RCM Upbeat Spring 2015 by Royal College of Music

The Magazine for the Royal College of Music I Spring 2015

Technology at the RCM

Recreating the past, redefining the future

What’s inside... Welcome to upbeat... The RCM is dedicated to providing its students with an inspirational and supportive environment, and in this issue of Upbeat we look at the ways that technology is helping to achieve this goal. The cover of this issue shows RCM musicians making use of the fantastic recording facilities available in the RCM Studios, and you can find out more about recent technological advances from Senior Recording Engineer Matt Parkin on page 12. Technology can also help us to learn more about the past, as RCM Research Associate Aleks Kollowski explains on page 10. In an interview with Upbeat, he tells us about an ambitious recording project involving RCM students re-enacting the 1913 recording of Beethoven’s Symphony no 5. Whether it is exploring the music of the past, analysing how music affects our health in the present or using technology to improve performance skills, the RCM Research community is producing world-leading outputs. In fact, the RCM has been named as the London conservatoire with the highest percentage of worldleading research in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF). See page 5 for more information on this prestigious result. As usual, Upbeat brings you all the news from around the RCM, including our latest record-breaking Soirée d’Or and the RCM’s involvement in two Sky Arts programmes: Portrait Artist of the Year and The Great Culture Quiz. We’re always keen to hear from students past and present so if you have anything you’d like us to feature in the next issue of Upbeat, please send your news and pictures to news@rcm.ac.uk by Monday 27 April. NB: Please note that we cannot guarantee to include everything we receive and that we reserve the right to edit submissions.

Contents 4

In the news Updating you on recent RCM activities including a recordbreaking Soirée d’Or, the RCM’s research being announced as world-leading in the Research Excellence Framework, and RCM musicians performing at Buckingham Palace for HRH The Prince of Wales…

Back to Wax RCM students have re-enacted the first complete recording of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Find out how…

12 The Future of Music The RCM is revolutionising teaching with a variety of technological advances. RCM Senior Recording Engineer Matt Parkin explains how...

14 Meeting the supporters Upbeat meets RCM Friend Ken Goodwin...

16 Student notes… Current student success stories

18 Staff notes… News from professorial, academic and administrative staff

20 Alumni notes… Updates from RCM graduates

22 Obituaries and births RCM Composition for Screen students’ recording session. See pages 8-13 for more information on recording projects at the RCM

Front cover – RCM musicians recording in the RCM Studios Inside front cover – The RCM International Opera School’s 2014 production of Mozart’s ‘Die Zauberflöte’. Inside back cover – Brett Dean conducting the RCM Symphony Orchestra during his recent residency at the RCM in November 2014. All photography © Chris Christodoulou

Upbeat online Upbeat is available online at www.rcm.ac.uk/upbeat Please help us to reduce our carbon footprint and receive Upbeat by email. Contact us at news@rcm.ac.uk and we’ll send you an email notification when Upbeat is published.

In the news... Record-breaking Soirée d’Or The RCM’s annual fundraising gala, Soirée d’Or, has raised a record-breaking £280,000 in aid of scholarships for talented RCM students. This year’s event was so popular that tickets sold out six months in advance. Held at the V&A Museum on Wednesday 3 December the evening included a live auction, conducted by RCM Junior Department alumna Helena Newman, Co-Head of Impressionist & Modern Art Worldwide at Sotheby’s. The five lots drew £60,000 in bids, while the 30 items listed in the silent auction raised a further £40,000.

Photos © Steven Morris

The highlight of the evening was the involvement of exceptional RCM

musicians. Six harpists, directed by harp professor Ieuan Jones, serenaded guests in the entrance to the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries with Ieuan’s arrangement of Poulenc’s L’embarquement pour Cythère. Styled for the occasion by royal dress designer Anna Valentine, the harpists dazzled in Grecian style black and gold gowns. RCM pianist and BBC Young Musician winner Martin James Bartlett wowed the audience with his spirited playing of Liszt’s Liebestraum, the third movement from Prokofiev’s Sonata no 7 and Moszkowski’s exciting Étincelles. Soprano Natasha Day, resplendent in gold organza, and tenor Gyula Rab also charmed and delighted guests with arias from La traviata, La rondine, La bohème and The Merry Widow. To close the evening, the RCM Chamber Choir performed Bob Chilcott’s arrangement of The Shepherd’s Carol, before leading the audience in enthusiastic renditions of four popular carols.

Support for the evening was provided by sponsorship from Campus Living Villages, developers of the RCM’s new hall of residence, their partners Balfour Beatty and M&G, and donations from GlaxoSmithKline. The RCM is also grateful to Taittinger for continuing to support the event, generously providing free champagne for all guests. Instrumental to the event’s success is the Soirée d’Or Committee, an external group of donors led by Lady Carr, who dedicate endless hours of their time throughout the year to selling tables, securing sponsorship and attracting items for the auction. We are very grateful to them for all they do for the RCM. If you would like information about the next Soirée d’Or, please contact Mary Cosgrave at mary.cosgrave@rcm.ac.uk

Natasha Day

Alumni Reunions Following the hugely successful RCM alumni reunions in 2013 and 2014, there will be two in 2015! The first is planned for Tuesday 31 March from 11.30am to 3.30pm and is open to alumni who studied at the RCM between 1930 and 1955. The special event will include a short concert by current RCM students, a light ‘finger buffet’ lunch, and the opportunity to tour the RCM. To book your place, please contact the RCM Friends & Alumni team on 020 7591 4331 or email alumni@rcm.ac.uk. Tickets cost £20 and booking closes on 20 March. The second reunion will be on Sunday 20 September for alumni who studied at the RCM between 1956 and 1965. If you are in touch with fellow students who have not heard from the RCM in recent years then we probably do not have their current contact details so please ask them to email alumni@rcm.ac.uk or call 020 7591 4331 to avoid missing out. Look out for further details of this event in future editions of Upbeat.

RCM Recognised for World-leading Research The Royal College of Music has been named as the London conservatoire with the highest percentage of worldleading research in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF). The REF panel – which assesses the quality of research in UK higher education institutions – judged 34% of the overall quality of the RCM’s research to be world-leading, significantly higher than any other conservatoire in London. In addition, the percentage of RCM research outputs classed as world-leading is the highest of all UK conservatoires. The RCM also ranked highly for the impact of its research, with 90% of its activity rated as world-leading in this area. As a sector, UK music conservatoires scored very strongly in this new category, highlighting the significance of their research for the wider world beyond academia. These results consolidate the reputation of the RCM as a world-

class centre for music research, and demonstrate the institution’s strong commitment to research and innovation across both theory and practice. Professor Colin Lawson, Director of the RCM, said ‘I am delighted that the results of the Research Excellence Framework have confirmed our position as the No. 1 Conservatoire in London for research. Not only was the quality of our research rated more highly than any other London conservatoire, but so was the strength of its impact on the wider community. The REF result serves to confirm the RCM’s position as a natural first choice for talented music students from around the world.’ RCM Director of Research Richard Wistreich told us ‘This extremely strong result for the RCM provides us with the confidence and direction for the future development of our research strategy. I am particularly encouraged by the large number of our research outputs that have been recognised as world leading, and also the very high evaluation we received for the beneficial impact of our research. The RCM has taken its mission to serve society as a whole very seriously since its foundation in 1882, and this sits at the heart of our approach to research.’

RCM Named One of Top Ten International Music Schools The Royal College of Music has been named as one of the top ten music schools in the world by The Hollywood Reporter. Listed 10th in the Top 25 Music Schools, the RCM was ranked ahead of all other non-US institutions. The RCM was particularly praised for having professors from top London orchestras and offering masterclasses with internationally-acclaimed artists such as Hans Zimmer and soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. The magazine ranks music institutions based on a survey of dozens of industry and academic insiders as well as an anonymous ranking system by the schools themselves.

In the news... The Big Give

Photo © Paul Burns

The RCM at Buckingham Palace

RCM musicians and members of Opera Australia have given a special joint performance at Buckingham Palace hosted by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. The Prince of Wales has been President of the RCM for over two decades, and this event on Thursday 22 January celebrated his long-standing support of both the RCM and of Australian opera. The concert took place in the historic ballroom of Buckingham Palace and featured performances of operatic extracts by Bizet, Puccini and Léhar by an orchestra of more than 40 RCM musicians, conducted by RCM Director of Opera Michael Rosewell.

Other talented young members of Opera Australia also featured as soloists: soprano Kiandra Howarth and tenor Samuel Sakker (both also Royal Opera House Jette Parker Young Artists) and renowned Australian soprano and cellist Taryn Fiebig. A highlight of the evening was a performance by Taryn on a cello once owned and played by The Prince of Wales – an instrument which is currently part of the RCM’s collections. His Royal Highness said of the evening: ‘I promise you, nothing could give me greater pleasure than to (support) this because I am one of those people who so admires the talent of young people’.

‘Arts in Harmony’: Musical Heritage

High Impact Award for RCM Woodhouse Centre

GEW is the world’s largest campaign to promote entrepreneurship, and took place from 17–23 November 2014. RCM Woodhouse Centre events involved: a fundraising workshop with online crowd funding company Zequs; a tax and finance talk with Trevor Ford; and a presentation by composer Eric Whitacre, who gave insights into his successful career and advice about networking and social media.

The Arts in Harmony exhibition, running from 28 April–28 August, will display recently discovered archival material and selected artworks telling the unique story of how Ben Uri also supported music, particularly émigré and emerging musicians, throughout the 20th century. An accompanying exhibition – Art Identity Migration: 100 years of Ben Uri in London 1915-2015 – will take place at Somerset House from 1 July–13 December 2015.

We’re delighted to report that thanks to the profound generosity of our donors we have surpassed last year’s total and our target, raising an impressive £167,764. Thank you to all those who contributed to the Big Give, your donation will go towards transforming the lives of talented young musicians.

The RCM Woodhouse Centre for Professional Development has received a High Impact Award for its involvement in Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW).

In summer 2015 the RCM Museum of Music will celebrate the centenary of the Ben Uri Gallery and Museum, one of the world’s most significant collections of work by artists of Jewish descent.

The RCM Museum of Music is open Tuesday to Friday (11.30am to 4.30pm) and is free to visit. For more information visit www.rcm.ac.uk/museum

In December the Royal College of Music participated in the 2014 Big Give Christmas Challenge to raise essential funds for our scholarship programme.

The Blind Fiddler by Isaac Lichtenstein

These events – the last in a special series celebrating the Woodhouse Centre’s 15th birthday in 2014 – fulfilled at least four out of six of the GEW’s High Impact Criteria, and were subsequently selected to receive a High Impact ‘Badge of Honour’ from the campaign.

RCM Supporters Receive New Year’s Honours

RCM Features on Sky Arts Programmes

Two long-standing supporters of the RCM have been recognised in the New Year’s Honours list. Dasha Shenkman was appointed OBE for her Services to Philanthropy and the Arts. Dasha is a devoted supporter of the arts and has been involved in several RCM initiatives since 1998. She is a member of the RCM Chairman’s Circle and also funds the Dasha Shenkman Scholarship. She supports an innovative recital series in memory of her mother at the National Gallery as well as a highprofile masterclass series at the RCM. Philip Carne was appointed MBE for Services to Philanthropy. As members of the RCM Chairman’s Circle and through the Richard Carne Scholarships, which support four scholars every year, Philip and his wife Christine have made a transformative impact on the RCM, and their generosity makes a tangible difference to the success of many students. We extend our congratulations to them and to all those honoured for their achievements.

Dasha Shenkman

The RCM has commissioned a portrait of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa as part of the Sky Arts TV series Portrait Artist of the Year. Legendary soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is a close friend of the RCM, and regularly works with RCM singers as Visiting Professor. She also offers vital financial and mentoring support to talented RCM singers through her Foundation. The final episode of the series (broadcast on 23 December 2014) shows Dame Kiri performing in the Britten Theatre, before being painted by artist Laura Quinn, one of three finalists in the competition.

Philip Carne

The finished portrait was unveiled to Dame Kiri by RCM Director Professor

Colin Lawson, Director of Opera Michael Rosewell and presenter Joan Bakewell at the National Portrait Gallery. Dame Kiri was thrilled with the results, declaring the painting to be ‘very special’. The portrait will hang in the foyer of the Britten Theatre, the home of the RCM International Opera School. The RCM also took part in Sky Arts 1’s The Great Culture Quiz. RCM staff members Gabbi Freemantle, Christopher Middleton and Bex Gibson went head to head with a team from Nottingham Playhouse on the programme, in which teams from UK arts organisations competed in several rounds of cultural knowledge questions.

In the news... Vanessa Latarche in China

New Visiting Professors Join the RCM The RCM is delighted to announce the appointment of two new Visiting Professors: world-renowned trumpet virtuoso Matthias Höfs and celebrated flautist Adam Walker. A key member of German Brass since 1985, Matthias Höfs was solo trumpet with the Hamburg Philharmonic for 16 years. He has performed with numerous distinguished German orchestras and at venues around the world as a soloist and chamber musician and he also lectures and designs many of his own

instruments. Head of Brass Nigel Black said Matthias is ‘a truly inspirational teacher and one of the greatest brass players of our time’. Adam Walker is principal flute with the London Symphony Orchestra and was named by Classic FM as ‘one of the top five international flautists’. He received the Outstanding Young Artist Award at MIDEM Classique in Cannes, a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Award and he was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Outstanding Young Artist Award. Simon Channing, Head of Woodwind, described Adam as ‘undoubtedly one of the most outstanding musicians of his generation, a wonderfully charismatic player and teacher’.

Professor Vanessa Latarche, Head of Keyboard at the RCM, has participated in the first Lang Lang Shenzhen Futian International Piano Festival in Shenzhen, China. Vanessa was one of eight well-known pianists and educators that were invited to take part by the worldfamous pianist. She gave a number of recitals, lectures and masterclasses as part of the festival, including a performance of works for four hands by Rachmaninov and Arensky with RCM alumna Meng Yang Pan. She was also on the jury of the festival’s piano competition, which saw entries from more than 200 young pianists from around the world. The RCM already enjoys a close relationship with Lang Lang, with Vanessa having been appointed Vice Chairman of Lang Lang Music World (his school for gifted pianists) in 2013. Lang Lang has also visited the RCM in recent years for three immensely popular masterclasses, and he received an Honorary Doctorate in 2011.

Matthias Höfs

Adam Walker

Museum Images Available Online Highlights of the RCM’s collections of paintings, photographs, sculptures, and prints, are now being licensed online in partnership with ArenaPAL (www.arenapal.com). This will allow more people to access and utilise the images in the collections. ArenaPAL is the UK’s largest specialist image library for the performing arts, offering editorial, media or commercial rights for digital or print use of images. A number of portraits are now available through the service, and additional images will become available as the RCM Museum of Music continues to digitise its collections.

Joseph Haydn by Thomas Hardy: one of the many RCM portraits available online

Sir Nicholas Winton Visits the RCM British humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton visited the Royal College of Music on Friday 21 November. A keen opera lover, he attended the dress rehearsal of the RCM International Opera School’s autumn production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Having organised the rescue of 669 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia during the nine months before war broke out in 1939, his admirable achievement was unknown until 1988, when it featured on BBC TV’s That’s Life. Sir Nicholas was knighted for Services to Humanity by Her Majesty The Queen in 2003. Sir Nicholas, who recently celebrated his 105th birthday, also attended a reception after the performance and met some of the opera’s star performers.

Left to right: Sir Nicholas Winton, Amy Williamson, Rose Setten and Natasha Day

First Students on New Artist Diploma in Chamber Music The RCM is delighted to announce that the Ruisi Quartet has become the first ensemble on the RCM’s brand new Artist Diploma programme for Chamber Music. The new Artist Diploma offers the opportunity for a pre-formed chamber ensemble to engage in one year of concentrated study. The programme

encourages the development of ensemble skills and repertoire knowledge through a variety of different disciplines, and will bring the quartet into contact with some of the world’s leading chamber music teachers. Formed in London in 2012, the Ruisi Quartet – comprising violinists Alessandro Ruisi and Guy Button,

violist Asher Zaccardelli and cellist Max Ruisi – has quickly established a reputation as an exciting, expressive ensemble, delivering performances that are ‘strikingly immediate, committed and direct’ (Chichester Observer). Thanks to a legacy from the late Albert and Eugenie Frost, the Ruisi Quartet’s place has been made available to them free of charge.

The Ruisi Quartet

Back to Wax Today’s musician entering a recording studio is faced with a multitude of microphones which are capable of picking up an extraordinary range of sounds. But back-track 100 years and the situation was very different. RCM Research Associate Aleks Kollowski tells Upbeat about an extraordinary project, involving 32 RCM students, to re-enact the first complete recording of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, made more than 100 years ago. How did the project come about? The idea to re-enact the 1913 recording of Beethoven’s Fifth by Arthur Nikisch and the Berlin Philharmonic came about through conversations with Duncan Miller, the project’s acoustic sound engineer. Duncan is a leading authority on the techniques of acoustic recording and we would never have been able to record in such a way onto wax discs without his practical expertise and considerable experience. With the support of the RCM’s Research Committee and a group of willing RCM students, the stage for the project was set.

What challenges did you face in setting up the recording? Initially, the main problem was finding information about the original recording and how it was made. Although there’s quite a lot in the EMI Archive about recording set-ups for small ensembles and the positioning of musicians around recording horns, there is nothing that tells us how a large group of musicians could have been recorded acoustically.

He spent many months working on finding a suitable formula; one that would produce the least amount of surface noise compared to the recorded signal. He also hand-built the recording lathe and sound-boxes, a shaving machine for achieving a mirror-finish on the blank discs and for reusing them, as well as a warming cabinet for the blank wax discs. The temperature of these discs when recording is extremely important; if used when cold, they offer too much resistance to the cutting stylus as it ploughs through the wax, creating additional surface noise. We had to heat the room up to a very high temperature so that the discs wouldn’t cool down when taken out of the warming cabinet.

The 1913 Nikisch/Berlin Philharmonic recording is significant because it was the very first successful attempt to record a complete symphony by full orchestra in the history of sound recording, but all we have to go on are contemporary photographs taken in the studios. One photograph in particular became a template for how we arranged the musicians; it was of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Alfred Hertz from September 1913. Although a posed portrait, the image showed the positioning of musicians in relation to the horn, and that, although almost hidden away from view, mechanically amplified Stroh violins were being used. Duncan Miller, however, faced the biggest challenge, and that was making the wax discs for our recordings. 10

RCM students recording Beethoven’s Symphony no 5, 2014

How did you find the correct positions for the musicians? We had to arrange the RCM students in various ways so they could all direct the sounds of their instruments directly into the mouth of the recording horn. It’s comparable to bringing a subject into frame when using a camera; if the musicians were even slightly outside the horn’s range, then they would be inaudible. This meant that the entire orchestra, with the exception of the timpani, had to be packed very close together, with the cellos and basses right in front of the horn. The woodwinds played across the mouth of the horn on a raised platform while the brass were placed at the back on a higher level with the French horns directed at the recording horn so the players faced backwards and had to use a mirror to see the conductor. We spent much of our first day of recording finding correct positions for the RCM students in order to get a fuller and more balanced sound on the wax recordings.

Did you have to make any musical compromises? One extraordinary feature of the original 1913 recording is that, as far as we can tell from listening to the records,

they didn’t substitute or reinforce the harder-to-record instruments, such as using bassoons instead of cellos as was standard practice throughout the acoustic era. But as the lower strings now took up most of the room in front of the recording horn, the violins and violas were clustered together further back. We used two Stroh violins and a viola to bolster the upper string sections and these hybrid instruments with their characteristic aluminium horns and loud directional sound, proved to be absolutely essential. These unusual instruments were universally used in the early studios, before electrical recording, either to reinforce the violins and violas or substitute them altogether. However, I wouldn’t call their use a musical compromise, since they are played exactly the same way as their conventional counterparts and can hardly be told apart in the final recordings.

We were struggling to get the level of our sound recordings on our wax discs to match that of the original Nikisch ones, so our results were somewhat fainter and noisier. However, we were transcribing our wax discs while they were still warm (out of necessity as we had no time to allow them to cool), which affected the playback quality and we were comparing them to shellac pressings which were much harder and louder than the original wax masters would have been. Another factor was the size of the room; the Berlin studio of 1913 was about half the size of the RCM’s Recital Hall and so much more of the orchestral sound would have been reflected off the walls and into the horn. In acoustic recording, factors such as room size, warmth of the recording media, types of recording diaphragm and cutting styli all contribute incrementally to the success of any recording. Had we had more time, we might have increased the volume of the recorded sound on the records. Nevertheless, I believe we did very well indeed under the circumstances and we captured the sound of the orchestra quite successfully. Photo © courtesy of Robert Baumbach

The only major compromise was in the interpretation of dynamics, especially in the slow movement, as the orchestra had to play the softer passages considerably louder than indicated on the score, in order for them to be heard on the recordings.

How does your recording compare to Nikisch’s?

After the sessions, Duncan was actually able to produce moulded resin copies from some of the wax masters, playable on a gramophone, so we were able to see the whole record-making process, from recording a wax master to making a duplicate copy, right through to the end.

The RCM Studios took a recording using ‘modern’ techniques. How do they compare? We set up microphones directly above the horn so we could record the sound from its ‘point of hearing’. This was done in order to make comparisons and to hear what the horn was capturing and, indeed, missing. It would be unfair to compare the two methods of recording qualitatively as they are essentially different; the older acoustic process gives you an impression of the orchestra rather than a vividly real representation achieved through modern digital recording, assisted by electrical amplification. But the former still captures the energy and essence of the performance and interpretation, even though fine details and timbral qualities that we are now so used to hearing are lost. As RCM conductor Robin O’Neill remarked, it’s a strikingly ‘honest and natural’ form of recording, with only the acoustic power of the instruments funneled through a horn and against a small diaphragm forcing it to vibrate. These vibrations in turn modulate an attached stylus that etches an undulating spiral sound groove onto a wax surface.

What impact do you hope this recording experiment will have? It is our hope that these materials will contribute to a better understanding and appreciation of recordings from the acoustic era. There is plenty more research to do in this field and perhaps our project can help initiate and inform further early recording re-enactments. Aleks Kollowski is a Research Associate for the Science Museum’s ‘Music, Noise and Silence’ project, in which the RCM is a collaborative partner.

Find out more How Recordings were made in the early 1920s’. Rosario Bourdon conducting the Victor Salon Orchestra c. 1920

Further details about the project are available on the RCM website at www.rcm.ac.uk/beethovenproject

The Future of Music

RCM musicians recording in the RCM Studios

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates once said: ‘Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is most important.’ One-to-one teaching by inspirational professors has always been at the heart of the RCM. For more than a century, students have aspired to achieve their musical goals, supported and motivated by their professors at Prince Consort Road. However, in recent years this traditional image of learning has been revolutionised by technological advances, and now the RCM is making the most of the tools offered by new technology and digital thinking, from distance learning to multimedia performances and live streaming.

‘Everything we try to do with technology is about giving students an enhanced learning experience.’ Senior Recording Engineer Matt Parkin tells Upbeat. ‘Starting at the most basic level, we regularly film student performances so they can watch themselves back on screen with their professors. They learn something very different when they can watch themselves perform.’ The RCM Studios were first established in 1969 by electroacoustic composer Tristram Cary, and just over three years ago they first started using LOLA: a low latency, audio and videoconferencing technology which enables real-time, simultaneous, live musical performances across long distances. As a result RCM students are now linking up with conservatoires across the globe for masterclasses, lessons and even performances. ‘What these advances in technology are allowing us to do is to link to places around the world where there are professors with specific expertise or niche specialisms who we want to connect our

students with’ explains Matt. ‘Particularly when there are only a couple of students learning a particular instrument, the fact that they can connect with other students and professors around the world also learning these instruments is so useful.’ ‘One of the most interesting projects we’ve done was a live link up with the Royal Danish Academy. It enabled us to sing carols in the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall accompanied by their organ in Copenhagen, relayed here through speakers. We did this using LOLA. This technology really is a game changer because it allows you to play together without any delay over the internet. The sound is better than on a CD and the video quality is also very fast, so performers can easily pick up on conductor’s movements and even musician’s nods and winks.’ The technology is still only used by a handful of places across Europe and America. But with improvements in internet speed it’s hoped it will become more accessible and available to other networks in the future.

Matt believes the opportunities for the RCM are significant: ‘It has the potential to greatly enhance students’ learning experiences by connecting them with peers and professors around the world. Given that the RCM has always had an ambition to reach out and provide musical education beyond its walls, I’d love to see the technology taking RCM music-making to an even wider audience, particularly to regions where it’s difficult to get access to the high-level education we offer.’ Distance learning is just one of a multitude of areas the RCM Studios are involved in, from traditional CD and DVD production to the provision of high-end computer composition and production workstations for RCM composers. The studio team also plays a major role in supporting events, from recording and streaming orchestral concerts to supporting more experimental artistic projects. One of this year’s most adventurous collaborations, connected to the RCM’s Great Exhibitionists series, is The Infinite Bridge: an experimental, student-led project combining live orchestra, dance, animation and several link ups with institutions around the world. ‘Working with students to realise their creative ideas is incredibly exciting’ says Matt. ‘One of the things students tell me they appreciate most about the RCM Studios is that we like challenges and we’re up for helping them turn their ideas into reality. In the case of The Infinite Bridge project, the students have come up with an incredibly strong theatrical concept and narrative that actually embeds live participation from around the world in a theatre show with specially composed music. ‘There will be lots of visual effects that incorporate live links with institutions across Europe and potentially beyond. As far as we know, it’s the first time that someone’s tried to integrate live music, dancers, actors, and narrative as well as these remote contributions seamlessly in one performance. It’s a very ambitious project but also very exciting and innovative. That’s exactly the kind of thing we like to support here at the RCM.’ You can find out more about The Infinite Bridge project at www.rcm.ac.uk/ infinitebridge. The unique performance will take place on Monday 5 May in the RCM’s Britten Theatre and tickets are available from the RCM Box Office.

RCM Live The RCM regularly streams live broadcasts of concerts and masterclasses through our website. Many of these are now available to watch again on our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/rcmlondon),

including masterclasses with violinists Nicola Benedetti and Ida Haendel, pianist Lang Lang and RCM vocal alumni Gerald Finley, Sir Thomas Allen and Sarah Connolly. Here is a selection of our latest recordings available to watch on our YouTube channel. The RCM Philharmonic performed Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet in January 2015 in the stunning Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall. You can watch the complete performance online. @RCMLatest Superb Prokofiev – live streaming to our living room: RCM strings stunning as always #rcmstrings @RCMLatest Loving the live broadcast this evening!

A special celebration of the music of Steve Reich took place in October 2014. You can watch a performance of his award winning ‘Double Sextet’ performed by the RCM New Perspectives ensemble in the Britten Theatre, conducted by Tim Lines. Loving the #Reich double sextet coming from @RCMLatest thanks to the wonders of the internet. Terrific performances of Steve Reich by RCM musicians tonight. @RCMLatest

RCM composers and singers joined forces to celebrate Hogarth’s life, work and legacy by creating five brand new 15 minute operas. Each opera responded to Hogarth’s witty and bitingly acute social commentaries by offering its own unique take on modern society and you can watch them all online. Amazing evening #HogarthsStages @RCMLatest Extraordinarily talented composers, librettists and performers. Congrats to all.

Meeting the supporters... And when did you become an RCM Friend? I joined a few months later when Chinese pianist Lang Lang visited the RCM. I joined just in time to get in and see him. I was an RCM Friend for two years and then I became a Best Friend.

Have you always been interested in music? I used to love singing at school. When I was at one school, I played truant for three days because I wanted to sing. When my mother found out she nearly had a fit! I never used to like violins. But one day I turned on the television and they said there’s Andre Rieu coming on, and of course he came on playing a violin! That was what made me fall in love with the violin.

Ken Goodwin Ken Goodwin is a familiar face to many around the RCM. Since discovering the College in 2011, he’s attended more than 350 events! His continuing support and friendly nature have touched many students and staff over the years, and here he tells Upbeat about why he chooses to support the RCM. How did you first hear about the RCM? I was dancing down at Kensington Palace and there was some baroque dancing going on but I didn’t know what it was – to be quite honest I couldn’t say ‘baroque’ until a student told me how! I said ‘Where does the musician come from?’ and the dance leader said ‘He teaches’ at the Royal College of Music.’ A couple of weeks after, I came for a tour round the Royal Albert Hall and I looked over the road and thought ‘Oh, that’s the Royal College of Music. I wonder if they’ll let me go in.’ So, I came in and asked ‘Do you do tours?’ This gentleman showed me round. Well, I heard some singing, I can’t think what they were singing now but I thought ‘This is music.’ And that is how I found the Royal College of Music. That was February 2011. 14

What events do you like coming to? I do love the masterclasses. I’ll be quite honest, I’m completed exhausted by the end of the afternoon, because I take it all in. I enjoy all the vocal events too – I’ve got all of them booked for this season. I think the percussion students are particularly marvellous too.

And you attend the RCM Friends’ events as well, what do you like about them? I think they’re great. I’m getting in with people, I’m speaking to them and they’re speaking to me. To be quite honest, I feel proud walking through that door. When my wife died I wanted to go to all the colleges to have a look to see what I missed when I was a youngster. You win scholarships now, but in our day you had to be really up in the world to pay.

Do you support the RCM in other ways? I like giving a little bit to the [RCM Hardship Fund] because I think there are things I wanted to do when I was a youngster and I couldn’t do them. I’d hate to think someone had got up so far and then couldn’t afford to continue studying anymore. If a little bit of money helps, I’m happy to support them.

Do you get the chance to speak to the students? Oh yes, lots of students come to speak to me. You don’t realise that they’re pleased to see you there, too [when they perform]. It’s like a family because

everybody greets you. Maxine [on reception] greets me as I walk in, and Jo [in the canteen], she’s got my coffee ready for me and when I go down there she always gets me my dinner. I just love the students and it makes you feel young again.

Do you feel that being an RCM Friend has opened up a world of music to you? I do. When I tell people where I live and they say ‘well I wouldn’t come all that way’ but I don’t mind. It’s worth it. It pulls me here because I just love it. This is my life now, coming here. For more information on becoming an RCM Friend, visit www.rcm.ac.uk/ support or contact Rachel Bowden, Friends and Alumni Relations Assistant, on 020 7591 4331 or email friends@rcm.ac.uk

Welcome to new Friends and Supporters We are delighted to welcome the following people who have recently made their first donation to the RCM Mr Graham Bamford HonRCM Ms Jessica Benson Mr Hugh Bucknill Ms Julie Butler Mr David Curtis Mr Thomas Daykin Ms Lisa Eckes Mr Ian Fergus Mr Michael & Mrs Susan Finlay Ms Monica Garibaldi Mrs Julia Hellings Mr Bruce Hodgkinson Mrs Krishna Kartha Professor Barry Kay Revd Neil Kelley Dr Alexander Knapp Ms Rebecca Lawrence Mr Richard Lay CBE Mrs Tessa Lydekker Mr John Macrory & Mrs Martina Ward Ms Sue McCrossan Mr Geoffrey & Mrs Ritsuko Mills Mr Douglas Murray Ms Stella Olden Mrs Katherine Peeters Mr Donald Pelmear Dr Kathrin Peters Miss Isabelle Tawil Mrs Jill Ware Dr Robin Wormell

Supporting the future of music... Music has the power to transform lives. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, generations of gifted students from around the world have been guided and inspired at the RCM. We would like to thank in particular those who have made donations of £1,000 or more in the last 12 months. Gifts are listed in descending order. Supporters of named scholarships, bursaries and Junior Fellowships The Basil Coleman Bequest The Estate of Ivor Charles Treby Estate of Fiona Searle ABRSM Soirée d’Or Scholarships Leverhulme Trust Anonymous Future of Russia Foundation Philip Loubser Foundation The John and Marjorie Coultate Scholarship Estate of Roselyn Ann Clifton Parker The Big Give Trust Laurie Barry and the John Barry Scholarship for Film Composition Estate of Dr John Birch FRCM The Wolfson Foundation H R Taylor Trust H F Music Awards The Richard Carne Charitable Trust Andrew and Karen Sunnucks John Lewis Partnership Scholarships Jennifer Coumbe Charles Napper Award Lydia Napper Award Hester Laverne Award Croucher Hong Kong Charitable Trust The Tsukanov Family Foundation Richard and Rosemary Millar The Worshipful Company of Musicians Humphrey Searle Scholarship The Polonsky Foundation The Michael Bishop Foundation Gylla Godwin Award The Reed Foundation The Hon Ros Kelly Opperby Stokowski Collection Trust The Lee Abbey Award Stephen Catto Memorial Scholarship The Worshipful Company of Drapers The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers The Estate of Mr Charles Knoll Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust Sir Gordon Palmer Scholarship Ian Stoutzker CBE, FRCM Ian and Meriel Tegner Linda Beeley Emma Rose Scholarship Williams Rose Scholarship The Charles Stewart Richardson Scholarship for Composition The Ernest Hecht Charitable Foundation The Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation UK Henri Cowell Soirée d’Or Scholarship The Boltini Trust Scholarship Gilbert and Eileen Edgar Junior Fellowship Phoebe Benham Junior Fellowship The Mills Williams Foundation The Derek Butler Trust The Charles Peel Charitable Trust The Ackroyd Trust The Wall Trust Midori Nishiura Scholarship The Richard Toeman/Weinberger Opera Scholarship The Wyseliot Charitable Trust The Stanley Picker Scholarship Professor Lord Winston Lark Insurance Scholarship Fiona and Douglas Flint Soirée d’Or Scholarship Steinway & Sons Mason Scholarship The Gary & Eleanor Brass Scholarship Betty Brenner Scholarship The JMC Award

The Robin Ritzema Scholarship The Howard and Abbey Milstein Foundation David Laing Foundation Scholarship The Greenbank Scholarship Independent Opera Artist Scholarship South Square Trust The Tait Trust Scholarship The Radcliffe Trust Sir Peter and Lady Walters Rev Lyndon van der Pump FRCM and Edward Brooks FRCM Edgar Tom and Hilda May Cook The Rothschild Foundation Douglas and Kyra Downie Knights of the Round Table Mark Loveday Scholarship Music Talks Scholarship Miss Ianthe Williams Award Arthur Wilson Trombone Award Else and Leonard Cross Charitable Trust Yehudi Menuhin Award Bell Percussion Kirby Laing Foundation The Bliss Trust Peter Granger Norman Reintamm Supporters of RCM Sparks Royal Albert Hall John Lyon’s Charity Universal Music John Lewis Partnership The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Anonymous The Oldhurst Trust Members of the RCM Chairman’s Circle Philip Carne MBE, HonRCM and Christine Carne* Michael and Ruth West* Linda and Tony Hill Denis and Meredith Coleman*+ John and Catherine Armitage* Jane Barker CBE* Dasha Shenkman OBE, HonRCM* Sir Roger and Lady Carr HonRCM* Karina and Dhairya Choudhrie*+ Guy Dawson and Sam Horscroft+ Gisela Gledhill* Terry Hitchcock* James and Clare Kirkman* Dr Mark Levesley and Christina Hoseason* John Nickson and Simon Rew* Sylvia and Clive Richards* Quentin Williams* Victoria Robey OBE* Alethea Siow and Jeremy Furniss* Members of the RCM Director’s Circle Daniel Chapchal Sir Peter and Lady Middleton FRCM Judy and Terence Mowschenson Vivien McLean Tania Chislett Charles and Kaaren Hale The Vernon Ellis Foundation Metherell Family Richard and Sue Price Peter and Dimity Spiller Joanna Kaye+ Sir Sydney and Lady Lipworth Anne Wadsworth+ Sir Robert and Lady Wilson Members of the RCM Patrons’ Circle John Ward Russell Race* Jane Wilson Mrs Piffa Schroder Ellen Moloney Rhoddy Voremberg Dimity and Kerry Rubie Mrs Victoria Moore-Gillon David and Sue Lewis Mrs Isla Baring* Halina and John Bennett

Lorna and Christopher Bown Mrs Lorraine Buckland Mr Kenneth and Mrs Lillemor Gardener Sir Anthony Cleaver FRCM and Lady Cleaver Anonymous Mary Godwin Carol J Hagh Ms Greta Hemus John and Sue Heywood Barbara Simmonds Betty Sutherland Louisa Treger Dr Yvonne Winkler Mr Victor and Mrs Lilian Hochhauser FRCM Sir Peter and Lady Gershon Mr James Lancaster and Mrs Margaret Lancaster Mrs Yannick Mango Sir David Lees Sir Richard and Lady Sykes Mr David Mildon Robin Hambro Charles and Domonique Lubar Helen Chung-Halpern and Abel Halpern Mrs Marcella Rossi MarieNoelle and Mathias Gislev Corporate Supporters Campus Living Villages M&G Investments GlaxoSmithKline Royal Garden Hotel RLM Finsbury BAE Systems Hatch Mansfield Little Greene Other generous donors Georg and Emily von Opel Foundation+ Geoffrey Richards HonRCM Mr Paul Brewer Bob and Sarah Wigley The Henry Wood Trust Richard Beck The Robert Fleming Hannay Memorial Charity The Amaryllis Fleming Foundation The Mirfield Trust Karen Cook Guy Dawson Jon Symonds The Hon Richard Lyttelton Heritage Lottery Fund The Rothschild Foundation The Seary Charitable Trust St Marylebone Educational Foundation John Hosier Music Trust Roland Rudd The Sharp Foundation Christopher Saul Sian Westerman Natalie Livingstone The Leche Trust Ofenheim Charitable Trust Ann Driver Trust Fidelio Trust Dorothy Sayers Clore Duffield Foundation Richard Everard Sir David Tang Stephen Von Bismarck Mitie Mr Douglas Flint Anonymous The Derek Hill Foundation Professor Colin Lawson FRCM Edward Mandel/Jaques Samuel Pianos Bursary Friends of the National Libraries * also support a named award + also support RCM Sparks For more information about supporting the RCM, visit www.rcm.ac.uk/supportus Alternatively, contact Fiona Rose on 020 7591 4321 or fiona.rose@rcm.ac.uk

Student notes

Joo Yeon Sir

Constant and Kit Lambert Junior Fellow Joo Yeon Sir has triumphed at The Arts Club Karl Jenkins Classical Music Award, winning £4,000 and the chance to record a piece written specially by Karl Jenkins for broadcast on Classic FM... Violinist Clara Danchin has won Second Prize at the 45th Cziffra Foundation Competition in Senlis, France… Jian Ren has been awarded Second Prize and the Audience Prize at the Third Mirecourt International Violin Competition in France (no First Prize was awarded). Leon Keuffer received Fourth Prize… Violinist Olivia Francis has been awarded an AMP National Scholarship of $10,000NZD (approximately £5,000). One of 11 recipients shortlisted from 2,200 applicants, Olivia will use the scholarship, which is awarded to New Zealanders of any age or field who want to ‘do their thing’, to fund her RCM studies.

Olivia Francis

Violinist Alix Lagasse has been selected for the London Symphony Orchestra String Experience Scheme 2014/2015, rehearsing and performing as part of the orchestra and working with conductors such as Xian Zhang, Gianandrea Noseda, Daniel Harding and Marin Alsop… Violinist Naoka Aoki has won the Second Great Prize-Prince Louis de Polignac Foundation and the Special Prize Prince Albert II of Monaco (for the best interpretation of the concerto) at the Thibaud Violin Contest in Paris. She has also won Second Prize at the Chinese International Violin Competition in Qingdao… Rosanna Rolton has won the Fourth International Harp Contest ‘Suoni D’Arpa’ in Milan. Her prize includes a number of engagements in Italy and a CD recording… Laure Chan has performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Watford Youth Sinfonia, a newly formed orchestra comprising young musicians from conservatoires, universities and music schools, including violist Joanna Patrick as leader of the viola section.

Composition congratulations Dani Howard’s piece Blue Pavilion has been chosen for submission to the International Jury for the 2015 ISCM World Music Days. She is also a finalist in the A Rendano Composition Competition and has been awarded Third Prize in the ChengDu Sun River Composition Competition. Her octet for percussion, What Lies Beneath Rings, has also been performed by RCM ensemble PERC’M with She-e Wu on a UK tour… Arne Gieshoff has received a prestigious commission from Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer school, to write a new work to mark the opening of the Tanglewood Music Center’s 75th Anniversary Season… Nick Morrish Rarity has won the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize, and will write a chamber piece for the 2015 Cheltenham Festival… Benjamin Woodgates has been awarded the ASCAP Foundation Michelle and Dean Kay Award. The award was established to support aspiring songwriters who have participated in ASCAP workshops in Los Angeles… Nicola Monopoli’s work for tape, 3 Stanzas, has been selected for the Open Circuit Festival at the University of Liverpool… RCM Junior Department composer Joe Reynolds has

been announced as Cambridge Young Composer of the Year 2014/15 for his composition The Bell Tower of Poveglia… Bertram Wee has been announced as the winner of the 2014 BASCA British Composer Awards Student Competition. His winning piece, Sonicalia for tuba and tenor trombone, was performed at the Awards ceremony in December.

Bertram Wee accepting his award

Richard Miller’s piece Phlebas has been selected for workshop and performance by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra as part of the BSO’s Composers’ Day in February. The workshop was led by Colin Matthews.

Vocal achievements Soprano Rowan Pierce has won the Schubert Society of Britain’s Lieder Prize. Her award includes a Schubert Society recital, £500 and a specially commissioned bronze sculpture by Gloria Loring.

Rowan Pierce

Photo © Mark Allan

String successes

Countertenor Timothy Morgan has won the Kathleen Ferrier Society Annual Bursary for Young Singers. He sang ‘Dove sei’ from Rodelinda, ‘Der Lindenbaum’ from Winterreise and Tippett’s Songs for Ariel in the first round, followed by songs by Handel, Schubert and Howells in the second round... Soprano Josephine Goddard has won a Miriam Licette Award in the Maggie Teyte Competition... Baritone Timothy Nelson has won the Singer’s Prize in the 2014 Gerald Moore Awards… Soprano Laure Poissonnier has been awarded a place at L’Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra national de Paris for 2015/16.

Keyboard accomplishments Pianist Pavel Kolesnikov has performed Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto no 3 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vassily Sinaisky at the Royal Festival Hall, and with Maria-João Pires at Wigmore Hall. He will be making his New York debut at Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall in March, with a recital including works by Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann and Scriabin.

Spotlight on…

over 50 applicants for the three-year position, which he began in January 2015. The Scottish composer’s first opera, Now, written in collaboration with RCM alumna Laura Attridge, was premiered in May 2014 as part of the RCM’s Hogarth’s Stages in association with Tête à Tête Opera, and is available to watch at www.youtube.com/rcmlondon

Lewis Murphy has been announced as Glyndebourne’s new Young Composer in Residence. Lewis is an RCM Scholar, supported by a Miss Ianthe Williams Award and a Douglas and Hilda Simmonds Award, and currently studies with MarkAnthony Turnage. He was chosen from Luka Okrostsvaridze has won First Prize at the Jaques Samuel Intercollegiate Piano Competition which was held at Wigmore Hall. Luka’s prize includes a Wigmore Hall recital and a CD recording… Pianist Dinara Klinton has performed at the Purcell Room as an award winner of the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund. Her recital programme in November included works by Chopin and Schubert… Martin James Bartlett has performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto no 20 with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra as part of an afternoon of New Year celebrations at Worthing Assembly Hall… Claire Harris has won the Accompanist’s Prize in the 2015 Maggie Teyte Competition… RCM Junior Department pianists Tomoka Kan and Isaac Ettedgui have recorded the new grade 1 piano pieces for ABRSM, to accompany the books of selected pieces which are used by piano students worldwide. Recorded at the Menuhin Hall, the CD also features performances by Head of Keyboard Professor Vanessa Latarche.

The Glyndebourne Young Composer in Residence scheme offers an emerging composer under the age of 30 the chance to spend three years immersed in the work of the company. During that time they are able to observe the creation of new opera, involve themselves in Glyndebourne’s broader artistic, learning and audience development activities and create their own new work.

Woodwind triumphs Victoria Soames Samek will give the London premiere of Thea Musgrave’s bass clarinet concerto, Autumn Sonata, at a concert with St Paul’s Sinfonia at St Stephen’s Church, Lewisham, on 20 March.

Research endeavours Doctoral student and countertenor Randall Scotting has presented a paper based on his research on the opera Eumene at the British Society for 18th Century Studies’ annual conference in Oxford. He has also presented concerts at the National Gallery and Handel House Museum in London.

Georgina Sherriff

Organist Georgina Sherriff has taken part in a cycle ride from Land’s End to London to raise money for the Merryn Thomas Discretionary Trust. Merryn suffered paralysis after successfully auditioning for the RCM and was unable to take up her place. Georgina and her brother cycled 400 miles in 6 days and raised over £2,000.

Isaac Ettedgui

Randall Scotting

Staff notes Composition professor Simon Holt’s Third String Quartet has received its world premiere by the JACK Quartet at Wigmore Hall in January. Revolutionary Drawing Room, of which violin professor Adrian Butterfield is a member, has released a new recording in time for its 25th anniversary in 2015. Released on the Omnibus Classics label, A Viennese Quartet Party is a recreation of the time in 1784 when Mozart, Haydn, Vanhal and Dittersdorf played quartets together in Vienna. Deputy Librarian Dr Peter Horton has contributed to a documentary entitled Elizabeth Maconchy – A Girl Composer’s Triumph. The programme was broadcast as part of The Lyric Feature series on RTÉ Lyric FM and asked why Maconchy, a student at the RCM in the 1920s, has been all but forgotten. Peter has also raised £160 for the Parkinson’s Society by walking 22.5 miles along the Capital Ring footpath.

Janis Kelly

Violin professor Madeleine Mitchell will give a recital at Wigmore Hall on 19 March with piano professor Nigel Clayton. Their programme of British music includes Elgar’s Violin Sonata and MacMillan’s Kiss on Wood (written for and recorded by Mitchell). This follows Madeleine’s return to Russia in February to perform Elgar’s Violin Concerto and British chamber music with colleagues at the Moscow Conservatory. 18

Composition professor Francis Shaw has conducted a recording of both of his piano concertos with the Slovak National Orchestra and Martin Jones as pianist. The first concerto received its premiere in St George’s Chapel, Windsor, in 1987 but was not recorded, while the second, after being originally commissioned in 1996 by the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, was completed in 2013. Composition professor Jonathan Cole’s recent work Menhir for saxophone quartet was premiered by the Fukio Ensemble at a re:sound event last year, with further performances at the Huddersfield International Contemporary Music Festival and St Leonard’s Shoreditch.

Vocal professor Janis Kelly has recorded Rufus Wainwright’s opera Prima Donna with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon. The opera will also be broadcast on the BBC.

Madeleine Mitchell

Francis Shaw

Composition professor Joseph Horovitz’s music has been released on two recent CDs. Victoria Soames Samek performs his chamber music for clarinet on Joseph Horovitz: The Essential Collection (Clarinet & Saxophone Classics), and David Childs’ The Symphonic Euphonium features Horovitz’s Euphonium Concerto – the first written for the instrument. Joseph has also been featured on Bayerischer Rundfunk Klassik and Los Angeles-based radio station Classical KUSC. Guitar professor Carlos Bonell has performed his new programme The Classical Tour at Bolivar Hall in London and All Saints’ Church, Marlow. The concerts included his own arrangements of music by Queen and The Beatles, as well as other well-known guitar melodies.

Museum Assistant Erin McHugh will be speaking at the Visually Impaired Musicians’ Lives Conference, hosted by the Institute of Education at the University of London, on 11 March. She will discuss the RCM Museum of Music’s workshops for blind and partially sighted musicians. The first workshop of the series, held on 3 November, explored Baroque music through performance and composition, with workshop leader Hannah Conway.

RCM Museum of Music workshops for blind and partially sighted musicians

Composition professor Mark-Anthony Turnage has won the Orchestral Award at the BASCA British Composer Awards for his Beethoven inspired piece Frieze, which was premiered last year at the BBC Proms by the National Orchestra of Great Britain. Several of his works have also received premieres recently, including Contusion, performed by the Belcea Quartet in London, and the US premiere of his Piano Concerto by the Philadelphia Orchestra and Marc-André Hamelin.

RCM Ensemble in Association Florilegium, directed by Head of Historical Performance Professor Ashley Solomon, has released its 25th recording on Channel Classics. The two-CD set of the complete Bach Brandenburg Concertos features RCM professors, alumni and students. The recording has been awarded ‘CD of the Week’ in The Netherlands and Classic FM’s ‘Featured Album’, and it was recently highly recommended by BBC Radio 3’s CD Review.

Spotlight on…

Christopher Glynn

Pianist Christopher Glynn has recorded CDs with Roderick Williams, Dame Felicity Lott, Allan Clayton, Claire Booth and Julian Bliss. He has also recorded the piano soundtrack on the forthcoming film Altamira, starring Antonio Banderas and Golshifteh Farahani.

Percussion professor Ralph Salmins has been voted one of the ‘16 Best Pop and Session Drummers in the World Today’ in the Rhythm Magazine 2014 Readers’ Polls. Junior Department piano teacher Clara Rodriguez has announced several performance dates in London during the spring. She will perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue at St Martin-in-theFields on 14 April and a programme of Spanish and Latin American music at the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room on 7 June.

Head of Aural & Musicianship Pande Shahov will have his latest work, Symphony of Songs and Epitaphs for soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra, performed by the Choir and Orchestra of the Macedonian National Opera on 1 April. The concert will be held in the Grand Hall of the National Opera in Skopje. The Exhibition Road Chamber Choir, conducted by RCM Artistic Director Stephen Johns, will perform a lunchtime concert of Renaissance polyphony in the V&A’s Raphael Gallery on 24 March. RCM research associate Daisy Fancourt has been awarded a prestigious Young Investigator Scholarship from the American Psychosomatic Society. Daisy will speak at the Society’s international conference and will receive mentoring from a leading psychobiology researcher for the coming year.

Assistant Librarian Michael Mullen’s new trio-sonata for recorder, viola da gamba and harpsichord has been published by Peacock Press. Entitled Dr Dee his Magick Square, it was commissioned by Andrew Collis for his group The Stanesby Players, and received its premiere in London in May 2014.

Studio Administrator Rich Stephenson has released his debut EP I AM RICH on iTunes and Spotify. Partly recorded in the RCM Studios, Richard has subsequently toured London, New York and France promoting the album. One of the tracks also made the BBC Introducing on Radio Humberside ‘Best of 2014’ playlist.

Composition professor Kenneth Hesketh has been announced as the Music Director for Phoenix Dance Theatre’s Choreographers and Composers Lab in Leeds, in July. The two week intensive course will concentrate on the creative process of research and experimentation with the emphasis on composition in music and dance.

Vocal professor Daniele Guerra has directed Errollyn Wallen’s Cautionary Tales, a contemporary opera for children, at last year’s Latitude Festival. He has also acted as revival director of La bohème at Opéra Bastille for Paris Opera, and as associate director for a reconstruction of the very first staging of Tosca at Rome Opera.

Professor of Performance Science Aaron Williamon, along with research associates Daisy Fancourt and Lisa Aufegger, will host a series of events at this year’s Cheltenham Music Festival. Organised in collaboration with Imperial College’s Professor of Signal Processing Danilo P Mandic and Research Associate Valentin Goverdovsky, the events aim to explore the benefits and stresses of choir singing for those performing and for those in the audience. Working with internationally acclaimed composer Eric Whitacre and his choir, they will measure heart rate and stress-related hormones during a concert on 7 July at Gloucester Cathedral. A roundtable discussion on 11 July will discuss their findings. Established in 1945, Cheltenham Music Festival is one of the most prestigious music festivals in the world. The 12 day festival features more than 60 events held in Cheltenham and the many cathedrals, abbey and churches across the region. Find out more at www.cheltenhamfestivals.com

Alumni notes Ensemble 4 Girls 4 Harps has founded the British Harp Chamber Music Competition. Open to UK residents, the competition aims to inspire future generations of harpists and to act as a platform to showcase the harp within diverse ensembles.

Flautist Elisse Kleiner has worked with composer/pianist David Paterson and percussionist Erica Rasmussen to devise a new event featuring specially commissioned chamber music inspired by the taste of different wines. Tasting Notes was held at the Tarra Warra Estate in Australia and featured musicians from the Melbourne Symphony.

Composer and pianist Johan Hugosson has performed a concert of his own works with the Belsize String Quartet at St James’s Piccadilly.

Charlotte Bray’s compositions have been recorded by the Aldeburgh World Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder, and by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group conducted by Oliver Knussen. Both recordings were reviewed by The Times and Bray’s music was described as attesting ‘a sharp ear and a vigorous imagination’.

Pianist Nicholas McCarthy has performed a recital at Conway Hall as part of Rhinegold LIVE’s series of free rush hour concerts. The programme included pieces for left hand alone and transcriptions by Nicholas, and was followed by a Q&A session. Cape Town based composer Peter Klatzow has been chosen as Composer in Residence for the 2015 Johannesburg International Mozart Festival. In this role, Peter provided programming expertise and composed a new work. Violinist Benjamin Baker has been announced as a runner up in The Arts Club Karl Jenkins Classical Music Award.

Alex Edmundson has been appointed as third horn of the London Symphony Orchestra. Following the death of RCM alumnus William Lewarne Harris in 2013, his memoirs Knocking on a Bolted Door have been published to commemorate his life and work. A copy has been donated to the RCM Library and it can also be ordered from Lewarne Publishing.

David Sutton-Anderson’s piece Reflections and Echoes has received its world premiere at Fairfield Halls, Croydon. It was performed by the contemporary music group Sounds Positive in a programme which also included works by RCM alumni MarkAnthony Turnage, Simon Desorgher and Avril Anderson.

Ivana Gavrić

Pianist Ivana Gavrić’s third disc of piano works by Grieg has been awarded Recording of the Year 2014 by the Grieg Society. Ivana has also recently made her debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic conducted by Rafael Payare and the Trondheim Soloists, and performed an all-Grieg recital at the KKL Luzern in Switzerland. The London Soloists Philharmonia, of which many members are RCM alumni, has accompanied a performance of the London Russian Ballet School at Cadogan Hall, conducted by Peter Limonov. 20

Sounds Positive

Soprano Soraya Mafi has been announced as the latest winner of the Peter Hulsen Orchestral Song Award, along with bass baritone Bozidar Smiljanic. They will perform a concert of solo songs accompanied by Southbank Sinfonia at St Martin-in-the-Fields in June.

Alex Edmundson

Tenor Ezra Williams has starred as Turiddu in the Opera Seria production of Cavalleria rusticana and I Pagliacci in Manchester, alongside other RCM alumni. This year he will perform Don José (Carmen) and Cavaradossi (Tosca) for the New London Opera Players, as well as Cassio (Otello) for Opera Seria. Jonathan Del Mar has completed his editions of the Beethoven concertos, published by Bärenreiter. Following on from his ground-breaking edition of the symphonies, he has published the Violin Concerto in both its violin and piano arrangement versions, the Triple Concerto, and the first four piano concertos. His edition of the Emperor Concerto will be released in March 2015.

Michael Foyle and Maksim Štšura

Violinist Michael Foyle and doctoral student and pianist Maksim Štšura have given their Purcell Room debut as part of the Park Lane Group’s New Year Series 2015. Their performance of Penderecki’s Sonata no 1 for violin and piano was described as the highlight by John Allison of The Telegraph and received a four star review from The Times. Pianist Kausikan Rajeshkumar has won the First Grand Prize of $25,000 at the recent VI Concurso Internacional de Piano (Parnassós) competition in Mexico.

Roger Sayer, Director of Music at Temple Church London, has featured as organist in Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack for Christopher Nolan’s film Interstellar. Nolan explained he wanted ‘a feeling of religiosity’, which Sayer provided on Temple Church’s pipe organ. Pianist Christina Lawrie has performed solo, duo and chamber music repertoire with members of the Fitzwilliam String Quartet in Newfoundland, Canada, at the Wintertide Festival. Programme highlights included the Dvořák Piano Quintet and Franck’s Sonata for violin and piano.

Simon Dobson at the British Composer Awards

Sarah Connolly, Elizabeth Watts and Sophie Bevan have been named in the Evening Standard’s list of the 1,000 most influential music-makers in London. Soprano Ruby Hughes has appeared on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune singing works by Debussy and Ravel. She also performed music by Mozart and Rossini with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Soprano Joanne Marie D’Mello has been invited to sing in Berio’s Coro at the Lucerne Festival under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle in August 2014. She also worked with conductors James Wood and Darius Battiwalla.

Several RCM alumni have been successful at the recent BASCA British Composer Awards.

Christina Lawrie

Alexander Shelley has conducted The Marriage of Figaro with Opera North in Leeds. The production marks his first time conducting opera in the UK. Dominic John, former Chappell Gold Medal winner and RCM Society Junior Fellow, has performed music from his latest album Wild About Transcription (Willowhayne Records) at an evening recital in Sonning-on-Thames. He has also performed Brahms’ Piano Concerto no 2 with the Kingston Philharmonia conducted by Alexander Walker.

Joanne Marie D’Mello

Dr Ian White’s PhD thesis on composition, involving late-20th century analysis, particularly in relation to Gerhard’s Concerto for Orchestra, has been made available online at the instigation of British Library EThOS and University of Surrey SRI Open Access services.

Conductor Tim Murray has been nominated in the ‘Newcomer’ category at the International Opera Awards for his conducting work in 2014, which included Hogarth’s Stages at the RCM and appearances at Opéra National de Bordeaux, the Royal Opera House and Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona.

Simon Dobson won the Wind or Brass Band category for the second time, with his Journey of the Lone Wolf written for the Black Dyke Band. Luke Bedford’s Renewal, Helen Grime’s Near Midnight and Christopher Trapani’s Visions and Revisions also all received nominations. The 12th British Composer Awards took place on 2 December 2014 at Goldsmiths’ Hall, London, and were hosted by BBC Radio 3 presenters Sara Mohr-Pietsch and Andrew McGregor. The ceremony’s guest speaker was Dame Evelyn Glennie, and winner of the Student Competition, Bertram Wee, had his winning piece Sonicalia performed by Amos Miller and David GordonShute from Onyx Brass. The British Composer Awards were created by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) in 2003. They seek to promote the art of composition, to recognise the creative talent of composers and sound artists, and to bring their music to a wider audience.

Obituaries and births Vivienne Price, RCM alumna and founder of the National Children’s Orchestra, died on 6 November 2014. Born at Leigh-on-Sea in Essex on 9 January 1931, her father died while she was a baby and she was raised by her mother in Epsom, Surrey. She set up her first orchestra, rehearsing in the family sitting room, while at school and won an exhibition scholarship to the RCM to study violin (1947-1951). After graduating, Vivienne taught the violin, co-founded the Fitznells School of Music, and ran the orchestra in the junior division at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She went on to form the NCO in 1978, followed by the Training Orchestra in 1981. Her work with the NCO was acknowledged with an MBE in 1997 and she was awarded the HonRCM in the same year. She was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Music Teacher Awards for Excellence in 2014 for her contribution to music education.

Peter Handley

RCM alumnus Peter Handley died on Saturday 1 November. Pete was a vibrant, passionate student with a huge dedication and enthusiasm for his art. He studied with David Hockings and Sam Walton, and graduated in July 2012 with first class honours. He was involved in a variety of projects throughout his time as a student, and continued to represent the RCM after he graduated through his work with the Woodhouse Professional Development Centre. In 2010, Pete founded and ran the RCM Redhocks, the first drumline in London, for which he wrote and performed. He later went on to establish his own professional ensemble – Box 9 Drum Line – and was also a member of the Cantaloupe Trio. 22

He taught at Wells Cathedral School, led Tuning up! classes, worked as a tutor for Surrey Arts, taught residential courses, and ran masterclasses and workshops with adults and children of all ages. Pete had a positive effect on all those he met through his love of life, generosity of spirit and good sense of humour. RCM alumna Lesley Mary Talbot died aged 66 on 29 November 2014, following a lengthy illness. She was an inspirational music teacher and musician from Kendal, best known for her work at Queen Katherine School Kendal as Head of Music from 1972 to 2006. She achieved the ABRSM gold medal and highest mark in the country when she took her grade 8 piano exam. She then studied piano, oboe and composition at the RCM, graduating in 1970 with the Ellen Marie Curtis Prize. She married her husband Robert in 1981 and they had two children, Anna and Chris, both accomplished musicians. In addition to her teaching career, Lesley played oboe for Lakeland Sinfonia (1970s-2000), conducted Staveley Choral Society for 10 years, and was chorus master for the Mary Wakefield Festival in the 1980s. RCM alumnus Michael Hinton has died after a prolonged period of ill health. Born in 1940, Michael was awarded a Foundation Scholarship in 1958 to study the trumpet at the RCM with Ernest Hall and Richard Walton. Upon graduation, he became principal trumpet with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company and, later, with the Festival Ballet for the Royal Festival Hall season concerts. He played a prominent role in several West End musicals and was active as a freelance trumpeter before being appointed principal trumpet with English National Opera from 1976 until 1987. Michael was a dedicated trumpet teacher and for several years taught in the RCM Junior Department before taking up an appointment as one of the Heads of Brass for the then Inner London Education Authority. Unfortunately, ill health forced Michael to retire in 2011. He was married to RCM alumna Pamela Mogford, and their daughter Claire also studied at the RCM. RCM alumna Barbara Marian Yates (née Greenwood) GRSM, ARCM, died aged 72 on 26 December 2014. Born on 9 August 1942, Barbara studied at the RCM between 1960 and 1963. A gifted pianist and contralto singer, Barbara was also a dedicated and inspirational teacher, who leaves her husband Roger and son Simon.

Births

RCM Concert Manager Jess Pearce welcomed daughter Mimi Sophie Charlotte Cresswell on Friday 28 November, weighing 7lbs 6ozs.

Mimi Cresswell

RCM alumnus Ezra Williams is delighted to announce the birth of his son Eli Jacob Amos Williams, weighing 7lbs 13ozs, on 9 August 2014.

Vocal coach Norbert Meyn, his wife Stefanie and daughter Marietta welcomed Julius Phillip Joachim Meyn on 30 October 2014, weighing 9lbs.

Julius Meyn

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