Lines & Spaces Notes from St Mary’s Music School
Issue 2
Spring 2021
From left to right - Sarah Willis, Celebrity 6 guest; Alan Benzie, Alumni 6 guest; Steven Isserlis CBE, Celebrity 6 guest, Layla (S6)
HIGH NOTES Working side-by-side in a distanced world From video games to Serenade Two minutes with two musicians What’s the score... … and more!
Contents Working side-by-side in a distanced world Think positive, feel positive, be positive The online line-up From video games to Serenade
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Two minutes with two musicians What’s the score? Primary news Opening musical minds with Celebrity 6
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©Euan Robertson
STOP PRESS! COMPOSER JAY CAPPERAULD TO LAUNCH ‘THE SEVEN HILLS PROJECT’ We are thrilled to announce that Jay Capperauld will be composing the first of our seven new commissions as part of this exciting project, which will take us through 2022 and towards the celebration of St Mary’s Music School’s 50th anniversary in the summer of 2023. A Scotland-based composer and saxophonist, Jay has written for many ensembles including the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Hebrides Ensemble, The Wallace Collection and the Red Note Ensemble. His new work will be performed by pupils and premiered at a concert during the summer. To find out more about The Seven Hills Project, please visit www.stmarysmusicschool.co.uk/sevenhills
Sign up for our e-newsletter! Keep up to date with everything that’s happening at St Mary’s Music School, including concerts, masterclasses, open days, auditions and advisory auditions, by signing up to receive our regular e-newsletter at www.stmarysmusicschool.co.uk/sign-up
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Working side-by-side in a distanced world Almost exactly a year after the first lockdown, Paul Stubbings, Director of Music, reflects on the School’s creative and ingenious responses to the challenges of remote teaching, learning and performing.
What are the biggest challenges the School has faced during lockdown? “Undoubtedly the loss of opportunities to collaborate musically - for choir, orchestra and chamber music, it could have been disastrous. However, professional musicians around the world are similarly unable to play and perform together as usual so we grasped the opportunity to make the most of their current availability and have been inviting them to collaborate with us via live Zoom sessions – Celebrity 6, Alumni 6 and our new ‘Not-the…’ sessions.” What was the thinking behind ‘Not-the…’? “It’s really about shifting the focus from pupils working on written assignments to pupils engaging with music through listening, discussing and analysing. Not-the-choir has seen us gallop through the choral repertoire and explore genres such as Celtic music and Gospel. We took the advice of Steven Isserlis that all musicians should listen to Beethoven’s Missa solemnis… and we did. Three long sections of it! We’ve had ‘Operatic Wednesdays’ with Margaret Aronson of Scottish Opera (also a teacher at the School) and ‘Musical Wednesdays’ with West-end star Tabitha Webb (Christine, Phantom of the Opera).”
“Singing is compulsory here and time and time again, visiting musicians tell us how important singing is to instrumentalists. Normally, every pupil sings on a Wednesday morning and I wanted to find a way to maintain that engagement with the vocal world.” “Kathryn Jourdan and I have curated a whole-school discussion, via Zoom, for Not-the-Orchestra. We’ve looked at ‘Orchestra through the Ages’ with the help of the Hallé Orchestra; we’ve explored ‘Putting on a Concerto’ with Will Conway and Zoë Beyers (Leader of the BBC Phil); and we’re finishing with the idea of orchestra as community in ‘The Future of the Orchestra’ with Kathryn Jourdan and a ‘watch this space’ guest. Not-chamber-music, aka ‘At home with Mr Ferguson’, has seen pupils and teachers tune into
his lively conversations and interviews with guests including Jonathan Morton (Artistic Director, Scottish Ensemble) and Martin Outram (Maggini Quartet). In other words, we’ve actually used lockdown to open up opportunities to bring world-class musicians into the School.” How will the School’s much-loved Spring Concert be presented at the end of term? “Our magnificent Christmas Concert brought home to me what could be achieved through a ‘blended approach’ to performance. The Spring Concert will screen recordings and videos from the Lord Clyde Competition finalists and our new Side-by-side Competition winners, as well as our Junior World Rhythms Ensemble. Our four Lord Clyde finalists are currently busy recording their solos and working remotely with John Cameron to provide orchestral accompaniments.” Is the new Side-by-side Competition a direct response to restrictions? “Yes – again, it’s all about collaboration. The idea is to give pupils the chance to place their creativity side-by-side with something else (stop-motion film, video, still or animated photography, choreography, poetry or something dramatic) and with someone else too. Entries are to be the work of two people but no other rules beyond that – imagination is everything!” And finally, what are your thoughts on a post-lockdown future? “My plea has always been for optimism – to look to the future rather than dwell in the moment. We want to equip our pupils for the life ahead of them and that’s been the inspiration behind all our new ways of working – it’s critical that our young people understand what’s happening in the music industry, what’s coming up in the future and how they can be a part of that.”
The Spring Concert will be screened on
Good Friday (2nd April, 7.00pm) – please join us!
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Think positive, feel positive, be positive
Lydia (S5) talks about the positive mental health and wellbeing initiative she is spearheading, supported by Heads of School, Eve and Sophie (S6).
“We started things off in the autumn term by putting ‘Fairy Boxes’ around the School. Pupils could drop in anonymous notes about anything that was concerning them and these topics became the focus of weekly drop-in sessions and were also featured in Assembly. We were really pleased with the response. One week we might talk about stress management and how to combat that in our daily lives, another week it might be how to be more supportive of each other. It was really encouraging to see who came along to the meetings and pupils from different year groups joining in too. When the School moved online, the team continued to meet weekly via Zoom and building on my own research, I was able to share useful resources with my peers. It isn’t as easy to have the same interaction online but we’ve adapted and learned as we’ve gone along and we’ve been supported by Mrs Mears, Boarding House Manager. Once we are back in the building, I’d like to do some projects together so that we can use creativity as an outlet in a relaxed and informal way. I hope the long-term legacy will be every pupil feeling comfortable about expressing what they feel – articulating our emotions is a skill we all need in life and it’s important that pupils are confident and comfortable speaking to each other as well as to teachers. St Mary’s Music School is a very supportive school already but we can always do more. What has been so positive for me is that so many students who I’ve known to be quite shy and quiet have found their voice and have felt comfortable sharing what they are feeling. That has made me so happy and proud of the supportive environment we’ve helped to create.”
The online line-up It’s been a busy few months for our staff. As well as delivering a full curriculum and adapting to the complexities and challenges of teaching online, they’ve been delivering interactive workshops and masterclasses for young musicians and teachers throughout Scotland and beyond.
‘How to be a better…’ workshop series Following the successful flute workshops delivered by Lis Dooner, in April and May our free online workshop series continues with ‘How to be a better horn player’ and ‘How to be a better pianist’. Zoomtunes! P3/P4 children can experience the joy of singing on Friday afternoons under the tutelage of recording artist, Libby Crabtree. Libby is the vocal coach for our own young choristers and Zoomtunes! is supported by St Mary’s Cathedral.
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The SCO Academy Delivered in partnership with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the SCO Academy is back, bigger than ever before, with 92 young musicians participating in Wind, Percussion and String Academies. Friday and Saturday Music Classes Offering quality music tuition online, our group lessons grow more popular by the week, giving children the opportunity to interact and make new friends. Although many families were unsure about the move online - would their children engage at the same level as through person-to-person lessons? - we’re delighted to say that we’ve received lots of positive feedback! One mum told us that her little boy ‘sits absolutely glued to the iPad in the minutes before classes start… he doesn’t do that for any other Zoom class!’ Our expert teaching has been recognised too with another parent telling us her child ‘is enjoying his singing lessons and we really appreciate having such an experienced teacher; she is brilliant.’ Our budding musicians will soon start rehearsing for our June ‘Ice-Cream’ concert – watch this space!
From video games to Serenade – a tale of collaboration
Two minutes with two musicians
Alex (S6), cellist and composer, and Ben (S6), flautist, conductor and singer, recently joined forces to create Serenade, a new work for string orchestra.
Each term, we’ll be asking two of our pupils to take two minutes to share what they love most about their instrument, their favourite music and composers, and their musical highights so far…
Ben: “I started off by giving Alex video game music to listen to from Jun Ishikawa, Koji Kondo and other Japanese composers who compose for Nintendo. We both love film music too so Alex drew on those sources for inspiration, then took it from there.” Alex: “Bouncing off each other worked really well. There were a few bits we worked on where I would finish a section and then Ben would say, ‘There’s a missing A-flat here,’ and from that we managed to create something that Ben could conduct but that we could both feel was our own.” Ben: “When we first started rehearsing, it was quite a change of pace because I’m more used to being a performer in the orchestra than in front of the orchestra but it was really helpful to have the composer there with us. Normally when we’re playing Beethoven or Mozart or the big symphonies, we have to refer to things they said in the past but Alex could give me real-time advice on what to do when.” Alex: “It made me happier as well because I could have a part in how the piece would sound, although it was quite intimidating being a player too in case I played a wrong note. It was weird for me because obviously as I was playing I couldn’t really hear the whole thing – I couldn’t get surround sound or experience it as it was being played as I was having to concentrate and watch Ben and listen to everyone else. But when I listened back to the recordings afterwards I was really happy with it.” Ben: “The dynamic between solo cellist and conductor was really balanced and I feel as though, to an extent, we were both conducting the piece. There were differences in ideas; at the end of the piece, for instance, Alex felt it should leave the listener hanging on whereas I thought it should leave the Cathedral ringing out – but we managed to find an agreement and that scrutiny and the need to justify our thinking helped to really consolidate our thinking.” Alex: “For me the ‘take away’ would be to have dialogue with the conductor at an early stage and to work together throughout because you generate so many more ideas that way.”
Neil (S6) from Argyll, Scotland I study jazz piano, and have been playing for 11 years. I love how versatile and adaptable it can be in a jazz context and I love the huge range of colour and expression it can create. ‘Jazz standards’ are a big part of what I play so they are always good fun. Also more modern/abstract tunes can be very challenging and pretty inspiring to explore. I do love Bill Evans’ writing. Although Brad Mehldau, Keith Jarrett, Steve Reich and Wayne Shorter are also top favourites. My highlight so far has been going on tour with NYOS Jazz across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland – a great bunch
Yonina (S4) from Frankfurt, Germany I play the piano and I sing. I’ve been playing the piano for almost 12 years and I started singing a few months before I came to the School. I love expressing my feelings with the piano and finding something in between telling my story, my interpretation and the composer’s interpretation. And I love that I can sing but also act at the same time, because I have to show a lot of emotion and understanding. One of my favourite pieces for piano is Mendelssohn’s Rondo Capriccioso, op. 14: I, it has some slow parts with beautiful melodies but the piece is still technically very demanding and you can learn a lot from it. My favourite composer is Mendelssohn. The highlight of my playing career was preparing for the audition at St Mary’s Music School… and then being told that I’d got in.
Ben: “If there is one thing I hope comes out of this, it’s that more people are inspired to go away and listen to composers who write for video games.”
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What’s the score? Guests galore!
©Jannica Honey
The airwaves have been alive with an impressive roster of guests this term. Esther Swift and Catriona Price, who form the innovative group Twelfth Day, and jazz pianist Alan Benzie joined us as part of our new Alumni 6 series, hosted by pupils. And through Celebrity 6 and our new ‘Not-the…’ series, we welcomed a host of influential and inspiring figures from the world of professional music including Susan Tomes, (pianist and writer), Jenny Galloway (Principal Oboe, BBC Philharmonic) and Tabitha Webb, who shared her unique perspective of life on stage.
Celebrating International Women’s Day with Olwen Fisher
We were delighted to welcome alumna and BBC Radio 3 Producer Olwen Fisher to virtually join us at Assembly to celebrate International Women’s Day. Interviewed by Sophie (S6), Olwen spoke about her work producing 24 hours of music by women composers. She joined pupils again, later in the week, to share insights into life as a BBC producer.
You’ll find us in the Good Schools Guide
“If your child has a prodigious musical talent, you couldn’t do much better than St Mary’s.” That’s the opinion of The Good Schools Guide, an impartial guide to independent schools in the UK, which prides itself on the fact that, “Schools cannot pay to be included and have no influence over what we write. That’s why parents value our expertise and trust us to tell the truth.” Every few years, representatives visit St Mary’s Music School and interview our teachers and parents. This year they did the same, albeit virtually. Thanks go to the parents who agreed to take part – interviewer Zoe Bing said she had never had such positive feedback! You can find out more here www.stmarysmusicschool.co.uk/GoodSchools
Congratulations!
Viktor (S2) and Kevin (S5) have both been awarded fellowships as winners of the German composition competition Jugend komponiert, the highest merit available in this category. This is a prestigious accolade for young composers in Germany and the governmentfunded prize comes with a residency composition course at Musikakademie Schloß Weikersheim, the seat of Jeunesses Musicales in Germany.
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Work hard, play hard
Keeping active in body and mind is important for all of us and there has been a positive flurry of physical and mental activity in recent weeks. Dr Taylor and local pupils have been able to run through the streets and parks of Edinburgh with this term’s virtual Running Club while others have joined in closer to their own homes and logged their distances online. Pupils and staff have also been pitting themselves against each other in an exercise challenge, recording the weekly distances they’ve covered by walking, cycling or running. (PS. The staff are winning!) In Book Club, suggestions and comments around a book of the week continue to be shared with A Time to Speak by Helen Lewis, Collected Stories by Vladimir Nabokov and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith all coming under literary scrutiny… … and the Debating Club continues to discuss subjects chosen by pupils, including challenging topics such as “In what ways can we develop a conscious and sensitive approach to the music of other cultures/traditions in our learning?”
Primary news
We welcomed Primary pupils back to School on 15th March and Carina and Beatrice have marked the occasion with a poem.
Back to School Day after day we were doing home learning It was fun whilst it lasted though it was quite annoying! Not seeing friends and family too, Bored us out of our minds with nothing to do! It was a relief when we heard the news, That we’d soon see old friends and new! It was good to stay and stay up late, But it was time to get back to school.
Meanwhile clarinettist and yoga teacher, Jean Johnson, has been leading the school community in restorative and flow yoga sessions twice a week.
The night before the nerves kicked in, Tossing and turning can’t get to sleep! Whatever we did even counting sheep! Finally after, what seemed like hours we drifted off! When we got to the song school we started to sing!
The EcoSchools Committee has been running a weekly photography challenge, based on different themes, as well as offering eco-craft ideas. And finally, at the time of going to press, Palmerston are ahead on points in the House Challenge!
Then as it ended we trod to school, After we started to begin our lessons which were quite enjoyable. Then we ran outside and played some games. At the end of the day we were laughing and happy, What a wonderful time we’d had. When we went to bed we couldn’t wait for tomorrow to come.
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Opening musical minds with
Celebrity 6
Will Conway, Artistic Director of St Mary’s Music School, explains the impact of the Celebrity 6 series on young musicians through lockdown and beyond. “Bringing international artists to St Mary’s Music School to share their thoughts and advice and to work with our pupils has always been part of our curriculum. Not even a pandemic has stopped us doing that and in fact this year we have welcomed more celebrities than ever before through our second series of Celebrity 6. This term has seen Sarah Willis, Steven Isserlis, Zoë Beyers, Malcolm Martineau and Tabea Zimmerman bring a programme of music, insight and conversation, which is open to both our own pupils and young musicians and music teachers across the UK. The series has given, and continues to give, a huge boost to everyone who takes part, particularly in a year that has been so challenging and has demanded so much self-motivation. The message from all these wonderful musicians has been consistent - love what you are doing and communicate that love and enjoyment to your listeners in the most creative, informed and committed way possible. In their individual ways they have helped us all to understand how to do this better using practical, methodical, creative, poetic and humorous means and through their own colourful language.”
“You have the opportunity to build a new-look industry. The power lies with you and you can choose not to do it in the same way as we have done. My challenge to you is to break the mould.” Zoë Beyers, Leader of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
“Have fun with the music - shape it, shape every phrase, you are the evangelist telling the story… if the bow dances then the music will dance.” Steven Isserlis, Cellist and Vice President of the School
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St Mary’s Music School Trust Ltd is a charity, number SC014611. Registered in Scotland 54504. Registered office: Coates Hall, 25 Grosvenor Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 5EL All images and text © St Mary’s Music School 2021 unless otherwise stated Design by IL Design | Words by Fiona Duncan & Allison Traynor | Photography by Euan Robertson, Jannica Honey
