Meet Pauline Black: Your ne w ISM President

As Pauline Black, Senior Lecturer and Head of Music Engagement at the University of Aberdeen, becomes ISM President, Vinota Karunasaagarar chats with her to find out more about her career in music

I’ m quite an eclectic musician, I’m an eclectic person, I’ve got my finger in a few different pies,’ says Pauline Black, ’ when asked about her work in music. While she enjoys performing, music education runs through the core of her work and she has worked on countless projects, with the aim of encouraging children and adults to take up music or to expand their musical horizons. k the a net: t I

Born in Buckie, on the north-east coast of Scotland, Black was first introduced to music through her granny, who taught her ‘bothy ballads’ – traditional Scottish ballads in north-eastern dialect – from a young age. Her journey as musician began aged 11 when she started playing the cor ‘I put my name down at school to play a wind instrument, bu came home with a flugelhor as I was the only child who could get a note out f a brass nstrume

She received instrumental lessons in school (free instrumental lessons are still given to every child in Scotland)

On completing her music degree, she went on to spend two happy decades as a full-time secondary school classroom music teacher, moving schools as she was promoted from principal teacher to faculty head of expressive arts.

Black modestly cites the next steps in her career as unintentional and organic, as she transitioned from teaching in schools to teaching at the University of Aberdeen. ‘The job came up and at first I was seconded to it, as I wasn’t sure whether university teaching was something that I wanted to pursue – I loved working in schools so much. My then line manager asked me where I thought I could make the biggest difference. I knew that if I moved into teaching at university I had the chance to make a wider impact with generations of students and the children that these students would in turn teach in schools.’ Once in post, she again excelled, going on to become the Programme Director of Music Education, then the first female Head of Music, and now Head of Music Engagement.

Throughout her career Black has continued to perform: ‘I thought it was really important to keep playing. I’ve played at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the National Brass Band Championships, which was exciting for me coming from the north-east of Scotland , and I’ve shared a stage with James Brown and Van Morrison as part of Live On The Lawn at Crathes Castle, when both international artists requested a local band to support them and I was part of that. I enjoy playing in the Aberdeen Jazz Orchestra and Any Enemy, a new music ensemble.’

‘A lot of my performances are in popular genres or jazz related . When I first started teaching, I joined a soul band; it was a shock to my system as at my first rehearsal they said “our first tune goes like this”, and we were expected to play what we just heard!” This experience changed how I was as a musician and how I became as a teacher. That informal learning style became part of my practice.’ Black’s research projects, including her current PhD, are linked to her love of Jazz and how skills such as improvising and playing by ear can be used in music education to encourage children to play together.

She has also turned her hand to directing; notably she directed Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert at the Aberdeen Jazz Festival, featuring the Aberdeen Jazz Orchestra and University of Aberdeen Big Band, The Ellington Singers, soloists Jacqui Dankworth, Helena Kay and Richard Ingham, and tap dancer Danielle Pirie. But her love of performing Jazz doesn’t stop there: ‘A big part of what I do is to help encourage the Jazz ecosystem in Aberdeen, as we’re miles away from every where in the UK but we have a good little scene. So I encourage professionals to perform here and those who have never played in their lives to play.’

Black is on the committee for Jazz at the Blue Lamp, Aberdeen’s only Jazz club, and credits her work there for providing connections to help with her other big focus –her music education projects: ‘ I like creative music-making projects with young people and with multi-form artists, i.e. connecting primary school teachers to artists, for example at professional learning workshops.’ Black also runs an allage community jazz big band in the Blue Lamp.

Along with a small team of students whom she mentored, she coordinated the Aberdeen Youth Jazz celebration, which involved visiting schools to run Jazz and improvisation workshops, commissioning new music, and performing as part of the Jazz Festival in partnership with Jazz Scotland

Another successful project which began as a necessity to engage students during COVID-19, but has now evolved into further collaborative projects, is Black’s work with Dr Emily Wilson, Head of Music at the

Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. Together they conducted an online collaborative composing project where students in Melbourne worked with students in Aberdeen, using digital audio workstations to compose online so that they could then learn how to compose with their students in schools. Due to the success of the first project, they have just completed a second iteration called ‘Caring for our planet: a world apart or same difference?’ focusing on climate change.

Now, as she takes on the role of ISM President, her work in music education, performing and research are all at the forefront of her mind. While music education will be a focus of her presidential year, she is also keen to continue with the work of her predecessor: ‘ Vick Bain has been making huge strides in empowering women and her work in the gender sphere has helped me a lot. Some of my research is also in this area, specifically looking at women in Jazz, and I’m really interested in the discussions that have come up.’

COVID-recover y is another area that she is keen to focus on: ‘Lack of confidence is a huge issue. One of the things we did via Jazz at the Blue Lamp through COVID, and are still doing thanks to funding from Creative Scotland, is helping people get back to playing instruments together, so that they can feel comfortable playing, touring and gigging together. I’d like to continue to help people to make music.’

Your President-Elect: Nicky Spence

World-renowned opera singer Nicky Spence is your ISM President-Elect and will follow on from Pauline Black to become President in 2024.

Commenting on the announcement, he said, ‘My wish is that I can be an energetic representative for musicians in an ever-changing landscape. In doing so, I aim to help protect the conditions which musicians deserve to give their best work and continue to inspire the next generation of musicians and educators who need specific support to find a sustainable route to the profession.’

Music Education Hubs

The Arts Council England (ACE) has announced plans to slash the overall number of Music Education Hubs from 117 to just 43, despite the results of a consultation with the sector, which showed that most respondents preferred a model of around 80 hubs.

The ISM believes that the new, much larger hub geographies will not necessarily improve the deliver y of music services to young people and has raised these concerns with ACE.