The Magazine for the Royal College of Music I Summer 2015
More Music:
Reimagining the Royal College of Music
What’s inside... Welcome to upbeat... Providing exceptional facilities and high quality musical and professional training for its students has always been at the core of the Royal College of Music’s work and ethos. That dedication has recently been recognised by The Guardian which ranked the RCM first for music in the 2016 Guardian University League Table. You can read more about this fabulous news on page 6. Now, the RCM embarks on a new period of development which will rejuvenate the College and ensure the continued provision of outstanding facilities for both students and the wider public. Renovation and redevelopment works will provide two new performance spaces, a new interactive museum, more practice rooms and a new communal space. RCM Director Professor Colin Lawson tells us more about the plans on page 12. As usual, Upbeat brings you all the news from around the RCM, including the recent visit of HRH The Prince of Wales for our annual awards ceremony, an RCM clean sweep at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and the alumnae celebrated on BBC Radio 3 for International Women’s Day. Do you have any news you want to share with staff, students and supporters of the RCM? We’re always keen to hear from students and staff 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 21 September. NB: Please note that we cannot guarantee to include everything we receive and that we reserve the right to edit submissions.
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In the news The latest news from the RCM, including the annual visit of HRH The Prince of Wales, the winners of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and information about the next alumni reunion
10 In Pictures
photographic look through A the changes and improvements that have been made to the Royal College of Music estate over the years
12 More Music RCM Director Professor Colin Lawson describes the exciting redevelopment plans ahead for the Royal College of Music
14 Meeting the supporters Upbeat meets legacy supporter and RCM Friend Paul Duffy
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
The Royal College of Music welcomed prospective students and their families to Open Day on Wednesday 29 April for the chance to explore and experience all the RCM has to offer
Front cover – The Royal College of Music © Saul Peckham Inside front cover – Images from Vladimir Ashkenazy’s recent visit to conduct the RCM Symphony Orchestra on 12 and 13 March Inside back cover – International marimba player She-e Wu rehearsing with RCM percussionists for the Music for Marimbas concert on 4 February All photography © Chris Christodoulou
Upbeat online Upbeat is available to read 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.
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In the news... RCM Clean Sweep at Kathleen Ferrier Awards All major prizes at the 2015 Kathleen Ferrier Awards have been won by current students or recent graduates of the Royal College of Music. RCM soprano Gemma Lois Summerfield was named winner of the prestigious competition’s First Prize and Song Prize. In the final, which took place on Friday 24 April at London’s Wigmore Hall, Gemma gave an outstanding performance of songs by Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Duparc and Copland as well as an aria from Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, accompanied by RCM alumnus Sebastian Wybrew.
Recent RCM graduate soprano Soraya Mafi won Second Prize, while the Accompanist’s Award went to her performance partner Ian Tindale, a recent RCM Junior Fellow. In addition, RCM countertenor Timothy Morgan was presented with the Junior Ferrier Prize Bursary he won earlier this year.
RCM Unveils Transformative Development Plans
The Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship Fund’s annual competition offers the chance for young professional singers to compete for cash prizes and instant international recognition. The First Prize of £12,500, Second Prize of £6,000 and Song Prize of £5,000 are sponsored in perpetuity by Mark and Liza Loveday, and the Accompanist’s Award is provided by Help Musicians UK in memory of Arthur and Gwyneth Harrison.
Artist impression
Photo © Robert Piwko reproduced by kind permission of the Ferrier Awards
On 15 April, the Royal College of Music announced plans to transform its building in the heart of London’s South Kensington. The RCM site will be reimagined by renowned architect John Simpson and planning permission is being sought for a twoyear programme of works to start in 2016.
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The £25 million redevelopment is a significant investment in professional music education in the UK and the reconfiguration of the RCM will benefit both students and visitors to the iconic building. HRH The Prince of Wales has agreed to be Patron of the RCM’s ‘More Music’ campaign to fund the building development.
Left to right: Gemma Lois Summerfield, Ian Tindale and Soraya Mafi
RCM Director Professor Colin Lawson explains how the new building will transform both the student and visitor experience on page 12. Further information can be found at www.rcm.ac.uk/moremusic
The President’s Visit 2015 His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales honoured a number of outstanding figures in international musical life at the Royal College of Music’s Annual Awards Ceremony on Thursday 12 March. Those honoured included renowned conductor and pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy and acclaimed lyric soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, who both received their Honorary Doctorate from HRH The Prince of Wales, the President of the RCM. Fellowship of the Royal College of Music (FRCM) was conferred upon acclaimed oboe player John Anderson, renowned soprano and RCM professor Janis Kelly, Chairman of the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine Richard Price, celebrated British tenor Toby Spence, renowned scholar and performer Robin Stowell and Chair of the Mills Williams Foundation Nigel Woolner.
Honorary Membership of the Royal College of Music was presented to six individuals in recognition of their outstanding contribution to music and to the RCM: Chief Executive of the Royal Albert Hall Chris Cotton, BAFTA winning stage and film actor Edward Fox, eminent music critic and academic Ivan Hewitt, RCM Head of Keyboard Technical Services Chris Moulton, early music pioneer Jane Ryan and philanthropist Ruth West. On receipt of the Honorary Doctorate, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa said: ‘I am delighted and thrilled to be honoured in this way by the Royal College of Music, especially as the honour is being conferred by HRH The Prince of Wales himself.’ Vladimir Ashkenazy said: ‘It is a tremendous honour on this truly special and memorable occasion to be awarded the degree of Honorary Doctor of Music of the Royal College of Music.’ His Royal Highness also presented awards to the RCM’s most exceptional
recent graduates: violinist Agata Daraskaite received the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Rosebowl and saxophonist Amy Green and double bassist Rodrigo Moro Martín were both awarded the Tagore Gold Medal. They all also performed at the ceremony. The President’s Award was presented to composer Arne Gieshoff, whose works have been performed by, amongst others, the BBC Scottish Symphony, Philharmonia, London Philharmonic and Royal Scottish National Orchestras and have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3. His new work Fanfare was performed at the ceremony. Professor Colin Lawson, Director of the RCM, said: ‘I am delighted that the Royal College of Music has honoured this diverse array of eminent musicians and RCM supporters, in recognition of the contribution they have made, not to only the Royal College of Music, but also to musical life in this country and beyond.’
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In the news... RCM Ranked Top for Music The Royal College of Music has been ranked first in the 2016 Guardian University League Table for music, and is the only institution in the music league table to score a full 100 marks in the overall ranking. The RCM’s career score was also the highest in the table – with 97% of graduates finding graduate-level jobs, or studying further, within six months of graduation – and a top rating of 10/10 was given for the RCM’s individual investment in each student.
Queen’s Medal for Simon Halsey Royal College of Music alumnus Simon Halsey has been awarded The Queen’s Medal for Music 2014. The prize is awarded to an outstanding individual or group of musicians who have had a major influence on the musical life of the nation. Simon was presented with the award by HM The Queen at a reception at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday 11 March, following a performance by the London Symphony Orchestra.
Simon Halsey studied conducting at the RCM, and has since made a name for himself as a renowned conductor of choral repertoire and an ambassador for choral singing across the world. He has been Chorus Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Choruses for over 30 years and, in 2012, was appointed Choral Director of the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Director of the London Symphony Chorus. Simon is the tenth recipient of the award and follows in the footsteps of fellow RCM alumnus Sir Thomas Allen, who was awarded the medal last year.
The Guardian’s university guide states, ‘Students at London’s Royal College of Music have no excuse not to feel inspired’, praising the RCM’s location, ‘top-notch’ facilities and care in preparing students for viable careers in the music industry.
Photo © Kevin Leighton
Professor Colin Lawson, Director of the RCM, commented : ‘The RCM continues to be a natural first choice for talented students from around the world and I am delighted that the 2016 Guardian University League Table confirms our position as the UK’s leading institution for music education.’
RCM Simulator at Imperial Festival A pop-up version of the Royal College of Music’s ground-breaking performance simulator has featured at Imperial College London’s annual May Festival. Developed by the RCM’s Centre for Performance Science, the simulator, which features an on-stage and back-
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stage area and a virtual reality audience, and is supported by the Peter Sowerby Foundation, helps manage the stress of performing in front of large groups by recreating the conditions of a concert hall or audition.
the simulator shows that musicians who are given repeated exposure to realistic performance situations can more effectively manage the stresses of performing and the demands of their audiences.’
Professor Aaron Williamon, RCM Head of Performance Science, said: ‘Stage fright is a very real problem, not just for musicians but for anyone who is required to perform in front of an audience […] Our work with
The Imperial Festival has grown from a pilot project in 2012 to a largescale prominent annual fixture with thousands flocking to South Kensington to enjoy a range of workshops, tours, talks and performances.
Royal Over-Seas Success
RCM Digital Technology Showcased on BBC Radio 4
RCM musicians have won prizes at the coveted 2015 Royal Over-Seas League Competition.
The Ensembles A and B Sections were both won by RCM alumni: the Jackson Bielby Duo (violinist Martyn Jackson and violist Annie Bielby), and the Ferio Saxophone Quartet (Huw Wiggin, Ellie McMurray, Jose Manuel Banuls and Shevaughan Beere) respectively. Both groups were awarded £10,000. Winners of the solo awards competed in the ROSL Competition Final which was held on 1 June at Queen Elizabeth Hall. The evening also included performances by winners of the ROSL Ensemble Prizes.
Violinist Matouš Pěruška in Prague performing with pianist Alison Rhind at the RCM via 4K Gateway technology during NPAPW 2015
The Royal College of Music’s innovative use of digital technology has been highlighted on BBC Radio 4. RCM Head of Studios Matt Parkin and Research Fellow in Performance Science Dr Tania Lisboa appeared on the channel’s Arts Technologica programme to talk about how the use of the highspeed JANET network is changing the way music is taught, rehearsed and performed at the RCM. In recent years, the RCM has established itself as one of the UK’s
New Museum Audio Guide The RCM Museum of Music has launched an exciting new interactive audio guide to help visitors explore the treasures on display. The specially commissioned tabletbased app uses Bluetooth-based ‘beacons’ throughout the museum, allowing visitors to automatically access information about nearby artefacts.
Juliana Myslov
The guide incorporates a range of material, including written descriptions, audio commentary, images and musical excerpts, and it can be updated as exhibitions change or develop. Visitors
Photo © Sven Ubik
Soprano and recent graduate Soraya Mafi won First Prize in the Singers’ Section, accompanied by Ian Tindale, while RCM harpist Juliana Myslov triumphed in the String Section. Both were awarded prizes of £5,000.
leading innovators in the use of highspeed global networks, connecting student musicians with professors, researchers and collaborators around the world in real time. Recent events at the RCM utilising new digital technologies include a three-day international conference on specialist streaming technologies and an experimental student-led performance which intertwined music, theatre, dance and computer-generated graphics with three live link-ups with Barcelona, Helsinki and Edinburgh.
can also follow a pre-designed tour route of the RCM Museum of Music which highlights key items and automatically displays information as new locations are reached. Developed in partnership with the Department of Computer Science at University College London, the guide has been supported by funding from Arts Council England’s Share Academy programme and Tania Chislett, RCM Patron and museum volunteer. There are ten tablets available for visitors to use, all of which include assistive text-to-speech technology for the visually impaired. The RCM Museum of Music is open Tuesday to Friday, 11.30am to 4.30pm.
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In the news... This summer the RCM once again plays a big part in the BBC Proms, the world’s greatest classical music festival. Almost every Prom will be preceded by a Proms Extra event in the RCM’s Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall. The RCM will also be hosting Katie Derham and a selection of Proms stars for the weekly magazine programme aired on Saturdays on BBC Two, recorded in the RCM’s Parry Rooms. In addition, RCM Sparks Summer Music runs alongside the BBC Proms season and offers a range of events for participants of all ages and levels of ability. This year the series includes fun family workshops and an exciting threeday course for young people aged 10 to 12. For teenagers, a five-day composition course sees participants create an
Arcos Quartet Wins Boconnoc Award The Arcos Quartet has been named as the recipient of the fourth annual Boconnoc Award. Comprising RCM violinists David Lopez and Laia Valentin Braun, violist Ana Teresa Alves and cellist Juliette Giovacchini, the ensemble will be in residence at Boconnoc in Cornwall for a week in July. They will present two
eclectic new ensemble and compose a new piece. Finally, hands-on workshops for children aged six to nine offer the chance to delve deeper into the music at the Proms. For more information about the RCM Sparks Summer Music programme please visit www.rcm.ac.uk/summermusic
Four RCM Singers Join the National Opera Studio
Photo © Sheila Burnett
BBC and the Proms
recitals, one at Boconnoc House on 21 July and the second in the estate’s 14thcentury parish church on 23 July. The award was established in 2012 thanks to the generosity of Boconnoc owners Anthony and Elizabeth Fortescue. The prize constitutes a week’s residency on the estate, providing a valuable opportunity for the musicians to work intensively on repertoire and technique in a private and unique environment. To find out more about Boconnoc and the Arcos Quartet, and for tickets, please visit www.boconnoc.com
Four singers from the RCM International Opera School have been offered places at the National Opera Studio (NOS) for 2015/16. Current RCM singers soprano He Wu (pictured), mezzo soprano Angela Simkin and tenor Gyula Rab, alongside recent graduate tenor William Morgan, have all been selected for the NOS programme by the UK’s leading opera companies from hundreds of applicants. He Wu, Angela Simkin and Gyula Rab all recently starred in the RCM International Opera School’s 2014 production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute and the 2015 London Handel Festival and RCMIOS production of Giove in Argo.
Left to right: Laia Valentin Braun, Juliette Giovacchini, Ana Teresa Alves and David Lopez
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The National Opera Studio provides professional training of the highest quality for singers and repetiteurs who have the potential to become the leading artists of their generation. RCM alumni who have trained at NOS include Gerald Finley, Jennifer Johnston, Alfie Boe and Susan McCulloch.
Celebrating Humphrey Searle This year the Royal College of Music is celebrating the centenary of alumnus and former composition professor Humphrey Searle, widely recognised as one of Britain’s pioneers of serial music. To mark 100 years since his birth, the RCM will be performing a selection of Humphrey’s works this autumn. One particularly delightful piece is his setting of T S Elliot’s Practical Cats. A cat-lover himself, Searle’s playful ‘Cat Variations’ are based on a theme from Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and will be performed on Wednesday 2 December. Earlier in the season,
his 1974 work Five for solo guitar will be showcased in a special chamber concert in the Britten Theatre. For further details visit www.rcm.ac.uk/events In memory of Humphrey, the estate of his wife, the late Fiona Searle, supports composition scholarships and prizes at the Royal College of Music, and this year we’re delighted to award an exceptional three scholarships to Andrew Churchill, Andrew Howes and Nicholas Moroz, and two bursaries to RCM Junior Department students Siobhan Connellan and Alexander Walton-Keeffe. We look forward to celebrating Humphrey Searle’s music in upcoming months.
RCM Alumnae Celebrated on International Women’s Day The work of several RCM alumnae has been featured on BBC Radio 3’s International Women’s Day celebrations on Sunday 8 March. In a day of programming dedicated entirely to music written and chosen by women, the station celebrated the talents and creativity of women who have written music throughout the centuries, as well as championing the next generation of female composers. Rebecca Clarke’s music was featured alongside works by Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann in a coffee concert, which included performances by RCM alumna and BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist Kitty Whately. Other highlights of the day included a special broadcast of Private Passions with former RCM Junior Fellow Anna Meredith, and the world premiere of a new collection of piano miniatures written and performed by British pianist Grace Francis.
Humphrey Searle outside Buckingham Palace with his mother and wife after receiving a CBE in 1968
RCM Alumni Reunion: 1956–1965
tours of the College, including the RCM Museum of Music, Library and Britten Theatre. The opportunity to retrace your steps along corridors in the Blomfield Building will bring memories flooding back!
Following a very successful alumni reunion in March, we’re delighted to announce the next reunion will be held on Sunday 20 September 2015 (12.00pm – 4.00pm) for those who attended the RCM between 1956 and 1965.
More than half of the tickets for the September reunion have already been sold and space is limited, so please contact Rachel Bowden, Friends & Alumni Assistant, on 020 7591 4331 to secure your place. Please also check with your contemporaries and ask them to contact the RCM if they wish to attend. Information and a booking form, as well as a selection of images from previous reunions, can be found at www.rcm.ac.uk/alumni
The afternoon will include an introduction talk from RCM Director Professor Colin Lawson, lunch in the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall and
In the week following International Women’s Day, five young female composers – including RCM alumnae Charlotte Bray and Hannah Kendall – were interviewed for Composer of the Week, discussing life as a female composer today.
On 31 March 2015, 75 alumni and friends who attended the RCM between 1930 and 1955, were reunited in the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall
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The Royal College of Music Estate in Pictures For more than 130 years, the Royal College of Music has adapted and improved in order to continuously provide excellent facilities and a welcoming atmosphere for its students and for the general public.
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1883 - The Royal College of Music opens beside the Royal Albert
1894 - The RCM’s iconic Blomfield Building opens on Prince
Hall in what later becomes the Royal College of Organists.
Consort Road.
1967 - The RCM becomes the first educational institution in the
1986 - HM The Queen opens the Britten Theatre following an
UK to have its own electronic studios.
appeal led by HRH The Prince of Wales.
1901 - The newly-completed Concert Hall is opened with a
1965 - The South Building is inaugurated by Her Royal Highness
gala concert.
The Queen Mother.
2006 - The refurbished suite of Parry Rooms opens at the top of
2015 - The newly rebuilt hall of residence, Prince Consort Village,
the Blomfield Building
will open.
Turn the page to read about the next chapter in the life of the Royal College of Music..
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More Music: Reimagining the RCM
Artist impression
The Royal College of Music is embarking on an exciting period of development, improving and adding to its current facilities. Here, RCM Director Professor Colin Lawson sets out the plans and explains how they will further the values and ethos of the College. The Royal College of Music is launching a £25m transformation of its estate, a significant contribution to musical education in our lifetime. This development will make it possible for us to maintain our commitment to the highest standards of excellence in training young musicians for generations to come, securing our prime position in the international market for talent and contributing to London’s position as the cultural capital of the world. 12
which English musicians might resort with confidence, and thence derive instruction, counsel and inspiration.’ The provision of scholarships was immediately an integral part of widening access – and the press was quick to note that the initial intake of RCM students included ‘a mill-girl, the daughter of a bricklayer, the son of a blacksmith, and the son of a farm labourer.’
Founding Principles When the Prince of Wales founded the RCM in 1882, he was fiercely ambitious for the new institution and sowed the seeds for the College’s remarkable subsequent success. He demanded from the RCM nothing less than the ‘encouragement and promotion of the cultivation of music as an art throughout the world.’ As he himself said, there was at that time ‘no centre of music to
Within a dozen years the RCM had moved into its present iconic building near to the Royal Albert Hall and a number of benefactors had laid the foundations for its unique collections of manuscripts and historic instruments. The roster of RCM students in succeeding years is literally a Who’s Who of British music, including composers Benjamin Britten, Frank Bridge, Gustav Holst, Herbert Howells, John Ireland, Sir Michael Tippett, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Mark-Anthony Turnage, as well as eminent performers such as Dame Joan Sutherland, Sir Colin Davis, John Lill, Sir Thomas Allen and Sir James Galway, to name but a few. Outside the
realms of classical music, alumni Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rick Wakeman and Oscar winner Anne Dudley are among those who can trace their formative influences to the RCM.
Current Provision Over the last generation or so the Royal College of Music has been a trailblazer in developing a subtle blend of education and training that provides an exceptionally rich student experience, making it a natural first choice for young musicians from around the globe. More than half of our current 800 students are British and the cohort as a whole numbers almost 60 nationalities, providing the ideal foundation for a stimulating learning and teaching environment. Study at the RCM is centred upon oneto-one tuition, supplemented by an annual programme of over 300 concerts, masterclasses and opera productions, bringing to the College a dazzling array of visiting musicians throughout the year (see www.rcm.ac.uk/events for current highlights). We offer specialist career advice for students, together with professional support in such essential areas as health and well-being. Entrepreneurship and an appreciation of both the art and craft of being a musician are at the heart of the curriculum. Unsurprisingly, employment prospects for RCM graduates remain reassuringly high.
The Present Estate The RCM’s characterful Victorian building is an important part of its heritage and continues to be much loved by today’s generation of students, staff and audiences. Yet its monumental qualities belie the pulsating, vigorous institution within its walls, which is far from reactionary or stuffy. Indeed, the RCM is immersed in contemporary culture and has embraced the technological age with enthusiasm and appropriate expertise. Concerts, masterclasses and graduation ceremonies are routinely streamed on our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/ rcmlondon), while teaching takes place on digital platforms in collaboration with some of our many international partners, for example in the USA and the Far East. We must now face the challenge of bringing our estate up to date, in order
Artist impression
to ensure that our activities take place in fitting surroundings. A programme of refurbishment of the original spaces within the main building was crowned in 2008/09 by a £5m refurbishment and transformation of the glorious Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, arguably one of the finest of its size in the world. Yet since the addition of the superb Britten Theatre in 1986, there have been no physical additions to the RCM estate, despite a recent radical increase in student numbers.
Future Plans By clearing some existing 1960s and 1970s buildings which have come to the end of their useful lives, we have identified a site of some 2,300 square metres within the main campus on which to build new facilities. These will comprise: • two new state-of-the-art performance spaces of 150 and 90 seats respectively, reflecting high contemporary standards of acoustic quality, sound insulation and lighting, with recording and broadcasting capability • an interactive museum to showcase the collections of the RCM, for both the College community and the wider public • additional practice rooms
• a new communal space to provide a breakout area, a restaurant area and theatre bar for visitors and students alike. The architect John Simpson has produced a scheme that extends the language of the RCM’s existing architecture and will have a radical effect on circulation around the campus. The ambitions of 1882 remain as vivid as ever; we want everyone who has contact with the RCM to be transformed by the experience and to feel that they have developed an extra dimension in their relationship with music. The RCM prides itself on providing a uniquely enriching learning environment, and not just for our own students. We emphasize the inspirational aspect of musical experience that transforms it from excellent to exceptional, from enjoyable to life-changing. As we embark on this new development project, the Royal College of Music is closer to its founding ethos, values and principles than it has ever been, in addressing its weighty responsibilities to the national and international community. Find out more at www.rcm.ac.uk/moremusic
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Meeting the supporters...
Paul Duffy Paul Duffy has been an RCM Friend since 1992 and has included the College in his will. As a member of Mensa, Paul arranges regular group trips to RCM International Opera School productions for members of the society. You regularly bring large parties of people from Mensa to the RCM opera productions, don’t you? Yes, for The Magic Flute, I brought 64. Our party was 38 for La gazzetta, and a similar number for the Ravel double bill. Those events were so successful that I have decided to go on to national advertising within Mensa, which we’re doing for Albert Herring [in July]. I joined Mensa a long time ago and actually allowed my membership to lapse because I couldn’t find enough activities that interested me at the time. And then, 20 years later, they wrote to me and said ‘Mensa’s much better now, why don’t you rejoin’, so I did. What I found was a lack of cultural events and I thought that was a major gap. I thought that members should regularly have opportunities to go to concerts and opera. Classical music has always been a passion of mine from childhood and it was an experiment to see how successful it would be to organise these events for Mensa members, and I’ve proved that it can be.
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Due to a lack of music education in a lot of schools many children grow up without any knowledge or awareness of classical music, which is very sad. So, I just wanted to raise awareness and meet other people in Mensa who shared my interests.
Theatre every year. That was the first thing I saw at the College. I wondered what else went on there so I took an interest and joined the Friends. I was really delighted at what I found.
Do you feel that institutions like the RCM are vital for the future of music in Britain?
The feeling that I’m supporting it and that young people will be enabled to study there who perhaps wouldn’t from their own resources – that we are creating a different stream of income which is helping. And I enjoy very much the performances I go to.
Yes, very much so. I did do some promotional work years ago for the rock music industry, for a group that my brother started – The Stranglers. We didn’t have musical parents and neither of us had a proper music education which I always regretted. He went that way and I went the other way because my best friends at school were pianists. I did try to play violin and even played second violin in an orchestra in Hong Kong but compared my performance unfavourably with that of fellow members of that orchestra. I would like music education to be more widely available and so I’m doing my little bit to try and help the RCM. I think it’s very important that institutions like the College exist and thrive.
What has been your favourite production that you’ve attended? Well, I go back so far it’s hard to say. I still think warmly of The Fair at Sorochintsi conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky and produced by Keith Warner in the mid-1990s. Some of the Mozart productions in recent years have been very well sung and benefited from simple but beautiful stage design and lighting. And this is one of the things that’s so refreshing about student opera productions: generally speaking, they try to stick to the creator’s intentions
You’re also a legacy supporter of the RCM. Why did you decide to do that? I would like some of the modest amount of wealth that I’ve created to be of real lasting benefit to the world. Proper music education is something that I didn’t have and would have enjoyed enormously if I had. It’s one of the great regrets of my life.
When did you first encounter the Royal College of Music? I think I discovered the Royal College of Music by accident. I became interested in the London Handel Society which does a Handel opera at the RCM’s Britten
What do you like about being a Friend of the RCM?
What would you say to anyone else who’s thinking about coming to something at the College or becoming an RCM Friend? I’d say it was a very good thing to do, and, in fact, of the Mensa group I’ve brought to the College, I think at least 9 or 10 of them have become Friends in the last few months. That’s a very satisfactory result, I think. For more information about becoming an RCM Friend or legacy supporter, visit www.rcm.ac.uk/support
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 Tony Barnfield Mrs Sabine Betts Mr Philip Boswell Mrs Julie Cooper Sir Anthony and Lady Mayella Figgis Mrs Felicity Foster Mr Lewis Graham Mr Anthony and Mrs Ursula Hamilton Dr John Hart Mrs Denise Holle Mr Campbell Hughes Ms Sophie Hussey Ms Ruth Keattch Ms Mavis Masters Mr David Mccord Mrs Josephine Milton Ms Caroline Newton Mrs Ann Osbourne Mrs Mary Ryan Mr David Wilson
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 Estate of Basil Coleman The Estate of Christopher Hogwood Soirée d’Or Scholarships The Estate of Ivor Charles Treby ABRSM Leverhulme Trust 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 Thomas Redford Legacy John Lewis Partnership Scholarships+ 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 Gylla Godwin Award The Reed Foundation Opperby Stokowski Collection Trust The Lee Abbey Award Stephen Catto Memorial Scholarship The Worshipful Company of Drapers The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers Lord and Lady Lurgan Trust Sir Gordon Palmer Scholarship Ian Stoutzker CBE FRCM Ian and Meriel Tegner Linda Beeley H.M.D. Meyer Violin Prize Emma Rose Scholarship Williams Rose Scholarship The Charles Stewart Richardson Scholarship for Composition 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 Carole and Geoffrey Lindey The Estate of Clara Mary Field Reid Amaryllis Fleming Scholarship The Wyseliot Charitable Trust The Stanley Picker Scholarship Professor Lord Winston South Square Trust 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
The Tait Trust Scholarship The Radcliffe Trust 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 The Abinger Hammer Award 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 Mr James McAlinden Legacy Norman Reintamm Peter Granger Supporters of RCM Sparks J Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust Royal Albert Hall John Lyon’s Charity Universal Music The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust The Oldhurst Trust Sykes & Son Members of the RCM Chairman’s Circle Philip Carne MBE, HonRCM and Christine Carne* Michael and Ruth West* Linda Hill HonRCM 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* Penelope, Lady Sitwell Sylvia and Clive Richards* Quentin Williams* Victoria Robey OBE* Alethea Siow and Jeremy Furniss* Members of the RCM Director’s Circle Daniel Chapchal Mr James Lancaster and Mrs Margaret Lancaster Sir Peter and Lady Middleton FRCM Judy and Terence Mowschenson Vivien McLean Tania Chislett Charles and Kaaren Hale Helen Chung-Halpern and Abel Halpern The Vernon Ellis Foundation Richard and Sue Price Peter and Dimity Spiller Roland Saam Joanna Kaye+ Sir Sydney and Lady Lipworth Anne Wadsworth OBE+ 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 Ms Sylvia Bettermann Nathenson Mr Peter and Mrs Tessa Ettedgui Mr Kenneth and Mrs Lillemor Gardener Sir Anthony Cleaver FRCM and Lady Cleaver
Mary Godwin Carol J Hagh Ms Greta Hemus John and Sue Heywood Mr David James Mr David Lewis Barbara Simmonds Betty Sutherland Louisa Treger Dr Yvonne Winkler Mr Victor and Mrs Lilian Hochhauser FRCM Sir Peter and Lady Gershon Sarah Griffin Mr William and Mrs AnnaMarie Hill Mrs Yannick Mango Sir David Lees Sir Richard and Lady Sykes Mr David Mildon Robin Hambro Charles and Dominique Lubar Mrs Marcella Rossi MarieNoelle and Mathias Gislev Corporate Supporters Campus Living Villages M&G Investments Niquesa Fine Jewellery and Hotels GlaxoSmithKline Royal Garden Hotel RLM Finsbury BAE Systems Hatch Mansfield Little Greene Other generous donors RBC Trust Company Ltd The Peter Sowerby Foundation Georg and Emily von Opel Foundation+ Geoffrey Richards HonRCM The Robert Fleming Hannay Memorial Charity Bob and Sarah Wigley The Henry Wood Trust Karen Cook The Hon Richard Lyttelton Heritage Lottery Fund The Rothschild Foundation The Seary Charitable Trust St Marylebone Educational Foundation John Hosier Music Trust Roland Rudd Miss Kathleen Beryl Sleigh Charitable Trust The Sharp Foundation Christopher Saul Sian Westerman Natalie Livingstone The Leche Trust Fidelio Trust Professor Colin Lawson FRCM Ofenheim Charitable Trust Ann Driver Trust Edward Mandel/Jaques Samuel Pianos Bursary The Derek Hill Foundation Friends of the National Libraries Stephen Von Bismarck Sudhir Choudhrie Clore Duffield Foundation Richard Everard Mr Douglas Flint Mitie Paige Nelson Dorothy Sayers Michael D Steen Sir David Tang William Tilden * 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
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Student notes
Student notes
String Successes
Vocal Awards
Mezzo soprano Maria Ostroukhova has won Second Prize in the London Handel Festival Singing Competition at St George’s, Hanover Square. Soprano Sarah Hayashi also reached the finals of the competition… Baritone Huw Montague Rendall has won the Brooksvan der Pump English Song Competition Final 2015 and the Dunraven Welsh Young Singer of the Year Competition… Soprano Josephine Goddard has received a Licette Award at the 2015 Maggie Teyte Singing Competition.
Keyboard Accomplishments Jamal Aliyev
Cellist Jamal Aliyev has won First Prize at the Bromsgrove International Young Musicians Competition 2015, after performing a varied programme including music by Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Rachmaninov…Violinist Yume Fujise has won Second Prize at the EuroAsia International Competition… Violinist Nadine Galea has been announced as a Concordia Foundation Artist… Violinist Laura Ayoub has won The Big Music Project Competition as one half of the Ayoub Sisters. Laura and her sister Sarah performed Danse Macabre at the final held at indigo at The O2 to win the Classical Upper Age category. Their prize includes the opportunity to perform at Classic FM Live later this year… Violinist Cécile Galy has won Second Prize at the Concours International Léopold Bellan in Paris.
Galina Averina
Soprano Galina Averina has won both the Sexto Premio and the Audience Prize at the Francisco Viñas Competition at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona… Bass baritone Simon Shibambu has won both the First Prize and the Audience Prize at the Clonter Opera Singing Competition… Soprano Natasha Day has won Second Prize at the Filharmonia Częstochowska Singing Competition and has been awarded the opportunity to perform in two orchestral concerts… Soprano Marie Jaermann and her Baroque ensemble AbChordis have won First Prize at the Göttingen International Händel Festspiele Competition. The ensemble was subsequently invited to perform at the festival in May, and Marie was offered an extra concert with the FestspielEnsemble Göttingen… Baritone Timothy Nelson has won joint First Prize in the Bruce Millar Gulliver Prize singing competition held in Glasgow.
Pianist Claire Harris has won the Help Musicians UK Accompanist Prize at the 2015 Maggie Teyte Singing Competition… Alexander Krichel has been invited to perform Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto no 2 in Tokyo with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra on 5 July, followed by a solo recital in Oji Hall on 7 July. His fourth CD, a live recording with the Dresden Philharmonic under Michael Sanderling for Sony Classical, will be released in August.
Alexander Krichel
Cécile Galy
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Timothy Nelson
Pianist Theresa Yu will be taking part in the Young Musicians Festival in Montville, Australia, in July. The annual festival highlights international artists and young Australian talent… Nikita Abrosimov, Dinara Klinton, Alexander Ullman and Natalia Sokolovskaya have all performed at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow… Pianist Luka Okrostsvaridze has been chosen by the Tillett Trust for its Young Artists’ Platform scheme, which includes the opportunity to perform a recital at London’s Wigmore Hall in December.
Woodwind Triumphs
Laurence Long
Laurence Long has been appointed the Dr John Birch Organ Scholar at All Saints Margaret Street, London, from September 2015. John Birch was Professor of Organ at the RCM for nearly 40 years (1959-1997), and also Organist at All Saints Margaret Street from 1953 to 1958… Pietro Gatto, Vitaly Pisarenko, Tamila Salimdjanova, Samson Tsoy and Alexander Ullman have secured places at the Leeds International Piano Competition in August… Pianist Hamish Brown has won the Accompanist Award at the Brooks-van der Pump English Song Competition Final 2015… Dinara Klinton, Tamila Salimdjanova, HinYat Tsang and Alexander Ullman have all been selected to take part in the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition final in Warsaw in October… Pianist Victor Maslov has been awarded Second Prize at the Astana Piano Passion International Competition of Young Pianists in Kazakhstan. He was also awarded the Denis Matsuev Prize and the Prize of Astana Opera, both of which offer concert opportunities… Pianist Chi-Hoi Cheung has won the Appelbe Piano Prize at the North London Piano Festival.
Chi-Hoi Cheung
Brother and sister David and Kristina Hedley, oboe and bassoon respectively, have given a recital at St George’s United Reformed Church in Morpeth. The programme included music by Saint-Saëns, Schumann, Telemann and Nielson… Saxophonist Philip Attard has been chosen for the Tillett Trust Young Artists’ Platform scheme, which includes the opportunity to perform at London’s Wigmore Hall in December.
Brass Accolades The RCM Trombone Ensemble (Ryan Hume, Jonathan Hollick, Thomas Barton, Dominic Hales, David Pitts, Robert Moseley, Gregory Huff, James Alexander and James Maund), directed by trombone professor Byron Fulcher, has been awarded ‘runner up’ in the prestigious Emory Remington Trombone Choir Competition for 2015. This is the highest position achieved by any British group since the competition started in 1971… French horn player Ana Feijao will perform as part of the Jovem Orquestra Portuguesa during the Young Euro Classic Festival at the Berlin Konzerthaus on 12 August.
Composition Congratulations Composer Ross Koopmans has written the score for the winning documentary film in the Premio Firouz Galdo competition, run by the National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome… Christopher Schlechte-Bond has taken part in the ‘And So Forth’ song cycle project. Christopher worked with librettist and RCM alumna Laura Attridge and professional singers to perform a cycle of songs at St James’s Church, Sussex Gardens, on 4 June.
Christopher Schlechte-Bond
Spotlight on…
Several RCM musicians have taken part in Musical Odyssey International Masterclasses in Greece where they won recital opportunities. Tenor Gyula Rab won the Aspect Foundation Prize and has performed at Leighton House, baritone Timothy Connor won the Concordia Foundation Prize and has performed at St Martin-in-the-Fields, soprano Natasha Day will perform at the Young Virtuosi Festival in France in July and pianist Tony Falone has given a lunchtime recital at the City Literary Institute.
Ben Goldscheider
RCM Junior Department Achievements French horn player Ben Goldscheider has reached the final round of the BBC Radio 2 Young Brass Award 2015. Ben is also horn section leader in the National Youth Orchestra, of which 21 other RCMJD musicians are members this year, including orchestra leader Stephanie Childress, and section leaders Athena Hawksley-Walker (second violin) and William Barnes-McCallum (trombone)… RCMJD French horn player Joel Ashford has been accepted onto the European Union Youth Orchestra 2015 Leverhulme Summer School… RCMJD violinist Shoshanah Sievers has performed in the Bramley & Little London Festival in June. 17
Staff notes Violin professor Madeleine Mitchell will be teaching at this year’s Dartington International Summer School and Languages & Music for Life courses in Wales and France, and will be a judge at the Third International Western Strings Competition in Guangzhou in August. She recently performed in Victoria Hall Singapore, Wigmore Hall and on BBC Radio 3 with piano professor Nigel Clayton, and at chamber concerts at the Arnold Schoenberg Centre in Vienna and Milton Court at the Barbican. Cello professor Alice Neary has given a recital with her father, organist Martin Neary, at St Peter’s Church in St Albans. The concert included works for cello and organ by Saint-Saëns, as well as music for solo cello by Britten. Research Fellow in Performance Science Dr Tania Lisboa and Head of the Centre for Performance Science Aaron Williamon have, in collaboration with RCM alumnus Dr Terry Clark, written a chapter for Advanced Musical Performance: Investigations in Higher Education Learning. Entitled ‘Learning to be an Instrumental Musician’, the chapter focuses on musical skills as well as the training of musicians and includes interviews with RCM students. RCMJD organ teacher Daniel Moult has edited An Easy Handel Organ Album, to be published this summer by Bärenreiter. Later this year, he will also begin recording organs across the UK in an ambitious project to document the development of the English organ and its music. The film will be released by Fugue State Films.
Photos © Federico Alberto
Head of Strings Mark Messenger has recently travelled to the Dominican Republic to work with Music for Life – a youth music programme set up by RCM alumna Aisha Syed Castro – and met with iconic composer Rafael Bullumba Landestoy.
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Rafael Bullumba Landestoy and Mark Messenger
Professor Ashley Solomon conducted students from NAFA in Singapore
Head of Historical Performance Professor Ashley Solomon has travelled to the USA to give masterclasses and a concert at Penn State University with members of RCM Ensemble in Association Florilegium. The tour also include two concerts in New York. Ashley also directed students from NAFA in Singapore in a performance of J S Bach’s Magnificat.
Head of Studios Matt Parkin has worked as a recording engineer on Purcell’s Revenge: Sweeter Than Roses? The new album from Concerto Caledonia (Delphian Records) was recorded in the Britten Studio at Snape Maltings and brings together stars of both historical performance and contemporary folk music to reinvent some of Purcell’s most popular works.
Faculties Manager David Badger has completed a Masters in intellectual property law, researching the legal protection of creative works online. Harpsichord professor Terence Charlston has collaborated with Professor Chris Howe and Dr Heather Windram of the University of Cambridge on an article article published in Early Music last year. Concerning the application of phylogenetic analysis to variants in musical sources, the article has also been published in the University of Cambridge’s Horizons magazine. Trumpet professor Mark Armstrong has directed the National Youth Jazz Orchestra to victory in the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group Education Award. Mark has also worked with BuJazzO (the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra) as trumpet tutor at their residential rehearsals at the Palazzo Ricci in Montepulciano, Italy. Composition professor Kenneth Hesketh has been invited to be a featured composer at the ISCM Korea Pan Music Festival in September 2015. Three of his works will be performed, including the world premiere of Bonnet’s Phantoms for string quartet, and he will lecture on his own work during the residency.
The work of composition professor Joseph Horovitz will be featured on two new CDs released by RCM alumni. This Other Eden is the debut CD of Ferrier Award winner, mezzo soprano Kitty Whately, and includes Horovitz’s scena Lady Macbeth, in which Kitty is accompanied by pianist Joseph Middleton. Portraits of England celebrates the ten-year collaboration of clarinettist Jonathan Parkin and pianist Sebastian Stanley and includes Horovitz’s Clarinet Sonatina. RCMJD vocal teacher Margaret Maguire has written a booklet providing an insight into choral singing as well as vocal exercises. The booklet is available to download from tutti.co.uk.
RCM Junior Department piano teacher Clara Rodriguez has won Classical Act of the Year at the 2015 Latin-UK Awards (LUKAS) for her contribution to music in the UK. LUKAS is the only awards ceremony to recognise the contribution of Britain’s one million Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese residents. Clara has also performed in London at the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre.
Stefan Dohr
Berent Korfker
Violin professor Berent Korfker, inventor of the Pirastro KorfkerCradle and KorfkerRest, has exhibited these two revolutionary shoulder rests at the International Music Fair in Frankfurt. He is also celebrating his tenth year at the RCM, and has performed Brahms’ Violin Concerto with Harrow’s Trinity Orchestra conducted by Ben Palmer. Clara Rodriguez
RCM Head of Keyboard Professor Vanessa Latarche has given a masterclass and been a member of the competition jury panel at the Astana Piano Passion festival in Kazakhstan. RCMJD piano teacher Nataša Lipovšek will hold piano masterclasses for young pianists this summer, with the final concert of the week held at St Mark’s Church, Wimbledon, on 22 August. Performance and Programming Concert Assistant James Greveson Hickie will be running the Oxjam Brixton Takeover in October 2015. The month-long music festival is run by volunteers and will feature hundreds of artists and events across the country, all to raise money for Oxfam. For more information or to get involved, contact oxjambrixton2015@ gmail.com.
Organ professor Margaret Phillips has performed at the Sherborne Abbey Festival in May. Her recital included Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in D major, Ad Wammes’ Miroir and Lionel Rogg’s Nun freut euch, all performed on the Sherborne Abbey organ. Simon Brown, Ivan Hewett, Dr Tania Lisboa and Dr Ingrid Pearson and the Listening Experience Database project team will be holding a conference on 24-25 October 2015 at the RCM. As the project comes to the end of its first phase, the LED is still seeking documented sources of musical experiences (e.g. diaries, memoirs and letters) and you can find out more about both the project and the conference at www.rcm.ac.uk/led. Harpsichord professor Jane Chapman has released a new disc entitled The Oriental Miscellany. Alumna Yu-Wei Hu also features on the recording on Baroque flute.
Photo © Monika Rittershaus
Spotlight on…
Three exciting faculty appointments have been announced, with Stefan Dohr, Trio Apaches and Maxim Rysanov all joining the RCM this year. Stefan Dohr, principal horn with the Berlin Philharmonic, joins the Brass Faculty as a Visiting Professor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest horn players of our time, Stefan was principal horn of the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra before joining the Berlin Philharmonic in 1993. Trio Apaches takes up the position of Piano Trio in Association. The Trio, which includes RCM professors Ashley Wass (keyboard) and Thomas Carroll (cello) alongside Matthew Trusler (violin), formed in 2012 and has quickly established an active and prominent presence on the international concert scene. They will give a series of lunchtime recitals and offer chamber music coaching to RCM students throughout the year. Grammy-nominated violist and conductor Maxim Rysanov will join as Artist in Residence, making regular visits for masterclasses, one-to-one teaching and chamber music coaching, as well as giving solo recitals and directing larger string ensembles. Maxim’s residency has been made possible by a donation from the Georg and Emily von Opel Foundation.
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Alumni notes Soprano Pumeza Matshikiza has appeared on the front cover of the February issue of Opera Now. In addition to a five-page feature about the soprano, the magazine also included an article on tenor Thomas Walker.
Violinist Benjamin Baker’s third and latest CD, The Last Rose of Summer, has been championed by Classic FM. The recording features Beethoven’s Sonata no 2 for violin and piano and Ernst’s Variations on the Irish Air, ‘The last rose of summer’.
Violinist Olivia Scheepers has performed Dvořák’s Violin Concerto at Chester Cathedral with the Chester Philharmonic Orchestra. Bass baritone Bradley Travis has made his debut with Opera North as Figaro in Mozart’s comic opera, conducted by Alexander Shelley and directed by Jo Davies. Soprano Susanna Hurrell and countertenor James Laing have performed in Kasper Holten’s production of Cavalli’s L’Ormindo. The production was a collaboration between the Royal Opera House and the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe. Gregory Batsleer has been awarded the first ever Arts Foundation Award for Choral Conducting, receiving a prize of £10,000. Gregory has also been appointed Chorus Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
Ruth Rogers
Violinist Ruth Rogers has been appointed as joint Leader of the London Mozart Players. Taking up the position in March 2015, her first performance in the role saw her direct the ensemble in a concert to launch the new album of fellow RCM alumna Claire Jones. Luke Whitlock has released his debut CD as a composer, on the Divine Art label. Artists recording Luke’s work include RCM alumni: flautist Anna Stokes, clarinettist James Meldrum, bassoonist Vicky Crowell and pianist Wai-Yin Lee.
Bassoonist Amy Harman has performed at the Bath International Music Festival, accompanied on the piano by Jonathan Ware. Her concert at the Guildhall included Saint-Saëns’ Bassoon Sonata, Elgar’s Romance in D minor and J S Bach’s Viola da Gamba Sonata no 1 in G major. Alumni James Lisney, Graham Fitch, Lauretta Bloomer and Karl Lutchmayer and RCMJD teacher Christine Stevenson will give masterclasses, recitals and presentations at this year’s Summer School for Pianists, held at the University of Wolverhampton’s All Steinway Performance Hub from 16 to 22 August.
Pianist Marta Menezes has released her debut CD. The recording features Beethoven’s Sonata no 32 op 111 with which Marta won First Prize at the RCM Beethoven Competition in 2013.
Trombonist Matthew Gee has released his first solo trombone album in June. Paradiso e inferno pairs music by composers seldom associated with one another, including works by Brahms, Carter, Mahler, Schubert and Xenakis.
Baritone Edward Grint has won the Concours Lyrique International Singing Competition of Clermont-Ferrand. Part of his prize includes the opportunity to perform the role of Polyphemus in a tour of Acis and Galatea during the 2015/16 season. Edward also recently sang Achille in Giulio Cesare at the Concertgebouw.
Cellist Noreen Silver has performed Schubert’s Piano Trio in B flat major in a series of free concerts presented by the Ellsworth Community Music Institute (ECMI) in Maine. She was joined by violinist Richard Hsu and her husband, pianist Phillip Silver, for the recital in April.
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The Foyle-Štšura Duo – violinist Michael Foyle and current doctoral student pianist Maksim Štšura – has won the Beethoven Chamber Music Competition (the Gwyneth George Award) held at Steinway Hall in April. Their prize includes the opportunity to perform in the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe’s 2015/16 season. Pianist Katherine Tinker has given her Wigmore Hall debut as a Park Lane Group Young Artist, alongside her duo partner Max Welford. They have also been accepted as Concordia Young Artists. Tenor William Morgan has recently made his English National Opera debut in the role of Younger Man in the world premiere of Tansy Davies’ Between Worlds.
Violinist Levon Chilingirian has joined other leading Armenian artists for the Genocide Centennial Concert in Washington, DC, in May. Performed at the Strathmore arts centre, the concert included a range of music from traditional melodies to contemporary works composed for the Genocide Centennial. Peter Brathwaite recently sang with ETO
Baritone Peter Brathwaite’s Degenerate Music show has received its premiere at the London Song Festival, and was performed at the Alderney Performing Arts Festival, with pianist Nigel Foster. A song-based programme that explores music suppressed by the Nazis in 1938, the show will also be performed at the Manchester Jewish Museum next year. The Piatti String Quartet, formed by violinist Michael Trainor, violist David Wigram and cellist Jessie Ann Richardson during their time at the RCM, has been awarded Second Prize at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. The quartet, which includes violinist Nathaniel Anderson-Frank, also received the Sidney Griller Award for the best performance of the set piece – Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Contusion – and the St Lawrence String Quartet Prize.
Piatti String Quartet
BBC NOW’s Resident Composer Mark Bowden’s A Violence of Gifts has received its premiere at St David’s Hall, Cardiff, in April. Conducted by Martyn Brabbins, the work has a libretto written by poet Owen Sheers. Pianist Maria Marchant has been announced as pianist-in-residence at the Shipley Arts Festival in Sussex for 2015. She will also perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto K 414 with the European Union Chamber Orchestra on 13 July. Harpist Elizabeth-Jane Baldry has given a St Peter’s Music Society recital at Temple Methodist Church in Budleigh Salterton. The repertoire spanned five centuries, and included Spanish dances, Baroque Flamenco and Victorian fairy music. Harpist Claire Jones has performed in the Bramley & Little London Music Festival in June. Claire has also released her new album Journey which features music reflecting her personal journey of recovery from ME Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
The RCM Library has recently received a new donation relating to RCM alumnus and British conductor Leopold Stokowski. An album containing messages and good wishes for Stokowski’s 90th birthday has been generously donated by Edward Johnson of the Stokowski Society. Messages contained within the album are from such musical luminaries as Samuel Barber, John Cage, Lou Harrison, Yehudi Menuhin, Leonard Bernstein, George Crumb and Dmitri Shostakovich, who wrote ‘On this auspicious day of your 90th birthday I am happy to salute you and to express once again my admiration of your enormous talent.’
Pianists Andrei Korobeinikov and Alexei Petrov have performed at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
The album is currently on display in the Donaldson Room in the RCM Library.
The Françoise-Green Piano Duo has been awarded Third Prize at the International Schubert Competition for piano duos in the Czech Republic. Antoine Françoise and Robin Green were invited to perform Mozart’s Concerto for two pianos K 365 in the prize-winners’ concert with the chamber orchestra of Moravia.
Pianist Kausikan Rajeshkumar has been selected to take part in the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition final in Warsaw in October. Soprano Sarah-Jane Brandon has reached the final of the Francisco Viñas Competition at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Simon Halsey has been elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He has also been appointed Conductor Laureate of the Berlin Radio Choir following 14 years as Chief Conductor.
Kim Shippey has been appointed Director of Development and Donor Relations at the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in Canada. Pianist Alan Chu, current principal keyboard of Hong Kong Sinfonietta, has performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no 3 with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Students’ Union Orchestra under the baton of Stanley Yeung.
Spotlight on…
Françoise-Green Piano Duo
Tatty Theo and Rachel Harris will perform with The Brook Street Band and Matthew Brook and Carina Cosgrave at Wigmore Hall on 2 July. The concert will include works by J S Bach and Handel. 21
Obituaries and births and Harvey Phillips. She then won a scholarship to work with Paul Tortelier at the Paris Conservatoire. Throughout her career she performed with a great number of ensembles, including the Pierrot Players, Salomon String Quartet, London Sinfonietta, Monteverdi Orchestra, London Classical Players, Taverner Players, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Philharmonia Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Steinitz Bach Players and the Music Party. In the 1980s she started teaching at the Royal Academy of Music as well as privately. She is survived by her husband, the author Mike Foss, and by their daughter.
HRH The Prince of Wales and Dr Christopher Wynn Parry
Dr Christopher Wynn Parry MBE HonRCM died on 24 February. He was a Consultant in Rheumatology and Rehabilitation and was made MBE in 1954 for his work for the Royal Air Force in the medical rehabilitation units (1950-1977). He later worked at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital as Director of Rehabilitation and Rheumatology and King Edward VII Hospital at Midhurst as Director of Rheumatology (1989-1994). After retiring, he became honorary Senior Consultant for the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM), which he helped to develop. He also played a large role in the development of the RCM’s Centre for Performance Science, lecturing to students on the causes and treatment, and particularly prevention, of injuries resulting from performance. He published widely on rehabilitation, rheumatology, peripheral nerve damage, back pain, rehabilitation services and musicians’ problems, and was awarded a number of prizes throughout his career. He was an RCM Friend and, in 2011, was made an Honorary Member of the RCM. Last year, the College marked his retirement from clinical service at BAPAM (aged 89) with a gathering of friends and colleagues in the RCM’s Parry Rooms. Conductor, composer and former Royal College of Music professor Denys Darlow died aged 93, on 24 February. Denys was a professor of organ, theory, aural and history, working at the RCM from the mid-60s until his retirement in 1996. Born 13 May 1921 in Barnet, north London, Denys studied with H A Bate at St James’s, Muswell Hill, and later with Dr Arthur Pritchard, for a time working as assistant organist at Southwark Cathedral. In 1952 he founded the Tilford Bach Festival and went on to give many concerts and broadcasts of 22
Baroque music as well as commissioning a great deal of new music. In the 1960s he toured Europe with his choir and orchestra and was a guest conductor for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Berlin Symphony Orchestra and others. He was organist at St George’s, Hanover Square, from 1972 to 2000, and succeeded Cuthbert Bates as director of the Bath Bach Choir in 1980. He founded the London Handel Festival in 1978, and continued conducting annual Handel opera productions in the RCM’s Britten Theatre as part of the Festival until ill-health forced him to retire fully in 2002. He was awarded the FRCM in 1984. Emily Phelps, formerly Grimes, died aged 104, on 15 March. Emily grew up in Ledbury, later moving to London to work in the catering team at the Royal College of Music where she met many of the great musicians who studied and taught at the College, including Sir Thomas Beecham and Benjamin Britten. It was at the RCM that she also met her first husband, librarian Reginald Grimes, and the couple were married in 1934. At the outbreak of WWII, Emily returned to Ledbury, and ran a local cinema for many years. Following the death of her husband, she remarried later in life, to Percy Phelps. Mother to three and grandmother to five, Emily was known for her sense of humour and love of life. RCM alumna Jennifer Ward Clarke died aged 79, on 1 March. One of the first British cellists to play on a period instrument, she made a name for herself as one of the most adaptable orchestral and chamber musicians in the country. Born in Yateley, Hampshire, on 20 June 1935, she was educated at Benenden School, in Kent, where she was drawn to the cello, before studying at the Royal College of Music with Ivor James
RCM alumna Vivian Tan died aged 53, on 5 April. Vivian studied clarinet at the Royal College of Music and at the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts, before she shifted career focus to work with children in need. In 1998 she founded One Accord Inc, which runs Kids Alley, a programme providing tutoring and support to at risk youngsters. Vivian earned a number of awards for her work with children, including Camden County’s Martin Luther King Freedom Medal. RCM alumnus Stephen Cooper died aged 63, on 26 April. Stephen studied bassoon at the Royal College of Music from 1970 to 1974, and it was during this time that he discovered and became interested in Alexander Technique. He qualified as an Alexander Technique teacher in 1979 and taught the practice for over 30 years. He was married to RCM alumna Maureen (Wray).
Births Assistant Librarian Maira Canzonieri and her husband Paul Hirons welcomed daughter Veronica Grace Hirons on 28 February 2015 at 2.25am, weighing 9lbs 7oz.
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