news Guildhall School
Spring/Summer 2011
p4 Strange new world – changes to student fees and funding Music Therapy
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p13 Guildhall in China
Keep Working! Interview with Eric Fellner of Working Title Films
Forthcoming Events Richard III
Richard III Monday 23, Tuesday 24, Wednesday 25, Thursday 26 May • 7.30pm Tuesday 24, Thursday 26 May • 2pm Patsy Rodenburg director “A force of evil. To allow it to flourish is complicity. Two powerful families. Women and children caught between – the survivors of genocide.”
Opera Double Bill – Rita/Iolanta
Rita by Donizetti
Iolanta by Tchaikovsky
Thursday 9, Saturday 11, Monday 13, Wednesday 15 June • 7pm Clive Timms conductor Martin Lloyd-Evans director Yannis Thavoris designer The story of the blind Iolanta is told with compelling lyricism in this eagerly awaited production of Tchaikovsky’s opera. Donizetti’s charming comic one-acter, Rita, is the ideal curtain raiser.
Kiss me Kate
e Kate m s s i K
Tuesday 5, Wednesday 6, Thursday 7, Friday 8, Monday 11, Wednesday 13 July • 7.30pm Friday 8, Monday 11, Wednesday 13 July • 2pm Summer Gala performance: Tuesday 12 July Martin Connor director Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter, Book by Sam and Bella Spewak A former husband-and-wife team battle with each other, on and off stage, as they lead their company in opening a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew, in Baltimore.
Subscribe to our monthly events email! This April we launched a monthly events email for anyone interested in attending Guildhall School performances. Each month, subscribers will receive in their inbox highlights of the month’s forthcoming performances, including operas, plays, concerts, recitals, masterclasses, prizes, research events and more. We’ll also include a mention of any new events that didn’t make it into our printed Events Guide, and a reminder on booking tickets for those popular events that sell out fast. The events email is free to all and is an ideal ‘top-up’ of information between our bi-annual printed Events Guides. To make sure you receive monthly emails, simply send your email address to mailing@gsmd.ac.uk and we’ll add you to our list.
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For further information about any Guildhall School event, please go to www.gsmd.ac.uk/events GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING / SUMMER 2011
Contents
Editorial
FEATURES
NEWS
4 Strange new world
5 Hard Hat Prom Musicians seize the opportunity to play on the site of our next concert hall
Changes to HE funding and student fees
6 Music Therapy Two students give us the inside track on the course
10 Drama 75th anniversary Ken Rea reports on last November’s celebrations
8 Junior Guildhall Young players perform like “seasoned pros“ at the 606
13 Guildhall in China 17 Annual Fund
14 Keep working
Appeal beats target for scholarships and more
Alumnus Eric Fellner, of Working Title Films, on producing films and musicals
25 Obituaries ALUMNI COMMUNITY PAGES
19 Welcome back Former students sharing their time and expertise
21 Over to You Messages from our alumni
23 Class Notes
18 gsmd.ac.uk
Alumni News
School launches brand new interactive website
24 Reunions Recent and Coming Up
Welcome to the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of Guildhall School News. No doubt you will have read about the Browne Report into Higher Education & Student Finance that was published last autumn. While the dust has yet to settle, Principal Barry Ife outlines what it means for the conservatoire and drama school sector. We have been thrilled to see so many visitors to the School over the last two terms: an extraordinary array of artists, teachers and advisers have been in to share the wealth of their experience with our students; over 300 alumni helped us celebrate our Drama 75th Anniversary; and hundreds of new audience members have come to see and hear our world-class performers. But we have not sat here waiting for the world to come to us! Since September 2010 the School has arranged five visits to various locations throughout China; Principal Barry Ife has met with alumni in both Spain and America; and I got to visit the offices of Working Title Films to interview stage management alumnus Eric Fellner for the cover feature. We hope you enjoy reading this issue and if you have something that you would like us to include in a future issue, please email your submission with accompanying photographs to editorial@gsmd.ac.uk (by 4 July 2011 for the Autumn/Winter issue). With best wishes,
Editorial Group Rachel Dyson (Editor), Alumni Relations Manager Deborah MacCallum, Director of Corporate & Student Affairs
Rachel Dyson Editor
Jo Hutchinson, Marketing & Communications Manager Duncan Barker, Head of Development Phylip Harries & Richard Grosse, Falconbury Ltd Contact: editorial@gsmd.ac.uk The Guildhall School of Music & Drama is provided by the City of London Corporation
(Please note, we cannot guarantee to include everything that we receive and we reserve the right to edit submissions.)
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Strange new world Barry Ife explains the Browne report and its impact on the Guildhall School Last autumn, Lord Browne published a report on student funding and finance that seems destined to change the face of higher education for several generations. The Browne report recommended, among other things, that all teaching funding should be removed from universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs), and that institutions should be allowed to charge students the full cost of their education and training in the form of increased fees. In order to meet these fees, students would receive loans, repayable over 30 years, once they had achieved an annual income of £21,000. Lord Browne accepted that there were some subjects, mostly in science, medicine, technology, and engineering, where the costs are so high that students could not reasonably be expected to meet them in full. But otherwise, the recommendations were clear: £3bn of teaching funding would be removed from HEIs and lent to students, with the intention of creating a more competitive market in higher education. The government accepted the majority of the Browne report, with one significant exception. Where Browne had proposed that there should not be an upper limit on fees (which would be controlled by a progressive levy on additional income), government wanted a more controlled market and eventually settled for a standard fee of £6,000 with a strictly controlled upper limit of £9,000. Authority to charge fees of more than £6,000 will be subject to an access agreement, to be approved by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA). This is designed to ensure that HEIs spend a proportion
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of their ‘additional’ income (in fact, replacement income) on measures to increase participation and widen access. Although we are owned and partfunded by the City of London Corporation, Guildhall is not exempt from the consequences of these changes, and we will gradually lose all of our undergraduate teaching funding over four years starting in 2012/13. Because of the high cost of our specialist provision, we will have to charge a fee of more than £6,000 to students entering in and after September 2012. We have therefore submitted a draft access agreement to OFFA and we will know the outcome in July. Lord Browne’s report has created a great deal of turbulence in the system, and has left many questions unanswered. His proposals apply only to UK and other EU undergraduates, and the report has very little to say about the funding of postgraduate teaching. There has also been a great deal of (largely successful) lobbying from the conservatoire and drama school sector to make the point that the list of high-cost subjects in the Browne report should not be restricted to science and technology: there are legitimate high costs involved in conservatoire training that should be recognised and supported by public funding. It remains to be seen whether the sympathy expressed by the funding council for these arguments can be backed up by financial support.
Notwithstanding the degree and rapid pace of change, institutions are working hard to ensure that the higher education system remains stable and continues to meet the needs of students. We will do our best to get across the message that all tuition is free at the point of delivery and that no student will have to pay the fees upfront. We will continue to build our endowment and fundraising activity to ensure that as many students as possible can receive some financial support should they require it. And we will continue to ensure that our training, and the exceptional range of performance platforms we provide, prepares students for successful careers in their chosen profession. Above all, Guildhall will continue to provide our students with unmatched opportunities and exceptional standards of student support. And, as always, we will do everything we can to ensure that no student who can benefit from our training is prevented by financial considerations from coming here. v Barry Ife Principal
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Hard Hat Prom goes with a bang On Thursday 3 March over 40 Guildhall brass and percussion musicians performed a ‘hard hat’ prom on the floor of the new Milton Court concert hall, offering public, staff and students the opportunity to be one of the first to see a performance in this new space. The Guildhall Batucada Samba Band and Guildhall Brass Band performed a variety of classics ranging from Sousa’s Liberty Bell to John Williams’s Olympic Fanfare in hard hats directed by conductor and Professor of Trumpet Paul Cosh. Staff, students and public turned out in force and many of the builders on the site stopped to watch – one or two were even caught tapping their feet. Construction at Milton Court is on schedule and we are due to open this exciting new building, incorporating three new performance venues, in 2013. A short video, chronicling the demolition of the old building and the rapid construction of the new one was shown at the Gold Medal final on Tuesday 10 May in the Barbican Hall. For more information about Milton Court go to www.gsmd.ac.uk/miltoncourt
Creative Learning runner up for prestigious community award The New Dynamics of Ageing project run by Creative Learning has come second in the London final of the National Housing Federation’s prestigious What We Are Proud Of Awards. These Awards are given annually to innovative schemes and initiatives by housing associations across the country.
making for all abilities, and focused
From October 2009 Creative Learning held a series of free music workshops for older people in sheltered housing estates in East London. The workshops involved creative music
workshop series took place in the
on singing, playing instruments and song writing. In spring 2010 two local primary schools became involved in the project, which enabled both young and old to write and make music together. A final performance of this exciting Barbican Centre on 5 May 2010, where the older people performed in the Pit Theatre, together with the primary school pupils.
The project was part of a pioneering research study led by the Institute of Education, University of London, funded by the New Dynamics of Ageing strand of the Economic and Social Research Council. The researchers were exploring if music has the power to enhance the quality of older people’s lives. The study, which will be presented in October this year, will be the first largescale examination of the potential of community music-making to contribute to older people’s physical, social and mental well-being. GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS
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Music Therapy students Louise
tell us about their studies, the challenges of th
Tell us about your course of study.
LG:
It’s a two year MA in Music Therapy. In the first year we attend a variety of classes including psychology, music therapy theory, group improvisation, movement, individual musical tuition, vocal workshops…the list goes on! Once a week we attend a clinical placement in a school or hospital where we observe experienced music therapists. Three months into the course we take on our own clients. In the second year we are only in college one day a week. Two days are spent in clinical placements and the remaining two days allow time for work on our dissertations.
Where did you first hear about Music Therapy and what made you interested in pursuing it?
LB: Music has always been an integral part of my life. At university I led a music session with other volunteers in care homes for people with dementia or Alzheimer’s; I developed strong relationships with the staff and had many memorable encounters. We then had lectures at university on Music Therapy and it was during these sessions that I became interested in it.
LG:
I first heard about Music Therapy in Italy, singing in a choir run by a music therapist, Marina Mungai. Her rehearsals had something extra to them compared with regular rehearsals; she identified every individual’s needs, and helped choir members to develop their real voices. At the same time, she managed to create a strong sense of group identity and belonging. I had studied Music at college but then pursued a career as a class teacher. I missed music and started teaching singing, piano and conducting in Rome. I started reading a bit about Music Therapy and it encompassed all my interests. I knew that it was so broad that it would be a life-long career.
What made you choose to study at Guildhall?
LB: Guildhall was my first choice due to its high-quality training and reputation. Unlike many other courses, two
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clinical placements take place in the first year. This allows you to apply the knowledge and skills learnt on the course each week. Guildhall also offers weekly instrumental lessons throughout the first year to build a strong foundation of musical skill and tools to use in sessions.
LG:
I chose the Guildhall for three main reasons. My mum studied piano here in the ‘60s and she knew Juliette Alvin who founded my Louise Brown course. The second reason is that I was impressed by the Guildhall audition; I liked that there was a first round purely testing musical ability before the interviews, as it felt like a high level of musicianship was required to get on to the course. Finally, I liked the sound of the Guildhall approach to Music Therapy. I thought a psycho-dynamic approach with a strong emphasis on musical skill sounded balanced.
Which part of the course do you enjoy the most?
LB:
The clinical experience. We’ve had three different placements and each one has been fascinating! My musical background was very classical before starting the course but now I love the freedom improvisation brings and how so much is expressed when you play without thinking about the notes. Another great thing is the number of experienced therapists who come in to lecture. Actually I enjoy it all!
LG:
I love pretty much every single class. I loved all the lectures in first year and I would like to hear them again now that I know a bit more about Music Therapy. I really enjoyed the Psychology course and wish we had more of it. And clinical placements obviously bring everything we learn to life.
All Music Therapy students are required to have therapy sessions themselves. How do you think this has informed your studies?
Brown and Lazina Gheyselinck
his work and their exciting plans for the future LB: This has been quite a
Lazina Gheyselinck
rollercoaster for me, with times of joy and times of real frustration. I now realise how vital it is for therapists to experience therapy themselves. At times it can be very uncomfortable realising things about yourself but it allows you to be the best possible therapist. Everyone is complex and anyone would benefit from therapy; like the gym, you don’t have to be unhealthy to benefit!
LG: It has helped bring alive what
be able to set up a pilot group of children and collect primary data for my research. I’m looking into how Music Therapy can develop skills that special needs children can transfer, and then support their inclusion into mainstream education. This is definitely an area I’d love to pursue further.
LG: I also work with a group of young children with communication disorders. It is exciting seeing them develop pre-verbal skills such as turn-taking. I wouldn’t mind specialising in working with this client group, but I have no fixed ideas as yet, as I have enjoyed working with other groups too.
What are your plans for after you finish your course?
we are taught in Psychology and Music Therapy Theory.
LB: I am applying for the Deutsche Bank Pyramid Award;
I would say it has helped me most in terms of my own clinical practice, as it enables me to spot more easily what is going on psycho-dynamically between me and the clients. It is also useful to have a model for how to respond verbally to clients. Some top therapists say that the more therapy you undergo yourself, the better a therapist you will become. I think there is a lot of truth to this, although there is also a time to end therapy.
I have recently applied for a job as a Civil Peace Worker/Music Therapist in Palestine, I have no idea what will come of it yet, but that would be exciting.
What is the most challenging aspect of your course?
LB: Realising my limitations. Before starting the course I’d heard how draining it can be. I’d never been scared of hard work and was used to working long hours, although I soon realised as the course got underway, it wasn’t only physically draining, but emotionally.
Is there a particular strand of Music Therapy that you would like to pursue further/specialise in?
LB: Our final year is spent doing a Research Project. We all looked into areas that interested us, but also to where there was a gap in research. I researched the role of Music Therapy in mainstream schools, as it is an area that’s had relatively little written about it. As I still work in a primary school one day a week whilst on the course I was fortunate enough to
I hope to use my initial research to set up projects in schools, that way I can make myself an easy package for schools to buy into. I hope to support schools in their duty of inclusion and facilitate essential skill building for special needs children.
LG:
v Elise Farmer Development Administrator
Everyone is complex and would benefit from therapy; like the gym, you don’t have to be unhealthy to benefit!” GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS
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Junior Guildhall goes back to the 606 Steve Rubie, the owner of the legendary 606 jazz club in Chelsea, might have got slightly more than he bargained for when he invited two groups from Junior Guildhall to play a set each at lunchtime on Sunday 17 October. The large basement room of the club was soon full of nervous and excited students testing out the instruments, plugging cables into amplifiers (with explicit instructions not to play too loudly), running through set lists and song structures, arguing over who should play first, and debating the relative merits of each item on the lunch menu, whilst their long-suffering and ever-supportive parents heroically looked after bewildered younger siblings, tested out video cameras and attempted to place intricate lunch orders with extremely patient waiting staff. The gig (concerts are always ‘gigs’ in jazz) was part of a prize that the younger group ‘Blue Shift’ had won in the Yamaha National Jazz Competition earlier in the year, with the older group ‘Friendly Bacteria’ also reaching the finals of their age category. There were nine groups in total in the finals of that competition from all over the United Kingdom, so for Junior Guildhall to have had two finalists is a reflection of the very high standard of music-making in the School. ‘Blue Shift’ was on first and played a varied set of tunes by Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Miles Davis, even a Beatles tune imaginatively arranged by the pianist Alex
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Parry. Their ensemble playing was immaculate, displaying an alarming level of musical maturity for a group whose total combined age is only slightly greater than my own. Komeno Eleyae’s fingers raced up and down the neck of the electric bass, Peter Rayner played solid and effortless grooves on the drums and Zachary Eastop was a fluent and expressive trumpet player responding to all the ideas that Alex Parry threw at him from the piano. Even their banter to the audience over the microphone was relaxed and amusing. If they were nervous before playing then they threw caution to the wind and showed how young students can be just as accomplished and entertaining as seasoned professionals. ‘Friendly Bacteria’ played a hard swinging set of standards, a rhythmically complex arrangement of A Foggy Day by the pianist Ben Wetherfield and one original tune by trumpeter Jackson Mathod that could easily have come straight off a classic Blue Note recording from the 60’s. Their playing was
spontaneous, extremely accomplished and adventurous with impressive improvisational fluency from the trumpet and piano and rock-solid polyrhythmic accompaniment from Asgeir Faben on the double bass and Richard Rayner on the drums. Jackson and Asgeir have already moved up to senior Guildhall and both are incredibly busy as players on the London scene, and Ben and Richard are clearly stars of the future. The level of technical facility that all the students demonstrated was impressive enough but what was most encouraging was that they all clearly understand what the business of jazz is about: internalising the structure of the music to such a degree that it is possible to perform spontaneously and react instantaneously to everything one hears on the bandstand. And even at the tender age of 13 to be able to joke onstage and thoroughly enjoy every aspect of performing, which is something I am still working on… v Jonathan Taylor Junior Guildhall Jazz Tutor
Bernard Haitink conducts Junior Guildhall masterclass
We were very fortunate to welcome Maestro Haitink to the Junior Guildhall Conducting Course in February 2010 – the course has been running for four years now, and has proved very successful and popular. Bernard Haitink took one open masterclass with five second year conducting students, working on Brahms 2nd Symphony, and one closed class with the new students – both of which were a great success. His warmth and generosity of spirit were appreciated by everybody involved, and the students learnt much from the energy, intensity and economy of his conducting style. This was an amazing Saturday morning for all involved! We certainly hope to welcome him again in the future, but meanwhile take away an unforgettable experience.
Junior Guildhall String Chamber group wins their category of the Pro Corda National Chamber Music Festival 2011 Five string chamber groups from Junior Guildhall entered the Pro Corda National Chamber Music Festival 2011. Four of the groups progressed to the semi-final, two coached by Darragh Morgan and two by Kate Lindon. One group was then selected to progress to the Final, which took place in Manchester on Sunday 13 March. This group, coached by Darragh Morgan, won the ’12 years and Under’ category. The members of the quartet were: Didier Osindero – Violin I
Millie Ashton – Viola
Scarlet O’Shea – Violin II
Georgina Lloyd-Owen – Cello
This is one of the nine groups that were chosen, from the 22 that participated in the Final, to perform at the Winners Concert at Wigmore Hall on Sunday 17 July. Congratulations to the winners, all those who participated, the groups’ coaches and Junior Guildhall String Chamber Co-ordinator Felicity Lipman.
v Michael Omer Junior Guildhall Conducting Tutor
Staff Changes Au revoir to Diana Devlin, Head of Drama Studies in the Acting Department, who has stepped down from this post, having occupied it since 1993. She has been a stalwart of the core staff and a major contributor in building bridges between a vocational acting training and the academic requirements of a University degree. She was a major protagonist in creating the two new MA programmes in the Department, MA in Training Actors (Voice/Movement) and the MA in Acting, one of the few full-time 3-year MAs in the country. Her contribution will be missed, but thankfully she will be continuing to teach Theatre Background. On Friday 18 February we said farewell to Steve Hawkins, Sound and IT Supervisor for the Technical Theatre Department, after more than 30 years of teaching at the Guildhall School. Steve joined the Guildhall as a part-time lecturer just after the School moved to its current location, becoming a full-time member of staff in 1991.
Meanwhile, welcome to Eliot Shrimpton (Acting 2004) who assumed responsibility as Head of Academic Studies for the Drama Department on 21 February. Since his graduation from Guildhall, Eliot has often worked at the School in various freelance capacities – director, actor, administrator and literary consultant. Joanna Hensel has joined the School as Deputy Head of Wind, Brass and Percussion. Joanna studied horn and voice at the Guildhall School. Since then, she has enjoyed a successful and varied career in the music profession, playing with many of the UK’s orchestras and ensembles, as well as abroad. Prior to joining the School, she worked as Director of Music at Dean Close Preparatory School, as well as being Head of Brass at the Senior School. Rhian Jones joined Technical Theatre on 4 January as Production Manager/Lecturer. Rhian studied Drama and Theatre Arts at university and prior to joining the Guildhall School she worked for Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts as a Production Manager.
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Drama 75th Anniversary Celebrations Ever since the Guildhall School of Music opened its doors in 1880, drama was a growing feature of the training. But it was not until 1935, in recognition of the importance of acting, that the principal Sir Landon Ronald changed the name to Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Seventy five years later, on the 28 November 2010, the Drama Department decided to celebrate its anniversary with an action-packed one-day event, attended by nearly 350 alumni and former staff. Devised by Alumni Relations Manager Rachel Dyson and an enthusiastic steering group comprising staff and former students of various generations, the celebration turned out to be the biggest gathering of drama alumni the School has yet seen. The day began with a special opening event in the theatre. Welcoming everyone, Ken Rea, the Drama Department’s longest serving teacher, highlighted the emotional impact of coming back. “When you walked out of those doors,” he said “you were borne up by your hopes and dreams. For some of you those dreams have come true, perhaps beyond your wildest imaginings. For many of you those dreams are still to be realised.” Yet this was one of the strengths of the training, he said, that it could prepare people for many different directions, some of which have little to do with acting. The Director of Drama Christian Burgess, himself an alumnus, went on to compare the training when he was a student and the training now, reflecting on the values Guildhall has adopted, that have helped strengthen its reputation as one of the top acting courses in the country.
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Second Year actors were on hand to perform a light-hearted spoof of the current training. A short documentary on the development of the School in photos and video clips, featured never-before-seen footage of Joseph Fiennes (class of 93) as a circus strongman in the musical play, Pippi Longstocking and a heavily-bespectacled Orlando Bloom (class of 99) singing a comic love song in the musical Little Me. Photo displays and continuous video showings of past productions gave the visitors plenty to reminisce about. There were also guided tours of the building, led by second year students. For some, these revived memories of rooms they had not been in for 20 or 30 years, and for those who had studied in the much-loved John Carpenter Street building, it was a chance to see how the School’s facilities had been modernised. As proof of the School’s entrepreneurial flair, several alumni gave performances in the theatre, which showed the wide range of work people have created. This included a mixed choir, a tango display by Ed Hughes (class of 99), an improvisational performance by The Improsarios (class of 09), and an excerpt from Filter Theatre’s (class of 99) acclaimed production of Twelfth Night. The day concluded with a drinks reception at which the Principal, Barry Ife, recalled his first impressions of the School and the enormous buzz it generated, especially through some of the collaborations between musicians and actors. As he said, “I always remind people that this is a school of music and drama.” Emphasising that the School has always been forward-looking, he described the plans for the new Milton Court building.
A very big thank you to Ken for his untiring efforts in making this wonderful day happen Christian Burgess Understandably, the most important part of the day was the chance to meet old classmates and share memories of student days. The range was wide, from those who had left a few years ago to some who were students in the 1950s. Apart from being a great celebration of the Drama Department’s achievements, the 75th Anniversary has had some far reaching results. For one thing, many of our ‘lost alumni’ have got back in touch with the School via the Alumni Office. For another, it has inspired the setting up of a digital
archive of production and class photos. This major project, led by Ken Rea and alumnus Andrew Rajan (class of 93), is being carried out in collaboration with the London Metropolitan Archives. Previously, our own archive had been a haphazard and often unlabelled collection of dusty prints. When the project is finished, all prints of the School’s photos will have been digitized, catalogued and stored under controlled conditions at the LMA. This means that future researchers will be able to access this material easily on electronic files and can also examine the original prints if they need to. But perhaps the most important effect of the 75th Anniversary is that it showed the enormous pride former students have in the Guildhall School, and the affection with which they remember it. It has been an inspiration for everyone. v Ken Rea Acting Tutor
‘Inspirational’ violin professor David Takeno scoops ABO award Tokyo-born violinist and tutor to many of the UK’s top orchestral and solo violinists, David Takeno, is the winner of this year’s Association of British Orchestras (ABO) Award. Simon Taylor, Chairman of the ABO, said: “For the last 35 years David Takeno has devoted his life to teaching violin and viola at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. During that time he has trained and inspired literally hundreds of musicians who have gone on to be distinguished soloists, concert masters and orchestra players all over the world, but particularly in Britain. The ABO was delighted to be able to make its annual award to someone who has contributed so much, in such a tangible way, to the excellence of British orchestral music-making.” David moved to London during the 1960s. He formed various chamber music ensembles and was a member
have encountered David at that crucial starting point, and for helping me, along with countless others, to find the tools with which to grow.” Stephanie Gonley (Violin 1987), Leader of the English Chamber Orchestra:
of the Menuhin Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Since 1976, he has devoted his time to teaching and has taught at the Menuhin School, Cambridge University and here at Guildhall School where he holds the post of Eugène Ysaÿe International Chair of Violin. As David was given the award, the audience at the ABO Conference heard from past Guildhall students who were full of praise for their former teacher: Anthony Marwood (Violin 1986), award-winning international violin soloist:
“I am so delighted that David is receiving this award. His greatness lies in that he teaches his students to teach themselves. It is the path of greatest resistance, a deeper and more philosophical journey, but the rewards are lasting and extend well beyond the student years. I feel hugely privileged to
“I feel enormously privileged to have benefited from David’s passionate dedication to music and boundless energy. He has given unwavering support and commitment to his many students over several decades, while encouraging musical independence and an objective approach. I am delighted that he is receiving this award.” Rachel Podger (Early Music alumna), baroque violinist and Visiting Professor at the Guildhall School:
“David is the most inspiring musician, educator and person! He has the ability to home in on every individual completely and immediately; he understands your nuts and bolts through a remarkable perception, knowledge and wisdom – and through this he helps you realise who you are and what you could become... After a lesson with him I was always on cloud 9 – his teaching was limitless – not just about possibilities in music or interesting historical facts of all kinds, but he encouraged the irresistible urge to bring a musical message across to the listener – I owe him a huge amount.”
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Committee Dinner welcomes distinguished Fellows
IN BRIEF Raymond Yiu wins British Composer Award Raymond Yiu, who is currently undertaking a doctorate in composition, won the chamber category of the British Composer Awards 2010 with Northwest Wind, written for and premiered by Lontano in March 2010.
On 3 February the School hosted its annual dinner of the Board of Governors – a Committee of the City of London Corporation – which was held in Drapers’ Hall. This year’s dinner was an opportunity for the School to thank some of its Fellows, made up of distinguished alumni, former staff and prominent figures from the performing arts industry, for their ongoing support. There were a total of 70 guests including alumni Fellows Dame Eileen Atkins (Speech & Drama 1953) and Sir George Martin (Piano 1948), Honorary Fellows Sir Richard Eyre and Dame Emma Kirkby (pictured above); together with governors and senior staff who included the Chairman Tom Hoffman, Christina Coker, Director, Youth Music, Kathryn McDowell, Managing Director, London Symphony Orchestra and Professor Barry Ife, Principal, Guildhall School, as well and honorary fellow Sir Nicholas Kenyon, Managing Director, Barbican Centre. After his speech Chairman Tom Hoffman toasted the guests and Sir George Martin responded on their behalf. Five current students attended and performed operatic and dramatic excerpts between courses.
2010 Fellowships Each year the Board of Governors confers fellowships on a small number of professionals from the Arts industries, in recognition of services to the School, services to their industry or for extraordinary achievements in their chosen career. In 2010, Simon Baker, Janice Chapman, Gareth Davies, Patrick Harrild, Alfred Molina and Andrew Watts were made Fellows of the Guildhall School (FGS). At the same time, Bernard Haitink, Ann McKay, Patrick Marber, Linda Rose, Graham Sheffield and Alderman Nicholas Anstee were made Honorary Fellows (HonFGS).(Clockwise from back left: Ann McKay, Patrick Harrild, Linda Rose, Andrew Watts, Janice Chapman and Barry Ife at Graduation)
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National Anthems? Three Guildhall singers have been selected to represent their countries in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition this year. Meeta Raval (Voice 2005) will represent England, Maire Flavin (Opera 2010) will represent Ireland and current student Szymon Komasa is singing for Poland. The competition takes place over the course of five concerts at St David’s Hall, Cardiff, in June.
At the heart of British Theatre Patsy Rodenburg, Head of Voice (Drama), and Simon Russell Beale (Acting 1983) are the 15th and 18th most influential people in British theatre respectively according to ‘The luvvie power list 2010: theatre’s 50 most influential people’ published in The Times newspaper in December.
Strong Showing at the Ferrier Awards Of the 12 performers who took part in the Kathleen Ferrier Award final this year, 5 were Guildhall musicians: 3 singers and 2 pianists. Congratulations to all who were shortlisted and particularly to Kitty Whately (Voice 2006) who won first prize.
Recent visitors This academic year has already seen a host of visiting artists and figures from the world of performing arts pass through the School, giving performances, masterclasses and talks, directing and designing shows, and conducting electrifying performances. The Music Department has hosted over 20 masterclasses since September, including visits from internationallyacclaimed names such as András Schiff, Viktoria Mullova, Stephen Hough, Gerald Finley, Paul Lewis, the Takács Quartet and Malcolm Martineau. Conductors have included return visits from Sir Colin Davis and James Gaffigan, as well as Martyn Brabbins’s first appearance with the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra and the illustrious Bernard Haitink who dropped in on Junior Guildhall (see p.9) The renowned Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel led a rehearsal and concert with musicians from Junior Guildhall, Centre for Young Musicians,
and Creative Learning schools in East London, while director Stephen Barlow made his Guildhall School Opera debut. We also welcomed back alumnae Janice Watson (Voice 1987) and Sarah Pring (Opera 1987) as soloists in spring’s Symphony Orchestra concert. Several distinguished composers visited the School this year: Nico Muhly discussed his new dance work with Composition students; worldfamous producer and musician Brian Eno came in to talk to Leadership, Electronic Music and Composition students; and the music of Brian Ferneyhough and Unsuk Chin was explored recently with the composers as part of the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s Total Immersion days. Visiting jazz musicians included Jacqui Dankworth, Phil Markowitz, Tony Haynes, Jim Hart, Michael Garrick, Stan Sulzmann and Eddie Provost,
who played a major role in this year’s Guildhall Jazz Festival. Over in Drama, returning directors included Joseph Blatchley, Owen Lewis, Tom Daley and Richard Twyman, who previously directed the RSC’s Henry IV Part II. Acting alumnus and Artistic Director of Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre Daniel Evans (Acting 1994) also popped in to give a talk to third year actors, and esteemed playwright Sir Arnold Wesker was present to see the world premiere of his play Badenheim 1939, directed by Christian Burgess in November. Technical Theatre worked with a choice array of designers and lighting designers, including Isabella Bywater and Peter Mumford. The Summer term promises visits from choreographer Bill Deamer, ENO conductor Ed Gardner, Dame Janet Baker and violinist Miriam Fried, to name but a few. We’re already getting our diaries out…
Guildhall in China Guildhall students played an outstanding chamber concert during a recent visit to Beijing, China. A truly international trio of senior players from the School accompanied the Director of Music, Jonathan Vaughan, on a short trip participating in two concerts for the Central Conservatory of Music. Thomas Besnard, a French pianist, Yegee Lee, a Korean violinist, and Brian O’Kane, an Irish cellist, all performed the Clara Schumann Piano Trio followed by the Schumann Quintet in E flat which also featured two of our Chinese alums, Yan King on viola and Jia Zhang on violin. Yegee and Brian also took front desk seats in an orchestral concert at the Beijing Concert Hall which included Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and the Beethoven Triple. The trip was organised at the invitation of the Central Conservatory following the Principal’s recent visit with Deborah MacCallum and Ronan O’Hora when they accompanied the Lord Mayor’s party to China in September. Ronan O’Hora, Head of Advanced Performance Studies and Head of Keyboard Studies, has since returned to China to teach masterclasses at the Shanghai Conservatory. These visits have enabled us to build stronger links with China and to develop our international recruitment strategy. We are delighted to announce that the Guildhall School will hold auditions for Music in Beijing for the first time in November 2011.
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Interview
Keep Working! A year on the Stage Management Course taught Eric Fellner a number of things, not least of which was that theatre was not for him, at least not then. Having left Guildhall to find a way into film, he joined forces with Tim Bevan in 1992 and they established Working Title Films, now the UK’s most successful production company. What did you learn from your time at the School? There were two things that the course really did for me. It confirmed my interest in working in the arts in some form, and it confirmed that theatre probably wouldn’t be the area that I focused on. It’s slightly ironic that a lot of my time now is spent producing a musical [Billy Elliot], and hopefully soon another musical [Bridget Jones]. So it’s become more useful. It helps me understand the issues that the people who I am now having to work with have.
Are you still heavily involved with Billy Elliot? Yes. It’s impossible to get away. There is a big difference between film and theatre. With film, as a producer, once the film’s out, your job is pretty much done, but with a show, as a producer, once it’s out and having some kind of
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success, you can’t let go. It takes up an enormous part of my week.
What originally brought you to Guildhall? I directed and produced a couple of plays at school. Music, film and theatre were the things that excited me. I left after a year and decided that I’d rather try and work in film and music than theatre. In ’79, ’80 the music video industry was just beginning. There were 2 or 3 companies in the world making them, and I got a job as a runner for one of them here in London, and then it just went from there.
T
hat’s quite a steep trajectory, from runner in a music video company to where you are today. Well, because the industry was young there wasn’t a deep resource pool. If you’re lucky enough as a young person to be in at the beginning of a growing industry you can go places very quickly. I was very lucky, because the guy I worked for had his own cameras, his own editing suite, he directed, he produced, he did everything, so the runner wasn’t just somebody making coffee. One day I was being sent to help the film recorders, the next to help the cameraman, then sit in an
editing room for 3 weeks. After a year I’d pretty much touched every area within the music video making process. I was hungry and wanted to move on. I managed to get a job as an assistant to a producer in another company. Then that producer left and suddenly at the age of 19 or 20, I was producing music videos for one of the world’s top directors. I did 4 and a half years of producing music videos all over the world for hundreds of different bands. Much as I enjoyed it, I wanted to get involved in storytelling. I took 6 months off, travelling through Africa, and when I came back I said, that’s it, I’m going to print a new business card that says, Film Producer. I knew nothing, absolutely nothing. I knew how to physically get cameras and cameramen and people and book and arrange and finance and budget but I didn’t know anything about actors, other than the little I had dealt with actors at Guildhall. I didn’t know anything about financing of films, distribution, marketing, any of that.
So how did you learn? You just find a great project and go and make it, and along the way you accumulate the knowledge and the expertise. There was a film called Sid & Nancy [about Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen]. I had grown up in London in the mid ‘70s, so I knew all about the punk era, and it was something very close to my heart. I was working with an amazing director and writer, and managed to find someone in the UK who would support it financially, and off we went. I set up a company called Initial to put that film together which I ran for about 5 years, and then Tim [Bevan] and I teamed up 20 years ago.
Billy Elliot
What is the role of a Film Producer?
Working Title has become the biggest
The key areas for a producer are: what the idea is, the script, casting, director, key creative personnel, finance, editing, marketing and distribution. Those are the main areas that I spend all my working days and nights being involved in.
name in British film and has been for some time. How did you get there? The way to get anywhere in creative industries is literally taking one day at a time. You don’t know what film’s going to work, what’s not going to work, what creative relationship is going to take you up this road or that. If you
I took 6 months off, travelling through Africa, and when I came back I said, that’s it, I’m going to print a new business card that says, Film Producer. GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS
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News
D
o you look for projects that particularly interest you, or that have clear commercial value, or both?
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Ideally each project can give you both. But it’s getting harder and harder. The market is getting narrower and narrower. Audiences are changing in what they want to see and how they want to see it, and as such it’s getting very hard to find material that you believe audiences want to see and that feed your creative soul. But it is possible, and we’re very lucky because we have brilliant talent relationships from people like the Coen brothers, Richard Curtis, Joe Wright, Edgar Wright, Stephen Daldry, Kevin Macdonald, Paul Greengrass… There’s a great list of people, creative writers and directors who we work with on a regular basis.
There’s a very British nature to Working Title Films. Is that a conscious decision?
just take one day at a time, put one foot in front of another and try and do the best possible job you can on any given project, it becomes a... just an accumulation of credibility and success, hopefully. Be it a million dollar movie or a 70 million dollar movie, you’ve got to make sure that you believe there’s an audience that will cover that kind of a budget. And then just keep on going. You keep learning. Sometimes it goes horribly wrong. You often learn more from failure than from success.
How do you rebound from failure? The most important lesson that I’ve learnt is you just have to keep moving. You mustn’t sit and bask in any success or wallow in any failure. We’re constantly working on many projects. There will be maybe 50 or 60 projects in development here. As a result, there’s always something going.
Tim and I would like to make every film we do here. It’s not always possible, and we do do a few American films, so they have to be shot in the States. We have an office in New York, and a Working Title office in LA. So we’re constantly travelling. But the ideal would be to roll out of bed and go to Pinewood or Shepperton or a location in London and shoot everything here.
The most important lesson that I’ve learnt is you just have to keep moving. You mustn’t sit and bask in any success or wallow in any failure.
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Silk Street Award The Silk Street Award is a scholarship awarded to a singer in the second year of the opera course, supported by a large number of individual donors. Sophie Junker has held the Silk Street Award for the 2010/11 academic year. Since winning the award, Sophie’s roles in Guildhall School operas have included Emmie Albert Herring, Vespina Spinalba and Soeur Constance Dialogues des Carmélites. She has also sung the role of Maria in West Side Story under the conductor David Miller. Forthcoming performances include title role in Rita, L’Amour in Orphée et Euridice for Nantes-Angers opera and a series of early music concerts in Spain. The Silk Street Award Recital takes place each spring. It is performed by the current award-holder and the singer who will receive the Silk Street Award for the following year. On Wednesday 27 April, Sophie Junker and Kathryn McAdam (award-holder for 2011/12) appeared in front of a rapt audience of donors and supporters, who were then invited to meet the performers at a drinks reception after the concert. We are already looking forward to next year’s concert. For further information about this or other scholarship opportunities, please contact Oliwer Kmiecik on oliwer.kmiecik@gsmd.ac.uk or on 020 7382 2366.
v Oliwer Kmiecik Development Officer
Annual Fund telephone fundraising campaign beats target We are delighted that the School’s first-ever telephone fundraising campaign in September 2010 raised £58,000 in gifts and pledges over the next four years towards the Scholarships Fund and other projects which will benefit our students. The calls were undertaken by 16 student callers from across the School who had conversations with 712 alumni and 21 members of the Guildhall Circle over the two weeks of the campaign. Just over a third of the individuals the callers spoke to pledged a regular monthly gift or made a one-off donation. Through the campaign we have learnt a great deal about our former students and what they have been up to in their careers since leaving Guildhall, and there were some fantastic conversations and connections made between the callers and former students working in the profession. Our thanks go to all of the callers (listed below) and to all of the individuals we called who were so generous with their time and their donations. Student callers: Emily Allen, Tim Cunningham, Ieuan Davies, Katherine Drury, Jennifer Edwards, Ben Gernon, Matthew Hardy, Emily Hester, Amy Hollis, Helen Martin, Louise Morgan, Mary Noden, Nikesh Patel, Natalya Romaniw, Matthew Wright, Marion Wyllie v Duncan Barker Head of Development
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News
Alumni Community News Over to You • Reunions • Class Notes
Welcome Back We have been fortunate to welcome a variety of alumni back into the School in recent months including… We kicked off the autumn performance calendar with an orchestral concert with a difference in the Barbican Hall. Director of Drama (and former student), Christian Burgess appeared as the Narrator in Stravinsky’s virtuosic morality play, The Soldier’s Tale, alongside recent graduates Fred Lancaster and Patrick Osborne as The Soldier and The Devil. This was followed by Walton’s powerful oratorio Belshazzar’s Feast, featuring 2009 Gold Medal winner Gary Griffiths. Conductor Martyn Brabbins led the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the Guildhall Chamber Ensemble in what was a compelling start to the year. Guildhall Jazz Alumni Ensemble February saw another full stage at the Barbican when James Gaffigan returned to conduct Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor ‘Resurrection’. The Guildhall School Orchestra and Chorus were joined by two outstanding soloists, former students Janice Watson and Sarah Pring. In November, as part of the London Jazz Festival, vocalist Jacqui Dankworth performed with the Guildhall Jazz Band, directed by Malcolm Edmonstone with whom she collaborated on her last two albums Detour Ahead and Back To You. Then, on the opening evening of the School’s Annual Jazz Festival, the Guildhall Jazz Alumni Ensemble, made up of Joshua Jaswon, Tommy Andrews, Will Rixon, Craig Beattie, David Ruff, George Moore, Tom Farmer and Daoud Merchant, performed originals and arrangements especially created for Jim Hart, their special guest. After meeting up with Principal Barry Ife and Linnhe Robertson, Head of Voice, in New York during our auditions in January, Benjamin Luxon returned to the School in March to add an additional dimension to Gordon Stewart’s invaluable lecture series ‘Singers of the Past’. After an introduction from Gordon, illustrated by audio recordings and YouTube clips, Ben addressed the class and answered questions about his experiences before, during and after attending the Guildhall School in the 1960s. In Drama, Daniel Evans, Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres and Governor of the Guildhall School, came in to lead a workshop with third-year Acting students.
Benjamin Luxon & Linnhe Robertson
Our thanks to all the former students, staff and fellows who have taken the time to come in to the School and share their expertise and experience with future generations.
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News
Simon Russell Beale is a Free Man Simon Russell Beale, widely regarded as the greatest stage actor of his generation, has been granted the Freedom of the City of London for services to drama. Simon’s ceremony in the Chamberlain’s Court at the Guildhall began with him reading aloud an oath of allegiance and ended with him being greeted as a “Citizen of London” and the presentation of his framed Freedom certificate. Speaking before his Freedom ceremony, Simon said: “It has been my good fortune that the City of London has played an important part in my life. For six years, I was a chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral, where one of our more memorable and exciting duties was to sing for the Lord Mayor of the City of London after The Lord Mayor’s Show. Many years later, I trained briefly at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, a wonderful college that has turned out so many great actors and musicians. It is a particular and humbling honour for me to receive the Freedom of the City of London, and I feel very proud.” The Freedom of the City of London is believed to have begun in 1237 and enabled recipients to carry out their trade; and today, people are nominated for, or apply for, the Freedom, because it offers them a link to the historic City of London and one of its ancient traditions. The Freedom is also offered to individuals by the City of London Corporation to help celebrate a significant achievement, or to pay tribute to their outstanding contribution to London life.
Thomas Adès named Composer of the Year by Musical America Thomas Adès is well established as a leading light in contemporary music, and this may be his most auspicious year yet. His new Polaris graced the opening program of the New World Symphony’s revolutionary Frank Gehry-designed concert hall in Miami. Four major works were performed this winter in New York alone, including a local and a world premiere. And in April he will curate and conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s “Aspects of Adès” festival. In addition, he is artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival and active as a pianist and conductor in a wide repertoire ranging from Couperin to Kurtág. Many recordings of his music are available on EMI Classics.
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News
The Principal’s Progress It seems that Professor Barry Ife meets Guildhall alumni everwhere he goes…
Southern Spain Every October, in a small town in southern Spain called Mojácar, there is a conference of early Spanish keyboard enthusiasts (FIMTE – Festival Internacional de Música de Tecla Española). As a member of this (very small but perfectly formed) interest group, I try to go as often as I can, not least because it gives me a last chance to see the Mediterranean before the winter sets in. Last October I had the added pleasure of meeting up with two of our former students, Armando Fuentes and Alvaro Huertas, who were there to give a concert of court music from earlymodern Spain. Armando is a lutenist and singer and Alvaro is a harpsichordist, and they both studied on the Historical Performance programme at Guildhall in the mid-late 1980s. Both are now on the staff of the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. They gave a splendid recital of mainly sixteenth-century Spanish songs and instrumental pieces, interspersed with some examples of colonial repertoire from the cathedral of Santa Fe de Bogotá. Since last October, we have kept in touch and I am hoping to accept an invitation to speak at a conference in Bogotá in September 2011. I do think it’s important that the Principal of the School should check out the continuing professional development of our former students, don’t you?
New York In January this year some of us took off to New York to audition more than 30 music applicants from North and South America. This was the third year running that we have held auditions in New York and during that time we have seen and heard some very good students, many of whom are now at Guildhall. While I was there I had the pleasure of visiting one of our longest-serving alums, Marian McPartland, legendary jazz pianist and broadcaster, who was 93 in March. Every week for many years, Marian has hosted Piano Jazz on local radio, and during that time she has interviewed and performed with every conceivable luminary on the international jazz scene. She still plays and broadcasts and she still talks fondly of Guildhall and what she learned here. I visited Marian at her home in Port Washington, travelling by train through a bright, snow-laden landscape, and was met at the station by her wonderful long-term Polish assistant Malgorzata. Over lunch in her kitchen, Marian told me how she came to make the leap from classical to jazz pianist in 1938, the year she left Guildhall. She studied with Orlando Morgan, who also taught George Martin a few years later, and when I left, Marian gave me her copy of Bach’s 48, edited by Orlando Morgan, which she had used as a student. But Marian always wanted to play jazz and, much against the advice of her teacher and her father, she joined Billy Mayerl, toured with his band and never looked back. When she met and married Chicago trumpeter Jimmy McPartland in 1945, they settled permanently in the US (but she still sounds to me just like an English girl). In 2009 we made Marian a Fellow of the School (her certificate was proudly framed on the wall of her sitting room) and in 2010 she was appointed OBE. What a marvellous lady and what a pleasure to meet her at last!
v Barry Ife Principal
Over To You
In Search of Cimbro Martin 2011 marks the centennial anniversary of the birth of my father, Cimbro Martin, professor at the Guildhall for many years, and one of the founders of the Junior Exhibition Scheme. While the memory of my father is, largely, fading, along with many of the truly influential 20th-century pianists, his legacy lives on in the careers and lives of his students. I am attempting to compile a compendium of memories,
recollections and anecdotes about him from everyone who knew him during his tenure at the Guildhall School, in order – as Malcolm Troupe so eloquently put it – to “rescue Cimbro’s legacy as a great influence on 20th-century British pianism.” He held a very special place in the hearts of many as he presided over the Junior School from his lair in his top floor studio on John Carpenter Street, with its slightly lopsided piano and its highly polished double doors. And I would love to have the ability to document that. At some point this year, we will be attempting a very exciting and unusual tribute in celebration of the Cimbro Centennial. Anyone interested in more information, or in giving more information, may contact me via email at cimbromartin@yahoo.com.
v Paul Martin (Junior Exhibitioner 1965) GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS
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Over To You
Guildhall Reunion: Actors of 1982-1985 On 10 October 2010 the actors of the class of 82-85 met up at the Anchor pub in SE1 to celebrate twenty-five years since leaving the Guildhall. Jonathan Cullen suggested the reunion and contacted me and between the two of us we set about a few months before to try and locate all of our year. Although we have all gone our separate ways over the years, thankfully with the modern aids of internet, email, Facebook, Google, Spotlight and the Guildhall Alumni Office between us we succeeded in locating almost everybody in our year. Although not a particularly close year from the point of view of keeping in touch it was really fantastic that we had a 98% turnout. Particular effort was made by Lorin Stewart who flew in from San Diego, and Albert Ehrnrooth who surprised everyone by making a trip all the way from Melbourne. We had a full day catching up, and looking over a few hundred photographs amassed from our time on the Acting Course, from productions such as Privates on Parade, Wonderful Town, Candide, Much Ado About Nothing and Fen. It was lovely to see everyone and although not all have persisted with treading the boards, the majority are still involved in strands of the entertainment industry and have all done very well in their chosen paths. Those who attended were Jonathan Cullen, Maggie O’Neill, Sally George, Jaye Griffiths, Rupert Holiday Evans, Paul Sykes, Neil Clark, Catherine Livesey, Simon Russell Beale, Ian Mowat, Lorin Stewart, Albert Ehrnrooth, Linda Styne, Zachary
Vanderfelt, Peter Collings, Simon Warwick, Bryan Torfeh, Brett Fancy. Amanda Waring, Caroline Johnson and Carol Reed were unable to attend and were greatly missed. Sadly we were unable to locate Andrew Baker and Martin Husk but hope that they might get in touch via the Alumni Office at some point. We all agreed it would be great to have the next reunion in five rather than twenty-five years and have all vowed to keep in better touch. Let’s hope so!
v Ian Mowat (Acting 1985)
Businesses waking up to what actors have to offer After Guildhall I became Peter Nicholas, working consistently in reps touring, with two long spells at the National. Yet, had a nagging feeling that I could be doing more with my theatre skills. I began teaching acting at the Bristol Old Vic school and coaching senior execs on personal impact. This led to hosting and designing conferences. Jobbing actors used to do part time, low paid jobs allowing them to zip off for auditions. Now, actors can use their skills and have fun in the business world, too. Actors are often brilliant teachers and facilitators who are supreme communicators, with a depth of emotional intelligence, making them perceptive coaches.
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Building on my psychology degree and fascination with how humans think and behave, I became a coach on Channel 4’s Faking It series, then Would Like to Meet and Naked. From here I co-created a company called Threshold six years ago (www.threshold.co.uk), a business
consultancy running workshops around leadership development and change management using forum theatre and interactive films to lead delegates through change. Now I work with lots of fellow actors (Paul Mercier, pictured, now runs Threshold USA); we write and direct workshops, act and improvise our way with business men and women who are happy to play nicely, as long as you never use the word ‘role play.’ I am so thrilled to have found my home and see the business world waking up to what actors have to offer.
v Peter Nicholas né Roberts (Acting 1987)
Class Notes
Music The Boxettes aka Isabel Ehresmann (current student), Alyusha Chagrin (Jazz 2010), Yvette Riby-Williams (Jazz 2009), Neo Joshua (Jazz 2010)
The Boxettes were listed in The Guardian’s New Band of the Day column, with the citation: “an all-girl a cappella group who combine unison singing, solo vocalising and beatboxing to… breathtaking effect. …They comprise Isabel Ehresmann – aka “Bellatrix”, the female world champion beatboxer – and three other girls capable of singing and creating various sounds and FX with their voices, including a low-end rumble that is well R&B or the type of distorted, wobbly bass you hear on grime and dubstep tracks.”
Pippa Cleary (Junior Guildhall 2004) Pippa is currently under commission to David Pugh Ltd. to compose an original score for a new musical which she is working on with Jake Brunger. This will be the third musical they will have worked on together; the first two being Jet Set Go! and The Great British Soap Opera which were produced by Take Note Theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2008 and 2009 respectively and then at the Jermyn Street Theatre, London in 2009. This year Pippa received an MTM Judges Discretionary Award for Compositional
Development. Her song Christmas Without You was shortlisted for the Notes for the Stage competition in 2008.
Tansy Davies (Composition 1998)
Tansy Davies has recently released her debut album, Troubairitz, on the Nonclassical label.
Georg Gädker (Voice 2008) Georg received 2nd prize at the Sacred Music International Competition 2010 in Rome (Concorso Vocale Internazionale di Musica Sacra Roma), the only contest in the world dedicated to sacred music solo singers.
Julia Gomelskaya (Composition 1997) In 2011 Julia was awarded the National Ukrainian B. Liatoshynsky Prize of the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture for her symphony works, one of which was selected to be performed at the ISCM World Music Days, the biggest contemporary festival in Zagreb. Julia has been Professor of Composition at the Odessa State A.V. Nezhdanova Music Academy (Ukraine) since 1998, teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate students, some of whom are winners of national and international composition prizes.
Hanna Hipp (Opera 2009)
Claire Rutter (Opera 1991)
Hanna has been awarded a place on the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House.
In January, Rupert Christiansen wrote in The Telegraph that “Claire Rutter would win [his] vote as the most underrated opera singer on the British scene today. Although she’s hardly out of work – this ravenhaired 42-year-old soprano sustains a perfectly healthy career, regularly taking leading roles at ENO and enjoying international success in Bordeaux, Antwerp, Dallas, Miami and Sydney – one feels that a voice as gorgeously full and sumptuous as hers, capable of singing the grand Italian repertory (from Norma to Tosca, via all the Verdi heroines) with such effortless aplomb and elegant style, should be making its owner a big shining star with a recording contract and bookings at the Met and La Scala.”
Shabaka Hutchings (Clarinet 2007)
26-year-old clarinettist, saxophonist and composer, Shabaka Hutchings has been appointed to the BBC’s prestigious New Generation Artists Scheme which offers participants unique opportunities across Radio 3 to develop their considerable talents. These include concerts both from London (Wigmore Hall as well as LSO St. Luke’s) and the regions and nations, appearances and recordings with the BBC Orchestras, special studio recordings for Radio 3, and, last but not least, appearances at the Proms.
Jacqueline Hollings (Piano 1953) Jacqueline has written a book based on her experiences as a child in World War II, including her entry into the school as a pupil of Orlando Morgan in 1940 and her journeys into Blackfriars during the Blitz aged 9.
Chris Richards (Clarinet 2002) Chris is the latest Guildhall alum to be appointed as a principal at the London Symphony Orchestra. He is their new Principal Clarinet.
Sasha Siem (Junior Guildhall 2002) Sasha Siem has recently composed music for Ensemble FA, the BrittenPears ensemble at the Aldeburgh festival; Mario Caroli; Anton Lukoszevieze, and London Musici. Current projects include a year-long project with the Genesis Foundation and the Royal Opera House in preparation for a work of music-theatre; a piece for the LSO as part of the Panufnik scheme; a song for the London Sinfonietta; and a commission from Caius Choir Cambridge to celebrate the university’s 800th anniversary. Sasha is an SPNM shortlisted composer. Sasha is currently completing a PhD in Composition at Harvard and is also an exchange scholar at Columbia University.
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Reunions
Class Notes Anne Sofie von Otter (Voice 1982) Anne Sofie von Otter was awarded the coveted Frankfurt Music Prize for 2011. The versatile mezzosoprano was presented with the award and the €15,000 prize money on the eve of Musikmesse. With it, the jury not only acknowledged an outstanding voice, but also her varied repertoire, which ranges from Baroque to jazz.
Drama Neil Austin (SMTT 1992)
Christian Burgess & Lucinda Millward (Acting 2006)
Christopher has been invited to perform at Kettle’s Yard and West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge; St. John’s, Smith Square, Trafalgar Studios, St. Martin-in-the-Fields and the Barbican, London; Bartok Concert Hall and Municipal Concert Hall, Hungary. His CD recordings of the staple classical piano repertoire now feature regularly on BBC TV broadcasts. Most recently Christopher performed Franck’s Symphonic Variations and Litollf’s Concerto Symphonique No. 4 with the Brentwood Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as giving recitals at Bishop’s Stortford College and St. Johns ARC, Harlow.
Congratulations to Lucinda & Christian on the birth of their son, Stanley Arthur Baskerville Burgess!
Lucy Hancock (SMTT 2010) Having graduated just last summer, Lucy is now working as a Prop Maker for English National Opera.
Alice Horsey (SMTT 2010) Another 2010 graduate, Alice has been appointed permanent Assistant Stage Manager for Scottish Ballet.
Joshua Miles & Dani de Waal (Acting 2011) Dani & Joshua have accepted professional engagements during the final term of their course. Joshua will make his professional debut in Bully Boy, a new two-hander written by Sandi Toksvig, which premiers at the Nuffield Southampton, before returning to perform in the musical. Dani will be taking on the role of Sophie in Mamma Mia! in the West End.
PLEASE NOTE: These listings are collated from information sent in to us. They reflect only a tiny proportion of the exciting and varied things that our alumni do.
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Recent 10 Oct 2010 Music AGSM/GGSM Classes of 1969 & 1970
Neil won the 2011 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design for The White Guard at NT Lyttelton.
Christopher Weston (Junior Guildhall 1998) Christopher made his concerto debut in 1996 in the London premiere of Phillip Marshall’s Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra at the Barbican Hall.
Neil Morrissey (Acting 1983)
17 Oct 2010 Acting Class of 1985
In his 2-part documentary, Neil Morrissey Care Home Kid, Neil shed light on the experiences of thousands of children in care throughout the UK, while telling the story of his own upbringing in the care system. The programmes were moving and thoughtprovoking, giving viewers a brief insight into other lives. Neil has laid himself bare once again in a nationwide tour of Celebrities Stripped Bare: Neil Morrissey, during which audience members have the opportunity to ask him about his life, both on-stage and off. Brave man.
Fernando Pinho (SMTT 2010) Fernando Pinho who graduated last year who has just been appointed Artistic Director of a new arts centre in Portugal – Casa das Artes e da Criatividade. The theatre is under construction and is due to open its doors to the public in October 2012. Fernando tells us that “It will be the most advanced theatre in Portugal, fully automated and capable to adopt more than 10 different configurations. The venue will be a mix of producing house, presenting theatre, music, dance and develop an educational program aiming to develop theatre in young people.”
28 Nov 2010 Drama 75th Anniversary 25 Jan 2011 Annual New York Reunion
Coming up 5 July 2011 Recent Grads (2009, 2010) of Acting & Technical Theatre 17 Sep 2011 GGSM 1964, 50 yrs since start of course November 2011 China Reunion (Beijing) 24 Jan 2012 Annual New York Reunion
If you would like further information about any of the above, are planning or thinking about planning a reunion that is not listed, please contact the Alumni Office (alumni@gsmd.ac.uk, 020 7382 2325). Note: Classes are listed by graduating year.
Obituaries John Alldis FGS 1929 – 2010 John Alldis was one of the foremost chorus masters of his generation. He founded the John Alldis Choir in 1962 and his name was identified with the choir thereafter. Contemporary classical music figured importantly in its repertory but their work was varied, including recording Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother album and Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert. In 1966, the London Symphony Orchestra hired John to form and direct its first standing choral group. He moved to the London Philharmonic Chorus in 1969, where he remained until 1982. During this period, he also taught at the Guildhall School (1966–79), served as joint chief conductor of Radio Denmark and conducted the Groupe Vocal de France. John won Grammy awards for his work on recordings by Adrian Boult and George Solti. He was a Fellow of the Guildhall School and in 1994 he was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Joan Anson-Weber 1927 – 2010 Guildhall School alumna and selfpublished author Joan Anson-Weber has died aged 83. Joan took the character of an adventurous pig and turned it into a children’s book. Her literary debut Snuffles was published in 1994 with a follow-up titled Snuffles Goes to Scotland Yard published in 2001. Snuffles earned Joan the Louisa Halporn Award for fiction at the Indiana University writers’ conference. She was the Georgia Writer Association’s 2002 Author of the Year nominee and received numerous awards over the years. Joan also wrote poetry, including a 1992 paperback called The Gate of the Year and prose that appeared in various journals and periodicals.
Geoffrey Burgon 1941 – 2010 Composer Geoffrey Burgon, who wrote scores for some of the most notable television shows of the last 30 years, has died after a short illness. He started learning the trumpet when he was 15 and applied to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama as a trumpeter. However, writing music had become more important than playing it so Geoffrey studied Composition and graduated in 1963. Geoffrey started out as a composer in ballet and a breakthrough performance of his Requiem at the Three Choirs Festival in 1976 made his name and led to several commissions. He wrote music for award-winning shows including Brideshead Revisited and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, for which he won two Ivor Novello awards. He also composed music for The Chronicles of Narnia, Doctor Who and Monty Python’s Life of Brian. He went on to win BAFTA awards for Best Original Television Music for Longitude in 2000 and The Forsyte Saga in 2002. Geoffrey once claimed that the highlight of his career was when he was standing in the check out line in Tesco, and a little girl started singing the theme from Narnia.
George Burns FGS 1928 – 2011 George Burns, a former Head Hallkeeper at the school has died at the age of 82. George grew up in Ireland and first came to work in London at the Cumberland Hotel. He started work on the front desk of the School when it was based at John Carpenter Street. By the time of the move to our current location in 1977 he had become Head Hallkeeper. I worked with George from the time I started here in 1983 until his retirement in 1993. His enthusiasm for the smooth and efficient running of the front desk was without precedent. He prided himself on knowing all the Professors by name and took great interest in getting
to know many of the students and their needs – as mentioned in the centenary book. As Head Hallkeeper, George worked a regular 8.30 to 5 day shift but he liked to turn up half an hour early to do the room bookings for the day. Always immaculately presented, he would buff and polish his shoes on arrival – giving them a sheen that would have been the envy of even the Household Cavalry! v Nick Hirst Facilities Assistant
Richard Campbell 1956 – 2011 Richard Campbell was a leading player of the viola da gamba and a founder member of the early music ensemble, Fretwork, and professor of viola da gamba and violone at the Royal Academy of Music. Richard first played cello and sang. He developed a fascination for the music of John Dowland at the International Cello Centre. Following further studies at the Guildhall School he joined the Dowland Consort and enjoyed a wide musical portfolio performing and writing contemporary works for early instruments. Fretwork came together during a tour of Spain. The ensemble performed at the Meltdown Festival in 1995 and the 1998 Lockerbie Memorial Concert at Westminster Cathedral. In 2009 Fretwork’s complete recording of Fantasias by Henry Purcell won a Gramophone Award. Richard also played for conductors such as John Eliot Gardiner, appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and performed with Martin Feinstein and Catherine Manson alongside his Fretwork commitments.
Margaret Cole 1924 – 2011 Margaret Cole, who has died aged 87, became a teacher of singing after a career as a performer. She sang in several BBC radio broadcasts and gave recitals for the Arts Council, often in partnership with Nina Walker, with whom she made her London debut at the Wigmore Hall in 1956.
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Obituaries Peggy, as she was known, was born Margaret Hyde in Macclesfield, Cheshire, and educated at Macclesfield High School for Girls. During the second world war she joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service. Returning to Macclesfield, Peggy enrolled in the Royal Manchester College of Music, where she won the Curtis gold medal and the prize for lieder performance. Life with a young family prompted her retirement as a performer, but in the late 1960s Peggy embarked on a full-time career as a teacher. She taught privately in Surrey and Shropshire, at Junior Guildhall in London, and in Holland. In 2005 she became an emeritus member of the Association of Teachers of Singing.
Sylvia Lee 1909 – 2010 Sylvia Lee, who died aged 101, was a much-loved teacher of special needs children and sang in operas, recitals and choirs. Sylvia successfully auditioned with a full scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She studied in the evenings and won every soprano award. In 1941 she won the Gold Medal for vocalists and first place in the AGSM exam. Sylvia married Morris Lee in 1940. When he was called up for war service, she joined the Entertainments National Service Association (Ensa) and did two tours in Northern Ireland entertaining British forces. After the war she travelled the country as a singer and performed as a soloist for Jewish choirs. Eventually, she returned to teaching at special needs school until her retirement. She enjoyed retirement with her husband until his death in 1997, when she lived quietly at home, savouring her garden and good neighbours.
Maureen Lehane-Wishart 1932 – 2010 Maureen Lehane was a distinguished mezzo-soprano and educationist. Maureen studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where she came 2nd in the inaugural Kathleen Ferrier Award in 1955. After graduating she acquired a reputation as a formidable Handel singer
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and made her Glyndebourne debut in 1967 as Melide in Cavalli’s L’Ormindo. She also sang at the Proms under Pierre Boulez and at Carnegie Hall, New York and the Göttingen Handel Festival in Germany to name but a few. She was passionate about musical education and together with her husband Peter Wishart they opened their house and garden at Great Elm to provide a summer-holiday forum for Wishart’s students. Following Peter Wishart’s unexpected death in 1984, Maureen formed the Great Elm music festival and introduced the Great Elm Vocal Awards. In 1993, Maureen founded the Jackdaws Music Education Trust, which provides workshops and short courses for amateurs, advanced students and young professionals as well as concerts and community events which enable local children to take part in music-making.
Alan Owen 1928 – 2011 Alan Owen was a distinguished music producer for BBC Radio and a prolific composer of light music, under the name Alan Langford. Alan studied at the Guildhall School under Benjamin Frankel. He joined the BBC as a clerk in the music library and was promoted to music producer. The pinnacle of his radio career was 11 series of programmes on Radio 3 about America’s finest songwriters and jazz musicians, which was written and presented by Alistair Cooke. Besides his light music, which has recently enjoyed a resurgence of interest, he wrote much mood music for commercial recording libraries. Owen was also an antiques dealer with a regular stall in London’s Portobello Road market, specialising in old clock and watch parts. He indulged his passion for art house movies and, as a member of the Performing Right Society, he took his place on a committee that considered the plight of members in financial difficulties and, in retirement, he recorded books for the blind.
John Roffey FGS d. 2010 Former Chief Electrician at the Guildhall School, John Roffey was a member of the crew at Sadler’s Wells Opera during its heyday and worked on the legendary Flying Dutchman production. He shared chief touring electrician roles with Roger Frith, and had a fund of stories on driving his three wheeler between dates in the snows of the late 1960s. Whilst still with Sadler’s Wells, John worked on the electrical installation at the new Greenwich Theatre, before moving to become Chief Electrician at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama at John Carpenter Street. He moved with the School to the current Silk Street premises where he remained until his retirement. John moved to Dartford and continued his association with theatre lighting, assisting Peter Moore with installations in schools and churches. John was a devout Christian and a member of the Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks, in his role as Parish Clerk for his church in Southwark.
Vera Rózsa-Nordell FGS 1917 – 2010 A teacher for more than half a century Vera Rózsa cajoled, encouraged and developed the voices of major figures such as Anne Sofie von Otter, Sarah Walker and the late Anthony Rolfe Johnson. As a young woman Vera was a formidable operatic talent. A bout of pneumonia, brought on by the privations of the Second World War, caused her to lose part of a lung. After moving to Britain in 1954 she sang professionally for another two decades, before concentrating her efforts on teaching and coaching. Her insight into a singer’s voice or technique was famous. After listening for a couple of bars, Rózsa would immediately know what exercise was needed. The body is the instrument, she would tell her students, “so you have to know your body well”. A Fellow of the Guildhall School, she was made on Officer of the British Empire in 1989 and was named a Freeman of the City of London in 1999.
Obituaries Adrienne Simpson 1943 – 2010 Adrienne Simpson was described by Roger Flury of the National Library of New Zealand as a “musicologist, critic, author, broadcaster, and one of the finest documenters of musical activity in New Zealand.” Adrienne graduated from Victoria University in 1965, before moving to the UK to obtain her MMus from Kings College London and embark on a teaching and writing career. She played piano, recorder and flute with considerable fluency, but her forte was in writing and research. She taught general musicianship and musical history at the Guildhall School for 18 years. She returned to New Zealand in 1983 with her husband, Richard Chilton. Adrienne wrote several books on her major passions, music and cricket. Her titles included Southern Voices and Opera’s Farthest Frontier, the authoritative history of opera in New Zealand.
Alan Sinclair 1948 – 2010 Former Principal Tuba of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Alan Sinclair, known as “Jock” to many of his friends, died on 26 November 2010. Alan attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama and was awarded the Harry Secombe Scholarship to study tuba and piano at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Whilst at the Guildhall School he received the Len Rice prize for the most improved brass player and gave the School’s first-ever tuba recital. After graduating he was immediately appointed Principal Tuba with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Later he worked as a freelance musician in London, performing with most of the great orchestras, conductors and playing alongside John Fletcher, Principal of the LSO, who was both his mentor and friend.
In 1980 Alan was appointed Principal Tuba of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, became Professor of Tuba at Birmingham Conservatoire and played on countless orchestral and film soundtrack recordings. Alan played with the CBSO for 26 years until his retirement.
Victor Slaymark 1932 – 2011 Victor Slaymark, Professor of Clarinet at the Guildhall School for 35 years, died of cancer on 28 February 2011 aged 79. He was a successful freelance player employed by numerous organisations including the English National Opera and Covent Garden and for many years was the principal clarinettist with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Victor’s enthusiasm for the clarinet, his sense of humour, his love of music and his interest in the profession in general endeared him to us all. I vividly remember his bass clarinet solo in the third act of Aida with the Welsh Opera when we first met in 1970. He leaves behind his wife Soma, daughter Lakshmi and two grandsons Hugo and Gwilym. v Julian Farrell Professor of Clarinet
Joan Walters FGS 1945 – 2010 Drama teacher, Joan Walters, has died aged 65. At the time of her death, Joan was head of the Performing Arts department at Carshalton College, where she had been teaching for ten years. She had previously taught drama and been an examiner for the Guildhall School, where her husband Rex Walters had also been a teacher. She also had a successful career as a personal speech tutor – helping John Major when he was Prime Minister, Iain Duncan-Smith when he was leader of the opposition and David Davies when he was a cabinet minister. She was busy preparing her last batch of college students for their final show when she became ill last summer. Sharon Phinbow, a dance teacher who worked closely with Joan, said “She understood
young people and made space for them. She encouraged them to fulfil their dreams. So many students have her to thank that they went on to university. She is a great loss to the college.” Joan Walters was made a Fellow of the Guildhall School in 1978.
Nigel Williams 1962 – 2011 Nigel Williams was a respected dealer in first editions in one of the West End’s most famous bookselling streets and a professional musician who regularly sang in his native Ireland. He read history at Trinity College, Dublin, before being accepted onto a postgraduate singing course at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. His interest in rare books began with collecting and he moved into the world of bookselling. He started a shop, Nigel Williams Rare Books, in Cecil Court, WC2, in the mid 1990s which specialised in first edition crime and PG Wodehouse novels but he continued to sing and would regularly fly to Ireland to perform on weekends. A bass-baritone, he was latterly involved in an ambitious project by the Orchestra of St Cecilia in Dublin to sing all of Bach’s cantatas over a 10-year period.
Guildhall School of Music & Drama Silk Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DT Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 2571 Fax: +44 (0)20 7256 9438 www.gsmd.ac.uk Guildhall School News Email: editorial@gsmd.ac.uk Alumni Office Email: alumni@gsmd.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 2325 Development Office Email: development@gsmd.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 7179 Photo Credits Iain Bremner, Malcolm Crowthers, Chris Dawes, Kurt Egyiawan, Martyn Goddard, Nick Haddow, Nina Large, Deborah MacCallum, Harold Raitt, Amanda Stephen, Clive Totman, Working Title Films.
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