Strings at the Academy Autumn 2016An update from Jo Cole, Head of Strings

As the brand new academic year gets underway it is a great pleasure to bring you exciting developments in the Strings Department at the Academy.

We welcome back 122 returning students from their impressive array of inspiring summer activities: chamber music courses, major international festivals, summer schools and international youth orchestras ranging from EUYO to the Pacific Music Festival, to the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester, to the Britten Pears Orchestra, chamber music at the Lake District Summer Music Festival, Frinton Festival, Prussia Cove, mentoring younger groups at ProCorda and much more overseas. Academy string students have been performing

in every continent except (probably) the Arctic and the Antarctic! Academy strings students performing in the Proms with the East Western Divan Orchestra were Emre Ersahin and in BBC Proms Extra, Makoto Nakata, Tom Isaac and Oscar Holch – and those are just the ones I know about – as well as other significant professional engagements too numerous to mention! The long summer break gives students the chance to forge connections in different environments and make new friends as well as recharging the batteries away from their work at the Academy. Our strings professors also seize the opportunity in the holidays to respond to the international

demand for their teaching, coaching and adjudicating expertise as well as their superb performing skills.

New student arrivalsWe have 93 talented young string players joining us this year, from over 30 countries. We are delighted to be welcoming these musicians to our truly international institution. At the Academy we take great pride in celebrating the lack of borders and barriers that is essential for music making at the highest levels, and the number of nationalities represented by both the students and staff are an indicator of this crucial attitude.

Orchestral projects and partnershipsAs September moves into October the new students’ Academy journey will get underway as they become acquainted with their professors, connect with chamber music partners and play great music under inspiring international figures in conducting: Edward Gardner, Yan Pascal Tortelier and Sir Mark Elder are guiding the students through three mighty fifth symphonies this Autumn: by Mahler, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. These projects are great learning and performing experiences in preparation for the profession beyond, where these works appear on professional orchestral schedules throughout the world. Crucially, playing in Academy orchestras with peers is a chance to forge the lasting friendships that endure through degree study and out into waiting careers. Our new undergraduates set the agenda for a busy studentship by performing in the London Jazz Festival with Norma Winstone at the Cadogan Hall in November as well as in their own String Orchestra concert at the Academy – see Diary of Events for details.

We are delighted to announce a major new collaboration with the English Chamber Orchestra led by their new artistic director Lawrence Power – in which he will be working with string students on repertoire that the ECO will also be performing at Kings Place in the coming season. Lawrence has said: ‘I’m delighted to announce a new partnership with the Royal Academy of Music. This close association will support the endeavour of the Academy to keep the walls between music

education and the profession as porous as possible while making it possible for ECO to mentor and nurture emerging young players as they approach the end of their studies and embark on performing careers.’

This is a wonderful addition to our other professional associations: the London Symphony Orchestra Strings Scheme, the Philharmonia ‘Leap’ project, the Orchestra of St Johns partnership for first-year undergraduates, the Britten Sinfonia Apprenticeship (next appointment is for 2017–18) and the Birmingham Royal Ballet – whose innovative audition-mentoring project takes place this term. Seamless progression from study into the profession is our main objective for all Academy performers and these relationships with outstanding artists support this as a priority.

New arrivals – professors It is a huge pleasure – and honour – to be receiving with open arms three new members of the strings faculty: cellist Ben Hughes, in a new role as professor in Orchestral Studies, Juan Miguel Hernandez – from Canada – as professor of

Viola and Hannah Roberts as professor of Cello. Read more about these highly distinguished artists over the page!

They join a truly remarkable register of strings professors at the Academy. Their teaching and performing profiles are such that they are regularly invited to visit the world’s most prestigious institutions to give masterclasses and to coach, adjudicate and mentor some of the best young players in the world. This year, we are celebrating our own wonderful home team with a series called Strings at Home – masterclasses and specialist seminars given by our own professors to showcase them in their natural habitat working with students predominantly from other studios – and sharing their wisdom and inspiring expertise. Check the website for more information: Autumn sees events hosted by Levon Chilingirian and Colin Carr on Brahms sonatas; Tasmin Little and So-Ock Kim (violin); Juan-Miguel Hernandez (viola); Guy Johnston and Ben Hughes (cello); and Tom Goodman (double bass). This will continue into the Spring and Summer terms giving the public the opportunity to see the supreme quality of hands on individual string teaching for students

Masterclass with Josephine Knight, Alfredo Piatti Chair of Cello

studying at the Academy – and will include chamber music and orchestral classes as well.

Our Visiting Professors Garth Knox, Sung Won Yang and Mario Brunello will be calling in during the Autumn as part of their scheduled internal sessions with violists and cellists, and invitations have been extended and accepted by distinguished visitors from our colleague institutions to give masterclasses during the coming year:

Violinists Michael Frischenschlager (University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna), Olivier Charlier (Paris Conservatoire), Nicola Benedetti and James Ehnes

Violists Maté Szucs (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra), Helen Callus (University of California Santa Barbara and Colburn School, Los Angeles)

Cellists Maria Kliegel (Cologne Hochschule) and Anssi Kartunen

(Ecole Normale de Musique, Paris)

Bassists Rick Stotijn (Hochschule Dusseldorf and Amsterdam Conservatory) and Joel Quarrington (Toronto Symphony Orchestra and LSO)

We will also be co-hosting, with the London Cello Society, a celebration of the contribution of the legendary cello teacher Jane Cowan in February, with her former students Steven Isserlis and Steven Doane and other dedicated disciples who will reminisce on her extraordinary legacy.

In addition to our illustrious roster of professors and visiting professors, we are delighted to be continuing the important work of violinist Michael Foyle and cellist Nadège Rochat as Strings Interns. These recent graduates (2014) have already established serious professional performing profiles alongside a proven commitment to teaching. Their contribution forms an invaluable layer of strings-based

support and back-up which adds to the supply of morale boosting encouragement and practical assistance available for students. These musicians are closer in age than most staff to the student peer group but with the advantage of recent experience of emergence into the profession. Their role is to encourage independence without isolation, and they do it very well!

Chamber MusicThis thriving area of Academy activity is represented by the awarding of THREE Academy Fellowships to string quartets this year:

The Behn Quartet receives the CAVATINA Chamber Music Fellowship, and the Tagus Quartet and Fitzroy Quartet are Royal Academy of Music Chamber Music Fellows. The members are all recent graduates – or final year students.

Behn Quartet

These roles enable the quartets to spend a year developing their repertoire, performing in high profile Academy concerts, entering international competitions and having use of the Academy’s recording and rehearsing facilities as well as seeking mentoring and coaching from the rich resources of the Academy strings professors. They will be terrific role models for younger ensembles and will arrange informal ‘staff-free’ zone events and forums for exploring chamber music and sharing trouble shooting strategies for some of the challenges they have negotiated in their own work.

All three of these outstanding quartets have been through the Academy’s Posnanski Quartet Scheme – a fast-track, specialist, mentored study and performance route specially conceived for four quartets per year, chosen by competitive audition, and funded by the generosity of Juliet Davey and Lucy White for the last five years. It has proved a major training initiative, with several Academy alumni going on to have considerable success as chamber musicians – either in their original groups or as individual players. Invitations are now issued for any quartets from second year undergraduates upwards for the 2016–17 Posnanski Quartet Scheme auditions. These happen in October and will be adjudicated by me together with Levon Chilingirian.

While we’re on ensembles – the Academy Cello Ensemble, directed by distinguished cello professors Josephine Knight, the Piatti Chair in Cello at the Academy, and Felix Schmidt – continues to thrive with a series of concerts planned throughout the academic year both at the Academy and in external venues. Their broad repertoire

includes commissions specially created for them.

The CAVATINA Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition for Piano Trios takes place in May – and the Academy will be represented by Cristian de Sa, Tom Isaac and Susana Gomez Vasquez – who recently performed on Radio 3’s In Tune.

All ensemble study at the Academy benefits from our teaching quartet in association – the Doric Quartet - thanks to support from the Frost Trust. The quartet is passionate about sharing their rich understanding of chamber music and are hands-on, enthusiastic and dedicated mentors and trainers. Their input is a mixture of regular coaching, study days and facilitation to ensure that everyone has access to ensemble playing and studies the necessary skills to – at the very least – contribute effectively to a team of players, and in most cases to develop a successful and active performing ensemble. As well as their teaching work they will be performing side-by-side with Academy students in the Chamber Music Series in Spring.

Maxim Vengerov will be joining students in February for a side-by-side performance of Brahms chamber music works.

Duets for stringsJo Cole introduces us to three new staff members by asking them what inspires and interests them

Hannah Roberts, professor of Cello Do you remember the first moment when music featured in your life?

Yes, my parents both loved to listen to music so there was always something on in the background. My mother used to play the cello and the piano so from a very early age I can remember hearing her practice- and she taught me the cello until I eventually went to the Yehudi Menuhin School.

Who inspires you as a musician?

I was so fortunate to have some amazing teachers (starting with my mum and including William

Hannah Roberts and Jo Cole

Juan Miguel Hernandes

Pleeth and Ralph Kirshbaum), and also the immense privilege of performing Mendelssohn octet and Brahms sextets with Sir Yehudi Menuhin, all of which were formative and unforgettable experiences. I am usually most inspired by artists for whom creativity, ‘liveness’ and spontaneity are fundamental elements of their performances.

What are you reading at the moment?

Two books both given by friends – the Leonard Bernstein Letters and (slightly bizarrely) a book about pigeons! Do you have any NON-musical heroes/heroines?

I’ve always found other people’s lives and careers fascinating so there could be many to choose from here – but just to pick

one out maybe the naturalist Sir David Attenborough... I love the programmes he has made and greatly admire his lifelong dedication to sharing his love of the natural world with us all.

What is your aim for your students?

I hope to help my students to develop a strong foundation upon which they can build independence of thought, discipline, and a lifelong curiosity about music and their art.

What do you expect of them?

Curiosity, motivation, application and initiative.

Is there any personality trait that you think is essential for a musician?

Tenacity coupled with generosity of spirit!

Juan Miguel Hernandes professor of Viola

Do you remember the first moment when music featured in your life?

I grew up with my mom who would either play classical music from the radio, New age music or monk chanting. I just remember that one day she asked me if I’d want to pick an instrument from a list she had in her hands. I was six. My older brother had played the violin years before, and I guess I still had that image of him with a violin scanned into my baby brain, so that is what I picked.It didn’t take long, maybe a couple months, before we stopped at a violin shop and bought a cheap Chinese-made violin. Although I had never held a violin before, I got home, took the violin and the bow out of the case and just

started scratching away. Soon enough I was a pupil of the Suzuki method and never looked back. That is how I remember it! Who inspires you as a musician?

I was lucky enough to be able to study with some of the musicians who inspired me as a developing musician and to this day. Those include both of my mentors, Paul Coletti and Kim Kashkashian. They have helped me to expand my technical and artistic abilities but most importantly they have guided me through thick and thin and have been the best role models one could ask for.

What are you reading at the moment?

Lately I have read lots and lots of pages on the UK immigration website; very convoluted information as one might expect. When time permits I will be glad to get back to reading Hemingway’s “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and “The Worlds of Aldebaran”, a French science-fiction comic series written and illustrated by Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira (Léo).

Do you have any NON-musical heroes/heroines?

I would have to say that, although not out of faith, I am very inspired by the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. In a world full of turmoil and unrest, this man is able to communicate important messages and instructions on peace, acceptance and compassion to people of all/no religions and faiths in the most intelligible and secular of manners. Another man I hold in high esteem and had the honor to meet and work with in South Africa is Denis Goldberg, a South African activist who fought against the apartheid and was one of the eight men tried alongside Mandela and imprisoned for over twenty years. He has dedicated his entire life to fighting discrimination, poverty and corruption in his native country and worldwide. What is your aim for your students?

I want my students at the Academy to leave my studio feeling confident and comfortable in their playing,

equipped with a wide array of technical tools in service of their creativity. But most importantly I want them to realize they are their own best teacher, and for that, I hope to guide them as well as my mentors have guided me.

What do you expect of them?

I expect my students to be supportive and respectful to one another, honest and hard-working. I want them to question everything they learn and everything they unlearn. And I certainly expect them to enjoy the learning process and get excited by every step they make.

Is there any personality trait that you think is essential for a musician?

Without any doubt, the best musicians develop these traits: Humility, open mindedness, curiosity, compassion and integrity. As one develops these traits, it is heard in the playing and solidifies with time.

Ben Hughes, Cellist and Professor in Orchestral Studies

What is your first musical memory?

I remember sitting in front of my Dad’s only working speaker on his stereo listening to an LP of organ music played by various organists, among them Simon Preston and Stephen Cleobury.

Do you have a NON musical hero/heroine?

Yes. It’s very difficult to choose, but I would have to go for Nelson Mandela. He had achieved so much during his lifetime: dismantling apartheid, tackling racism, poverty and inequality, not to mention staying true to his beliefs while being imprisoned for 27 years. He was an incredible human being.

What is a necessary defining personality trait of the best orchestral string players?

I think some of the most important qualities to have would be the art of phrasing, a great rhythmic integrity, and the ability to give and take instinctively. Looking back to how you thought of the music profession as a student, is there any aspect of being a professional player that came as a surprise? (good or bad!)

I soon realised that in an orchestral situation, the necessity of learning a piece very quickly along with the score thoroughly was essential. When you have more freedom, for example, in chamber music and solo repertoire, tapping in to your imagination and exploring your own musical ideas and can be very rewarding.

What do you do if your schedule is too busy for you to practise? I always try to have a copy of my music with me or on a device electronically. When travelling, I try to visualise practicing and internalise the music so that in my next practice session I can continue learning from that point.

What might you have done if music hadn’t been there for you?

If music hadn’t been there for me, I would most likely have gone into design and engineering or possibly architecture. I still have a great passion for these subjects and when I was 18, I won a national design competition for designing and making an unusual stringed instrument. There are two in existence, one acoustic and a semi-acoustic electric version which I played on Radio 3 performing a piece by Academy alumnus Patrick Nunn called ‘Fata Morgana.’

Ben Hughes

We are very proud of the successes of alumni across the generations to our most recent graduates. All of their achievements are far too numerous to list here, but hot off the press is news of significance from those who graduated most recently:

Emily Davis (graduated 2016) Associate Concertmaster Bergen PhilharmonicUgne Tiskute (2016) Tutti Viola (no.5) Royal Philharmonic OrchestraChendi Zhang (2016) Tutti Violin China National Symphony Orchestra

Emre Ersahin (current UG Double bass) Philharmonia Orchestral Fellowship

And congratulations also go to Patrick Rafter (2015), winner of the International Valiant Violin Competition 2016

2016–17 is going to be an exciting time in the Strings Department. Please do check the current online Diary of Events and come and see us — working and playing!

Jo ColeHead of Strings

Masterclass with Daniel Hope, Visiting Professor