a series of online lessons and master classes this year. Is it important for you to be able to reach out to young flute players?

I learned from books written by Marcel Moyse. Marcel Moyse, when he was fourteen, got his Premier Prix from the Paris Conservatoire. That means he must have been twelve when he was in the class.

A lot of people don’t use this Moyse method because they think – mistakenly – that he wrote them for himself because he couldn’t play the flute. The reason that I say that people should use his method is because he was really a good flute player, he was not just a teacher, he was out there doing it, touring the world and his teacher did the same thing. In fact his teacher was a famous flute soloist and then he decided to become a conductor and was the chief conductor of that big Paris opera.

You very kindly agreed to be on the Board of Patrons for the fundraising campaign for our new building at Milton Court…

I thought that I could be of some help in the background, you know.

Practice and teaching is the bread and butter of being a student at a conservatoire, but do you think facilities are also important?

Oh yes, that’s very important, very important. I never practice in rooms that are dead, I always practice in rooms that have some feedback.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us.

Say hi to everybody there at the Guildhall!


News

2012 FellowshipsAlumni Alison Balsom (Trumpet 2001), Neil Constable (Technical Theatre 1985), Sara Lee (Clarinet 1985), Dominic West (Acting 1995) and Michelle Wright (Violin 1999) were made Fellows of the Guildhall School (FGS) at this year’s Graduation ceremony, held in the Great Hall of the City of London’s Guildhall on 9 November. They were presented with their fellowships by the Lord Mayor, Alderman David Wootton.

Other recipients of fellowships included staff members James Alexander,

Julian Anderson, Martin Auger and Yvonne Kenny, with an honorary fellowship given to Dean of Validation of City University, Professor Steve Stanton. Alison Balsom and Dominic West responded with warm and inspiring speeches on behalf of all the honorands.

Our 2012 Graduation saw over 170 graduands return to receive their awards in front of a record number of family and friends. Music was provided by the Guildhall Brass Ensemble conducted by Richard Benjafield.

Sara Lee (Clarinet 1985), who was not

able to attend Graduation, received her

fellowship in a private ceremony at the

School in November.

School triumphs in National Student SurveyActing students at the Guildhall School 100% ‘satisfied’

The Guildhall School triumphed in the 2011/12 National Student Survey by Unistats with the School’s acting students 100% ‘satisfied’ with their honours degree programme, higher than any other drama school. Music also scored very highly with 91% of the School’s students ‘satisfied’ putting the conservatoire ahead of any other in England.

Unistats is the official site that allows prospective students to search for and compare data and information on university and college courses from across the UK. The site draws together comparable information on those areas that students have identified as important in making decisions about what and where to study. For the first time this year the range of data that can be compared has been included in a Key Information Set (KIS), allowing students access to an increased amount of comparable data on undergraduate courses at any English institution – from satisfaction to employment figures, tuition fees and accommodation costs to how they rate the Student Union.

Full NSS results are available at www.unistats.ac.uk

New digital initiatives for studentsThe Guildhall School welcomed in the 2012/13 academic year with a brand new smartphone app aiming to make life at the School that little bit easier for students.

Any student with a smartphone (Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows 7) can access the app, for free, on their phone’s browser. A highly interactive, practical tool, it allows students easy access to vital School resources, such as the library catalogue (with the function to renew existing loans), details of the day’s room bookings, online enrolment and fee-paying for continuing students, maps of the School and a comprehensive staff contact list. The app also lists forthcoming news and events and links to the School’s social media streams.

The School has enhanced its digital offering for prospective students, too, by adding a number of films to its video tour on YouTube and the School’s website. People thinking about applying can now watch films about the School’s support services, including the library, technical services, welfare and the Students’ Union. One film reveals the type of accommodation available through a guided tour of a student’s room in Sundial Court, while another details the support available for international students.

The films add to the existing video tour on gsmd.ac.uk, which includes guided tours of Acting, Music and Technical Theatre as well as a glimpse into the development of Milton Court.

v Caroline Bishop Website & Digital Marketing Officer

Alumni Alison Balsom and Dominic West gave speeches at this year’s Graduation ceremony


News

IN BRIEFFarewell to Deborah MacCallumIn December we said a fond farewell to Deborah MacCallum, Director of Corporate and Student Affairs, who emigrated back to Canada after eight years at the Guildhall School and many more living in the UK.

Prior to her departure, Deb was made a Fellow of the Guildhall School. In his citation Professor Barry Ife said, “Deborah MacCallum has made an unparalleled contribution to the re-birth of the Guildhall School since 2004. She made an immediate impact by

repositioning the School to greater prominence and influence within the City and the conservatoire sector more generally. Deb also played a crucial role in embedding a much stronger service culture within the School.”

Guildhall School Governor KnightedGuildhall School Governor and former Lord Mayor, Alderman David Wootton, received a knighthood in the 2013 New Year Honours List “ For services to Legal Business, Charity and the City of London”.

Ewan McGregor, an alumnus and fellow of the School, also received an OBE.

New grand pianos arrive at the School The Guildhall School took delivery of eight Steinway grand

pianos in time for the start of the new academic year. The

delivery, which is the largest shipment of Steinways to

one place in the UK for many years, has a total value of

£560,000, with each piano worth £70,000. The pianos are

being leased for a five-year period, after which they will be replaced by new ones.

In addition, three further Steinway concert pianos are on order for next Easter, to be used in the new Milton Court. The new instruments join the School’s fleet of 25 existing Steinways.


Alumni News• Over to You • Reunions • Class Notes

News

Close-up with Damian LewisIn January, Damian Lewis (Acting 1993) came in for a workshop with the current second years, and then was interviewed by Ken Rea – his former teacher – in front of the entire acting department.

Damian Lewis is now unquestionably a global star thanks to the recent enormous success of Homeland; however, he was already well known for his TV work on The Forsyte Saga and Band of Brothers, as well as for the films Keane, Brides and Chromophobia, and his work at the RSC in the late 1990s and more recently for Misanthrope at the Comedy Theatre.

It was comforting to learn that for all Lewis’s extraordinary success, there has been the odd disaster, but these have led to what has become Lewis’s guiding career principle: to search for the “good work” with “good people”, and make bold creative decisions. But to do that, the actor must be “self-reliant”. To cope with the pressure of being on set, which can be “chaotic”, the actor has to be rigorously prepared and in a state of absolute readiness. Then all the actor can do is accept the fact that he has almost no control, and let that be a fun and creative release.

Lewis demonstrated an acting trait that our teachers are keen we acquire: being a good thief. At School, he confessed, he was always being told off for going last in an exercise, learning from others’ mistakes. He humbly referred to others who have inspired his own work: Robert de Niro, Marlon Brando, Alec Guinness and Adrian Noble, and confessed to being an avid reader of acting biographies. He also demonstrated considerable technical

know-how, and has picked up enough about the actual production and manufacture of films to produce two of his own, The Baker and Normal for Norfolk. He also hinted at an ambition to direct sometime in the future.

The second years worked on the practicalities of acting on screen, improvising a scene around the imprudent cooking of scrambled eggs which sparks a family domestic between two gay dads and three hideous children. It was fascinating to work with Lewis, who is bursting with eloquent fidgety energy, and see that in contrast to his acting which I have always admired for its stillness, subtlety and intensity.

Sadly, for all his wisdom and insight, he wasn’t able to tell us the secret to being a great actor and a great success, admitting to being a “vague groper” towards his own performances. For now, while at Guildhall, he advised us to “just enjoy mucking about”.

v Jacob Lloyd Second year Acting student

19

Acting alumnus Damian Lewis talking with current students

20 GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS •SPRING / SUMMER 201320

Alumni News

Valuable insight

We are very grateful to film composer Harry Gregson-

Williams (Voice 1981) for inviting our students to his

temporary studio at Stowe School.

Harry Gregson-Williams is a multi-award-winning film

composer with over 50 feature-length credits to his

name including all four Shrek films, seven films directed

by Tony Scott (including Man on Fire, The Taking of

Pelham 1 2 3 and Unstoppable), Bridget Jones: The Edge

of Reason, Veronica Guerrin, both of The Chronicles

of Narnia films, Cowboys & Aliens and many more.

Normally based in Los Angeles, Harry is spending a year

as Composer-in-Residence at Stowe School, where he studied before coming to Guildhall as a vocal student.

In January, a group of Electronic Music and Composition students spent the day with Harry in his studio. Harry talked about how he puts together a score from first receiving the script to the final cut, and demonstrated the processes he uses to build a score. He also shared some valuable tips for anyone starting out in a career as a composer for film and television.

We were delighted to welcome him back to the Guildhall School when he returned to give a sold out Screen Talk at the Barbican Centre on Wednesday 27 February.

It’s a Mini-Reunion!Junior Guildhall alumnus Chris Poon photographed this recent informal ‘reunion’ of several members of the PDOT class of 1998.

Photo: Me, Jennifer Hutchinson née McHale (Principal Piccolo, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra), her son Nathan, Joshua Meissner-Torres, Rebecca Wood (my wife!), our son Luke, Oli Meissner (Trombone, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn). All (apart from me!) were on the PDOT course a few years ago...

Harry Gregson-Williams (centre) with Guildhall students and staff outside his studio at Stowe


Over To You

Keen on taking more direct control of the options open

to us as actors, four of the 2012 Acting graduates (Tim

Bowie, Sion Alun Davies, Steffan Donnelly and Paapa

Essiedu) set up Invertigo – an audience-centric theatre

company which represents the lesser-known, from

daring new writing to rediscovering European work.

Towards the end of our final Guildhall year, which was

packed with six full-scale productions and showcases, we

started working on a devised piece of our own, Freefall,

which premiered in April 2012.

We then won the Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative

Enterprises, which offers seedcorn grants to startups. The

scheme was set up in 1993 to offer practical and financial

support to artists, craftspeople, designers and performers

to start a business or carry out a project in that crucial year

after leaving college.

Our mentors help us with the basics of governance within

the company, including marketing, company branding,

contracts, securing additional funding, insurance and

those all-important negotiations.

The award’s funding and accompanying business advice has

set us on track for an ambitious first year, and we are now

working from offices at The Woolyard in London Bridge

(kindly donated to us by IdeasTap). The award has also

helped channel our passion and ideas-in-development into

tangible outputs.

We commissioned six short plays and one short film for our launch night in November (Seven – inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins). The pieces were written, rehearsed and produced by a team of 31 artists in just nine days – and we sold out with four days to go!

In February we are heading to the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre to present the English premiere of a Welsh classic, Saer Doliau (Doll Mender) – in Welsh! Saer Doliau is directed by Guildhall alumnus Aled Pedrick, and will have English surtitles at all performances.

Two fellow Welshmen and Guildhall alumni have shown their support. Bryn Terfel said “I’m delighted to hear about Invertigo’s production, which is a first in London by this exciting new company. Having sung in various European languages in opera, it’s refreshing to see that Invertigo is broadening the cultural range open to British audiences. Invertigo are innovative, and I look forward to following their progress in the years ahead.”

Daniel Evans said, “I am struck by Invertigo’s infectious passion for the European repertoire and cannot wait for their inaugural production of a classic from the Welsh canon.”

Other 2013 plans include a premiere of a 19th century Czech play, Gazdina Roba by Gabriela Preissova, from a translation we have commissioned, and a production of an all-male Dr Faustus directed by Owen Horsley, Associate Director at Cheek by Jowl. On top of this we will continue our development surgeries (CreativeShed) which open up our pool of artists as we develop and refine ideas in a supportive environment. The most recent session had us working with a neuroscientist and an acoustic engineer, with amazing results!

We are now beginning the process of developing our next play. It’s only been half a year since we graduated, and we are thrilled to be able to develop and employ artists in amazing work which we care about.

Follow us @invertigo2012, www.invertigotheatre.co.uk

v Steffan Donnelly (Acting 2012) Co-Artistic Director, Invertigo Theatre Company

show no fear

http://www.invertigotheatre.co.uk


Over To You Reunions

Alumni ChorusThanks very much to all those of you who got in touch after reading my suggestion in the last magazine that we might form an alumni chorus.

It’s been exciting reading the emails that arrived: emails which came from a gold medal winner, an actor or two, a former junior exhibitioner, and various singers who mostly trained – full or part-time – during the 1960s and 1970s.

In case you missed the article in the last issue, I put forward the idea that an alumni chorus – comprising anyone who had ever been a student of any kind at the Guildhall – could be fun, sociable and good for the brain and soul too.

The ‘choristers’ who’ve replied have mostly said that they are either too busy or live too far away to rehearse more than fortnightly. So we are thinking along those lines and hoping to have a meeting of interested individuals in the late spring, with a view to getting the chorus up and running in the autumn.

Wouldn’t it be good to just open our lungs and sing – together with like-minded people who share similar memories to our own; and at a stage in our lives when we’re no longer worrying about whether we’re going to be good enough to make a career out of it?

Whatever you studied, and whatever age you are, you’ll be very welcome. So, come and join us!

v Christine Webber (Voice 1968)

If you would be interested in joining an alumni chorus, or volunteering to help run it, please email [email protected] to let us know

If you would like further information about any of the above, or are planning or thinking about planning a reunion that is not listed, please contact the Alumni Office ([email protected], 020 7382 2325).

Recent3 November 2012

Hong Kong Alumni Lunch

22 January 2013

Annual New York Reunion

Coming up2 July 2013Recent Grads (Drama) Reunion

23 January 2014New York Showcase & Reunion

Easter 2015GGSM graduating classes of 1982-5

See page 5 for details of alumni performing in the Milton Court Opening Season


MusicJames Burke (Clarinet 2010)

James has been appointed Co-Principal Clarinet at the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Alexander Campkin (Junior Guildhall 2001)

In August, my opera Three to Midnight was produced by Future Opera and performed as part of Tete a Tete: The Opera Festival at the Riverside Studios in London. Reviews included “An entertaining night... just the ticket”, Time Out; “Book Now”, The Critical List; and “A thrilling fusion of opera and dance, the mystic Three to Midnight will challenge your perception of fate as the clock ticks ever closer to eternity”, Sunday Times.

I was commissioned by the Royal Opera House to compose Awake in Chorus! which was performed in October at the Paul Hamlyn Hall, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and The Backstage Centre of the National Skills Academy on High House Production Park.

My fourth Mass setting, Missa Magister Bone commissioned by the Vokalkapelle Munich, was premiered in Munich, Germany in October. The choir was founded in 1482 as The Choir to the Royal Bavarian Court.

Closing with a personal note, I am happy to announce that I am engaged to Stacey Kurtz. I organised a flashmob choir for the proposal to my partner Stacey when we were rowing on the lake in Regents Park. The Oxbridge Singers were hiding in boats behind the island, and started singing as they approached us. Now singing a special song, they threw flowers into our boat as I got down on one knee.

www.alexandercampkin.co.uk

Nell Catchpole (PCS 1996)

Spoken-word theatre piece, Brand New Ancients, was written by South Londoner Kate Tempest and included a score performed by Nell Catchpole.

The London Evening Standard awarded the BAC production a four-star review and wrote, “a small band – tuba, violin, and the superb Kwake Bass on drums – performs Nell Catchpole’s haunting score. The effect is urgently dramatic, and the best moments are mesmerising.”

Likewise, the Guardian awarded the production a four-star review and wrote, “Tempest’s growling sandpaper voice takes on a mesmerising sing song quality, and Nell Catchpole’s score pulses and soars... the score, writing, band and voice come together to create a package.”

David Chew (Cello 1972)

David is organising the inaugural Rio International Cello Competition, having been inspired by his recent experience as a competition juror in Chile and Russia. Details of the competition can be found at www.riocello.com

Class Notes

Edmund Connolly (Voice 2003)

Edmund was appointed a Music Studies Professor at the Guildhall School in 2004, a position which he held until 2011. Meanwhile, he pursued an active and successful career as an opera and concert singer in the UK and Europe, performing major operatic roles and working with companies including Glyndebourne Festival Opera and English Touring Opera.

In February 2012, Edmund moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to take up the post of Assistant Organist/Choir Director at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John, where he has recently helped to establish two new choirs – a Cherub choir for children aged 3-7 and a Cathedral Chorale – both of which he directs.

He recently performed the title role in the NM premiere of the Gonzo Opera, Too Much Coffee Man, the Opera by Daniel Steven Crafts and made his debut with the New Mexico Philharmonic as the baritone soloist in their performances of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem.

Edmund and his wife, recital organist and pianist Maxine Thévenot, were married in March 2012 at the Cathedral of St. John. They perform together frequently as the duo, Air & Hammers, and live in Albuquerque with their two cats, Nadia and Hildegard.

Edmund Finnis (Composition 2007)

Edmund was awarded one of the 2012 Paul Hamlyn Foundation Awards for Artists.

The Awards are made to support artists at timely points in their careers, providing them with the freedom to develop their creative ideas and contributing to their personal and professional

Beryl Clark (Piano 1951)

In October, Beryl was

presented with Honorary Life

Membership of the Enfield

Chamber Orchestra. Beryl,

who is a stalwart supporter

of the School, is pictured here

holding her award and with

her Guildhall School GGSM

graduation hood.

Simon Coleman (Jazz Guitar 1998)

Simon (pictured far right)

had two works premiered

at the Paralympic Torch

Lighting Ceremony at Stoke

Mandeville.

Simon co-produced the music

to Driving Inspiration: Light

Up the World, an animation

celebrating the history and

values of the Paralympics.

The animation was created

by 500 disabled and non-

disabled young people from

twelve countries across the

globe. Another work he had

premiered, as composer,

was his music for a short

documentary, The Mandeville

Legacy charting the birth of

the Paralympics.

www.simon-coleman.com

GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS •SPRING / SUMMER 201324

Class Notes

growth. It comes with ‘no strings attached’ – the recipient is given full autonomy to decide how the Award can best support their life and creative practice. It is the most generous support of its kind in the UK.

Luis Gomes (Opera 2012)

Luis has been accepted onto the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artists programme, starting in September 2013.

Sasha Grynyuk (Piano 2009)

Sasha won 1st prize in the Edvard Grieg International Piano Competition 2012 in Norway. The Final, with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, took place on Saturday 8 September.

John Hanley (Piano 1968)

John’s debut novel, Against the Tide, was recently published by Troubador Publishing. Set on Jersey, where he was born in 1939 and raised, John believes that Against the Tide “will appeal to readers who enjoy a coming of age adventure with romance, suspense and many twists and turns. It retains its historical accuracy while dealing with the looming war”.

Barbara Kendall-Davies (Voice 1966)

Barbara’s second volume of biography of the influential 19th century soprano Pauline Viardot Garcia, The Life and Work of Pauline Viardot Garcia: The Years of Grace, Volume 2, 1863-1910 was recently published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Her first volume The Years of Fame, 1836-1863 was published in 2003.

Jeremy Lawrence (Cello 1965)

I’ve written a series of books cherry-picking areas of the Classics which are new to the cello: Bach Passions, a Mozart lament, the demon Paganini, Brahms’ wild Hungaria, strictly come Prokofiev, a funky Polka and other dances. The music has received warm plaudits from Alexander Baillie, Steven Isserlis and Nicci Whitaker and Sara Greenwood of the Arco Magazine. I simply wished to throw this cello-frisbee across the auditorium of past, present and future alumni. It is a handy concert-album which makes full use of the cello’s lyrical and dynamical qualities and represents a genuine new repertoire initiative for the young and go-ahead cellist. Technical modules (3 to 8) are fun and progressive and the arrangements are well-edited and researched. Free copies available from the author or you can buy it from Kensington Chimes or Chappell of Bond Street. (Cellowise bks. 1 & 2 pub. Spartan Press.)

Connie Payton (Voice 1982)

Connie would like to get back in touch with her ‘old buddies’ from Guildhall. If you knew Connie as a student and would like to reconnect with her, send a message via the Alumni Office (see page 27 for contact details).

Michael Pilkington (Piano 1953)

Michael has been made one of five Honorary Presidents of the Association of Teachers of Singing (AOTOS).

Rebecca Raffell (Opera 2007)

Rebecca has recently been working with various opera houses in Germany including Semperoper Dresden, Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Wiesbaden, Stuttgart, Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf and Aalto Essen.

Duncan Rock (Opera 2010)

Duncan has been awarded the first Chilcott Award for young British opera singers.

Specifically designed to enable advanced training or career development, the Chilcott Award is offered biennially to an opera singer between the ages of 23 and 33 who, in the eyes of the panel, shows outstanding international potential.

Lis Rossiter (Repetiteur 2010) & Nico de Villiers (Piano 2008)

Lis and Nico have both been awarded Junior Fellowships in Accompaniment at Trinity Laban.

Max Ruisi (Cello 2010)

After graduating I went to study with Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet) in Basel, Switzerland with my string quartet. I am now based in London again and last year co-founded The 12 ensemble. We are England’s only professional unconducted string orchestra, and are made up of twelve of the most talented recent graduates of the London colleges of music,

including fellow Guildhall alumnus Vladimir Waltham (Cello 2012). We were recently given an award from the Holst Foundation, are currently working with British composer Anthony Payne and will be working with Nicky Spence (Opera 2009) later in 2013.

www.the12ensemble.com

Mark Simpson (Composition 2012)

Mark Simpson is a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist 2012-2014. He has also been selected for representation as a Young Concert Artists Trust (YCAT) artist. The BBC Symphony Orchestra will perform the London premiere of Mark’s work, A Mirror-Fragment…, at the Barbican Hall on Friday 19 April.

Nicholas Smith (Opera 2003)

On 27 August 2012 Nicholas reached the summit of the Matterhorn, unguided, with two friends. They undertook this feat to raise £10,000 for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.

Andrew Tait (French Horn 1980)

In his own words, Andrew’s career “involved an unusual


Class Notes

‘digital switchover’ from music to metaphysical poetry” after he completed his studies at Guildhall.

Over the years he has recorded more than 5000 one-off audio cassettes of his spoken word poetry, sending them to creative and political luminaries across the globe and building a substantial correspondence. His ‘campaign for world peace through poetry’ and a series of poetry publicity stunts have received substantial media coverage both in print and on television. His first collection of poems, On The Sea I Spied Him, was published in 2005 by Global Ghostwriters, and he has won prizes in various poetry competitions including ones run by Bloodaxe Books and Iron Press.

Koji Terada (Opera 2011)

Koji won 1st Prize at the Les Azuriales Opera YAP 2013 competition.

Stephen Upshaw (Viola 2011)

Stephen is very pleased to have been invited to participate in a workshop led by John Adams and David Robertson at Carnegie Hall in April. The workshop, which culminates in two concerts in Zankel Hall, will focus on American 20th- and 21st century music, and on the collaboration among composer, conductor, and ensemble in realising new scores.

Alexander Walker (Double Bass 1996)

Conductor Alexander Walker, together with violinist Irmina Trynkos, pianist Giorgi Latsabidze and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, has recently recorded Waghalter’s entire violin repertoire for Naxos, most of which are world premiere recordings.

Ignatz Waghalter was born into a Polish-German Jewish family in Warsaw. Having trained and subsequently conducted in Berlin, Waghalter established himself as a musician of note, advocating the work of Puccini. He was the conductor for the premiere performances of Tosca, La Bohème and La Fanciulla del West in Germany and saw three of his operas (Mandragola, Jugend and Sataniel) première at the Deutsche Opernhaus. Shortly after the Nazis came to power, he went into exile and ended up in the US, where he died in relative obscurity in 1949. His distinctly melodic and romantic music was sidelined for the more fashionable avant-garde movement after the War.

Drama

Simon Blackhall (Acting 2012)

Simon received a Special Mention in the 2012 National Arts’ Award (Theatre Category) in Rome, Italy in January.

Michaela Coel (Acting 2012)

Michaela won the Alfred Fagon Award for Best Black Playwright for her one-woman play Chewing Gum Dreams, which had limited runs at both The Yard Theatre and The Bush Theatre. On the day of the presentation, Michaela performed Chewing Gum Dreams, directed by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, in the Cottesloe Theatre. Michaela was presented with the award by Doreen Lawrence OBE.

Charles Edwards (Acting 1992)

As Caroline Frost wrote in The Huffington Post, “It’s been a

busy few months for Edwards.” Nominated for Best Actor in the Evening Standard Awards 2012 Shortlist for his performances in The King’s Speech (Wyndham’s) and This House (NT Cottesloe), Charles has also been appearing on television screens on both sides of the Atlantic as the newspaper editor Michael Gregson in Downton Abbey. He has also been filming the role of Princess Diana’s private secretary Patrick Jephson in the film Diana – exploring the last couple of years of the Princess’s life – which is scheduled for release later this year.

Damian Lewis (Acting 1993)

Just days before his return visit to the Acting Department at the Guildhall School, Damian received a Best Actor Golden Globe award for his performance in Homeland to add to the Emmy Award he had also recently won.

Ewan McGregor (Acting 1992)

Ewan has received honours at home and abroad recently. Prior to being awarded an OBE in the 2013 New Year Honours List, he became the youngest actor to be given the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award at Spain’s 60th San Sebastian International Film Festival.

Sally Muggeridge (Speech & Drama 1969)

Sally has been installed as Master of the Worshipful Company of Marketors, a City of London livery company. The Home Secretary the Rt

PRIZE DRAW

For a chance to win a copy of Andy Nyman’s (Acting 1987) new book, The Golden Rules of Acting, send your full name and address to [email protected] by Tuesday 30 April 2013, quoting ‘Golden Rules’ in the subject line.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1758595/



Sir Philip Ledger HonFGS 1937 – 2012

Conductor, pianist and composer Sir Philip Ledger was born in Bexhill and educated at King’s College, Cambridge. When appointed Master of Music at Chelmsford Cathedral, he became the youngest cathedral organist in the United Kingdom.

While Director of Music at the University of East Anglia he worked closely with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears as an Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival before returning to King’s College, Cambridge to succeed David Willcocks as Director of Music. At King’s, he conducted the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols which is broadcast each year on Christmas Eve, made an extensive range of recordings with the famous choir and directed recitals and tours throughout the world. He then became Principal of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, a position which he held for almost two decades.

He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Guildhall School (HonFGS) in 1989 and was knighted in 1999 for services to music.

Marian Lines (née Berry-Hart) 1933 – 2012

Marian Lines was a teacher, writer and actress.

Marian spent her early childhood overseas, in Tunisia and Trinidad, until returning to England in 1944. She studied Speech & Drama at the Guildhall School, obtaining an AGSM (Teachers’) certificate and winning several School prizes.

After Guildhall, Marian joined a Summer repertory theatre company in Perranporth in Cornwall. She met her husband Graham Lines during a Forces tour and later became an English teacher, working at Fox School in Notting Hill.

With Rosalind Rowland, Marian wrote two musicals, a choral fantasy and four songs. In the 1970s Marian met Betty Roe and began a very successful working partnership; for over 35 years their works were commissioned by schools, choirs, ensembles and individuals.

Last year, Marian produced poems to be set by young composers entering a competition for new songs, to mark the centenary of the Association of English Singers & Speakers in 2013. A collection of her writing, Lines by Lines, was published before her death.

In Memoriam

Hon Theresa May was guest speaker at her installation at Merchant Taylors Hall on 23 January.

Betty Rudd née Kyprianou (Speech & Drama 1969)

My latest book Special Games published by LDA won the Best Educational Book Award for 2012-2013 and was short-listed for the SEN book award. Am still incredulous about beating Terry Pratchett in the awards ceremony!

To see a selection of my published books and games for boosting mental wellness that I created, go to

www.emotionalliteracy.eu

I was in the class of 1967-9 at the Guildhall School, and oh so shy, but ‘came to life’ when acting – so much water’s gone under the bridge since then but I still have such a passion for theatre.

The Guildhall School may remember me as Betty Kyprianou. I married, have four grown-up children, one granddaughter (two more grandchildren expected to be born this spring) and I now use my married name: Betty Rudd.

Hoping to hear news from my classmates re full-time acting performers course graduating in 1969.

Clifford Samuel (Acting 2005)

Clifford has been nominated for Best Actor at the Manchester Theatre Awards for his portrayal of George Obama in the one-man show, Obama the Mamba. This tells the true life story of Barack Obama’s younger brother, from a Nairobi slum gangster to a new redemption.

Class Notes

http://www.emotionalliteracy.eu


Stay in touch

Guildhall School of Music & Drama Silk Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DT

Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 2571 Fax: +44 (0)20 7256 9438

www.gsmd.ac.uk

Guildhall School News Email: [email protected]

Alumni Office Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 2325

Development Office Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 7179

Photo CreditsJames Alexander, Mark Allan, Elisabeth Blanchet, Rachel Dyson, Heloise Faure, Camilla Greenwell, Matt Holliday, Nina Large, Kevin Leighton, Max Narula, Richard Olivier, Lara Platman, Chris Poon, Ewa-Marie Rundquis, Athole Still Opera, Clive Totman, Mamiko Tsusuki, Melanie Winning

Robert Poulton 1957-2012

Baritone Robert Poulton died tragically in a car accident last November.

Born in Brighton, Robert studied at the Guildhall School and the National Opera Studio. He made his debut as the Ferryman in a BBC television production of Britten’s Curlew River and spent much of his early career at Glyndebourne‚ winning the John Christie Award and the Esso/GTO Award.

As a regular guest with UK companies such as English National Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Welsh National Opera, Garsington and Grange Park he was able to inhabit a diverse range of roles in a repertoire that stretched from Mozart and Verdi to light operetta and Judith Weir and Philip Glass. International appearances included De Nederlandse Opera‚ Opera Zuid‚ Gran Teatre del Liceu in Pamplona and Valladolid, De Vlaamse Opera, Adelaide Festival, Salzburger Landestheater, Nantes‚ Bremen‚ Copenhagen and Cologne.

He is survived by his wife and two sons.

In Memoriam

James Stevens 1923-2012

English composer James Stevens studied at the Guildhall School and the Paris Conservatory.

In 1940 he was called up to fight in the Second World War but refused and was imprisoned as a conscientious objector. After six months he was granted a pardon, released and ordered to work in hospitals and on the land.

James won numerous international awards, including the Mendelssohn Scholarship, the Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize and the BDK International Award in Tokyo. He was a prolific film score writer, often conducting the orchestra as the music was dubbed to film.

He wrote four symphonies and a large catalogue of music of all genres, including a Number One hit in the 1960s with Exploding Galaxy. In the 1950s his work on ‘Musique Concrete’ pre-empted the late 20th and early 21st century genre of Ambient Music championed by Brian Eno and others.

Robin Woolford White 1938 – 2012

Robin Woolford White was educated at the Woodley Hill Grammar School, Reading, before coming to the Guildhall School to study the organ, achieving an LGSM (Teachers’) certificate.

Robin later obtained a Masters Degree in education and went on to teach music in schools. He taught at the Forest School, Wokingham, Berkshire and retired in the late 1980s.

The Guildhall School Alumni

Office would like to thank the following

organisations for generously

contributing to our 2012 Graduation Packs

Actors Benevolent Fund

Association of British Theatre Technicians

AudioGo

Barbican Chimes

BECTU

Incorporated Society of Musicians

London Symphony Orchestra

Morgensterns

Nick Hern Books

Philharmonia

Royal Choral Society

Royal Opera House

Royal Shakespeare Company

Samuel French’s Theatre Bookshop

Stage Electrics

Stage Management Association

Stage Jobs Pro

White Light

Each year the Guildhall School distributes subject-

specific packs at our Graduation Ceremony.

These are filled with gifts, discounts and offers, along with useful information for individuals starting out in

their chosen fields.

If your organisation would like to contribute a gift, discount, special

offer or information that would be particularly

relevant to new music, acting or technical theatre graduates, please contact

[email protected].

TakeYour Seat

Further information: www.gsmd.ac.uk/takeyourseat

or contact us: 020 7382 7179 or [email protected]

An exceptional opportunity to put your name on the City’s newest performance venue

Be a part of the Guildhall School’s exciting new building at Milton Court, opening later this year, and take a leading role by naming a seat in the Concert

Hall or Theatre. Your donation will help provide the very best facilities for future generations of young artists.

Seats are available from £500 with engraved plaque.

Guildhall News Spring/Summer 2013

Documents

Transcript of Guildhall News Spring/Summer 2013