PLAY: the Guildhall School Magazine autumn/winter 2016

PLAY The Guildhall School Magazine Autumn/ Winter 2016

4 Behind the Scenes Curious festival

6 Your latest School news and stories

20 Mind the Gap Making the arts accessible

12 Face to Face Students say farewell to Barry Ife

26 The Interview Emma Rice 30 Then & Now Guy Chambers 32 Class Notes 34 Recent Releases 18 Guildhall to the World Playtime in France

36 In Memoriam 38 A Day in the Life Peter Batai

Editorial Group

Deputy Head of Development (Alumni & Supporter Relations) Rachel Dyson Head of External Affairs Jo Hutchinson Head of Development Duncan Barker Marketing & Communications Officer Rosanna Chianta Copywriter Nicola Balkind Art Direction & Design Pentagram Jessie Earle

Forthcoming events

Contact

Email development@gsmd.ac.uk Wednesday 9 November, 7.30pm Barbican Hall

Friday 25 – Wednesday 30 November Silk Street Theatre

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra

Great Expectations

Diego Matheuz conductor

Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade Beethoven Symphony No. 5 Friday 11 November, 7pm Milton Court Concert Hall

Guildhall Jazz Band & Choir Malcolm Edmonstone musical director

With special guests Mike Walker guitar Iain Dixon saxophone Part of the EFG London Jazz Festival

By Charles Dickens Adapted by Nick Ormerod and Declan Donnellan Christian Burgess director Pre-performance talk: Tuesday 29 November Captioned performance in association with Stagetext: Wednesday 30 November, 2pm Thursday 26 January 2017, 7pm Milton Court Concert Hall

Guildhall String Ensemble Directed by Levon Chilingirian ˇ Suite for String Orchestra Janácek Tigran Mansurian Violin Concerto No. 2 Beethoven String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131

Monday 27 February – Monday 6 March 2017, 7pm Silk Street Theatre

The Tale of Januarie (world premiere) Julian Philips composer Stephen Plaice librettist Dominic Wheeler conductor Martin Lloyd-Evans director

Wednesday 15 March 2017, 7.30pm Barbican Hall

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra Pietari Inkinen conductor

Wagner arr. Maazel The Ring Without Words

Twitter @guildhallschool Facebook GuildhallSchoolAlumni Post Development & Alumni Relations Office Guildhall School of Music & Drama Silk Street, Barbican London EC2Y 8DT Photo Credits

Clive Barda, Nic Barlow, Peter Batai, Guy Chambers, Jasmin Chung, Paul Cochrane, Sara Lee/Shakespeare’s Globe, Tom Medwell, Mark Pinder/Streetwise Opera, Steve Tanner, Clive Totman, Matthew Wasser

Welcome to the latest edition of PLAY Before the next edition of this magazine comes out the Guildhall School will have a new principal, Lynne Williams. Lynne joins us from Australia’s highly prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art and we look forward to working with her. Our current principal, Professor Barry Ife, has been both a fierce champion and a dedicated supporter of the School for the past twelve years. Barry reflects on some of the achievements and challenges of that period in a touching interview with students in Face to Face.

In August, I took a group of alumni from the Class of 1982 on a tour of the School. While the Silk Street building has been refurbished many times over the years, it is essentially the same, but Milton Court showed them a whole new side to Guildhall.

As we walked around they told stories of their time here and I was struck by the fact that while our building and our staff can and do change, Guildhall School has a core that does not change.

The School was established in 1880 to provide opportunities for city workers to study music. It soon broadened its remit to provide training for professional musicians and actors, and, later, stage managers and theatre technicians, and drew students from all over the world and all walks of life. The importance of creating opportunities for a broad range of people to engage with the performing arts is still crucial to the School as you will see in the Behind the Scenes coverage of the Curious festival and in our Mind the Gap feature.

Finally, this is my last edition as Editor of PLAY and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a fond farewell. I now look forward to many years as a reader of Guildhall news!

Rachel Dyson, Editor For full information and booking, visit gsmd.ac.uk/events To find out about priority booking for Guildhall Circle members, visit gsmd.ac.uk/circle

The Guildhall School is provided by the City of London Corporation.

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BE H IN D THE SC ENES

Each year, musicians on Guildhall’s Masters in Leadership programme collaborate with visual artists from Central Saint Martins to create new work for Curious, a festival that promises to push the boundaries of their artistic practice.

We spoke to some of the artists and organisers involved, to find out what goes in to making this ambitious festival.

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★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

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Nell Catchpole Curious Artistic Director

Curious is a festival of new work largely made by Guildhall students. It comprises everything from a sit-down gig through to open-ended experiential processes.

The work is often quite experimental and devised collaboratively, and it has become more ambitious each year. We also invite guest artists to perform alongside students, or to add a level of provocation.

This year we had more than 50 performers over four days.

The work we produce isn’t coming from a musical starting point, it’s about engaging with society and issues that are current for all of us. The intention is to create a safe space to take risks and experiment with new processes.

Curious is an important part of the Leadership programme for several reasons. One of these is best summed up by one of the students, who said that it was a way of making our community manifest. Being in a building intensively together producing an event and sharing it with the public allows you to see where your work fits in the world. At Guildhall we have a state-of the-art, perfect venue; the Rose Lipman building in Hackney, where we staged this year’s festival, is at the other end of the spectrum. You have to think on your feet, be responsive, and design work that’s going to work well in that space.

Kate Smith Guildhall School, MMus Leadership

Curious was our opportunity to put in to practice some of the things we’ve been learning about collaboration across disciplines.

We were working on our pieces for We Astronomers (the opening event) for about two months. The brief was based on a poem by Rebecca Elson. We were encouraged to engage with questions about the universe and our place within it. Our tutors suggested some words that linked to scientific concepts around 4

astronomy, as well as words about human responses to the universe – spirituality, interpretation, signs, symbols. With our partners, we were encouraged to discuss what was interesting to us, and use a word as a stepping-off point. Taka and I started with two: density and time. We discussed how we could translate these concepts into visuals and music, and ended up playing with liquids. At the beginning, I struggled, because when you’re playing with materials, you can put something together immediately which looks interesting, but how is it musical? Should I interpret it using my ways of thinking, or is there some way this physical manifestation can translate literally into music? It makes you think, what kind of musician am I – should I embrace what I know, or try something outside of my comfort zone? There needs to be a balance between the two. It’s about using the skills and knowledge from your training, but being inspired in new ways.

I’m a classical singer, so often I’m singing other people’s work. Curious showed me a fruitful way of starting to make my own material. I strongly believe the best way to create new work is to do it with other people; you can inspire, push and support each other in the process.

All of us have the capacity to learn new things. You don’t have to be the best at it when you’re just starting out, but it could open up new pathways for you, and that’s really exciting.

Taka Hata Central Saint Martins, BA (Hons) Graphic Communication Design

I study at Central Saint Martins art school, so before Curious I had collaborated with fashion and fine art students, and with dancers. But I’d never properly worked with musicians. Curious was very professional, and they were expecting a large audience. It was quite pressured, but it was good pressure.

Our tutors paired us up with music students. I didn’t know Kate before I met her on this project. She had a strong sense of the direction she wanted to go in, but at the same time she was really open-minded.

I found this year’s theme of scientific discovery really fascinating. Our approach was to do something subjective, exploring how humans respond to and interpret science. We looked at memories, and how we perceive them.

Towards the end, preparations got more intense. We had some technical issues, so people were working until the very last minute; everyone was trying their best.

Witnessing a public audience experience

our work was quite intimidating for me, even though ours was a recorded piece.

Guildhall students are used to performing in front of an audience, but I’m not used to having a live audience there.

Curious was a new thing for me. The way we had to present the work was different to anything I’ve done before, and I really want to do more performancebased design. It’s motivated me to do more things like this, with a consciousness about the audience, and this sense of life and scale. It really expanded the way I feel about music.

Saatvika Kantamneni Guildhall School, MA Collaborative Theatre Production & Design

Curious was very exciting to be a part of. There was such a wide variety of interdisciplinary art taking place over four days and a sense of pride in making it all happen.

As with any live event, things were constantly changing and many elements were happening simultaneously with no shortage of problems to fix. We managed to support each other and keep powering on, and that was definitely the high for me. Receiving positive feedback from the audience kept us going.

Since the event did not take place at Guildhall, a lot of preparation was needed to determine all the equipment and materials we would need to bring, source, or hire.

It is always challenging to work in an unconventional venue. Every element of the festival had major power requirements, including projectors, computers, speakers and lighting systems, and it was a challenge to work with the limited resources available. We Astronomers involved eight different projection surfaces, most of which we built on-site, and two quad rig sound systems across two rooms. Rigging all the projectors safely to ensure they hit the screens and other surfaces took time, effort, and creative decision-making.

At the other end of the spectrum was Unfinished, a day of lab work across the building ranging from body mapping, live feeds, rice sculptures and TV installations. We had to be able to provide enough equipment and support to over 15 artists who were setting up and running their installations at the same time.

Everything was a learning experience and it helped me hone my skills of multitasking and decision-making. I learnt a lot about collaborating with creative artists and how to best support their work.

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News

School news

Student and alumni success

Guildhall welcomes new Principal, Lynne Williams

Competition successes

As Professor Barry Ife steps down from his role as Principal of the Guildhall School, we are delighted to announce that Lynne Williams, Director and CEO of Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art, will join us as Principal in early 2017.

Professor Barry Ife has been in post for 12 years and is stepping down to focus on teaching and research. Williams has been the Director and CEO of Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) since 2008.

The Guildhall School’s Principal provides strategic direction and leadership for the institution, ensuring that the School’s business plan is executed effectively, and represents the School at a national and international level. Williams will be tasked with maintaining and further developing the School’s world-class standing, reputation, and standards in academia, business and outreach. Her responsibilities also include forming and maintaining strong national and international partnerships across the arts, education, and the community.

Chairman of the Board of Governors, Deputy John Bennett, said, ‘We are delighted that Lynne Williams is joining the Guildhall School at this exciting time in the School’s life. The next few years will see significant opportunities as well as challenges for the higher education sector and for culture and the performing arts in the City of London and beyond.

Lynne inherits a world-class institution with an exceptional senior management team leading a remarkably strong artistic, educational and research output. I am very pleased that she has accepted the offer to join us and take her vision for the School forward.’

Williams will oversee the implementation of a curriculum which aims at the highest standards of performing skill and academic achievement and at the development of individual autonomy, curiosity, leadership, flexibility and risk-taking through imaginative forms of teaching and learning. Her role also

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includes a focus on creating a culture which is receptive to change, which fosters collaboration between the various professional disciplines, innovation, personal motivation and reflection, mutual tolerance and respect within the School.

As well as reinvigorating teaching and learning at NIDA since 2008, Lynne Williams has developed a significant breadth of arts practice, pedagogy and cultural entrepreneurship across not-for profit, government and commercial sectors over the course of her career.

Williams has held many arts and cultural leadership positions in the UK where she was resident for 21 years. She led the development of the Culture, Ceremonies and Education Programme for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), following her contribution to London 2012’s successful Olympic Bid as a Cultural Advisor/Creative Producer. Williams was also Artistic Director of Cardiff 2008, the company bidding for Cardiff to be 2008 European Capital of Culture, where she was responsible for developing a new cultural strategy and leading a team in a bid on behalf of Wales.

Lynne Williams told us that ‘The Guildhall School is one of the great conservatoires of the world. I am excited to be joining the team and the wider Guildhall community to build on this prestigious reputation at a time when excellence and innovation in arts education and training has never been so crucial to ensuring a creative and cultural future for 21st-century society.’

We are delighted to report a plethora of major recent successes for our young artists, students, and alumni.

Tenor Alessandro Fisher became the joint winner of the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Award this year. Alessandro, who studied on the postgraduate Vocal Studies programme under Susan Waters between 2011-13, received the award in the annual competition finals at the Wigmore Hall in April. The success didn’t stop there for Guildhall as mezzo-soprano Bianca Andrew, who is currently studying on the Opera course under Yvonne Kenny, was awarded the Ferrier Loveday Song Prize, while Ashok Gupta, who trained as a repetiteur on the Opera course from 2010-12, won the Help Musicians UK Accompanist’s Prize.

Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the BBC Ten Pieces Prom at the Royal Albert Hall.

Music Gold Medal winner Oliver Wass (centre)

Meanwhile at the School, harpist Oliver Wass won this year’s Gold Medal, Guildhall’s most prestigious prize for outstanding soloists.

Oliver’s winning performance was Ginastera’s Concerto for Harp accompanied by the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra, conducted

by Adrian Leaper.

Claudia Jolly and Victoria Shillingford won the Gold Medals in Acting and in Technical Theatre respectively.

BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall

Guildhall young artists have also been successful in high-profile competitions this year. Winners of the BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers’ Competition 2016 included two students from Junior Guildhall, Sam RuddJones and Lilly Vadaneaux, alongside Jack Robinson from the London Centre for Young Musicians. In addition, three students from Hestercombe Centre for Young Musicians, Michael Qureshi, Yasmine Qureshi and Evie King, were selected to perform their composition, Fluto no uto, alongside the BBC

Acting Gold Medal winner Claudia Jolly

Junior Guildhall’s prestigious Lutine Prize went to violinist Didier Osindero for his programme of J.S. Bach’s Sonata No. 1 in G minor and Britten’s Suite Op. 6. Inaugurated in 1982, the Lutine Prize is Junior Guildhall’s equivalent of the senior school’s annual Music Gold Medal competition.

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School news

School news

Thank you for Playing Your Part in our appeals

Research News The Guildhall School has launched a new doctoral research studentship in partnership with the Barbican Centre. As part of the ongoing development of the research degree programme at Guildhall, this unique, fully-funded studentship offers the opportunity to work full-time for three years on a research project at the Barbican. The initiative complements the School’s existing doctoral studentship in association with the Royal Opera House, and builds on the longstanding partnership between the Barbican and the Guildhall School.

The recipient of this year’s studentship is Stefania Donini. Her project will focus on understanding audiences, with Donini’s research addressing the changing role of arts centres against the backdrop of current social and political dynamics. It will investigate how ‘audience experience’ and ‘cultural branding’ models are produced through public programming and engagement strategies, using the Barbican Centre as a case study to outline challenges and opportunities for institutional change.

The project will be supervised by a team of senior staff from both partners and supported by training, and the outcomes of this doctoral research will help inform future strategies and policies at both the Barbican and Guildhall.

In addition, a new research project led by Research Fellow Dr Karen Wise called ‘Finding A Voice’ began this spring with the aim of understanding the journey of learning to sing in adulthood. It is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council with a grant of over £230,000, one of the largest grants Guildhall has ever received for a research project.

The 33-month project will focus on people who are not singing, engaging them in specially designed programmes.

It combines psychological, educational and artistic research to give an integrated understanding of the journeys adult non-singers take in learning to sing, and the ways in which they can be supported.

The project will investigate the best ways of helping non-singers engage in meaningful participation in singing and improve their skills, and to show what their developmental journeys look like.

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In April, 17 students studying a variety of disciplines phoned alumni around the globe to share Guildhall experiences and to raise funds for the School. Our team of student callers spoke to more the 600 alumni over two weeks.

They had some incredible conversations, learning all about the things our alumni have been doing since graduating and gaining some valuable careers advice in the process.

This was followed later in the academic year by a separate appeal – Playing Your Part – which told alumni and friends of the School how support from the Scholarships Fund had played a significant part in three particular scholars’ training for life in their respective professions.

We were thrilled to receive overwhelmingly positive responses to these appeals and are delighted that collectively our alumni and friends have pledged £75,000 to support Guildhall students over the next five years. This money will make a real difference to students who need it.

School news

School news

Guildhall School’s teaching recognised as world-leading Guildhall has recently received three ranking accolades that demonstrate the School’s status as a world-renowned institution for higher learning.

This summer, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) judged the teaching at Guildhall to be ‘world-leading’. The School also excelled in two industry league tables. Guildhall was named in the Top 10 performing arts institutions worldwide by QS World University Rankings, and the top placed conservatoire in the 2017 Guardian University Guide table for Music.

The Higher Education Funding Council

for England (HEFCE) institution-specific review recognised the Guildhall School’s world-leading teaching outputs based on five key criteria. These included specialised teaching and learning across and between music and drama, internationallyrecognised innovations in pedagogy and professional development, collaborations with international practitioners, ensembles and institutions, socially-engaged practice beyond the conservatoire, and graduates who excel at all levels across a range of styles, disciplines and sectors.

Professor Barry Ife said, ‘This is an excellent outcome for Guildhall and a richly deserved accolade that reflects a sustained effort across the institution for many years. World-leading teaching would not be possible without dedicated staff who put students first at all times. They should be very proud of this achievement.’

School news

New Guildhall online shop We have recently launched our first ever Guildhall online shop. The shop opened this autumn to offer branded gifts and merchandise particularly aimed at current students and alumni.

At launch, we will be offering Guildhall hoodies, and in time the shop will expand to feature other Guildhall-branded gifts.

We invite alumni and friends to suggest future products. If you have a request to suggest, please contact us on enterprise@gsmd.ac.uk Visit the online shop at gsmd.ac.uk/shop

CYM expands with new centres in Bristol and Peterborough

As part of the Guildhall School’s ongoing national expansion of provision for musicians under 18 years of age, Centre for Young Musicians (CYM) – a division of the Guildhall School – has opened two new branches in Peterborough and Bristol.

Peterborough Centre for Young Musicians is a specialist Saturday music school which will enhance progression routes in music education in the area in collaboration with Ormiston Bushfield Academy, with support from Peterborough Music Hub. It will be open to young people throughout the area and will have a bursary scheme to promote access.

Weekly sessions will take place throughout the academic year.

Peterborough CYM is open to applicants aged between 7-18 years old. It will offer focused professional training and an opportunity to bring the city’s talented

young musicians together and will also provide a foundation for higher education training options and future professional careers in music. The young musicians will train locally with Guildhall School graduates and professors providing expert workshop opportunities and masterclasses throughout the year.

Bristol Centre for Young Musicians opened in September 2016, working in partnership with Bristol Plays Music, the Music Education Hub for Bristol. The Centre is based at Bristol Cathedral Choir School and Henbury School. It offers young musicians aged 11-17 a broad programme of activities including tuition

with music teachers from the Guildhall School, visiting music teachers from other conservatoires, and players from leading UK orchestras. Other activities will include visits from the School’s ensembles for sectional coaching, and performance rehearsal sessions.

With the addition of Peterborough and Bristol Centres there are now five CYM branches outside of London including Saffron Walden, Norwich and Hestercombe (Taunton). All branches are supported collaborations and each branch mirrors the curriculum of CYM in London in terms of ensembles, choirs and musicianship groups.

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School news

The Guildhall School is delighted to announce two new teaching appointments Malcolm Edmonstone has been appointed as the School’s new Head of Jazz. Malcolm is a jazz pianist, arranger and educator from Perth, Scotland. After gaining Bachelors and Masters degrees at Guildhall he has gone on to forge a varied and successful career in the music industry. He began working as Acting Head of Jazz last summer. Jonathan Vaughan, VicePrincipal and Director of Music said, “Malcolm has great vision for the department and has already set out a roadmap for its development, and I very much look forward to working alongside him to realise that dream.”

Additionally, Rebecca Gilliver has been appointed as Professor of Cello and began teaching in September. Rebecca is Principal Cellist of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and an accomplished chamber musician. She is known for her criticallyacclaimed debut recitals at the Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Hall. She has performed in major music festivals and played as a guest principal with orchestras across the world.

School news

The School has also said goodbye to two long-serving members of staff this year Derek Rodgers has retired after 33 years working at the Guildhall School. He joined the staff of the then Junior Department in 1983, teaching piano and general musicianship. He also made great contributions to the School’s Examination Service Board, acting as a consultant for the piano syllabus and as a representative overseas. In July, he retired from his role as Head of Junior Guildhall.

Steve Huttly will retire from his post as Head of Theatre Technology in December 2016. Steve joined Guildhall as Chief Electrician and Lecturer in 1994 and has developed both the curriculum and the equipment to reflect industry best practice since then. He has lit over 60 professional productions in his career and has served as Head of Theatre Technology since 2010.

Andy Taylor, who is currently Lecturer in Sound, will become the new Head in January 2017.

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Flashback Guildhall musicians outside the School in John Carpenter Street after a rehearsal, 1950 Were you a student at John Carpenter Street? Where did you tend to go after rehearsals? Somewhere local or further afield? We would love to hear your stories and see your photographs. Please get in touch (see contact details on p3).

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FACE TO FACE

This spring, the Guildhall School will say a fond farewell to its Principal, Professor Barry Ife. Barry has led the School for over 12 years. Tom Steer (Student Union President) and Kaitlin Wild (BMus Trumpet) sat down with him to learn about how the School, and Barry, have changed in the past dozen years and what the future holds.

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What brought you to Guildhall 12 years ago?

and so on. It’s developed a lot since then, but if you’re a small institution, as we are still, you can only work effectively if you work in partnership. We bring a huge amount to the table. There’s a tendency to think because you’re small you can’t have an impact, but in the quality and interest and diversity of the work we do we bring a lot to the table.

I had got to the stage in my previous career where I’d more or less done everything and wasn’t sure what to do next. I was 57 and I’d risen up the ranks in previous organisations. At the time, I was doing a year as Acting Principal at King’s College London. One day I read in the paper that my predecessor was leaving and I thought, “Oh, I could do that,” so I set about making sure I got the job. At Ipswich station one day I remember talking loudly to the Head of HR on my mobile saying, “You have got to see me,” so I like to think that I shouted myself onto the long-list.

We have had, and have, a good profile in Europe, but outside Europe we still struggle against some of our competitors because they’ve been working outside of Europe much longer than we have. I think in the next 10 years we’ll become a much bigger, more global organisation than we have been until now. Even though virtually half of our students come from outside the UK, I don’t think we’re yet what I would call an internationally focused organisation. We don’t think globally all the time, which is what the next phase will be about.

I often say that I’m not an actor and I’m not a musician, I didn’t go to a conservatoire, I’ve never taught at a conservatoire, and I’d never run a conservatoire, so it’s obvious why I got the job.

Seriously, there was a lot in my previous experience that, looking back now, met the requirements of the School at the time. Not least the fact that I had a lot of experience with capital projects at King’s, so I knew how to talk to architects, builders, quantity surveyors and so on.

Useful for Milton Court!

Although I’m not an actor or a musician, I was quite a good pianist as a teenager.

I got my diploma when I was 16. After I finished university I took up the harpsichord seriously in my 30s and 40s.

I can, or I could, play quite well. So I have a serious, deep interest and commitment to music, and to the performing arts in general.

When you first came to Guildhall, what was it like?

Interestingly, when I got the job, there were two responses. One was, “What a lovely job to end your career with.” The 14

Milton Court Concert Hall

other response was, “Yeah, whatever happened to the Guildhall School?” I thought, “Hmm, what an interesting response.” It was telling me something I needed to know, because the Guildhall School was very low-key when I came here. I think that although there were a lot of good people here doing excellent work, the School had allowed its profile to drop dangerously low. To be quite frank, Guildhall didn’t mean anything at that time. It wasn’t significant. I think that’s the main thing that we’ve done over the past 12 years – we’ve got to a position where the Guildhall School is “world leading”. Leading means being a leader. Others watch what we do and follow what we do. I think it’s quite an achievement for the institution to have moved that far in a relatively short period of time. That’s what I’m most proud

of: being world-leading. Having that accolade is the icing on the cake.

What other achievements are you proud of?

When I first came here, there was an all staff meeting where I was introduced, and a questioner from the floor said, “You come here with a reputation for partnership working. How do you think that will affect the way we work here?”

I thought it was really interesting that other people had picked up on that about me. That was a feature of the work I did at King’s. We had a systematic strategy of engaging with as many institutions as possible within a mile’s radius that included the Southbank, National Theatre, Royal Opera House

During your time at Guildhall you must have been to hundreds of performances. Are there any that stuck out for you?

I discussed this with my wife, Trudi, because we go to virtually everything together. We drew up a shortlist of about 30 performances and we agreed on most things. One that struck us most was the first one we ever saw here – a show called Ghetto that was directed by Christian Burgess. It was about a group of Jewish musicians in the ghetto so it had a lot of musicians in the cast – not actors playing instruments, but musicians.

It was a perfect expression of what was possible – all the potential at the Guildhall School – and it completely blew us away.

It’s hard to get through to people just what an astonishing experience it is to go into the theatre and see performances of the quality we’ve seen at Guildhall. It’s too easy to take it for granted.

But if I had to choose just one performance it would be Sam Wilson’s final recital when he did the piece by Georges Aperghis called Le corps à corps, a solo piece for voice and zarb, an Arabic drum.

I’d never heard of the composer, I had no idea what I was getting myself in for.

But it was an absolutely astonishing performance. It was both thrilling – it’s based on a motor race between two cars or chariots, so it’s inherently exciting – and absolutely frightening. I feared for him and I feared for myself. I have never been so profoundly affected and shocked by a performance in my entire life. That stands out in my memory. Of course, at the heart of that is the interface between music and theatre and it was a real piece of performance art.

I have never been in the theatre or concert hall here and felt let down by what the students have done. And that is a phenomenal achievement. I think everybody comes here to do their best and be the best that they can be, and that’s fundamental to our culture. That’s very valuable, we must hold on to that.

You’ve also supported students financially. Why is that important to you?

I’m told that Trudi and I have given £182,000 to the School since we’ve been here. It soon mounts up! We really believe in the performing arts and what we do here. I suppose there’s an element of payback because we both went to university at a time when there were no fees and we’ve both benefitted in many ways from our education. I’d say that not only has my education made me what I am – the leader of a great institution – but it’s made me who I am. We are the products of our education and our upbringing. We both owe education a huge amount. Apart from paying our taxes, this is really the only way we can give something back.

Although we don’t support individual students – our money goes into the general scholarships pot – a lot of our friends who also support the School really like the close relationship between

Barry and his wife, Dr Trudi Darby, January 2016

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donor and recipient. They can actually see and watch the people they are supporting and they find that very exciting.

So, we’re driven by a combination of commitment and bad conscience about the fact that we didn’t have to pay for our education and now students do. I support three organisations, of which Guildhall is one. Last year I gave about a third of my income – basically because I really care about the things I’m supporting, and I can afford it. I think anybody who doesn’t think seriously about donating in this way is missing an opportunity. There’s a responsibility there for people of my generation to think about what they can give back.

Which aspects of your role have you particularly enjoyed? Are there any you’ve found really difficult in your time here?

I’ve enjoyed the creativity of the post.

It’s not been a job that has just involved going through the motions or keeping the show on the road. I keep saying “we” because it is essentially a team game and I’ve built a very strong team. They in turn have built talented teams around them.

We’ve made significant change and we’ve created something – that’s very satisfying.

The Adventures of Pinocchio, one of the Guildhall School’s most ambitious opera productions to date (Spring 2014)

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There are downsides to the job as well.

It takes a lot of time and effort and patience to manage the funding side of the operation. The funding council say “we expect you to teach these subjects to this number of students; here’s the money, tell us what you’ve done with it in a year’s time.” It’s a very hands-off relationship. But the local authority takes a much closer quasi-managerial interest in the School which needs careful handling if we are to maintain our educational and artistic independence.

I won’t miss having to deal with that side of things.

I do enjoy the City traditions, though I shudder to think what all those lunches and dinners are doing to my liver...!

It’s all part of the rich tapestry of living and working in the City and being part of the City family, especially the livery companies, who are such strong supporters of the School.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I enjoy sport, all types of sport. I used to participate but I don’t anymore. If you look in my Who’s Who entry, under pastimes it says, “Music, literature, and sorting things out.” I derive a great deal of pleasure from just… tidying up.

Creating order out of chaos. I’m much less fastidious than I used to be but I still get enjoyment out of making things better, so I suppose that’s essentially what a management role like this is: making things better.

My musical interests have changed enormously. I had relatively little interest in opera when I came here, and I’ve been converted, I’ve become an opera freak. Our horizons have been expanded enormously since we’ve been here. It’s been a great education for me.

Any advice for students and alumni?

Take every opportunity that comes. It’s that old adage about seizing the day.

Don’t go to bed until you are absolutely exhausted. Use every moment as productively as you can, otherwise one day you’ll wake up and find you’re 69, like I am, and wonder where it all went.

That said, you do need to relax sometimes.

Is there one thing you’ll miss most?

The biggest thing I’ll miss is being with students. This is going to be quite a difficult time for me, leaving. I’ve been in higher education for my entire life, my entire career of over 47 years. I’ve been in education because I believe in the transformative power of education.

I come from a working class family; only two generations ago we were agricultural workers in Suffolk. Education made me what I am and who I am. I’m passionately committed to education and I’ve enormously enjoyed being a teacher.

That’s a frustration in this job, I haven’t done any teaching here, but I’ve made up for it in various ways by building close relationships with the students.

I’ve watched them sing, I’ve watched them play.

I know it’s a cliché but young people are the future. We need to invest in young people, we need to develop them, we need to give them the best opportunities we can so that they can do the best that they can do. I shall miss that enormously.

What do you plan to do next?

My plans involve finishing writing a couple of books and doing all sorts of things people say they’ll do when they retire. I’d like to do some teaching. If a teaching or university job came up I would consider that. My doors are open.

That’s my advice: if you keep the doors and windows open you never know what will fly in.

The students here probably don’t realise that they have enormous talent. It’s a real privilege to have a talent and it’s your responsibility, I think, to do something with that. To make an impact, transform, change other people’s lives. Seize the day.

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G U IL D HALL TO THE WORLD

Sketching it out PLAYTIME IN FRANCE

The circus residency in France was our third project as students on the MA programme. We spent three weeks in a region near Bergerac, a village called Le Buisson, working with a circus company based there – they have a piece of land with a studio for circus workshops and small houses for the artists.

in quite an organic way because we were working from 9am until 9pm so we had a lot of time to put into the project. It was a very intensive schedule – we only had Sundays off – and it was quite amazing as a learning process. I was the assistant director and stage manager which was challenging because I’d worked as a stage manager before but not in a professional setting.

I think the project worked out how I imagined it would.

I had all those thoughts about artists going out in to the landscape, being in a nice village where you just sit and talk about ideas and create new work, and it was like that!

During lunch and tea breaks we were still discussing our ideas – “oh, what about Jonah jumping out the door”, or “what about Lynn flying?” The view there is amazing, there’s green grass and beautiful sunrises; it’s so far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. It was quiet and the landscape really contributed to us being very happy and very peaceful with what we did.

Vintage techniques

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Also at Guildhall we had a team of BA Technical Theatre Arts students helping us, so it was good to have people sharing the workload!

Bucolic wonder

The purpose of the project was to investigate how silent comedy and physical theatre blends, and how the sketches and the style of silent comedy can be transposed to a theatre show. As a starting point we were given actors and directors of the silent movie era – Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and Jacques Tati, the French director from the 60s. We researched the movies and selected some scenes that stimulated us creatively. And then we came up with a show!

In spring, the first cohort of students on Juggling roles the MA in Collaborative We worked with Abigail Yeates, a circus director and physical performer, and with Paul Cockle, a producer Theatre Production from The Generating Company. When we got to the village we had an introduction day viewing the studio & Design programme and our house and then we spent time with Paul planning the whole project. travelled to the Centre There were four performers, Jose, Lynn, Matthew and de Création in France Jonah – two jugglers, one handstand artist, and one physical performer. Working with them was very to devise a piece interesting, because obviously they think ideas through filter of being a performer, whereas we are always inspired by physical the thinking technically, saying “okay, your idea is amazing but how are we going to stage it?” theatre and circus skills. Lavinia Serban One of our challenges throughout the year was manpower, because there were only five of us on the programme and we had many departments to cover. In France it worked tells all

the flying system was manual. The rigging part was massive, because we had windows and doors flying in and out of the set. There was a lot of stagecraft, props and construction involved.

We worked the project in a vintage, old school way. The sound and lighting equipment and all the construction facilities there wasn’t much – we brought about a dozen lights and two speakers from Guildhall. Because we were doing the show in a studio designed for circus performances, there were no wings which meant that the props tables and the rig were in sight. You could see the fly man flying in a chandelier and the stage manager taking out a frame door. It was so much fun!

The show must go on

On the map The MA programme was a beautiful experience of sharing how theatre works in other areas different from yours. Saatvika is from India, Matt is from the States, Cat is from Hong Kong, Alexia is from London and I’m from Romania, so we came from such different places with such different patterns and frameworks, and just sharing knowledge with the others was really good. The key selling point for me was the collaborative part of the course. Having conversations about how theatre works and actually practicing different ways of making a show situates you as a young theatre practitioner on a map in the theatre industry. After this course, I am confident of what my skills are and I know what I want to achieve in my career in future years.

Just before the final performance, Matt, one of the performers, got injured. The performers and the technical team were very close after that. When something bad happens like an accident, it’s a shared experience.

In the end, what we managed to do in France was run one day of tech, so the show was ready – we knew that we had the piece. Then we brought it to Guildhall for a performance in the Milton Court Theatre. We were all wondering if Matt would be able to come with us, and thankfully he did.

We had to adapt to the piece to transfer it to Guildhall which was a completely different experience. The biggest difference was that in Milton Court we had a lot of facilities – the venue is equipped with lighting and sound equipment and an automation system, whereas in France

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20

MIND THE GAP

There has been a wealth of discussion around UKwide inequality in recent months. From surveys revealing that privatelyschooled people still dominate law, politics, medicine and journalism to discussions about the outsized influence of the Dragon School, Eton and other institutions, the media has held up a mirror to our society and it has reflected an overrepresented upperand middle-class.

T

he statistics for the performing arts are equally troubling. As Carole Cadwalladr outlined in The Guardian in May 2016, “There’s now evidence of an inequality that runs like a seam through the entire profession and which goes far beyond the anecdotal. This year, academics from the London School of Economics and Goldsmiths College, in a peer-reviewed study, found that only 27% of actors come from a working-class background and that the profession is ‘heavily skewed towards the privileged’. In February this year, the Sutton Trust, a thinktank dedicated to social mobility… found, among other things, that 67% of British Oscar winners and 42% of BAFTA winners went to a private school.” Many performers from working class backgrounds including Julie Waters and Judi Dench have spoken up about this “class ceiling”, which brings much discussion about the rising cost of higher education, including drama school, and the dwindling of local repertory theatre.

In a recent article in the Evening Standard, Culture Secretary Karen

Bradley spoke about the widening gap in arts engagement between white adults and adults from black or minority ethnic backgrounds. In addition, arts engagement is at nearly 82% among the wealthiest adults, compared with just over 65% from lower socio-economic groups. People with a chronic illness or disability are also less likely to be involved in the arts. The article quoted Bradley, who said, “Small wonder that people from disadvantaged backgrounds are poorly represented in the artistic professions — or that young people from such backgrounds are less likely to play an instrument and are under-represented at conservatoires compared to higher education in general.”

Regardless of schooling, attitudes to the value of different types of career also contribute to the opportunity gap. The performing arts are often seen as an unstable career choice with no guarantee of consistent work after graduation, despite the latest Nesta report showing that in most parts of the country the creative industries are growing more rapidly than other sectors. However, Hazel Robertson, Widening Participation

Officer at Guildhall School says, “We must recognise that it’s a difficult industry to get into: programmes are very competitive, audition standards are very high, and the performing arts industry itself is competitive too.” In Hazel’s opinion, there is often negative messaging in the school curriculum surrounding performing arts, which is compounded by its focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and English Baccalaureat subjects. Performing arts, she says, are often suggested as a hobby, not for full-time study.

So, what is Guildhall doing to address these challenges? As it continues to be difficult for young performers – particularly those from less privileged backgrounds – to receive both access to the performing arts and training to become active members of the industry, the Guildhall School has redoubled its efforts. “We’ve been committed to widening participation for a long time,” said Sean Gregory, Director of Learning & Engagement. “The pressure is on in

terms of having to diversify and the reach needing to be much wider. But we’re not doing it solely because there’s greater demand or for target-driven reasons. We’re doing it because we believe in it and because that’s what should be happening anyway. At the same time, there’s never any harm in making sure you’re achieving what you’re setting out to achieve through the widening participation targets now being set by the government.”

For the Guildhall School, these targets are a combination of national policy surrounding tuition fees, and the School’s own Access Agreement. Targets for tackling underrepresentation include aiming for more new entrants from black and ethnic minority communities, state-school and state-supported applicants, both groups including individuals from low participating neighbourhoods.

Financial initiatives are one step in mitigating the effects of inequality on access to the School. These include the

offer of 170 application fee waivers across all of the School’s undergraduate programmes to applicants who study or live in a partner London borough (Barking & Dagenham, Bexley, Camden, City of London, Greenwich, Hackney, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Redbridge, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Westminster). These areas have been specifically targeted for a number of reasons; many have significant levels of disadvantage and low cultural engagement, while others overlap with Centre for Young Musicians (CYM) – a division of the Guildhall School.

In addition, Guildhall seeks to ensure that no student who is offered a place is prevented from taking up that place on grounds of financial hardship, and so over £2 million of scholarships are awarded each year to undergraduate and postgraduate students, regardless of domicile.

The Guildhall School itself has grown beyond London with CYM satellite

‘One of the key pieces of feedback we get is the self-belief people get from engaging with things they’ve never imagined doing before’ branches in Hestercombe, Norfolk, and Saffron Walden, and new centres just opened in Peterborough and Bristol.

CYM provides high quality progressive music training for thousands of talented children across the country. CYM and Junior Guildhall play a part in the Guildhall Young Artists progression routes, from primary education right through to undergraduate and postgraduate studies in music. Hazel Robertson says that this series of progressing opportunities have been successful in helping children to begin early, try different instruments, and grow their musical skills in preparation for applying for higher education.

Guildhall has also been running initiatives to give a broader range of young people access to the arts, find ways to see themselves as members of the performing arts community, and to improve their chances of being accepted to performing arts schools. The School is fostering new partnerships with local and national institutions, as well as developing existing relationships to meet young people where they live. Current partners include schools and theatres in Guildhall’s 15 partner boroughs like BSix College in Hackney, Theatre Royal Stratford East and Generation Arts.

Guildhall graduates have been recruited to lead workshops and taster sessions hosted by local schools and organisations, where young people can be introduced to music and drama and given opportunities to play and develop their skills. For music, there are also summer schools to help children begin early and try out different instruments. This is particularly important as it takes many

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as intimidating as they might think it would be. It’s about expanding their imaginative and creative horizons, and saying that their creativity is a lot more valuable than they might think. I’m confident that we’ll see results in terms of access to Guildhall, but the core of it is to encourage students to use their imaginations in a different way.

Ultimately, our goal is not to create actors, it’s to create artists.” In regards to encouraging a diverse range of young people to take up the performing arts, he adds, “There’s an excitement about reflecting society as it is today. I’m excited and passionate about seeing how that can change.”

years to reach the entry level of skill for an undergraduate course.

Similarly, in acting, giving young people a chance to try out the form and to begin to find their own voice as actors is important. Head of Movement, Danny McGrath, has developed a new twosemester course for young actors in East London. He said, “We wanted to give them an idea of what the drama schools were about, but also that it wasn’t just about doing an audition speech well.

It’s about their own independence as students and for them to offer not just their version of the play, but their collaboration and interaction with an audition panel. It’s a framework for them to play in. It gives Guildhall an idea of who they are as actors and as artists.” These opportunities also seek to make it clear what performing arts schools like Guildhall can offer in a way that young people, their families, and schools can understand.

Many Guildhall graduates are already teaching courses on acting and performing, including actor Edwin Thomas: “I’m interested in exposing students to things they haven’t been exposed to before in a way that is not

Sean Gregory says the feedback from these activities has been very positive.

“We evaluate all of our projects and learn from that – things we can do better next time. One of the key pieces of feedback we get is the self-belief people get from engaging with things they’ve never imagined doing before, or that they could take to such a high level. The sense of reward from being involved with a process and an outcome. The sense of recognition. The power of performing, and often performing to an audience that includes your own friends and family can be very uplifting. People have said, ‘I didn’t think this was for me,’ either socially, or because they thought places like Guildhall or the Barbican were for a certain class of people, or had other reasons for feeling left out. We’re trying to break those barriers down. The feedback we get is indicating that that is happening.”

Today, the Guildhall School welcomes its targets to diversify in the hope that, in the not too distant future, its own community will reflect society as we see it today.

Read case studies of some of the Guildhall School’s initiatives overleaf.

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Introduction to Drama School training course led

by Danny McGrath

This autumn, as part of the Guildhall School’s ongoing outreach efforts, the School will offer a 10-week acting workshop course in London’s outer boroughs. The course is led by Head of Movement, Danny McGrath, with individual sessions taught by Guildhall alumni who work as professional actors.

The course marks the School’s first outreach course for acting and has already reached over 30 students in Dagenham and Hackney. This season’s sessions will take place at the Dagenham Redbridge School, which has kindly provided its facilities on Saturdays from 10am to 1pm.

On the course, students will use plays and poems as performance pieces and as prompts to create their own responses and develop their own pieces of work. Improvisation, problem solving, and personal responses are encouraged over audition technique and grading.

McGrath hopes that schools will use this opportunity as an enhancement to teaching, and that it will become a network for those involved: a place to encounter real expertise, and to provide a meeting place for teachers and participants alike.

Drama Taster Sessions at Theatre Royal Stratford East The Guildhall School has partnered with local theatres and colleges to offer taster sessions in drama run by recent Guildhall graduates.

Theatre Royal Stratford East sits in an area of low arts participation in one of the most diverse areas in the country. It is important for the theatre to uphold its tradition of engaging a diverse range of local young people in the performing arts and helping them to connect with quality higher education and training establishments like Guildhall.

Jan Sharkey-Dodds, Strategic Consultant in Young People’s Work at Stratford East, spoke to us about their participation.

“We were delighted that, building on our relationship with Guildhall, the School was able to contribute a couple of workshops to inspire our young people to consider studying to be a performer,” Jan said. “It’s about them having the knowledge of what’s on offer and starting to build relationships with people and organisations who can help to break down those barriers and the perception that a drama school is not for them, because we know that’s not the case.”

She described the sessions as “a reality check” for their students, a way to find out what it means to be a drama student in 2016.

“Guildhall picked up that challenge and came and did a workshop with us back in May and the young people loved it.

I offered to invite them back, and they said yes please. So they came back in summer and the kids were delighted.”

91 young people have taken part in the summer college, with about half already involved in activities at the theatre and half new to both the Theatre Royal and the Guildhall School.

They have taken part in sessions on playwriting, set design, lighting, sound, improvisation, and character work. Since the summer workshops, the students have taken all the skills they have learnt and developed their own work, creating 5-10 minute pieces to share in a scratch night.

The Guildhall School plans to build on these early partnerships and continue to widen participation in London’s outer boroughs.

Support for Under-18 musicians The Guildhall School also supports diversity by offering bursaries and assisted places for under-18s. Junior Guildhall teaches students on Saturday mornings at the London campus and in Felsted, while the Centre for Young Musicians (CYM) has branches in London, Norwich, Saffron Walden, Taunton, Bristol and Peterborough where under-18s can train. The School contributes to sizable scholarships and bursaries that CYM and Junior Guildhall distribute to their learners to help with the cost of fees and create a bridge to their higher learning in performing arts.

To give students from low-income backgrounds a taste of the training at Guildhall, the School offers assisted places on a range of drama and music summer schools to eligible applicants. This summer, over 20 young people have been offered fully-funded places on programmes including drama, music theory, brass and percussion, and jazz. Eligible students include: residents of Guildhall’s partner London boroughs; young people who have come from a low income household; and those who are in care or have recently left care. Details of eligibility are available on the Guildhall website.

More specifically for students with unique circumstances, for 2017 entry Guildhall will offer maintenance awards of circa £3000 to support the additional living costs of students who have recently left care or do not have family support (for example, those who are estranged from their families). More details on this scheme will be published on the website soon, and the School looks forward to providing this new level of support.

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25

TH E IN T ERVI EW

WRITING HER OWN STORY E At the end of her first summer as Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe, Acting alumna Emma Rice talks to PLAY about building an armoury, taking control and the importance of ‘wonder’ in theatre.

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How would you describe your time as a student at Guildhall?

I had a wonderful time but was so young! I moved to London when I was barely 18. I loved the course because it was so all consuming - every day was fully programmed so I didn’t have time to worry about being away from home. Having said that, I lived in pretty frightening digs. I often look back and think how vulnerable I was at that time.

I got on with all my classmates but also walked my own path. I always stood at the front of class, if I went to the back I thought I would lose concentration. I have always had a naughty streak that I have to manage even to this day. I struggled with my voice as I tried to find its centre and its power, but loved all the period dance classes and the more physical work.

What is your most lasting memory of Guildhall?

The 1987 storms! I was so terrified that I would be late and told off by David Cox that I walked all the way from Kentish Town and still made it on time. I think I was the only one that made it in!! There was an Oriental Pagoda on the lake that was destroyed and the shattered remnants bobbed in the Barbican ponds. The strange peace of the aftermath stays with me still.

However, you probably weren’t asking for that kind of memory.

I remember it as a time when I was waiting and building an armoury. I didn’t really know what for, but I was quite serious about building it! I knew that a creative life would open up for me and was gathering experience and skill in readiness.

Which class or teacher at Guildhall was the most formative in developing your career?

Sue Lefton without a doubt. She saw my physical creativity and comedy instincts. She encouraged me in mask work and movement and challenged me to step into my own skin. We are still in touch now and she is a great inspiration!

What was the first project that made you consider moving into directing? And what would you say to an actor who is thinking about making that move?

My move to directing was a slow and organic one. I had been working with Theatre Alibi in Exeter for many years. Following training with The Gardzienice Theatre Association in Poland, I worked with Katie Mitchell devising and performing stage pieces I was in, and even choreographed for a while. I felt that my skills were contributing to the vision of important work, but it was not my vision, my passion. It became clear that it was time to lean in and take control. I was extremely lucky in that I was then working for Kneehigh. The Artistic Directors, Mike Shepherd and Bill Mitchell, said it was time for me to lead my own project and gave me the opportunity. My first piece of direction was The Itch - my own adaptation of The Changeling

by Middleton. My second piece was The Red Shoes which really marked the beginning of this new chapter.

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If an actor is thinking about moving into direction, just do it!

There is no better grounding for being a director than having been an actor so blaze a trail in whatever way you can.

What would you describe as the tipping point for you, when directing became your priority?

My friend and mentor Nick Hytner was the tipping point. I really wanted to act on the Cottesloe stage! He gently suggested that I would not only direct better, but get more out of the experience if I stopped performing and took full control. He was right and I find leading and guiding the whole process genuinely more fulfilling than acting ever could have been for me.

What made you apply for the role of Artistic Director at Shakespeare’s Globe?

I was ready for a new adventure and several friends suggested that I apply. I couldn’t imagine leaving Kneehigh but I thought it was time for me to take a leap and trust what happened. And what happened was I got the job! My life has been happily turned upside down ever since!

How have you found it so far?

You have committed to ensuring that your casts have a 50:50 gender split, a first for any major British theatre. What challenges and opportunities has this decision brought about and, now that you have proved that it can be done, do you think other theatres will follow suit?

I’m not quite sure that we have proved it yet. I fear that we are currently just under our target which is very frustrating! It is important to set the challenge however, and I hope that other theatres will also take it on. We have to shine a light on the historical lack of interest in women! Strangely, Shakespeare is incredibly malleable since he was so used to bending gender, his plays easily form into new shapes and horizons.

As well as democratising gender in theatre, there has been a lot of media conversation recently around the class division in performing arts.

What do you suggest might be the next steps to diversifying theatre and providing opportunities for a more diverse generation of actors and theatre professionals?

I wish I had all the answers. I was from a very supportive family so I think I would still be able to make it to Drama College if I was starting now… however, I wouldn’t have been able to pay the bills or stay in London. I was supported by benefits - housing and job seeker’s - as I navigated these tough years. We need to invest in the talent of the future as a society, otherwise the profession will become more and more elite.

What advice would you give to someone leaving drama school now?

Don’t be boring! When I played Titania in my final year at Guildhall, my old drama teacher said “Darling, you looked very beautiful, but you were a little dull.” From that moment, I decided never to be boring again. I vowed to surprise myself and the audience… so my advice is to stop trying to get it right and start thinking about what naughty mess you might make - emotional mess, artistic mess and political mess!

Also, consider moving out of London. By breaking the tyranny of the industry and the extortionate rents, you might just find a creative freedom that is almost impossible to find in the city.

It’s what I did and my life changed the day I took the train out of Paddington. It became my own and from that day on, I started to write my own story.

It’s been amazing - challenging, exhilarating, frustrating but it really isn’t boring! Every day I meet directors and writers, I plan seasons and stories and watch ideas grow. I have custody of the most dynamic and democratic space and I truly think I have the best job in world!

You have always put storytelling and wonder at the heart of your work and now you have named your first season at the Globe the ‘Wonder’ season. What images does that word conjure for you? Why do you think wonder is important in theatre?

Wonder is a great word. It reminds us of a time when the world seemed fresh and new. We should all feel childlike when making, or seeing theatre. “Everything for the first time” I regularly say to my actors. It is in this ‘child’ state of wonder that we laugh truly, cry freely and fear deeply. Powerful and grown up stuff if you get it right.

You have programmed a season of music gigs by female artists in the Sam Wanamaker Theatre under the banner of ‘Wonder Women’. What made you choose to bring contemporary music into this space?

I wanted music that I listened to bouncing off these magnificent walls. I also didn’t want the space to become elite or exclusive.

I think it is vital to support emerging artists as well as re-visiting the classics - this feels very true to Shakespeare’s Globe where he was the new thing and the young voice!

Ncuti Gatwa as Adi in Emma Rice's 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips

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THEN & NOW

Best known for his work with Robbie Williams, songwriter, record producer and musician Guy Chambers recently revisited the Guildhall School to present a lecture. Here, he ref lects on his time at the School, his advice for young musicians, and going on tour.

M

y dad was a flute player in the London Philharmonic Orchestra and my mum worked for Decca Records so there was a lot of music in the house. We had a piano at home so I naturally started playing it. Later I got guitar lessons because I was obsessed with The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Queen.

Originally I had wanted to study jazz at Leeds but I couldn’t get a grant from Liverpool council – so going to Guildhall was a last-minute decision.

It was more like serendipity. My dad knew John Hosier who was the principal then, so he called up and I had a late audition. I was nervous, I think it was literally a week before term started, and I didn’t have any other options at that time. Luckily they liked my piano-playing and the piece of music I presented to them.

The highlight was meeting and working with George Benjamin. He was my Composition teacher and he taught me to listen to music properly and to analyse why I was feeling what I was feeling, and how to identify what is in the music that emotionally manipulates you.

Composers we studied had amazing tricks, and George helped show me what these tricks were. One simple example would be the way Debussy would take out the double bass – so there’d be a lot of music with no bass – then when the bass comes in it would have a big effect.

That’s a simple lesson I’ve used a lot in pop music.

Using the recording studio was also a highlight. It was, and is still, run by Dave Foister and I spent a lot of time there. I would ask fellow students to come in – string, bass, saxophone players – and organise sessions. They’d play for me for free because they were curious and to get some experience. That was very

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educational, and when I left Guildhall I used a lot of that experience with proper sessions. In fact, one of the things I’m doing today is arranging a choir.

That’s something I had a lot of help with at Guildhall.

I knew I wanted to spend a lot of time in the studio, in fact I’m sitting in my own studio now. When I’m not working here, I’m playing shows with Robbie Williams’ band. I knew I wanted to do a combination of studio and touring. I like touring, travelling and playing to a live audience and getting that buzz.

It’s a good balance – I’m very lucky that I have a good balance in my life. Next year will be difficult because I’m going on a world tour and will be away for months. In the music business it’s swings and roundabouts.

My advice to graduates would be: be open to any work or experience you are offered. Don’t think you should only do one thing. You never know. Say, for example, you’re offered work in a circus as a musician. You might think, “I don’t want to work in the circus,” but through working at the circus you might meet someone who gets you a job doing something else. Connections and contacts are unbelievably important.

Also, be on time, be prepared, be nice, have a shower before you turn up… basic stuff! Don’t say no too often – go for anything you can grab. You have a lot of energy when you’re young, make use of that energy.

I enjoyed doing the lecture at Guildhall recently. It’s wonderful to see the facilities that the students have now. I’ve also worked with a few Guildhall students over the years at a music night that I used to run in London. That was good because I’m always open to working with new people and I like students’ energy. It’s good to keep in touch with my roots if you like. I think Guildhall is a great college, there’s no question about it.

Next I’ll be promoting Robbie Williams’ new album, which comes out in November. We’ll be doing a lot of promo – travelling around Europe, mostly doing TV shows – and we’ll have a show in London soon. I’m the Managing Director of the band so we’ll be rehearsing together, making sure we’ve got the right musicians and that sort of thing.

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Class Notes

MUSIC

Clare has won the ‘Young Artist’ category at the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards held in May this year.

The Ruisi Quartet (Piano 2011) Players include Guy Button (Violin 2011) and Max Ruisi (Cello 2010)

DRAMA

clarehammond.com Jocelyn Bundy (Stage Management 1983)

Benjamin Appl (Vocal Fellow 2015)

Just a few months after graduating from Guildhall’s Artist Diploma programme, Benjamin Appl has signed an exclusive recording contract with SONY Classical.

A former BBC New Generation Artist and a Rising Star of the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO), Benjamin was recently awarded Gramophone magazine’s 2016 Young Artist of the Year Award. In a recent article, Gramophone described him as “the current front-runner in the next generation of Lieder singers”. benjaminappl.com Jonathan Bloxham (Cello 2014)

Jonathan has been appointed Assistant Conductor at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. jonathanbloxham.com Jules Buckley (Composition 2004)

Jules and the Metropole Orkest recorded the Snarky Puppy album Sylva which won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album earlier this year .

Ariadna Castellanos (Piano 2005)

Named “one of the top hot new Jazz talents to watch out for” by Vanity Fair US earlier this year, Ariadna Castellanos’ CD Flamenco en Black & White garnered a Latin Grammy Award nomination for Best Producer, for Javier Limon. ariadnacastellanos.com Gareth Davies (Flute 1994)

Gareth has been elected Chairman of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), taking over from Lennox Mackenzie (the orchestra’s sub-leader), who held the position for 16 years, making him the longest-serving chairman in the orchestra’s history.

Gareth, who became a Flute Professor at Guildhall last year, was appointed Principal Flute at the LSO in 2000. He joined the LSO board in 2009 and became Vice-Chairman in 2010. garethdaviesonline.com 32

Clare Hammond (Piano 2011)

Magrethe Lysholm (Horn 2014)

Margrethe has been appointed Tutti Horn at Aalborg Symphony Orchestra in Denmark.

Sarah Oliver (Cello 2011)

Sarah has been appointed No. 4 Cello in the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

RPS Award winners The Ruisi Quartet have embarked upon the first part of their Haydn String Quartet Cycle.

Palisander Hannah Fisher (Recorder 2015), Lydia Gosnell (Recorder 2014), Miriam Nerval (Recorder 2013) and Caoimhe de Paor

The group has always had a special affinity for the music of Haydn, and over the course of 2016 they are performing 24 of his string quartets in six concerts at St Mary-at-Hill, a beautiful Christopher Wren-designed church in the heart of London. The concerts include talks by esteemed violist, composer and teacher Simon Rowland-Jones, editor of the highly acclaimed new critical/performing edition of Haydn’s string quartets for Edition Peters.

(Recorder Fellow 2014) The Palisander quartet have been selected for the prestigious St John’s Smith Square Young Artists’ Scheme 20162017, as one of just six soloists/ensembles chosen. In addition to training and performance opportunities, they will also be awarded grants to commission a new piece and to develop marketing materials under the scheme. palisanderrecorders.com Kendra Preston Leonard (Cello 1996)

Recently, Kendra won the Society for American Music’s 2016 Sight and Sound subvention for her collaborative project with the Silent Film Sound and Music Archive and pianist Ethan Uslan, a 2016 American Music Research Center Fellowship and a 2016-2017 Harry Ransom Center Research Fellowship in the Humanities. The Silent Film Sound and Music Archive, which she established and directs, received a 2016 GRAMMY Foundation Preservation grant. kendraprestonleonard.com Gavin Reid (Trumpet 1991)

After ten years as director of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Gavid Reid is now the new chief executive of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO). Gavin said, “I am particularly excited by the crucial and influential role that the SCO plays within Scotland and I look forward to working closely with players, staff, artists and all of the SCO’s supporters to build on the fantastic achievements of recent years.”

In recognition of the many years of work she has done for them as a freelance Stage Manager over the years, the Royal Academy of Music has made Jocelyn an Honorary Associate (HonARAM).

Jocelyn is the first stage manager ever to have been recognised in this way by the Royal Academy of Music.

Michaela Coel (Acting 2012) Fabian Schmidt (Trombone 2011)

Fabian has been appointed to the Trombone section of the Brandenburg State Orchestra in Frankfurt, under the baton of Chief Conductor Howard Griffiths.

Jenna Sherry (Violin Fellow 2012)

The Birdfoot Festival in New Orleans, which was founded by Jenna Sherry, reached its fifth season this year – an impressive milestone. One of Jenna’s goals in starting the festival was to bring the most creative and entrepreneurial musicians together into an environment where they can share and exchange ideas – to create an incubator for generating ideas that will take chamber music into the next century and find new ways of engaging audiences. Jenna has enjoyed bringing ideas, and quite a few Guildhall alumni, back and forth between London and New Orleans. birdfootfestival.org Mark Simpson (Composition 2012)

Mark’s oratorio The Immortal (libretto: Melanie Challenger) won the classical award at this year’s South Bank Sky Arts Awards ceremony.

Michaela has had an incredible summer, during which she won a BAFTA award (Best Female Performance in a Comedy) and two Royal Television Society Awards (Breakthrough and Best Comedy Performance), was nominated for The Times Breakthrough Award and filmed the second series of Chewing Gum, the E4 programme that she both writes and stars in.

48-hours notice. He stepped in to the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company production after injury waylaid both Richard Madden and his understudy.

Richard Goulding (Acting 2007)

Richard was nominated for a Tony Award (Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Play) for his performance in King Charles III, which transferred from the West End to Broadway.

Awards haul for Technical Theatre

Guildhall alumni, staff and students lit up this year’s Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) Show.

Charles Haines (Stage Management 1980) of Hall Stage won the ABTT Product of the Year Award; Anna Matthews (SMTT 2005, Performance Venues Technician) was highly commended by the Stage Management Association for her work in the Stage Management team of The Chairs; Elena Pitsiaeli (TTA Year 3) won the Stage Management Association - GDS Student Achievement Award; Rory Beaton (TTA Year 3) won the Michael Northen Bursary, which was presented by Prema Mehta (SMTT 2004); Steve Huttly (Head of Theatre Technology) won the ABTT Theatre Technician of the Year – presented by Mark Jonathan (Honorary Fellow of Guildhall School); while our good friend and neighbour Louise Jeffreys of the Barbican Centre handed out the awards in her capacity as Chairman of the ABTT. Stage Managers Class of 1982 Reunion

We were delighted to welcome back the Stage Management class of 1982, along with a number of the actors they trained alongside for a reunion this summer.

A nostalgic trip around the Silk Street building was followed by a tour of the new facilities in Milton Court, before the group retired to the Artillery Arms to exchange news and memories. We look forward to seeing you back in the School again soon!

Freddie Fox (Acting 2010)

Freddie took home the third prize in the prestigious Ian Charleson Awards this year, for his performance in Romeo and Juliet at the Crucible, Sheffield.

This summer Freddie has since played Romeo again, opposite his Guildhall classmate Lily James, starting at just 33

Recent Releases

CDs

Légende

Burn the Boat

MJU:ZIK

Alison Balsom (Trumpet 2001) and Tom Poster (Piano 2004) Warner Classics

Fini Bearman (Voice 2007) Two Rivers Records

Ariadna Castellanos (Piano 2005) and Ed is Dead, featuring Zara MacFarlane (Jazz Voice 2009) Polyarts

Schubert Lieder at Wigmore Hall

Kenneth Hesketh: Horae (pro clara)

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1

Benjamin Appl (Voice 2015) and Graham Johnson (Senior Professor in Vocal Accompaniment) Wigmore Hall Live

Clare Hammond (Piano 2008) BIS Records

Edmund Rubbra: The Complete Chamber Music & Songs with Harp

Tracey Chadwell (Voice 1983) and Danielle Perrett, with Timothy Gill (Cello professor) Lyrita (re-release)

A Violin For All Seasons

For All We Know

Paul Lewis (Piano 1994) Harmonia Mundi

Tasmin Little (Violin 1986) and BBC Symphony Orchestra Chandos

Nao (Jazz Voice 2010) Little Tokyo Recordings

Biber: Rosary Sonatas

Held

Mark Simpson: Night Music

Rachel Podger (Violin 1993) Channel Classics

Jason Rebello (Piano 1989) Edition Records

Mark Simpson (Composition 2012), with Alexei Grynyuk (Piano 2006), Richard Uttley (Piano 2013) and Nicholas Daniel (Oboe professor) NMC Recordings

Lhoyer: Complete Works for Guitar Trio and Quartet

Jørgen Skogmo (Guitar 2006), Jens Franke (Guitar 2007), Oskar Werninge (Guitar 2010) and Tim Pells Naxos

BOOKS

The Bridge

Dave Flynn: Shadowplay

Ahmed Dickinson Cárdenas (Guitar 2008) and Eduardo Martin Cubafilin Records

Dave Flynn (Composition 2004), with Aisling Agnew (Flute 2004), Harry Bradley and Eimear McGeown Frisbee Records

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Schubert: Songs for Voice & Guitar

Anna Huntley and Jens Franke (Guitar 2007) Quartz Music Limited

One

The Musical Zodiac

Hero the Greyhound

Across the Seas

Tim Garland (Saxophone 1989), with Jason Rebello (Piano 1989), Asaf Sirkis and Ant Law Edition Records

Debbie Wiseman (Composition 1984) Classic FM

Fiona Bennett (Piano 1983) GHP

Elizabeth Sharland (Piano 1954) iUniverse

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In Memoriam Neil Black OBE 1932 – 2016

(Professor of Oboe) Neil Black played oboe from the age of eleven. He had not originally intended to make music his career but took a degree in History at Oxford University.

However, his experiences in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain fired his enthusiasm and within three years of leaving Oxford he was appointed principal oboist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Most of his musical life, however, was devoted to solo playing and performing with chamber orchestras and ensembles.

He was principal oboist of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and, for many years, the English Chamber Orchestra.

As soloist he played in many of the world’s great musical centres and festivals.

Much in demand as a teacher, he was a professor at the Guildhall School and the Royal College of Music, and latterly musical director of the Kirckman Concert Society.

Neil’s numerous solo recordings brought him international acclaim. Amongst them are the Bach Double Concerto with Perlman, the Strauss and VaughanWilliams concertos with Barenboim and the English Chamber Orchestra, Mozart, Bach and Vivaldi Double Concerto with Menuhin and the Polish Chamber Orchestra.

He was awarded the OBE in 1989.

Audrey Coulter (née Parker)

(Speech & Drama 1955) Audrey studied acting with Dorothy Dayus at Guildhall from 1952 – 1955.

While a student she played many leading roles and after leaving she worked in repertory in such places as Lancaster and Cromer. She then joined the Irish National Theatre with her future husband, David Coulter, touring in Ireland.

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When they returned to England David joined the BBC and Audrey continued to act; however, after the birth of three sons Joseph, Julian and Bart in as many years Audrey decided to focus on her family.

ATCL for flute, DipABRSM for bassoon, LTCL for recorders, and FTCL for piano as well as the School Music Prize and having performed Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the school orchestra.

She later channelled her creativity into her garden and a passion for tapestry.

He was a wonderful colleague, full of entertaining anecdotes about the history of the School, and never daunted in adversity. His knowledge of the works of Bach and of English church music was greatly respected by staff and students alike. We are surrounded by memories of Tony in the library – we still use the old School safe that he insisted on moving to the new building, and the beautiful copperplate labels on our sheet music boxes were all Tony’s work.

Susan Ford FGS

David Coulter 1936 – 2016

(Speech & Drama 1956) David and his identical twin Edmund both studied acting at the Guildhall School, where David also met his future wife Audrey Parker.

After leaving Guildhall David toured Ireland with the Irish National Theatre before deciding to focus on direction and production. He spent many years at the BBC and later ITV, working on a wide range of programmes for radio and television including To Speak with Confidence (with John Holgate) and Weekend World.

David then joined forces with Susan Ford and established Coulter Ford Partners doing communication and media training in the corporate and business world. For the next 15 years he and Susan worked in the UK, Europe, and the Far East.

David also examined for Guildhall, taught at ALRA and was a popular adjudicator at festivals in the UK and Hong Kong. He had a wicked sense of humour, a great love of life, was a superb cook and was an unending source of theatrical anecdotes.

Susan Ford FGS

Thomas Harris 1993 – 2015

(Piano 2015) I met Tom when he came to Eton College as a Music Scholar at the age of 13 and where I taught him recorder. Two things were clear from the start; he was a thoroughly lovely person and he was an exceptional talent. He played piano, recorder, bassoon and flute all to diploma level and would leave school with an

Tony worked for the School for nearly 40 years before his retirement in 2003, and was one of the last staff members to have worked at the old School site in John Carpenter Street, where he was the sole librarian.

In 2010 Tom performed at Cadogan Hall, and was then invited to play at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. He was subsequently awarded an Apprenticeship to the Worshipful Company of Musicians, and in the same year gave a solo recital for the Concordia Foundation at St. James’ Piccadilly, returning the following year.

More recently he played Beethoven’s C minor Piano Concerto in Chelsea Town Hall with the KPO, with whom he also performed Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto in June 2015. Having completed his first year reading Music at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, Tom then went directly to the third year at the Guildhall School, studying with Joan Havill.

Tom loved being at the Guildhall School and his cheery presence was felt not only in the keyboard department but also within the recorder department where he’d regularly attend our classes as an encouraging and enthusiastic observer.

Ian Wilson, Professor of Recorder

Anthony Perch MBE 1938 – 2016

(Librarian) We were very sad to hear of Tony’s untimely death at the age of 74.

Outside work Tony played a vital role in the smooth running of Great St Bartholomew’s Church, in Smithfield, and was an expert gardener and solar energy pioneer. His hard work on the garden of the family home in Flitwick meant that he sported an enviable year-round tan!

Tony was awarded the MBE in 2004.

Kate Eaton, Senior Librarian

Harry Rabinowitz MBE 1916 – 2016

(Composition 1951) Conductor and composer Harry Rabinowitz MBE has died aged 100.

He passed away at his home in France on 22 June 2016.

Harry is best known for his work in film and television, conducting scores including Chariots of Fire (1981), The Remains of the Day (1993), The English Patient (1996), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and Cold Mountain (2003).

He also composed music for television, including Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983).

Born in 1916 in Johannesburg, South Africa, he came to London in 1946 to study composition at the Guildhall School. He then worked as the conductor of the BBC’s Light Revue Orchestra from 1953 to 1960, and was the original conductor for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats.

He is survived by his wife Mitzi Scott;

his three children, Karen, Simon and Lisa; and four grandchildren.

Chris Todd 1943 – 2016

(Master Carpenter) Chris was born in England in 1943 and the following year sailed to Canada in a Norwegian convoy with his mother and sister. After the war the family moved to New Jersey, New York establishing his great love of baseball and American football.

Guy arranged the music for four ballets for choreographer André Prokovsky, which he conducted around the world, including the premiere of Anna Karenina with the Kirov Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg.

Guy met oboist Jane Aldrick at Guildhall and they were married in 1962. For more than thirty years they ran the Denne Gilkes Memorial Fund, a charity set up in 1972 to help young musicians and actors. Jane and their three sons survive him.

Chris later returned to London, where he became a Quantity Surveyor and worked in gas conversion. After marrying Maretta, he moved to Wales to work at the Torch Theatre, lovingly creating intricate sets for shows. Following the birth of his sons Dylan and Ben he moved back to London to become the Master Carpenter and Lecturer at Guildhall.

He quickly established a rapport with students as a teacher, adviser and friend, his Daoist ideals setting his lifestyle. He was a strong influence in the development of the Stage Management course.

After his marriage to Tay in 1992 he was proud to be a father again to Poppy, Jasmine and Maia. At 70 he was overjoyed at becoming a grandfather to Finn and loved spending time with him being silly.

He will be remembered for his humour, insight, friendship, hand rolled cigarettes and his favourite word, “peachy”.

Peter Johnson-Booth FGS

NOTICES Annie Castledine 1939 – 2016

(Visiting director) Guy Woolfenden OBE 1937 – 2016

Susan Mallinson, née Colledge 1942 – 2016

(Horn, Conducting 1960)

(Voice 1963)

Composer and conductor Guy Woolfenden has died at the age of 78.

Guy was educated at Westminster Abbey Choir School, Whitgift School and read music at Christ’s College, Cambridge, before studying horn and conducting at the Guildhall School.

Best known for his work as Head of Music and Resident Composer for the Royal Shakespeare Company (a position he held for 37 years), he composed scores for every Shakespeare play, with a total of 150 scores in his time there.

Lisette Wesseling 1971 – 2016

(Early Music Voice 1977) Kit Wynn Parry 1924 – 2015

(Consultant) Maxwell Sainsbury d. 2016

(Supporter)

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A DAY IN THE LI FE

Peter Batai An oboist in the Band of the Grenadier Guards, part of the Corps of Army Music, Peter Batai’s duties include the daily Changing of the Guard ceremony, state occasions like weddings, funerals, jubilees, the State Opening of Parliament, the Lord Mayor’s Show, Her Majesty The Queen’s Annual Garden Party and many other high profile events. Peter talked to us about a typical day for him during the Queen’s birthday celebrations known as Trooping the Colour.

I

finished my Masters at Guildhall as an orchestral player and took up work in a freelance position. You know the freelance world: always wondering if the phone is going to ring. The environment is fierce competition out there and I found that very difficult to cope with. The musical side was wonderful but this constant fight for survival was something I didn’t really enjoy.

My agent randomly booked me for a gig with The Band of The Household Cavalry and that’s how I got in. We travelled to a remote place to give a concert, and I must say the environment was amazing. At the end of the concert they asked, “Is there any chance you would consider leaving the classical world and joining the army?” I’d never thought about it. After a while, I started to work in the band and never looked back.

This is my sixth year in the Corps of Army Music. I was first in the Band of the Irish Guards, and now I’ve been in post in the Band of the Grenadier Guards for over a year and a half. I have far too many wonderful memories to mention. Two of the main things have been the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics Closing Ceremony. That was something I thought I would never experience. But Trooping the Colour, the annual celebration of Her Majesty the Queen’s birthday, is always a highlight.

I was told that, doing Trooping the Colour, once your boots hit the ground at the Horse Guards and Her Majesty the Queen is there, you will have goosebumps and it will never go away each time you do it. The last was my fifth one and I thought,

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nah, that’s not going to happen anymore, but you know what?

We stepped off and exactly the same thing happened. You see the crowd, you see the pageantry and everything that comes with it, and it’s really mesmerising.

Before the march, there’s a long period of rehearsal. Not just the musical aspect – there’s a lot of drills involved. You have to play your instrument while you’re marching. I’m very privileged because oboe players don’t usually get to play the oboe, they usually play cymbals. Perhaps I was horrible the first time they put me on cymbals, because ever since my band master has asked me to play oboe in the march!

On the day of Trooping the Colour, I ride my motorcycle from my family accommodation which is provided by the army.

We arrive early in the morning, as early as 6.30am. It used to be tradition to have a port, but we can’t do that now, so we get together for a troops breakfast in the garden behind the barracks. Usually a really heavy, greasy full English! The parade itself is nearly 5 hours long.

We start preparing at the barracks at around 8.30am. There’s a short warm-up and our kits need to look absolutely immaculate.

We do our boots, our belts, our tunics, bearskin. Everything must be spotless – that’s part of the job.

We then step off at 10am. The march takes us from the Wellington Barracks to the Horse Guards Parade. When we reach Buckingham Palace, the Royal Family arrives and we provide music during the march past and as Her Majesty waves to her subjects. After that we march back.

The preparation takes weeks or even months, beginning with a foot drill. Even if you’ve done it several times, it’s important to refresh your memory because it has to look immaculate.

Then we do seated musical rehearsals where we play through the music. Then we put the two things together, marching in formation, doing the spin wheels which is the most difficult part of the event from our perspective. On the square there are around 300 musicians, so it’s a big event to move and play together. We march several times from the Wellington Barracks to the Horse Guards, essentially doing the parade over and over until we have the Major General’s review and the Colonel’s review, then the actual parade. It’s a long process.

After the march, there is a big afternoon celebration, very often a barbeque. Within the barracks there is no alcohol allowed so we often go out for a beer together afterwards.

This is a job where the music can occasionally be repetitive – which can also be true of classical music. That happens on every job, you don’t always have the most exciting days. But what I do have is colleagues who are real friends. This comradeship that the army provides is absolutely amazing, it’s something I’d never experienced before. That’s the thing within the job that I cherish the most: the belonging.

The Corps of Army Music is currently offering music applicants a joining bonus of up to £10,000. For more information, visit army.mod.uk.

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For more information and to join visit gsmd.ac.uk/circle, call 020 7382 7179 or pick up a leaflet in the School The Guildhall School Trust, Registered Charity No. 1082472

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