UPBEAT SPRING 2019 NEWS FROM INSIDE THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC
IN THIS ISSUE THE MILEIN COSMAN COLLECTION CHRIS CHRISTODOULOU
HIGHLIGHTS
The Marriage of Figaro
In autumn, esteemed baritone and alumnus Sir Thomas Allen returned to the RCM to direct a rousing performance of Mozart’s much-loved comic opera, The Marriage of Figaro. Photos: Chris Christodoulou Front cover: Amaryllis Fleming by Milein Cosman
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This issue of Upbeat focuses on history and heritage, acknowledging some of the individuals who have made notable contributions both to the legacy of the Royal College of Music, and indeed to music itself. Join us on pages 12–13 as we celebrate the invaluable cache of Milein Cosman sketches recently bequeathed to the RCM. A highly skilled portraitist, Cosman captured some of the most significant figures of 20th-century music, many of whom studied or taught at the College. Now, 1,300 of these treasured artworks have found a new home in the RCM Museum. Read more about the artist, and the musicians who became her muse, inside. Chris Christodoulou has photographed some of the greatest moments in RCM history, from the 1983 Centenary Gala Concert to Prince Charles’ 25th President’s Visit last year. On pages 10–11, he shares his fondest memories from behind the camera, and explains why he’s decided to leave a very special gift to the College. On page 9, we speak to an individual helping to preserve the College’s own musical heritage: RCM Museum Conservator, Susana Caldeira. Find out about the fascinating historic instruments under her care, and discover why conservation is both a science and an art. You can tell us about your own recent projects and achievements by emailing news@rcm.ac.uk. The deadline for the summer issue of Upbeat is Tuesday 7 May 2019.
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NEWS
The latest news and activities from the Royal College of Music
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CONTENTS
WELCOME TO UPBEAT
IN THE spotlight
RCM Museum Conservator Susana Caldeira
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leaving a legacy
Find out why photographer Chris Christodoulou is leaving a very special gift to the College
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musical portraits
We celebrate the 1,300 Milein Cosman sketches recently donated to the RCM Museum
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SUPPORT US
STUDENT UPDATES
STAFF UPDATES
Professor Colin Lawson CBE FRCM, Director
UPBEAT ONLINE
ALUMNI UPDATES
IN MEMORY
Upbeat is available to read online at www.rcm.ac.uk/upbeat. Please help us to reduce our carbon footprint by receiving Upbeat digitally. Update your preferences via updateyourdetails@rcm.ac.uk Director of Communications Talia Hull Editor Kathryn Lamont Designer May Yan Man Design www.splashofpaint.com Contact news@rcm.ac.uk
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NEWS
IN THE NEWS Below RCM musicians fundraising for the 2018 Big Give Christmas Challenge
THE BIG GIVE CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE
RESEARCH ENGLAND AWARDS RCM SPECIAL COMMENDATION
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he Royal College of Music has raised over £110,000 in the 2018 Big Give Christmas Challenge, exceeding its fundraising target. The campaign ran from 27 November to 4 December 2018 and every donation that helped us to reach our target was doubled.
The RCM would like to thank all those who generously donated in support of the RCM Scholarships Fund, particularly many alumni and RCM Friends. The funds raised will have a transformational impact on the lives of gifted young musicians who might not be able to study at the College without financial assistance. Founded by entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Alec Reed, the Big Give Christmas Challenge is the UK’s biggest online match funding campaign, helping UK-registered charities raise thousands of pounds for their causes. Since the initiative launched in 2008, the Christmas Challenge has raised over £112 million for UKregistered charities.
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esearch England has awarded the Royal College of Music a Special Commendation for its three-year Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) strategy. The GCRF is a £1.5 billion fund supporting cutting-edge research that addresses the challenges faced by developing countries. The RCM is one of 10 institutions commended, and the only music conservatoire to be recognised. The Special Commendation recognised the use of best practice, expert leadership and commitment to addressing the issues faced by developing countries in the RCM’s GCRF strategy. In particular, Research England praised the College’s demonstration that small allocations of funds can be used effectively by specialist institutions, as well as its focus on the enhancement of existing collaborations with developing countries. Director of Research, Professor Richard Wistreich, commented: ‘This recognition by Research England is a tremendous endorsement of our commitment to being a truly international institution. Although we are a small institution we undertake a huge range of world-class research and recognise our responsibility to exchange knowledge across international borders.’
Left The 23 RCM Junior Department musicians joining the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
RECORD NUMBER OF RCMJD MUSICIANS JOIN NYO
SOIRÉE D’OR SUCCESS AT THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT
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total of 23 musicians from the Royal College of Music Junior Department have won places in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for 2019, a record number to be taken in one year. Of the successful musicians, nine will join the first violin section and three will become section principals. Lily Harwood will lead the second violins, Dan Brandon will lead the cellos and Brendan Connellan will become Co-Principal Horn. The other current students joining are: violinists Catherine Abela, Catherine Alsey, Gabriella Bavetta, Neil Dixon, Jamie Frost, Betania Johnny, Alexander Semple, Rachel Stonham, Lottie Swainston and Hieu Wilkinson; violists Emily Fraser, Nadia Soole-Sanchez and Luca Wadham; cellists James Conway, James Dew and Souny Park; clarinettist Iona Salter; bassoonist Aidan Campbell; and horn players Alexander Harris and Alice Knight. In addition, five RCMJD alumni will join the orchestra and a further nine students were chosen to take part in NYO Inspire, with opportunities to participate in in-depth workshops, rehearsals and performances.
he Royal College of Music’s annual fundraising event, Soirée d’Or, took place at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 5 December 2018, raising just under £220,000 for the RCM Scholarships Fund. Guests enjoyed a champagne reception, dinner and live performances from RCM musicians and alumni. Pianist Arina Lazgiian gave an exceptional solo performance, trumpet player Erika Curbelo played two riveting concerto movements alongside the Arcus Quartet and double bass player Lucia Polo Moreno, while soprano Julieth Lozano delighted guests with two Puccini arias. The RCM Chamber Choir performed A Spotless Rose by Howells, as well as Martin and Blane’s Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, arranged by Artistic Director Stephen Johns and featuring baritone James Atkinson as soloist. RCM Director Professor Colin Lawson and RCM Chairman Lord Black of Brentwood also spoke of the success of the RCM More Music: Reimagining the Royal College of Music Campaign, highlighting some of the student achievements from the past year. The RCM is indebted to the Soirée d’Or fundraising committee led by Lady Carr. Special recognition and thanks must also go to Mary Cosgrave for her joyful commitment and huge contribution to the success of Soirée d’Or over many years.
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NEWS Opposite Farinelli by Bartolomeo Nazari and Ignacy Jan Paderewski by Edward Burne-Jones Below Sarah Hanratty, Marcus McDonald, Professor Colin Lawson, Aida Berhamovic and Sean Travers (Gilbert-Ash) at the topping out ceremony
MORE MUSIC REACHES NEW MILESTONE
CPS RESEARCH HOLDS GOOD NEWS FOR MUSICIANS
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he More Music: Reimagining the Royal College of Music Campaign reached another milestone in January with the development’s ‘topping out’ ceremony. ‘Topping out’ is a builders’ rite traditionally held when the fundamental structure is completed. On 31 January the last level of the More Music development’s concrete structure was poured in the presence of RCM Director Professor Colin Lawson and RCM Chairman Lord Black. The project now has an exciting year ahead as the structure is fitted out and completed, ahead of the official opening in 2020. Director Professor Colin Lawson commented: ‘The transformation of the courtyard has been astonishing since we broke ground in summer 2017 and the excitement is tangible among the College community for completion next year. I am looking forward to unveiling an enhanced institution with state-of-the-art facilities which will be enjoyed by generations of musicians for years to come.’
new study from the Centre for Performance Science (CPS) has revealed that classical musicians score higher than the general population on important aspects of wellbeing. The study surveyed 601 professional musicians from 41 countries, who answered a questionnaire based on the PERMA wellbeing model and its five building blocks: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. Musicians scored higher than general population samples on Positive Emotion, Relationships and – most notably – Meaning, defined as ‘a sense of purpose and serving something larger than the self’. The findings shed light on the lack of common language in musicians’ health research around what ‘wellbeing’ means. Most research with performing artists focuses on negative aspects, including anxiety, depression and stress. The CPS study provides a more complete picture of musicians’ wellbeing, showing that when positive indicators are evaluated, musicians show promising results. Study author Sara Ascenso commented: ‘It is striking that musicians score so highly on these key elements of wellbeing, given the large amount of research pointing to the music profession being a challenging one. Our findings prompt us to reflect on whether wellbeing research within the music sector has been asking the right questions.’
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COLLEGE TREASURES ON LOAN TO WORLD-LEADING ART MUSEUMS
RCM MUSICIANS SELECTED FOR TOP LONDON ORCHESTRA OPPORTUNITIES
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Bartolomeo Nazari’s oil painting depicts the famous castrato Carlo Broschi, better known as Farinelli, who was one of the greatest opera singers of the 18th century. The portrait featured in an exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris until January 2019, and is now at the Palazzo Ducale in Venice until June 2019.
Three RCM musicians have also been accepted onto the prestigious Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE) Academy programme. David Lopez (violin), Imogen Royce (flute) and Philip Nelson (double bass) will join the orchestra on tour and receive individual lessons and coaching from the COE principals.
Edward Burne-Jones’ portrait of Ignacy Jan Paderewski has an intriguing backstory. Paderewski was a musician who became Prime Minister of Poland after World War I. In 1890 he was spotted in London by Burne-Jones, who was so inspired by this ‘Archangel with a splendid halo of golden hair’ that he returned to his studio and drew him from memory.
This year, many RCM musicians have also been selected to take part in sit-in schemes with some of London’s top orchestras. Four players have been chosen for the London Symphony Orchestra’s String Experience scheme: violinists Zachary Spontak and Emily Turkanik, cellist Tamaki Sugimoto and bassist Philip Nelson. In addition, a total of 30 musicians from across the College will participate in the BBC Symphony Orchestra Pathways and English National Opera’s Evolve programmes.
wo portraits from the Royal College of Music collections have been loaned to exhibitions at Tate Britain, Grand Palais in Paris and the Palazzo Ducale in Venice. The portraits of Farinelli by Bartolomeo Nazari and Ignacy Jan Paderewski by Edward Burne-Jones will be enjoyed by exhibition-goers while the new home for the RCM Museum is built.
The RCM Museum has also lent one of its most prized items to the Victoria and Albert Museum: a harpsichord dating back to Venice in 1531. The instrument has been extensively restored and, as part of the V&A’s Opera: Passion, Power and Politics exhibition, is currently on display at the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman, and will continue on to Madrid and Barcelona.
ix RCM musicians have been announced as London Philharmonic Orchestra Foyle Future Firsts Development Programme participants for 2018/19. Violinists Eleonora Consta and Mathilde Gheorghiu, clarinettist Elliot Gresty, bassoonist Emma Westley, trumpeter Adam Stockbridge and pianist Imma Setiadi were chosen alongside ten other young musicians.
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NEWS
Below Jeremy Pickering, Keith Pickering, Maksim Štšura and Nigel Woolner from the Mills Williams Foundation with Mills Williams Medal winner Ana Teresa de Braga e Alves
MILLS WILLIAMS MEDAL PRESENTED TO RCM VIOLIST
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n 31 January the RCM welcomed Jeremy Pickering, Keith Pickering, Maksim Štšura and Nigel Woolner from the Mills Williams Foundation for the 2019 Rod Williams Memorial Concert. The current Mills Williams Junior Fellow, violist Ana Teresa de Braga e Alves, was presented with the Mills Williams Medal, which was established by Peter Mills in memory of his life-long partner, Rod Williams. The Mills Williams Foundation has been supporting young RCM musicians since 1996. Each year, a student on the College’s Artist Diploma course is selected to hold the Mills Williams Junior Fellowship, which provides them with significant financial support. The Foundation also funds an annual concert at the RCM in memory of Rod.
Nigel Woolner, Mills Williams Foundation Chairman, thanked Ana for her excellent work throughout the year and paid tribute to the late Rod Williams and Peter Mills. In the concert that followed, Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare led the RCM Symphony Orchestra in a programme of Skryabin and Strauss.
In October the RCM Philharmonic took a sell-out audience on a thrilling musical journey through Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantasique in the first ever RCM Sparks Family Concert.
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FEATURE
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Susana Caldeira RCM Museum Conservator Susana Caldeira invites Upbeat into her workshop, where the College’s most precious artifacts are preserved, repaired and restored.
Since then, her career has taken her across the globe to care for instruments in a range of museums, including Lisbon’s Museu da Música and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Susana joined the Royal College of Music in 2015, where her job is to preserve and conserve not only the RCM Museum’s musical instruments, but also the paintings and busts that line the College’s corridors and offices.
In Susana Caldeira’s workshop are several precious historical instruments waiting to be expertly restored to their former glory. The RCM Museum Conservator is mixing rabbit-skin glue pellets with water to form a versatile adhesive for the 17th century Hamburger Cithrinchen on the worktable. ‘Rabbit-skin glue is strong and versatile with a nice setting time, ideal for use on wood and ivory. It also reactivates any residual glue on the instrument. Conservation,’ she continues, ‘is a profession that bridges science and art together.’ Which is why, with its woodwork tools and vials of chemicals, her office is something of a cross between a laboratory and workshop. Here, objects undergo the first step in any conservation project: a thorough examination, checking for fractures, losses and insect infestation. ‘We look at old repairs using endoscopes and mirrors,’ says Susana. ‘We also use ultraviolet light to examine glue residues and varnishes. And if we need to look under the surface, we take an instrument for a radiography or CT scan.’ Susana’s Conservation and Restoration degree included both art history and scientific components, as well art modules such as sculpture, woodwork and photography. Alongside, she studied recorder, voice and music theory at Lisbon’s Academia de Amadores de Música. In the fourth year of her degree, Susana travelled to America to specialise in the conservation of musical instruments at the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota, where she then completed an MMus in the History of Musical Instruments.
Below Susana Caldeira’s workshop (bottom) and two recently restored objects: a pochette violin and a 17th-century Hamburger Cithrinchen
Among the many fascinating objects under her care, she names two as her favourite: John Singer Sargent’s beautiful 1914 portrait of the actress Georgina Henschel, and the earliest known existing guitar, crafted by Belchior Dias in Lisbon in 1581. It can be challenging work, trying to find a conservation solution for each unique object, while staying true to the principles of reversibility and maintaing respect for the original. But it’s rewarding, too. ‘It gives me a sense of accomplishment when I finish a project and know others will be able to enjoy it,’ she says. In 2016, Susana played an integral part in the decantment of the RCM Museum before construction could begin on the new building, deciding if any remedial conservation was required before storage. When the artifacts move into their new home, the environmental conditions will need to be meticulously controlled. Organic materials like wood and ivory, Susana explains, require higher humidity levels than metals, for example, which need dry conditions to prevent rust. ‘In a museum such as ours which features composite objects,’ she says, ‘we aim for a compromise of around 50% humidity.’ Temperature and light can be damaging, too, and so the new RCM Museum should be kept between 17 and 20 degrees Celsius and completely free of ultraviolet light. ‘Conservators are trained for detail,’ Susana says, ‘each object is unique and deserves attention and respect. Museums nowadays seem to go in the direction of the masses, but focussing on digital presence – retweets and likes – is not enough. Fashions come and go, but if objects are lost, no fashion will bring them back.’
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FEATURE
leaving a legacy Chris Christodoulou has photographed some of the most historic moments in British music. He shares his memories from behind the camera, and tells us why he’s leaving a very special gift to the Royal College of Music.
Below Chris Christodoulou Photo: John Millar
‘My memory is photographic but it doesn’t have the same-day delivery that it used to have,’ says Chris Christodoulou. ‘It’s slightly delayed now.’ Nevertheless, the photographer can still recall the exact date he first got behind the camera for the RCM: 30 January 1983. Chris was freelancing for the Royal Albert Hall at the time, and the General Manager asked if he would step in to photograph an event that weekend. ‘He said, “We’re having a little concert on Sunday, there’ll be music students doing this and that.” I arrived at the Hall to find out it was the RCM Centenary Gala Concert. The Prince of Wales, Princess of Wales, Duke of Kent… It was kind of extraordinary, a who’s who of classical music.’ It was at this concert – his very first RCM engagement – that Chris snapped one of his favourite images of all time: a young Prince of Wales kneeling down to talk to cellist Jacqueline du Pré, then in a wheelchair. ‘When I got up my knee clicked and I hobbled into the corner of the room,’ he remembers. ‘The Prince of Wales came over and joked, “That’s the only time you’ll ever get on your knee for a Prince.”’ Chris went on to capture the Centenary of the Charter Concert in May 1983, and soon become a regular photographer for the College.
‘I was also invited to photograph the Prince of Wales surveying the site of what is today the Britten Theatre,’ he says. ‘Back then, it was a cricket pitch and sadly, we did break a few windows.’ Before it became his career, photography was first a hobby. Chris has an HND in Electronics and worked for ten years at the BBC ELectronic Designs Department. He grew up in Twickenham, near the Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall, where his dad was a hairdresser who counted several directors of music and bandsmen of the Coldstream Guards among his clients. Through this connection, Chris got access to many high profile events, and he took his camera along with him. ‘There I was at the age of 10, 12, 13, photographing the Queen at Trooping the Colour,’ he recalls. He began freelancing for the Royal Albert Hall in 1979, and photographed his first BBC Prom two years later. ‘We didn’t photograph very many Proms in the early days,’ he says. ‘We chose about a dozen – a visiting orchestra, the Last Night, maybe a Glyndebourne opera. But on a couple of occasions I did a grand slam, photographing all 75 Proms.’ Chris and his camera have been a regular fixture at the Proms for 38 years now, but some of his earlier gigs were of a different genre. ‘I remember photographing Peter, Paul and Mary in 1981. There I was, a yard away from the stage, 5,000 people singing Puff the Magic Dragon, and I think I’ve made it in pop music. That was the highlight of my career at the time.’ By his own admittance, though, Chris is not musical himself. ‘The only instrument I play is the Nikon,’ he says, while confessing to still being tormented by ‘visions of the recorder at school dipped in the bowl of Dettol’. Once, the College sent a clarinet to his studio to photograph. ‘I opened the case, looked at it, and it looked at me, and I thought, I’ve got to put this together. Half an hour later, the keys are the wrong way round, the mouthpiece has fallen off. I rang up Albert’s Music Shop in Twickenham, and Albert came round to have a look. He walked in to my studio, shook his head and said, “You fool, there’s two instruments here.”’
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Chris’ musical knowledge has grown somewhat since then, as has his admiration for those in the industry. ‘Working with rCM students, you can see first-hand what’s involved – the relentless practice. When i see rCM musicians walk out onto the royal Albert hall stage for the Proms, i lose buttons off my shirt with pride.’ ‘Musical talent is a gift,’ he continues, ‘and that gift doesn’t just come, it needs support.’ Which is why, in 2013, Chris decided to pledge a legacy to the rCM, leaving a gift of his own, and one that will support generations of musicians to come. ‘When you see what can be achieved with some help – and when you see how important it is, especially now, with the
state of music education – there was certainly no question about it,’ he explains. Chris’ close working relationship with the College has also allowed him to witness firsthand how legacy donations are spent. And to his surprise, he’s found that his pledge is something he himself can enjoy right now. ‘in the last year or two, knowing the pledge that i’ve made and watching the students go through their normal routine at the College, i’m thinking right, they’re doing it – quite possibly – with someone’s help 10 or 15 years ago, and they’ll be doing it in the future with my help. And that’s a very special feeling.’
Below Members of the RCM Legacy Ensemble at the launch in February
THE RCM LEGACY ENSEMBLE over the years the royal College of Music has thrived from numerous legacy gifts pledged by generous supporters in their Wills, to whom we are most grateful. Significantly, 40% of the money raised so far for the More Music: reimagining the royal College of Music Campaign has come from gifts in Wills. Legacies have enabled us to achieve what may not otherwise have been possible. We have been able to modernise facilities, support our most talented students with scholarships and grow our endowment fund so that these scholarships can be awarded in perpetuity. We have also been able to loan fine stringed instruments to students for the duration of their studies and to provide invaluable career support through our Creative Careers Centre, as well as a host of other enriching musical activities, to enable students to fulfil their potential. Most importantly, legacies provide us both with the confidence to plan for our future with the ambition fitting for a world-class institution, and to provide the facilities and opportunities appropriate for a 21st-century conservatoire. in february, rCM Chairman Lord Black of Brentwood launched our new legacy society, the rCM Legacy Ensemble, to acknowledge the generosity of those who pledge a gift in their Will to the College. A number of legacy pledgers joined Lord Black, Director Colin Lawson and members of the Development and Alumni Engagement team for lunch and a chamber concert in the Parry rooms. The new society recognises the growing number of legacy supporters who share our vision of securing the future of the rCM, and it also celebrates the life-changing impact these gifts will have.
Thank you very much for inviting us to the Legacy Ensemble lunch. It was an absolutely delightful and inspiring afternoon. RCM legacy pledger A legacy gift is an opportunity to leave perhaps the greatest and most transformational donation of a lifetime, and every gift makes a valuable difference. Even leaving 1% of an estate to the rCM – after providing for loved ones – can create life-changing opportunities for our talented musicians. We would like to invite all our supporters to play their part in securing the future of music by considering leaving a gift to the rCM in their Wills. if you have pledged a legacy to the rCM and would like to be given more details about the rCM Legacy Ensemble, or to receive further information about leaving a gift to the rCM in your Will, please contact Emma McCormack on 020 7591 4761 or email Emma.McCormack@rcm.ac.uk.
The new legacy brochure is available to download at www.rcm.ac.uk/ support/legacies
LEAVE THE GIFT OF MUSIC
YOUR GUIDE TO LEAVING A GIFT IN YOUR WILL
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC
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FEATURE
milein cosman: musical portraits Milein Cosman immortalised some of the greatest figures of 20th-century music in pencil, ink and conté. Now, more than 1,300 of these precious musical portraits have found a new home in the Royal College of Music Museum.
and performers, above all, attracted her talent. Indeed, her sketchbooks can today be viewed as a who’s who in 20th-century music. With precise likeness, these paintings and drawings show RCM alumni in various acts of music-making: Ralph Vaughan Williams and Sir Arthur Bliss on the conductor’s podium, Imogen Holst mid-composition, visiting conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy posed at the piano and Amaryllis Fleming with her bow to the cello. Alumnus Benjamin Britten was also a close acquaintance of Cosman and Keller, and several portraits of the composer-conductor are contained within the collection. They are fascinating in that they reveal Britten both in the midst of creation and in his day to day life. Indeed, Cosman even took the time to document the muscian’s pets, putting pencil to paper for both his dachshunds and his parrot.
Amaryllis Fleming
When Milein Cosman died in 2017, she left behind hundreds of sketchbooks in which she skilfully documented over half a century of culture. Cosman dontated more than1,300 of these artworks – comprising her collection of musical drawings and prints -- to the Royal College of Music. The invaluable trove features more than 220 musicians captured in concert or in rehearsal, a great number of whom either studied or taught at the College. Many of these sketches and paintings have never been viewed publicly before. The German artist settled in England in 1939 and soon earned a reputation as a talented illustrator. She married Viennese musician and broadcaster Hans Keller, and the couple grew to be highly regarded on the London cultural scene. They mixed with some of the most significant figures from the world of art, literature and music, many of whom became muses for Cosman’s art. Composers, conductors
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Richard Strauss, Leonard Bernstein, András Schiff, Mstislav Rostropovich and André Tchaikovsky are just some of the international figures captured by Cosman’s distinctive sparse strokes. And when, in the late 1950s, Igor Stravinsky came to London to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Cosman sketched the Russian composer at work in the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios, creating dozens of portraits over a period of just three days. The drawings are among nearly 100 Stravinsky sketches donated to the RCM as part of the collection. A prolific portraitist, Cosman took a sketchbook with her wherever she went, sometimes drawing on the back of cheques if she ran out of paper. Her remarkable technique was perfectly suited to capturing musicians, and her sketches are particularly notable for their skilful portrayal of both personality and movement. She was an artist capable of committing a performer’s individual quirks and manners to paper, illustrating a true likeness of character that has become invaluable all these years later. ‘She drew without even looking at what she was drawing,’ says RCM Museum Curator Gabriele Rossi Rognoni. ‘Her drawings actually
bring out more of the subjects’ characters and personalities than a photograph would.’ Cosman was skilful, too, at capturing the fluidity of her subjects in the full swing of the musical moment. Sketching with the incredible speed for which she became known, she precisely captured posture, gesture and agility in drawings penned in quick succession, often in one sitting. When seen together, these portraits appear to animate in the manner of a flip book, seamlessly simulating motions such as the raising of a conductor’s hand or the quiver of a bow. In February, the RCM celebrated the acquisition of the Cosman sketches – many of which bear the artist’s distinctive signature – with a public concert. RCM musicians and professors performed a number of pieces either composed or performed by the men and women she illustrated. A number of Cosman’s drawings were also displayed for the first time at the College, connecting the artworks to the music that she was listening to while she drew.
Leonard Bernstein Benjamin Britten
Working alongside the archivist from the Cosman Keller Art and Music Trust and the artist’s biographer, the RCM Museum now hopes to be able to piece together the stories surrounding each drawing. Once catalogued and researched, the collection will be the largest of any public institution. The donated works have now been digitised, with generous support from the Pilgrim Trust, ensuring Cosman’s unique heritage, and that of the musicians she sketched, can be enjoyed for generations to come.
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Explore some of the sketches online at www.rcm.ac.uk/museum/exhibitions
Imogen Holst
Her drawing technique was perfectly suited to capturing musicians, and her sketches are particularly notable for their skilful portrayal of both personality and movement.
Igor Stravinsky
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SUPPORT US
SUPPORTING THE ROYAL COLLEGE 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 nurtured and trained at the RCM. We would like to thank in particular our More Music Founding Patrons, Leadership and Principal Supporters, as well as those who have made donations of £1,000 or more between 1 January 2018 and 1 January 2019. Gifts are listed alphabetically in order of surname.
SUPPORTING THE FUTURE OF MUSIC From becoming an RCM Friend to leaving a gift in your Will, there are many ways you can support the Royal College of Music. For more information, please visit www.rcm.ac.uk/ support Alternatively, contact the Development team on development@rcm.ac.uk
More Music Founding Patrons ABRSM The Estate of George Frederick Burgan The Estate of Basil Coleman Croucher Hong Kong Charitable Foundation Heritage Fund The Estate of Christopher Hogwood CBE, HonDMus Kingdom Music Education Group Rena & Sandro Lavery The Estate of Neville Wathen Ruth West HonRCM & Dr Michael West Garfield Weston Foundation Leadership Supporters Jane Barker CBE FRCM G & K Boyes Charitable Trust The Derek Butler Trust Philip Carne MBE HonRCM & Christine Carne Colt Clavier Collection Trust The Estate of Thomas Cottrell The Estate of John & Marjorie Coultate The Estate of Jocelyn Cruft The Estate of Margaret Dewey The Foyle Foundation The Future of Russia Foundation The Harry and Gylla Godwin Charitable Trust HEFCE Linda Hill HonRCM & Dr Tony Hill Sara Nelson Horner The Leverhulme Trust The Linbury Trust The Estate of William Mealings
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The Mirfield Trust The Polonsky Foundation Geoffrey Richards HonRCM & Valerie Richards The Estate of Michael Rimmer Victoria, Lady Robey OBE HonRCM The Estate of Emma Rose Soirée d’Or Scholarships The Wolfson Foundation Principal Supporters Meredith & Denis Coleman The Estate of Thomas Cottrell The Estate of Heather Curry Peter & Annette Dart Fishmongers’ Company J Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust The Harbour Foundation Kirby Laing Foundation John Lewis Partnership Philip Loubser Foundation Rosemary Millar HonRCM & Richard Millar The Reed Foundation and The Big Give Christmas Challenge John Nickson & Simon Rew The Pure Land Foundation The Julia & Hans Rausing Trust Leopold de Rothschild 1959 Charitable Trust The Estate of Humphrey Searle Dasha Shenkman OBE HonRCM The Peter Sowerby Foundation H R Taylor Trust The Estate of Ivor Charles Treby The Estate of Gweneth Urquhart Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement Bob & Sarah Wigley The Worshipful Company of Musicians
Major Supporters Laurie Barry The Bertarelli UK Foundation Ian Boag The Estate of Joan Bowles Brian & Janice Capstick The John Curwen Society Hamish & Sophie Forsyth The Headley Trust Dolly Knowles Charitable Trust Professor Christopher & Vivienne Liu The Estate of Christopher Mason The Estate of Mary Midgley The Mills Williams Foundation Michael and Dorothy Needley The Estate of Ann Richardson Alethea Siow & Jeremy Furniss Miss Kathleen Beryl Sleigh Charitable Trust Steinway & Sons Universal Music Group Their Serene Highnesses Prince Donatus and Princess Heidi von Hohenzollern The Henry Wood Accommodation Trust Supporters Lee Abbey London Ashley Family Foundation The Estate of Kenneth Atkinson BAE Systems Dr Linda Beeley June Birch Ingbert Blüthner Lord Black & Mark Bolland The Boltini Trust Bowerman Charitable Trust The Estate of Charles Branchini Sir Roger & Lady Carr HonRCM The Estate of Ella Carstairs
Lord Davies of Abersoch CBE The Drapers’ Company The Gilbert & Eileen Edgar Foundation Marc Feigen Lesley Ferguson Fiona & Douglas Flint The Freakley Family Elaine Greenberg & Linda Perez The Abinger Hammer Award Terry Hitchcock The Houston Family Independent Opera at Sadler’s Wells JMC Ruth Keattch James and Clare Kirkman The Honourable Society of the Knights of the Round Table James & Margaret Lancaster Dr Mark Levesley & Christina Hoseason The Kenneth Loveland Gift The Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation UK Lark Music The Lennox Hannay Charitable Trust LIBER Foundation Carol & Geoff Lindey Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust The Hon Richard Lyttelton & Romilly Lyttelton Ian Mactaggart Trust The Mercers’ Company
Sir Peter & Lady Middleton FRCM Jamie Milford The Howard & Abby Milstein Foundation The Charles Peel Charitable Trust Pro Musica Ltd Richard Price FRCM and Sue Price Russell Race Sir Simon & Lady Robertson Roland Saam Christopher & Anne Saul Hilda Scarth The South Square Trust Peter & Dimity Spiller Opperby Stokowski Collection Trust Bryan Stott Ian Stoutzker CBE FRCM Betty Sutherland Ian & Meriel Tegner Rhoddy Voremberg Anne Wadsworth OBE & Brian Wadsworth The Wall Trust Sir Peter & Lady Walters Carolyn Ward Richard Toeman/Weinberger Opera Scholarship Jane Wilson Professor Lord Winston & Lady Winston The Wyseliot Charitable Trust
Core Contributors Robert Anderson The Estate of Gillian Ashby The Estate of John Barker John & Halina Bennett Lady Bergman The Bliss Trust Gary & Eleanor Brass Peter Brooks Lorraine Buckland Sir Anthony Cleaver FRCM & Lady Cleaver Andrew Curran Jonathan & Belinda Davie Elisabeth de Kergorlay Douglas and Kyra Downie The Ann Driver Trust Dr Ian & Janet Edmondson Alyce Faye Eichelberger-Cleese The Everard Foundation Douglas & Adele Gardner Professor Alice Gast Peter Granger Edwin and Hilary Green Lady Annie Harding & Sir David Walker Julian Hardwick Lily & Julian Harriss Greta Hemus John & Susan Heywood The Derek Hill Foundation Gillian Humphreys OBE HonRCM & Peter David Clare Hyland David James
Professor Colin Lawson CBE FRCM David & Sue Lewis Charles & Dominique Lubar Marcus McDonald Avenue Chapter of Royal Arch Freemasons David Mildon Music Talks Ellen Moloney Peter Neal Jennifer Neelands Midori Nishiura HonRCM Ofenheim Charitable Trust Gordon Palmer Charitable Trust Pilgrim Trust Kevin Porter HonRCM The Finnis Scott Foundation Sudborough Foundation Kara Radcliffe Kerry & Dimity Rubie Janis Susskind OBE HonRCM Robert Swannell Sir Richard & Lady Sykes Anthony Thornton John Ward Sir Robert & Lady Wilson The York Competitive Festival of Singing
RESTORE A SCORE Help to preserve significant works from the RCM’s Library Collection for generations to come. Over £121,000 has been raised for the Restore a Score programme since the initiative was launched in 2004, enabling the conservation of 345 items in the RCM Library Collection. Last year, 45 items from the Collection were successfully conserved, including invaluable scores by RCM composers such as Sir Hubert Parry and Herbert Howells. This year, we are hoping to restore works by one of our most famous alumni, Benjamin Britten, as well as scores by several other distinguished composers. To find out more about how you can support Restore a Score this spring, please contact Jessica Hazelton, Supporter Engagement Officer, at jess.hazelton@rcm.ac.uk / 020 7591 4862. Further information can be found at www.rcm.ac.uk/library/support
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STUDENT UPDATES
STUDENT UPDATES Below Silu Wang at the 2018 International Music Grand Prize Virtuoso Competition
COMPOSITION CONGRATULATIONS Joe Boon has written the score for a new National Geographic documentary, BounceBack: Kaikoura Quake. The piece was recorded by RCM musicians Charlie Westhoff, Yume Fujise and Maxim Calver… Nathanael Gubler and alumnus Joel Järventausta have been selected as finalists for the French Île de créations Competition, and the l’Orchestre national d’Île-de-France performed their work in February… Nicholas Morrish Rarity has been nominated for the 2019 Gaudeamus Award and will have several of his pieces performed at Gaudeamus Muziekweek later this year, alongside a new commission for the Nadar Ensemble… Oliver Buckland was interviewed on Resonance FM in January.
KEYBOARD ACCOMPLISHMENTS Silu Wang won Second Prize in the 2018 International Music Grand Prize Virtuoso Competition… Martin James Bartlett has been awarded Second Prize and the Audience Prize in the Kissinger Piano Olympics. Martin has been signed to Warner Classics and his debut album, Love and Death, will be released in May... Łukasz Krupinski was awarded Third Prize in the Kissinger Piano Olympics and last season he also performed with the Buffalo
Philharmonic, George Enescu Philharmonic, Bratislava Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Philharmonic... Jun Lin Wu has won First Prize in the Jaques Samuel Pianos Competition… Cristiana Achim has been awarded the Corneliu Fânățeanu Scholarship and performed with Teodor Ilincăi at the National Theatre during the ceremony… Joseph Howson has won First Prize in the Kabalevsky International Competition of Young Musicians… Peggy Wu has won Second Prize at the Piano Island Festival… Tamila Salimdjanova has won Third Prize and the Orchestra Prize at Concurso Internacional de Piano de Campillos… Kirill Zheleznov won Second Prize and the special prize for best performance of the given piece in Category A at the Pure Vienna International Music Competition… Rustam Khanmurzin performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto no 1 with the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra at St John’s Smith Square in November.
STRING SUCCESSES Roberto Ruisi has won the 67th Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition Strings Prize and will compete in the Final in May... Maria Gîlicel has been awarded the 2018 Royal Philharmonic Society Anderson Prize… Kasia Ziminska made her debut with the Chagall Piano Quartet at St Mary’s Perivale in January.
VOCAL ACCOLADES Laurence Kilsby won First Prize in the Junior Ferrier Competition and Susannah Hardwick reached the final… James Atkinson and Charlotte Bowden have been awarded First and Second Prize respectively in the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards… Ana Fernández Guerra, Leilani Louise Barratt, Laurence Kilsby, Edward Jowle, Brian Hughes, George Ireland and Louis De Nil, led by Speech and Language Teacher Norbert Meyn, performed a programme of song by Robert Kahn at the German Embassy in December... Theo Platt was awarded Third Prize in the 9th Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition in January.
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ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC COMPETITIVE PRIZES Christopher McMullen-Laird has received the Academic Award and Lauren Brown has received the Community Award in the Mercers’ Arts Awards… Rhys James Batt has received the Vocal Prize and Ella O’Neill has received the Pianist Prize in the 2019 Lieder Competition… Joel Williams has been awarded the Kiri Te Kanawa Scholarship... Tim Edlin has won first prize in the RCM Concerto Competition.
WOODWIND AWARDS Amy Gillen has been named Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year and has also been awarded both the Conrad O’Sullivan Memorial Award for the best woodwind/brass performance and the Irish Heritage Bursary.
Left Amy Gillen, Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year Below Nicole Crespo O’Donoghue performing at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home Bottom Left The NOVA Guitar Duo
SHARE YOUR NEWS Tell Upbeat readers about your recent successes by emailing news@rcm.ac.uk
DOCTORAL ACTIVITIES Sara Ascenso has been appointed as the Royal Northern College of Music’s first lecturer in musicians’ health and wellbeing… Liam TaylorWest has won the Community or Educational Project category of the 2018 British Composer Awards for The Umbrella… Luiz Mantovani has formed the NOVA Guitar Duo with alumna Nelly von Alven. The duet performed in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital in November as part of Pro Musicis’ International Concert Series and will release their debut CD in March… Nicole Crespo O’Donoghue has released a new album, Serenity, and also performed at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in Classic FM’s first ever broadcast dedicated to pets.
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STAFF UPDATES
STAFF UPDATES Right Adrian Butterfield’s debut recording as a conductor Below Leon McCawley’s new CD of Schubert songs
RCM Fellow Nicola Benedetti has been awarded a CBE in the New Year’s Honours List. Historical Violin professor Adrian Butterfield has released his first recording as a conductor. Handel: Chandos Te Deum and Chandos Anthem No. 8 features works composed for the Duke of Chandos and was recorded in the same church for which they were written. Student Services Assistant Karina Fraser is trekking Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit this spring in aid of the Forward 4 Wiz Trust. The charity, founded by Karina in 2007, has supported hundreds of aspiring musicians to date. Karina is crowdfunding the trip by asking donors to pledge for the artwork created on her travels. Follow her journey at www.karinafraser.com or www.crowdfunder.co.uk/Karina-Fraser Composition professor Ken Hesketh had a new piano concerto performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, conducted by Visiting Professor Martyn Brabbins and featuring Clare Hammond as soloist. Vasco Hexel, Area Leader in Masters Programmes in Composition for Screen, was named a Routledge Featured Author in January and gave an interview about his recent book, The Film and Media Creators’ Guide to Music. Piano professor Niel Immelman has given masterclasses at the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual Piano Festival, where other tutors included Honorary Doctors Sir András Schiff and Alfred Brendel, alumna Dame Fanny Waterman, as well as Menahem Pressler and Richard Goode.
Professor of piano and chamber music Julian Jacobson has recorded four volumes of his complete Beethoven Sonata Cycle at Potton Hall. His virtuoso transcription of Gershwin’s An American in Paris for piano four hands has also been published and will be released by SOMM Recordings this summer. Roger Kneebone, Co-Director of Centre of Performance Science, delivered a series of lectures at Gresham College in October which explored performance within medical education. The College created the Visiting Professorship of Medical Education position especially for Roger last year. Roger’s work at the CPS was also the focus of a BBC News article in October. Vocal Repertoire Coach and Collaborative Piano Co-Ordinator Simon Lepper and alumna Kitty Whately performed in a BBC Lunchtime Recital broadcast from the Wigmore Hall in February. The programme, entitled ‘From the pens of women’, featured English song settings of the 20th century’s best-loved female poets and writers. Dr Tania Lisboa, Research Fellow at CPS, has published two studies. ‘Training thought and action for virtuoso performance,’ is based on CPS research and was published in Musicae Scientiae, while ‘A longitudinal study of the development of expressive timing’ appeared in Psychology of Music. Trumpet professor Alistair Mackie has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and will take up the role in April. Alistair has been a member of the orchestra since 1996, most recently as Joint Principal Trumpet.
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Piano professor Leon McCawley has released a new CD, Schubert piano music. The album features Drei Klavierstücke, as well as a selection of Schubert songs arranged by Liszt and the ‘Wanderer’ Fantasy in C major.
Left Clara Rodriguez’s new CD, Americas Without Frontiers Below Natalie Murray Beale makes her conducting debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra
Gabrieli Consort and Players, led by Viola d’Amore and Historical Violin professor Catherine Martin, has recorded Purcell’s The Fairy Queen and King Arthur. Catherine also travelled to Hong Kong Baptist University in March, where she gave masterclasses, coached the university’s baroque string group and recorded a programme for RTHK Radio 4. Prince Consort Professor Colin Matthews’ new work, As Time Returns, was premiered by London Sinfonietta at Southbank Centre in December. The piece is a setting of poems by Czech poet Ivan Blatný. Head of Strings Mark Messenger has written a guest blog for Violin Channel in which he shares his top tips for developing a unique musical voice and making a performance your own. Head of Composition William Mival’s new orchestral work, Pluen, was premiered by the RCM Philharmonic under Visitng Professor of Conducting Martyn Brabbins in January. The work was specially written in celebration of HRH The Prince of Wales’ 70th birthday. Conductor and Opera Coach Natalie Murray Beale made her conducting debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Cartagena International Music Festival in Colombia, performing a series of six concerts throughout January. Also performing in the tour as part of the Philharmonia were RCM professors Alistair Mackie, Mark Calder and Byron Fulcher.
Parés, is celebrating its tenth anniversary. A number of RCM violin professors, pianists and graduates have been involved with the initiative, which organises masterclasses, courses and performances for young violinists. A special Anniversary Gala Concert will take place at St James’s Church Piccadilly on 4 April. Professor of Music Research Trevor Herbert has co-edited The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Brass Instruments. The book, published in November, takes advantage of new research to provide a comprehensive history of brass design, performance and manufacture, spanning the entire period from antiquity to modern times. Director of Research Richard Wistreich has appeared on the podcast Talking Classical to discuss the mechanics and methodologies of classical singing in the early modern period.
SHARE YOUR NEWS Tell Upbeat readers about your recent successes by emailing news@rcm.ac.uk
Research Fellow in Performance Science Rosie Perkins’ project, ‘Music and Motherhood’, has been named one of the UK’s top 100 university breakthroughs in the MadeAtUni campaign. Rosie was Principal Investigator on the research project, which examines the impact of creative interventions on postnatal depression. Piano teacher Clara Rodriguez has released a new CD, recorded in the RCM Studios. Americas Without Frontiers has received excellent reviews in both The Sunday Times and Piano International magazine. Clara also performed with the Phoenix Orchestra under Lev Parikian at St John’s Smith Square in October and in December she combined music and interpretative art in a programme entitled ‘Histoires d’amour’ at Southbank Centre, alongside RCM alumni Freya Goldmark and Corentin Chassard. New Virtuosi, a project spearheaded by violin professor Ani Schnarch and alumnus Luis
Image: Wilfredo Amaya
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ALUMNI UPDATES
ALUMNI UPDATES SHARE YOUR NEWS Tell Upbeat readers about your recent successes by emailing news@rcm.ac.uk
Below John Hosking’s new recording
Dan Brinsdon has been appointed Head of Curriculum and Vocal Support at Redbridge Music Service.
Laura van der Heijden has won an Edison Klassiek Award for her debut album, 1948, featuring Russian works from the Soviet era.
Dame Sarah Connolly’s Come to Me in My Dreams and Malcolm Martineau’s Decades: A Century of Song were selected for Gramophone’s 2018 Recordings of the Year. Sarah has also been nominated for the Readers Award at the 2019 International Opera Awards, while Soraya Mafi has been nominated for Young Singer.
John Hosking and his duo partner Olivia Hunt have released a CD, Musick to Heare, on the Willowhayne label in conjunction with the Naxos Music Library. The duo will release a further Willowhayne/Naxos disc later this year which will also feature RCM harpist Bethan Griffiths and violinist Xander Croft.
Simon Dobson has won the Wind Band/Brass Band category of the 2018 British Composer Awards for The Turing Test, and Gavin Higgins was nominated for his Dark Arteries Suite. Charlotte Bray’s Chant was nominated in the Small Chamber category. Harriet Eyley has been selected to join Welsh National Opera as a 2019 Associate Artist and has made her debut performance alongside the WNO Orchestra with A Night In Vienna.
Jeremy Isaac and John Mills have released a new CD with the Tippett Quartet, Górecki: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2, which was selected as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine in January. Sofi Jeannin conducted the BBC Singers at Milton Court Concert Hall as part of the Remembrance Day weekend celebrations in November. Sofi is currently Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers and Music Director of La Maîtrise de Radio France. Alžbeta Klasová married composer Adam Greenwood-Byrne in September and the two released an album, Allus, with chamber choir Coro 94 in December. Pavel Kolesnikov has released a recording of early Beethoven piano sonatas as part of his Benjamin Britten Piano Fellowship and in January he performed live on In Tune. His debut recital at Southbank Centre was also broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Gabriella Di Laccio has been named as one of the BBC’s 100 most inspirational and influential women in the world 2018. The soprano was recognised both for her music and for her role as Founder and Curator of Donne: Women in Music, a project that highlights the life and work of female composers. Alix Lagasse has joined the London Symphony Orchestra as a second violin, having previously taken part in the LSO String Experience scheme. Katharine May has launched a new music project in Cumbria. Eden Valley Music offers music tuition in piano, harpsichord, singing, violin and theory, as well as courses and workshops specialising in baroque chamber and vocal music.
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Top A new release from Alžbeta Klasová Below Susannah Self’s Quilt Song at the Old Rep Theatre
CONNECT Join our LinkedIn group at www.linkedin.com/ groups/1806681 or contact the Alumni team on alumni@rcm.ac.uk or 020 7591 4353.
Lara Melda has been selected as one of Pianist Magazine’s Five Pianists To Look Out For in 2019 and will be releasing a new album of Chopin later this year.
The Ferio Saxophone Quartet (Huw Wiggin, Ellie McMurray, Jose Bañuls and Shevaughan Beere) has released a new CD of unique baroque arrangements, entitled Revive.
Levi Moscovici has launched a new video-based media platform for musicians called SPRKLE. The site, which is also available as an app, combines music video streaming and social media to form an online space where vocalists, instrumentalists, composers, producers and DJs can network and collaborate.
RCM Junior Department alumnus Christopher Willis was shortlisted for Best Score at the 2019 Oscars for his score to The Death of Stalin.
Izabela Musiał has been awarded the 2018 Royal Philharmonic Society Allianz Instrumentalist Prize. In the year ahead, she will act as an advocate for the bassoon, encouraging young people to take up the instrument.
Michael Wolniakowski has been named Finalist for the American Prize in Composition (choral division). His sacred work, Beati quorum via, was commissioned by the Lumen Chamber Choir and recorded on the Convivium record label. In May he will premiere a new collaborative work, Sim Shalom.
Soprano Rowan Pierce will be releasing her debut album, a programme of Purcell accompanied by Richard Egarr and William Carter, later this year. Ida Ränzlöv has been selected as an Asocciate Artist in Classical Opera’s MOZART 250 project, and as part of the scheme she will be performing the British premiere of Hasse’s Piramo e Tisbe at Cadogan Hall this month. Susannah Self conducted her second opera, Quilt Song, at the Old Rep Theatre last year while Birmingham Contemporary Music Group performed her piece, SLAP, in January. Susannah has also written a new work, Freedom Bridge, which was commissioned by the Birmingham Opera Company. Gabriella Teychenné has been signed by Hazard Chase and will be conducting Mozart’s Requiem in his debut with the Residentie Orkest The Hague this season.
Image: Roger Way Photography
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IN MEMORY
IN MEMORY Johannes Goritzki, RCM Fellow and Visiting Prince Consort Professor of Cello, died on 22 December, aged 76. Cello professor Melissa Phelps gives this personal tribute:
LEAVING A LEGACY By remembering the RCM in your Will you can play a significant role in helping the College continue to inspire and educate musicians of the future. For more information on leaving a legacy to the RCM, please contact Emma McCormack on 020 7591 4761 or Emma.McCormack@ rcm.ac.uk
The sad news of Johannes Goritzki’s passing has affected all who knew and worked with him very much. A student of Cassadó, Casals and Navarra, and strongly influenced by Sándor Végh, Johannes was one of our last links to an age when playing had great individuality and character. His enormous knowledge of music informed everything he did. He had a deep understanding of the core repertoire and also loved virtuosic music. His very personal, rich and big sound was central to his playing, as was his imaginative use of colour and nuance. He understood that it was not just a case of singing sound; character and articulation were important in bringing an interpretation to life. Johannes was visiting Prince Consort Professor at the RCM for several years – a fitting appointment as three of his past students, Richard Lester, Amanda Truelove and myself, are on the faculty. His classes were always a pleasure, all the students felt inspired and enabled; he knew how to help them psychologically as well as giving clear technical and musical advice. He received a Fellowship last March and greatly enjoyed the very English ceremony! He leaves a wonderful legacy of over 40 recordings, as well as countless students and musicians who benefitted from his wisdom. The world feels smaller without him; he had such extraordinary energy, great humour, curiosity and a deep passion for music… and for life. Desmond Heath enrolled in the RCM at the end of World War Two and studied the violin under George Stratton. He had a wonderful career as a violinist, joining the BBC Symphony Orchestra and later becoming Sub-Principal Second Violin of the Philharmonia Orchestra. He spent many years as a freelancer, performing regularly with orchestras such as the Wren Orchestra and Philomusica. During the 1970s he led the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company orchestra in their winter season at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. He later became a member of John Eliot Gardiner’s English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Orchestra. Desmond continued to perform – and tour – well into his seventies. He passed away on 1 February 2018 at 89 years old, just approaching his 90th birthday.
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Robert Henry Joyce enrolled at the RCM in 1944, where his teachers included William Harris, Harold Darke and Charles Thornton Lofthouse. From 1946 until 1949, he served as organ scholar of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 1949 he returned to the RCM to study conducting under Richard Austin. He was organist of All Souls Church in Twickenham, a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, Organist and Master of the Choristers of Llandaff Cathedral and he also received the Archbishop’s Diploma in Church Music. He died on 18 November, aged 90. Jane Kessler (née Ryan) HonRCM studied at the RCM and remained a great friend and supporter of the College throughout her lifetime. After graduating, she embarked on an initial career as a cellist before turning her attention to the viola da gamba, the instrument with which she made her reputation as one of the leading exponents of historically informed performance. As a highly regarded continuo player on the bass viol and cello, she worked with Alfred Deller, Dame Emma Kirkby and Christopher Hogwood. Her marriage to Dietrich Kessler brought about a union with a master viol craftsman and allowed her to play some of the most original English viols in the world: the four bass viols that now form the Kessler Collection in the Royal College of Music Museum. Jane donated her collection of viols to the RCM in 2010 which included the Rose (1590), Jaye (1619), Meares (1680) and Barak Norman (1693). This year’s RCM Festival of Viols is dedicated to Jane’s memory. Murray Khouri moved to England from New Zealand at 18 to study at the RCM. He toured with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company and became first clarinet of the Royal Ballet Orchestra. He moved back to New Zealand after graduating, but returned to London in 1966 and played with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 1974 the Australian Prime Minister invited him to become Lecturer in Clarinet at the Canberra School of Music. He co-founded the Australian Contemporary Music Ensemble and the University of New South Wales Ensemble. He later returned to London and worked for BBC Radio 3 before founding the Continuum record label. Murray passed away on 27 October.
HOLST’S THE PLANETS AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL Join talented Royal College of Music musicians for a thrilling concert of Holst and Rachmaninov at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall on Tuesday 2 July. Tickets: £5, £10, £15, £20 Concessions 25% off (limited availability)
Booking Information RCM Box Office 020 7591 4314 | www.rcm.ac.uk/planets Open Mon–Fri, 10am–4pm
Southbank Centre Ticket Office 020 3879 9555 | www.southbankcentre.co.uk Open daily, 9am–8pm
Transaction fees apply: £1.95 online and over the phone. No transaction fees for in-person bookings.
Transaction fees apply: £3 online, £3.50 over the phone. No transaction fees for in-person bookings, Southbank Centre Members and Supporters Circles.
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foLLoW ThE rCM oN iNSTAgrAM follow us for exclusive insights into rCM life, at our iconic South Kensington home and worldwide.
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Box Office: 020 7591 4314 weekdays 10am–4pm upbeat: 020 7591 4730 news@rcm.ac.uk alumni: 020 7591 4353 alumni@rcm.ac.uk Supporting the rCm: 020 7591 4750 development@rcm.ac.uk Hiring rCm musicians: 020 7591 4367 diana.roberts@rcm.ac.uk The royal College of music is a registered charity. No 309268
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UPBEAT SPRING 2019 NEWS FROM INSIDE THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC
IN THIS ISSUE THE MILEIN COSMAN COLLECTION CHRIS CHRISTODOULOU
UPBEAT SPRING 2019 NEWS FROM INSIDE THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC
IN THIS ISSUE THE MILEIN COSMAN COLLECTION CHRIS CHRISTODOULOU
UPBEAT SPRING 2019 NEWS FROM INSIDE THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC
IN THIS ISSUE DAME SARAH CONNOLLY BATTLE SOUNDS: COMPOSERS ON THE FRONT LINE
You will only make an impression if your heart and soul are free to interpret the music you want to perform. Sarah Connolly
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UPBEAT SPRING 2019 NEWS FROM INSIDE THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC
IN THIS ISSUE THE MILEIN COSMAN COLLECTION LEAVING A LEGACY: CHRIS CHRISTODOULOU
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UPBEAT SPRING 2019 NEWS FROM INSIDE THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC
IN THIS ISSUE THE MILEIN COSMAN COLLECTION LEAVING A LEGACY: CHRIS CHRISTODOULOU UPBEAT SPRING 2019
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UPBEAT SPRING 2019 NEWS FROM INSIDE THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC
IN THIS ISSUE THE MILEIN COSMAN COLLECTION LEAVING A LEGACY: CHRIS CHRISTODOULOU
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UPBEAT SPRING 2019 NEWS FROM INSIDE THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC
IN THIS ISSUE THE MILEIN COSMAN COLLECTION LEAVING A LEGACY: CHRIS CHRISTODOULOU
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