News from our members

We welcome your brief news (max. 150 words) and high-res images. Please email mj@ism.org The next deadline for copy is 28 March 2022 for the May/June 2022 issue

Productivity despite the pandemic for Robert Howard

Despite the ongoing limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Robert Howard had a productive 2021. Back in June, the Prescot Festival of Music & the Arts (of which Robert is Artistic Director and Founder), took place in hybrid form, with a mixture of in-person events and online arts and music.

In August, Robert was interviewed as part of the Prescot Makers and Players project, in association with Imaginarium Theatre and Knowsley Council. The resulting short film features clips of Prescot Parish Church Choir, of which Robert is associate director, singing his choral work For Mary, Mother of Our Lord, with conductor David Kernick. The film is available to view at imaginariumtheatre.co.uk September saw several performing groups resume – Robert returned to conducting the Phoenix Concert Orchestra, giving monthly bassoon performances with the Liverpool Bach Collective, playing principal bassoon with the Liverpool Mozart Orchestra and directing a variety of choirs, orchestras and live events at St Edward’s College (Choir School to Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral). In December, South Liverpool Orchestra celebrated its 45th anniversary and Robert’s 10th anniversary as conductor. Prescot Festival held its first large-scale event since March 2020, with the Mayor of Prescot’s Charity Christmas Concert. Tenor David Kernick premiered Robert’s new setting of Ave Maria, with the composer at the piano. Robert’s compositions (nearly 200 titles) are available for perusal and purchase via sheetmusicplus.com roberthowardmusic.co.uk

New approach to a musical love affair

Trio of Devotion, a novel by Christopher Morley FISM about the relationship between Robert and Clara Schumann and Brahms, has recently been published by Brewin Books Ltd (£6.95). Founded on all the factual details Chris has researched, it begins with Robert’s courtship of Clara under the more than disapproving eye of her father Friedrich Wieck, continues through the Schumanns’ fecund marriage, its happiness increasingly blighted by Robert’s mental condition, and then, after his death in an asylum, Clara’s increasing dependence upon Robert’s favourite student, Johannes Brahms. The legacy of Clara’s own pupils is explored, reaching well into the 20th century. Interest has already been expressed in expanding Trio of Devotion into a film. All profits from this book will be donated to the Gwyn WIlliams Bursary for young string players.

Anthony Gilbert puts his musical life into words

Anthony Gilbert, who will be 88 this year, has just self-published, via LifeBook, a short autobiography firstly dealing with his early life, then the subsequent 60 years as a published composer – a lesson in survival, perhaps? Some works are discussed in some detail, but not analysed in depth, so only one musical example (his first piece) is shown, but quite a few photos illustrate his life. Funding for this project was generously made available by the Ida Carroll and the Pitfield Trusts. Copies can be obtained free of charge from gilbertcomp@ btinternet.com, though meeting the postage cost would be welcome. The title is Kettle of Fish, a categorisation sometimes offered to his idiom.

Some news from the South East coast

Tenor Greg Tassell writes: ‘I recently put on two charity recitals with the marvellous pianist John Harper to raise money for the Afghanistan appeal, and I’m pleased to say we raised over £600, all of which was donated to the Bridge to Unity charity, formerly called Ems4Afghans, which helps provide refugees with clothes, equipment and everyday items which they cannot afford. St Andrew’s Church, Deal and St Andrew’s Church, Broadstairs were the two venues and rather splendidly a

local artist, Andrew Feltham, sketched a live drawing mid-recital of the two of us in action. The concert included previously unperformed music by the now sadly deceased composer (and former pianist to Harry Secombe) Robert Docker. His daughter came to watch and gave me a copy of a carol she found in the attic, which I used in my Christmas concert later that month with Thanet Chamber Choir.

On the back of this we have been invited to perform at the Deal Festival this summer which we are very much looking forward to.

Contemporary Grooves for Guitar Ensemble

Mucky Herbert Music has published Contemporary Grooves for Guitar Ensemble by James Bradford, in its Quintessence series. James, a guitar teacher with many years of experience, has written these exciting guitar ensemble pieces specifically for students. Book 1 (Intermediate) contains four pieces, written in modern, contemporary styles, including blues, rock and world music. These pieces are ideal for end-of-term school or college concerts!

James Bradford says: ‘These pieces are tried and tested, not only to engage students but also to teach important ensemble-playing skills.’ Each set comes with a full score for the teacher and a set of individual parts. Book 1 is currently available as a digital download from muckyherbertmusic.com/product/ quintessence-contemporarygrooves-for-guitar-ensemblebook-1/ Alternatively, printed copies can be pre-ordered by email at info@ muckyherbertmusic.com muckyherbertmusic.com

Compose Yourself!

The UK online composing festival for young pianists has launched for the second year. Its aim: to encourage and support creativity in our young music students!

Co-founded by composer Alison Mathews, and supported by Trinity College London and Editions Musica Ferrum, we invite entries in the competitive or non-competitive categories from pianists aged five to 18 by 1st July. Every entrant will receive an encouraging comment sheet from our panel of adjudicators, a certificate, and a digital Trinity Theory Workbook. To inspire them further, all entrants will be able to download a piece of music from a selection of leading educational composers. Winners in the competitive category will receive music books and gift vouchers.

composeyourself.net has information on registration and entry, as well as free, engaging resources to support teachers and inspire students. Please do visit and follow us on Facebook and Twitter! New resource from I can Compose

The latest resource for I Can Compose is a Women’s History Month Listening Calendar celebrating the music of 32 diverse female composers (the Boulanger sisters share a day!), writes director Rachel Shapey. At the heart of this resource is a vision to get students discovering and listening to a range of composers – the calendar features a variety of nationalities, musical styles, eras, LGBTQ+ and disabled musicians. A QR code or weblink directs listeners to the dedicated Spotify playlist where all the suggested pieces can be found in one place.

The A4 calendar is free to download from icancompose.com/WHM and an A2 full colour poster is available to order (UK only).

MÉTIER releases Edward Cowie’s Where song was born

Edward Cowie is one of the most notable voices in contemporary music and considered by many to be the greatest living composer directly inspired by the natural world. A recording of the second of his Bird Portraits cycles, Where song was born, for flute and piano, performed by Sara Minelli (flute) and Roderick Chadwick (piano), will be released on the Métier label on 11 March. Featuring 24 iconic birds of Australia, it is another important addition to the

contemporary chamber repertoire. Sara Minelli and Roderick Chadwick are exceptionally gifted performers, in tune with the music of today, and perform with magnificent dexterity and virtuosity, with Sara’s extended breathing techniques wonderfully evoking the highly varied sounds of the beautiful birds featured.

This new release will benefit from the success and glowing reviews of previous Cowie albums, including these remarks on Bird Portraits:

‘A major composition ... a musical language that is unique. Revelatory.’ MusicWeb International

‘Highly original … vivid evocations.’ New Classics

divineartrecords.com

edwardcowie.com

Free international resource to support conducting studies

ConductIT, an online resource to support the study of conducting, was launched at the end of November 2021. It is completely free thanks to €436,000 of Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership funding, writes Alexander Webb, conductor, arranger and PhD Student at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), one of the content authors for the resource. A collaboration between the RNCM (UK), University of Stavanger (Norway), University of Aveiro (Portugal), and the Open University (UK), it contains more than 200 webpages, over 1000 PDF downloads, 200+ specially created videos and is the most comprehensive resource of its kind for conductors at all stages of their career. The material is organised into four key areas which provide information on the technical aspects of conducting (with interactive elements), case studies which spotlight a wide range of genres from the Classical period to Contemporary Music and Jazz, and advice from early career conductors, established conductors, and industry specialists like orchestral leaders and agents. ConductIT can also be integrated by tutors into existing conducting programmes. Conductit.eu

Film premiere of Param Vir’s Hayagriva with BCMG

Composer Param Vir has had a long and fruitful creative relationship with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group since they commissioned and toured his The Theatre of Magical Beings in 2003. Constellations followed in 2010. BCMG cocommissioned and premiered Raga Fields, his concerto for Sarod and ensemble, with Klangforum Wien (Vienna) and Fulcrum Point New Music Projects (Chicago) in 2014. BCMG livestreamed Vir’s song cycle for soprano and cello Wheeling Past the Stars in November 2020, and performed it live in June 2021 in Birmingham Town Hall with Hayagriva for ensemble. BCMG programmed Wheeling Past the Stars again in Birmingham Hippodrome in November 2021, and filmed Hayagriva for an online launch on 19 December 2021 conducted by Geoffrey Paterson. BCMG Artistic Director Stephan Meier and Param Vir discussed Hayagriva in an online interview before the YouTube premiere. BCMG will perform Hayagriva in April at the Weiwuying International Music Festival in Taiwan. bcmg.org.uk

New YouTube films promote Music for Mind, Body and Soul

Geraldine Allen and Sarah Rodgers have been commissioned by a Norfolk-based arts and wellbeing organisation, Home Stage, to produce a four-part series on Music for Body, Mind and Soul. Together with pianist Brenda Blewett, Geraldine performs a range of clarinet works starting with Spanish Sonata composed for her by Sarah and including music by Bliss and Edward German.

Music for Body, Mind and Soul promotes the benefits of deeper listening or whole-person listening. The series goes out as Youtube premieres on the four Fridays through February at 7.00pm and is available for catch-up on YouTube thereafter. To find out more, go to the Home Stage promotional page at home-stage.co.uk/ body-mind-and-soul

New music and musicianship degree in Lincoln

Dr Clare Wheat-Gooing and Jonathan Gooing have created a brand new three-year BA(Hons) Music and Musicianship undergraduate degree course at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln. The aim is to offer each music student a course that develops general musical knowledge, understanding, creativity, and the rigorous musicianship skills needed to be an effective and employable musician in the 21st century. A bursary of £300 is also being offered to students in their third year who wish to study for a recognised music diploma or equivalent. The course offers a firm grounding for a range of future careers and leads seamlessly on to the university’s PGCE Secondary Music qualification, should this be an avenue that students wish to pursue. The first students enrolled in September 2021. For further information please visit bishopg. ac.uk/course-subjects/music or contact the Programme Leader, Dr Clare Wheat-Gooing at Clare.Gooing@bishopg.ac.uk

Edmond Fivet CBE FISM

ISM member since 1990 12/02/1947 – 01/11/2021 Edmond Fivet CBE was Principal of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) from 1989 to 2007. Previously he had been Director of the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music, London. Under his leadership the college became a member of the University of Wales, opened a junior department, acquired and reimagined the Anthony Hopkins Centre, and was awarded public funds to support the realisation of the Dora Stoutzker Hall and Richard Burton Theatre in its Bute Park, Cardiff building. The college was given Royal status by HM Queen Elizabeth II and came under the patronage of HRH The Prince of Wales.

Dr Fivet was awarded a CBE for services to music and education in 2008. After his retirement he remained extremely active in Suffolk as musical director of Aldeburgh Music Club, from which he had only recently retired after 13 years and 40 concerts, frequently including the work of new, young composers alongside standard choral repertoire; and the Prometheus Orchestra, which he created in 2008 along with his wife Elizabeth and Pam Munks.

Helena Gaunt, Principal of RWCMD, paid the following tribute: ‘Edmond Fivet CBE was an extraordinary man of real warmth, with a great sense of humour and a lifelong commitment to the nurturing of young artists. He was a dynamic principal whose vision for the RWCMD established it firmly as the national conservatoire of Wales.

‘He passionately believed that Wales’s unique cultural diversity made it essential to have a national conservatoire, as a beacon of excellence for the arts. We, and Wales, owe him huge appreciation for his determination in achieving this dream. His legacy will live on through the generations of artists who continue to learn, work and grow here every day.’ Mildred Bettley ARCM, FISM

10/04/1932 – 25/12/2021 ISM member since 1976

A family tribute Mildred Bettley, pianist and teacher, passed away peacefully on 25 December 2021. Born in Warrington, Cheshire, she trained in piano and singing at the Northern School of Music (co-forerunner of the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester) from 1956 to 1961 under some of the most renowned music educators of the day. In 1978, she moved to Sidmouth in Devon and became a passionate private piano teacher, specialising in beginners and building her reputation upon encouraging all-round musicianship from the very outset. Music – her ‘golden thread’ – sustained her to the very end.

Obituaries: We are sorry to announce the deaths of the following members: Mr Lance Baker FISM of Surrey Mrs Mildred Bettley ARCM FISM of Devon Miss Ann Blake FISM of Hemel Hempstead Yvonne Ellis FISM of Scunthorpe Mr Edmond Fivet CBE FISM of Suffolk

Mr Paul Frowde FISM of Surrey Mr Robert Pell FISM of West Yorkshire

Angela Sellwood FISM of Gloucestershire Elaine M Smith FISM of Norfolk

Mr Barry Waterfield MISM of Leicester Cynthia M Watson of Lincoln