Barbican Centre and Guildhall School of Music & Drama Research and Development Project

An enquiry into creative collaborative learning Peter Renshaw September 2011 across the Barbican–Guildhall Campus Barbican Centre and Guildhall School of Music & Drama Research and Development Project

An enquiry into creative collaborative learning across the Barbican–Guildhall Campus

Peter Renshaw September 2011 Contents Contents

Foreword Sir Nicholas Kenyon and Professor Barry Ife 5 4.7 LSO Collaboration between Sir Colin Davis, Nikolaj Znaider 46 (violin) and Gordan Nikolitch (leader) Acknowledgements 6 4.8 Collaboration between Jason Yarde and the LSO 47 1 Introduction 7 4.9 Collaboration between Tim Garland and the LSO 48 1.1 The context 7 4.10 LSO On Track – Next Generation Scheme 48 The Alliance for Creative Excellence 7 4.11 Barbican Young Orchestra 48 Research across the Campus 12 4.12 Professional Creative Ensemble 49 1.2 Outline of the enquiry 13 4.13 ‘Tales from Ovid’ Production 49 Aims of the enquiry 13 4.14 ‘The Last Five Years’ – a one-act musical by Jason Robert 50 Structure of the enquiry 13 Brown (2001) 2 Towards an understanding of creative collaborative learning 17 4.15 ‘Badenheim 1939’: Play adapted by Arnold Wesker from the 51 2.1 Frame of reference 17 novel by Aharon Appelfeld 2.2 The potential of creative collaborative learning 18 4.16 ‘Lads in their Hundreds’ 52 2.3 Group flow in creative collaborative learning 20 4.17 ‘Unknown Doors’: The Life of Ivor Gurney 53 2.4 A supportive climate for creative collaborative learning 23 4.18 A drama/music co-teaching and co-learning project 54 2.5 Creative collaborative learning in an organisation 27 4.19 Future Band 54 2.6 Competences, qualities and attributes required for 29 4.20 Dialogue 55 collaborative work 5 Findings and emergent issues 56 3 The changing landscape across the Campus 32 5.1 Response to the frame of reference 56 3.1 A growing shift in perspective across the Campus 32 5.2 Language and reflection 63 3.2 The transformational potential of collaboration 33 5.3 Perspectives on working together 68 3.3 Conditions for fostering creative collaborative learning 35 Vision and motivation 68 across the Campus Collaboration and critical reflection 73 3.4 Shift – an innovative programme of creative learning, 37 Collaboration and creative imagination 76 artistic enquiry and collaboration Collaboration and shared vulnerability 79 Collaboration and artistic identity 82 4 Examples of creative collaborative learning across the Campus 40 Collaboration and leadership 86 4.1 Improvisation in Music, Drama and Nursing: An exploratory 40 Collaboration and learning and development 88 study of inter-professional learning Student response to collaboration 93 4.2 You Me Bum Bum Train 41 5.4 Emergent issues 103 4.3 United in Swing: Jazz at Lincoln Centre Faculty and 42 Barbican–Guildhall Creative Learning Division 4.4 World in Motion Drumming 43 4.5 MAP/Making: Creating New Landscapes in Music, Art and Performance 44 4.6 Centre for Orchestra 45

PAGE 2 PAGE 3 Contents Foreword

6 Looking ahead 105

7 Appendices 107 Foreword 7.1 Profiles 107 7.1a You Me Bum Bum Train 107 7.1b Future Band 109 In the long history of mankind… those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed… 7.1c Co-teaching as co-learning 111 (Charles Darwin) 7.1d Collaboration at Glyndebourne Festival 112 We are delighted to introduce this important study of collaborative creative practice by one of the pioneers in the field. Peter Renshaw’s 7.2 Testimonies 113 work with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama over many years has stimulated new thinking and new achievements in this area, 7.2a Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd 113 and he has now surveyed our current partnership activities in detail, leading to many important reflections on the art of collaboration. 7.2b Jill Shelley 115 7.2c Detta Danford and Natasha Zielazinski 117 The Guildhall School, the Barbican Centre and the London Symphony Orchestra have come together to form the strategic ‘alliance for 7.2d Dinah Stabb and Armin Zanner 119 creative excellence’, a world-class conservatoire, world-class arts venue and world-class symphony orchestra, working together in ways that respect our institutional and strategic differences, but look for creative areas in which we can interact. With the support of HEFCE, Bibliography 124 the Higher Education Funding Council of England, we have been able to move towards creating a common platform for key areas of our work, and to make the most of the fact that these three organisations are all based in, and receive funding in different ways from, Biography 127 the City of London. The development of the area around the Barbican Centre, with the catalyst of the Guildhall School’s major new building which will open in 2013, enables this collaboration to have a visible outcome in the creation of a new cultural quarter in the City devoted to arts and education for the widest possible range of audiences, students and participants.

Peter Renshaw’s comprehensive survey of the areas in which we have already interacted shows the huge potential of this collaborative work for the future, and also stresses the need for reflection and assessment on every stage of the journey. This report has been commissioned through the Barbican and Guildhall School with valuable input from the LSO and we recommend it to all those who in today’s increasingly challenged economic climate are experimenting with partnerships and collaborations as a positive way forward. The challenges are many, but the prize is great.

Sir Nicholas Kenyon CBE Managing Director, Barbican Centre

Professor Barry Ife CBE FKC HonFRAM Principal, Guildhall School of Music & Drama

PAGE 4 PAGE 5 Acknowledgements Introduction

Acknowledgements Deep gratitude goes to the many different voices that form the backbone of this report, Working Together. The substance and spirit of their conversations really get to the heart of what is entailed in creative collaborative learning. It has been a 1 Introduction privilege to engage in discussions that reflect the vision, commitment and imagination of key managers, artists, teachers and students across the Barbican Centre, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and the London Symphony Orchestra. Without them the research could not have happened. 1.1 The context Many thanks also to Helena Gaunt and Sean Gregory who together had the initiative to launch this enquiry into different forms of creative learning and collaborative practice. They provided the funding and gave the project the inspiration and The Alliance for Creative Excellence sense of direction that helped to keep the research alive and on track. The passion and challenge of ‘working together’ underpins the vision of the Barbican Centre, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO). These three partners have now formed an ‘Alliance for Creative As ever, I am indebted to John Stephens for his interest throughout the enquiry, but especially during the initial stages Excellence’ with a mission that comprises: when trying to devise a frame of reference that captures the main elements of creative collaborative learning. • An active and radical alliance for artistic innovation in performance, presentation, learning and research I am also extremely grateful to Rebecca Heath, Clare Sandford, Dave Foister and Mark Rainbow for all the technical support they gave me when needed – which was quite often. Melissa Dobson was invaluable as a meticulous proof reader. • A pioneer for cultural leadership and partnerships

In many ways this enquiry was the living embodiment of ‘working together’. My task was made that much easier as people • The heartbeat of a thinking cultural quarter, locally embedded and globally connected responded so wholeheartedly to the process of ‘connecting conversations’. Their creative energy and sense of engagement • Striving for excellence in all areas of our activity, producing models of next and best practice. was present in all discussions. It is not surprising that the Campus and the Cultural Quarter has so much potential for the (Barbican Campus/Alliance, 2011a, p.1) future. Recognising that collaboration is a major catalyst for generating creativity and innovation, this enquiry – commissioned by the Barbican Centre and Guildhall School of Music & Drama – seeks to examine the place of ‘creative collaborative learning’ across the Barbican–Guildhall Campus. Increasingly it is acknowledged that collaboration is integral to the success of those organisations committed to extending learning and innovation, to designing and developing new products, and to creating and exchanging new knowledge. As Charles Leadbeater (1999) points out, “an ethic of collaboration is central to knowledge-creating societies” (p.13). It is the motor that enables individuals and organisations to respond creatively to challenge and change.

This view is reinforced in the guide Fuelling ‘The Necessary Revolution’, published by Mission Models Money (MMM), which emphasises the importance of collaborative ways of working if creative practitioners and cultural organisations are going to “fulfil their potential of becoming one of the driving forces of our future post-industrial, ecologically literate age” (2010, p.7). It makes the telling point that: If innovations are created from new connections in our minds, then a great number of successful collaborations in the arts will help fertilise those new connections and enable alternative ways of seeing and being, leading to the co- creation of a different kind of growth that will increase the cultural and creative vitality of our communities. (MMM, 2010, p.7)

The Alliance for Creative Excellence is now firmly embedded in the developmental thrust of the Barbican Campus, and the practical implications are in the process of being explored and formulated. The early stage of this development is captured in the Second Annual Report of (what was then called) the LINK Alliance to the HEFCE Strategic Development Fund (Barbican Campus/LINK Alliance, 2010).

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In our original application to the Strategic Development Fund the three partners made a commitment to create ‘a The development of the Alliance as the hub of a cultural quarter has the continuing support of the Corporation of London unique alliance based on long-term organisational change’. There were three main parts to the proposal: the delivery and has been enthusiastically received by the Chamberlain and the Town Clerk. of a major new capital development at Milton Court; the creation of a ‘common platform’ of shared services across the ‘Barbican Campus’; and the ambition to transform training and education in the performing arts for the long- The idea of a ‘creative collaborative community’, in which people share values, attitudes and practices, is rapidly becoming term benefit of practitioners and audiences alike. (p.1) a reality, but embedding this philosophy in the three main organisations with their different purposes, histories and cultures inevitably presents a challenge. Their differences, as well as their commonalities, have to be acknowledged when exploring Collaboration is critical to the future development of Milton Court, which will be completed in 2013, with its two new the parameters of the Alliance. In his interview Barry Ife, Principal of the Guildhall School, considers that each organisation theatres, 600-seat concert hall and rehearsal space. This is expected to contribute to a new and vibrant cultural quarter acts on things together when it is considered appropriate – “in practice it is more like a network of bilateral relationships”. of arts and education buildings in the City, including LSO St. Luke’s. In the Creative Learning Strategy for the Barbican– Guildhall Campus, Sean Gregory, Director of Creative Learning, points out that current developments “are directed both At management level great strides have been taken by the Barbican and the School to dissolve barriers and arrive at a more at enhancing individual strengths but also in considering how the potential of joint approaches could create a new centre holistic, interconnected way of working. As indicated in the LINK Alliance Report to HEFCE (Higher Education Funding that is the very model of tomorrow’s international arts, learning and audience development” (Gregory, 2010, p.3). Council for England): This change is mirrored by management-initiated strategies to dissolve silo-working and encourage staff to consider Collaboration is also central to organisational development and every effort has been made to develop a common platform themselves and their work outside of their single ‘department’. Barriers are being broken down across organisations across the Barbican and Guildhall School with the aim of ensuring “maximum effectiveness from joint working, in artistic, and departments with the formation of specialist ‘work groups’ to brainstorm big ideas; from activity programming educational and resource management terms” (Barbican Campus/LINK Alliance, 2010, p.4). to retail and enterprise. (Barbican Campus/LINK Alliance, 2010, p.4) The common platform approach has produced more far-reaching changes than could originally have been envisaged. Extensive restructuring within the Guildhall School in 2007 and 2008 has been followed by a similar management But despite the goodwill and intention to build a model of collaboration, no one would dispute the complexity of the review within the Barbican Centre. This has resulted in a more radical approach to shared services than has yet been challenge, especially regarding issues arising from the future development of Milton Court. These are addressed by the attempted within the HE sector: all generic services at the School and the Centre are now conjoined under a joint Campus Management group and through a common platform of shared services across the Campus comprising six Chief Operating and Finance Officer reporting to the Principal and the Managing and Artistic Director. […] workstreams: The common platform workstream builds on this foundation and takes it much further, to embrace programming and • Buildings and operations venue use across the campus. […] The Barbican, Guildhall and (to some extent) the LSO are facing a step change in • Space planning the way they use their venues and staff to meet their strategic objectives, engage with their stakeholders and build their service offer. • Technology and systems The benefits of this approach include improved efficiency and significant financial savings, but shared services are • Commercial income also providing a catalyst for a more radical and fundamental shift in the way each organisation works to fulfil its • Artistic and educational activity modelling mission – by using and developing a greater critical mass of expertise. As we reported last year, we have created our first conjoined ‘front of house’ activity, the Creative Learning division, which is now fully embedded within the artistic • Taking forward the common platform infrastructure of the Guildhall School/Barbican partnership. The complexity is well illustrated in the introduction to an ‘All Workstreams Update’ for the Alliance held In its second year Centre for Orchestra has continued to pioneer young artist development, with its growing menu in June 2011. of professional support. Together with LSO Discovery and Creative Learning, education and arts departments across the Guildhall, LSO and the Barbican are delivering interrelated forms of training, development and artistic provision It is a complex process to build a robust and fair business model that incorporates Milton Court; managing the across the age and ability spectrum. (Barbican Campus/LINK Alliance, 2010, p.1) different priorities of the venue stakeholders, delivering a financially strong model (for all stakeholders) in a challenging economic climate, and protecting and enhancing the identity and brand of the individual organisations and the A growing emphasis on ‘creative learning’ and ‘collaborative practice’ lies at the heart of the Alliance, which is aiming Alliance as a whole. to build up a collaborative culture based on strengthening the dialogue and interconnections between the Barbican These issues are addressed within the scope of the Campus Management group, comprising the directorates from the Centre and Guildhall School. Sir Nicholas Kenyon, Managing Director of the Barbican, sees this as “an alliance for creative Alliance partners. The practical business modelling is continuing to take place across workstreams: Activity Modelling, excellence” (in press, p.22), whilst Sean Gregory (2011) describes this vision as “an active and radical alliance for artistic Commercial, Buildings & Operations, and IT & Systems. (Barbican Campus/Alliance, 2011b, p.3) innovation, learning and research” (p.4).

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The workstream most relevant to this enquiry is that concerning the relationship between artistic and educational activity. • Increased energy levels are evident This becomes critical in enabling collaboration to take place in practice. The LINK Alliance report points out that: • Openness is present as reflected in dialogue and sharing of information Activity modelling is advancing, and is being driven by our collective vision for artistic and educational excellence. • There is flexibility with resources and space This specialised workstream provides opportunity for all three organisations to plan and deliver truly embedded programmes which complement each other, make best use of performance space and create an educational and • There need to be mutual benefits artistic ‘narrative’ across the Campus. […] • It involves opening ‘closed doors’ The process is being led by the senior managers of each area of activity, setting the educational and artistic agenda • Creative learning and sharing ideas is part of the process for each of the venues included in the process: Barbican Hall, Guildhall School Music Hall, Milton Court Hall, LSO St Luke’s, Barbican Theatre, Pit Theatre, Silk Street Theatre, Milton Court Theatre and Studio Theatre. (Barbican Campus/ • Respect for all needs to be present LINK Alliance, 2010, p.8) • Passion, enthusiasm and going the extra mile are key ingredients The most recent update of the Activity Modelling group also demonstrates the complexity of the issues that have to be • Being prepared to explore, discover and be illuminated or be presented with the unexpected discussed. • Bridging any gaps, for example cultural differences The Activity Modelling group is researching the feasibility for a range of activity which represents the best use not only of Milton Court but of venue use across the quarter. Practical activity plotting for Milton Court has moved into • Challenging is OK a wider campus programming discussion. The timetable will aim to include a mix of core School syllabus and public • People feel energy, excitement and euphoria programmes, including: • Collaborative behaviour and a meeting of minds, working across disciplines/arts, resulting in outcomes that are • Teaching, rehearsals and School performances more than the sum of our parts • Innovative artistic performances and programmes, including Associate and Resident Ensembles, artistic rentals • Commonality of direction and a sense we are in this together and Barbican own promotions • Visual representation, e.g., Milton Court • Creative Learning lab, projects and performance • Feeling proud to be asked for our input • Cultural leadership: through initiatives such as short courses, talks and debates, and cultural industry conferences. (Barbican Campus/Alliance, 2011b, p.4) • Breaking down barriers and being open to working together As can be seen throughout this section, successful collaboration is partly dependent on creating a trusting, unthreatening • Excitement of doing things together for the first time environment in which honest conversation and open communication can take place. One good example of this was the • There is no room for protectionism Open Spaces Conference held in November 2010 for a significant number of senior staff from across the Campus. It was facilitated by Ann Jackman, a Leadership Development Consultant, and took the form of a review workshop with the • The group shares collective risk, responsibility and trust together with shared ownership of ideas theme: Revisiting our vision for the LINK Alliance; exploring our successes to date; identifying any barriers to our continued and delivery success; and identifying how we want to express the Alliance. • Funding is present to back the collaboration One of the findings from the workshop relevant to this enquiry is the identification and sharing of how people have • It is important to communicate the success internally and externally. experienced success in the LINK Alliance. They were asked to identify the core ingredients of success, many of which occur (Jackman, 2010, p.2) in different contexts throughout this enquiry. Basically, these elements are fundamental in any successful collaboration. For example: In many ways these perceptive observations, arising from a wealth of individual and collective experience, could serve as an embryonic frame for the main thrust of this enquiry. Time and time again we will be touching on the issues raised, many of • It has to evolve naturally rather than being contrived which get to the heart of what is entailed in creative collaborative learning. What is very clear, and not exactly surprising, • It involves sharing is that many staff working across the Campus are well aware of what matters if collaboration is to work. Both the will and understanding are there and it is encouraging to see that conditions are being created which will enable people to work • It acknowledges and uses mutual strengths, expertise and knowledge together with the aim of achieving the goals of the Alliance.

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Research across the Campus the means by which creativity and originality in musical performance can be fostered in the teaching studio, practice One area within the Campus that is building up its connection and coherence in an organic way is the growing collaboration rooms and academic classroom. Focusing on advanced students at the Guildhall School and Royal College of Music, between the Creative Learning Lab and Guildhall Research and Knowledge Exchange, led by Helena Gaunt, Assistant the research will interrogate conceptual constructions of originality in relation to performance, noting that while all Principal (Research and Academic Development). As mentioned previously, it is this partnership that is responsible for performance may be creative, it may not be ‘original’. (ibid.) initiating this enquiry. The Lab aims at broadening professional knowledge and sharing information through Personal and Professional Training and Development Programmes, an Artistic Laboratory, the Leadership Programme and Research and The research profile of the Guildhall School is further strengthened by partnerships that have been established with Development. Creative collaborative learning is central to the work of the Lab and its profile reflects the questions being the Institute of Education University of London, the Institute of Musical Research and the Cultural Capital Exchange. raised in the Guildhall School’s Research Strategy: Internationally the School has created strong research links with various partners through the Polifonia project and the InnovativeConservatoire, which is an international group of conservatoires focusing on collaborative research and teacher • How can one strengthen opportunities for collaborative and cross-disciplinary research? development (ibid.). • How may improvisation or cross-disciplinary work release creativity, deepen/catalyse engagement, and nurture the Within a relatively short time the Barbican–Guildhall Campus has generated a wide range of artistic and educational development of an individual and contemporary artistic voice? collaborations, many of which are underpinned by research. One of the things that stand out in this enquiry is the strength • What role may cross-arts collaboration play and how may it enrich contemporary of commitment of the people interviewed, all of whom see collaboration as critical to the development of the Campus. performance practices? There is an energy and enthusiasm to work together and create new possibilities for audiences, professional artists, students and young people. This opens up avenues for an exciting future driven by individual and collective voices across • How may context inform professional practice, and how may practitioners engage effectively the Campus. in different contexts? • How do performers perceive and develop the relationship between themselves, audience and repertoire? 1.2 Outline of the enquiry • What action can be taken to draw out the potential for collaborative research and reciprocal knowledge exchange in its key partnerships? (Guildhall School of Music & Drama, 2009) The purpose of this enquiry is to examine the nature of creative collaborative learning in different contexts across the Campus and to explore what may be learned by sharing and cross-fertilising practices. It is hoped that the project, funded One of the central aims of research in the School is to create a laboratory for experiment and innovation in the performing jointly by the Guildhall Research Incubator and Barbican–Guildhall Creative Learning, will deepen understanding and raise arts and professional education. This is enriched and realised partly through its network of partnerships. For example, in the quality of creative collaborative learning across Campus activity: artistic, educational and curatorial. The project aims to the Campus research is being conducted with the Centre for Orchestra, exploring key questions connected to being a support the Alliance in realising the distinctive, radical and innovative potential of the Campus. professional orchestral musician in the twenty-first century. Aims of the enquiry This study aims to yield insights into the experiences of musicians in Western classical orchestras: what skills and • To document examples of creative collaborative learning across the Barbican–Guildhall Campus and make qualities are required, what factors help sustain the quality of the work and bring satisfaction, what are the challenges? connections between them Findings will be used to enhance the education and training of musicians, and to inform debate about the ongoing development of orchestras in the 21st century. (Guildhall School of Music & Drama, 2010a) • To build understanding of the conditions necessary for creative collaborative learning and the nature of its processes • To identify the impacts of creative collaborative learning at personal, professional and artistic levels Another key initiative is the Understanding Audiences research programme led from the Guildhall School by Professor John Sloboda. This involves staff from across the Alliance and is guided by a steering group representing the LSO, Barbican • To generate a conceptual framework of creative collaborative learning which emerges from Centre and the School. artistic practice.

Projects under way include an investigation into the relationship between Jazz musicians and their audiences, a linked Structure of the enquiry set of studies on the benefits of musicians and actors working together on stage, and a study of brain processes in musicians and audiences during live improvisatory performance, in collaboration with Imperial College, London. (ibid.) Stage 1: October – December 2010 The main focus of stage 1 was on conducting, recording and analysing interviews with key staff across the Campus: A further collaboration is examining creative learning and ‘original’ music performance. This project is directed by Professor John Rink of Cambridge University as part of the AHRC Research Centre for Musical Performance as Creative Practice Christian Burgess: Director of Drama, Guildhall School (CMPCP). It is exploring Helena Gaunt: Assistant Principal (Research and Academic Development), Guildhall School

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Sean Gregory: Director of Creative Learning, Barbican Centre and Guildhall School decided to focus on deepening and extending understanding of the processes and exchanges going on within particular collaborations through conducting joint interviews with pairs of artists who have worked closely together within recent Eleanor Gussman: Head of LSO Discovery projects: Professor Barry Ife: Principal, Guildhall School Julian Philips: Head of Composition, Guildhall School Louise Jeffreys: Director of Programming, Barbican Centre Katie Tearle: Head of Education, Glyndebourne Sir Nicholas Kenyon: Managing Director, Barbican Centre Kate Bond & Morgan Lloyd: You Me Bum Bum Train Kathryn McDowell: Managing Director, London Symphony Orchestra Jill Shelley: Executive Producer, Creative Learning, Barbican Centre and Guildhall School Julian Philips: Head of Composition, Guildhall School Dinah Stabb: Drama Department, Guildhall School Jonathan Vaughan: Director of Music, Guildhall School Armin Zanner: Deputy Head of Vocal Studies, Guildhall School The starting point for these semi-structured interviews was to invite each person to reflect and comment on a devised Detta Danford & Natasha Zielazinski: Future Band frame of reference aimed at capturing the main elements of creative collaborative learning: Laurent de Montalembert: Drama student, Guildhall School In the context of the arts, creative collaborative learning involves processes in which artists are motivated to work together, drawing on their creative imagination, their different skills and perspectives to formulate new ideas, to Rebecca Toft: Music student, Guildhall School explore new possibilities, to extend their ways of perceiving and thinking, their making and performing, in order to The conversations with these artists focused on the following questions: produce outcomes of originality and value in relation to the purpose and context of the activity. • What motivated you to work together in the first instance? The conversations in the interviews comprised a response to the following questions: • What have you learnt most from engaging in collaborative work together? • To what extent do you consider the proposed frame of reference draws out the main features of the process of • How has the process of working together helped to generate new ideas and stimulate your creative imagination? ‘creative collaborative learning’? • How far has your experience of working collaboratively made you ask questions • Could you describe the best example of creative collaborative learning that you have encountered either in the and reflect? Campus or elsewhere? • What kind of personal and artistic challenges have arisen when working together? • What is your view of the role and significance of creative collaborative learning across the Campus? How far have you addressed these issues collaboratively? • What do you consider to be the ideal conditions and environment for fostering creative collaborative learning across • In a collaborative context how have you managed to balance listening and responding to people in the group with the Campus? nurturing your own creative identity and artistic voice? • In your view what examples of creative collaborative learning within the Campus could serve as effective case • In what ways has working collaboratively affected your views of leadership studies for the R&D project? and responsibility? • What do you think are the possible impacts of creative collaborative learning on the artistic, personal and • How far has the process of collaborative practice transformed your approach to performing, teaching, learning and professional development of artists? engaging with audiences? • What might be the most effective ways of disseminating the findings and outcomes of the project? • In a teaching or workshop context, what are the benefits of collaborative forms of learning for students and young In addition to the evidence arising from the interviews, further insight into the nature of creative collaborative learning was people? gained from a targeted literature review which helped to strengthen understanding of certain key issues. In addition to the joint interview, some partners agreed to write a profile about their work and a shared personal testimony Stage 2: January – July 2011 reflecting on why they consider the process of creative collaborative learning is important to them. These can be found in Initially it was proposed to examine several contrasting case studies that exemplify quality creative collaborative learning the Appendices (7.1 and 7.2). Stage 2 of the enquiry culminated in this written report which aims to capture the range and across the Campus. But having reflected on the wide range of issues gathered through the first round of interviews, it was scope of creative collaborative learning across the Campus. The findings and emergent issues are drawn from an analysis of the interviews, supported by reference to relevant reports and articles.

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What has been striking throughout the enquiry is the openness, honesty and sense of curiosity of all the participants, management and artists alike. Their desire to work together, to strengthen and extend existing partnerships, and to continue exploring new possibilities creates a strong dynamic across the Campus. Of course, not everyone working on the Campus is equally enthusiastic about seeking out collaborations and creative exchanges. There is an understandable 2 Towards an understanding of creative collaborative concern from some individuals that the thrust towards creative collaborative learning might dilute the distinctive excellence and core purpose of each institution. Nevertheless, a significant shift has already taken place since the idea of an integrated learning campus became a reality. The excitement for collaboration and creative learning is palpable for very many people working across the Campus. It is hoped that this enquiry manages to capture examples of creative collaborative practice that have helped to distinguish 2.1 Frame of reference some of the cutting-edge developmental work that can be found across the Campus. Chapter 2 sketches some of the As indicated in chapter 1, the frame of reference underpinning this enquiry aims to delineate the main elements involved reflections about creative collaborative learning that are the result of recent research. Chapter 3 examines the way in which in the process of creative collaborative learning. the Campus is becoming much more receptive towards developing a creative collaborative culture. This is supported by chapter 4 which outlines examples illustrating the range and scope of creative collaboration across the Campus. Chapter In the context of the arts, creative collaborative learning involves processes in which artists are motivated to work 5 aims at deepening an understanding of what is entailed in ‘creative collaborative learning’, drawing on the interviews, together, drawing on their creative imagination, their different skills and perspectives to formulate new ideas, to profiles and testimonies. Finally, chapter 6 looks ahead to possible future collaborative initiatives across the Campus. explore new possibilities, to extend their ways of perceiving and thinking, their making and performing, in order to Despite the fears and concerns arising from the current economic climate, the future for the Campus looks bright and produce outcomes of originality and value in relation to the purpose and context of the activity. buoyant. Many factors contribute to this, one of which must be the growing commitment to the idea of working together in a creative collaborative community. The genesis of this framework can be found in discussions about ‘creativity’ stimulated by the work of Ken Robinson. The National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (1999), which he chaired, put forward a definition that serves as a useful starting point. Creativity is perceived as “imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are both original and of value” (p.29). This implies that for learning processes to be seen as ‘creative’, they need to be imaginative and purposeful, with outcomes that are original and of value in relation to the objective.

In his book Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, Ken Robinson (2001) examines further the ways in which creativity can be cultivated, many of which are relevant to this enquiry. For example:

• Creativity is not a purely personal process. Many creative processes draw from the ideas and stimulation of other people. Creativity flourishes in an atmosphere where original thinking and innovation are encouraged and stimulated. It fades in atmospheres where dialogue and interaction are stifled. • Creativity is a dynamic process and can involve many different areas of expertise. […] New ideas often come from the dialogue between different disciplines, through which specialists in different fields make their ideas available to each other and create the opportunity for new interpretations and applications. A culture of creativity will promote openness between specialists, and departments will have real opportunities for creative encounters. • Cultural change is not linear and smooth. […] New ways of thinking do not simply replace the old at clear points in history. They often overlap and coexist with established ways of thinking for long periods of time. This complex and convoluted process of change can create many tensions and unresolved problems along the way. Cultural change is like the process of personal creativity. It occurs as a series of successive approximations. (pp.181-182)

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A central point arising from these observations is recognising the power of collaboration for fostering creativity and But Leadbeater also makes the crucial point that creativity and innovation in many cases are stifled by the move towards a innovation. A culture that respects dialogue and shared critical reflection is likely to encourage the process of making mechanistic utilitarian culture that sacrifices the rich tapestry of learning for targets, testing, accreditation and league tables. interconnections, of cross-fertilisation of ideas and practices, of exploring collaborative ways of learning in order to create This is as true in higher education as it is in schools. His observations reinforce the importance of creative collaborative something new and valuable. This is not achieved in isolation, in a silo of convention and predictability, but by people learning: choosing to work together, celebrating how their different talents, perspectives and insights can create something that Learning should develop every child’s capacity for independent critical thinking and collaborative problem solving. Learning transforms their practice and their ways of seeing the world. As Ken Robinson (2009) points out in his most recent book, is more successful the more participative it is, allowing us to shape what we learn, communicate and explore. Learning has The Element, “creativity draws not just from our own personal resources but also from the wider world of other people’s a lasting impact when it excites us to be curious: to go beyond answering the questions set for us and seek out questions ideas and values” (p.80). Collaboration at its best can very much enrich the creative process. that intrigue us. Where children are excited, motivated and inspired they are more likely to acquire new knowledge, skills and understanding. (ibid., p.11) The potential of creative collaborative learning Today we can only survive in an economy that values and nurtures creative learning and innovation, and this can best be 2.2 achieved in a culture of collaboration. As Leadbeater states, “mass creativity will thrive in societies with education systems Increasingly, creativity is seen as a dynamo for enabling individuals, groups and organisations in all sectors to respond that are curiosity-led, create high levels of self-motivation and promote collaboration between learners” (ibid., p.10). imaginatively and responsively to change and renewal. Creativity is not just the preserve of the arts and creative industries, as is sometimes assumed. In a NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) provocation paper the The connection between collaboration and creative learning has been examined in depth by Keith Sawyer, a psychologist authors, Anthony Sargent and Katherine Zeserson (2007), claim unreservedly that creativity is: who has spent many years studying the ways in which jazz bands and improvisational theatre companies use different collaborative approaches to harness the collective creative energy of the group (see Sawyer, 1999, 2005 and 2007). […] a distributed mental activity involving imagination and lateral thinking, frequently across conventional boundaries, For Sawyer, the interconnectedness, the shared vision, that lies at the heart of a collaborative conversation (as in any and often drawing together people of diverse backgrounds. Creativity adds extra firepower to the otherwise narrow musical or verbal improvisation), generates unpredictable outcomes that stimulate the participants to see themselves, their trajectory of innovation – both in the generation of completely new ideas and the creative development and colleagues and the world differently. The power of collaboration, the complementarity embedded in the collaborative enrichment of existing ones. (p.6) process, becomes the driver for creativity and innovation. They see creativity – creative ingenuity, creative imagination, creative insight, creative learning, creative energy – as “our When a group is improvising together, the unpredictability of each participant’s performance also implies that the most precious resource” (ibid., p.7). Whether it is in the area of government policy, business or the creative industries, the performance will be collaborative. Since each performer cannot know what the other performers will do, each has to many acute problems confronting a world in crisis have to be addressed through creative collaborations. listen and respond to the others, resulting in a collaborative, and inter-subjectively generated, performance. In these Creative thinking, characterised by imagination, open-mindedness and an eager willingness to explore unexpected group improvisations – including small-group jazz, ‘improv. theatre’, and everyday conversation – no one acts as the routes, offers us tools to address (current) problems where other approaches have not succeeded. Creativity has a director or leader, determining where the performance will go; instead, the performance emerges out of the actions strong claim to be the mental characteristic that can add unique value and potency both to policy development and of everyone working together. This is why many jazz musicians refer to musical improvisation as a conversation. to commercial and business success. (ibid., p.7) (Sawyer, 1999, p.194)

The urgency of this point of view is reflected in the first NESTA provocation paper in which Charles Leadbeater (2006) The dynamics of the group, the flow of energy emerging within the group, the interaction between members of the group, emphasises the importance of interaction and dialogue – of collaboration – if creativity and innovation are to thrive in our the active listening within the group, the shared trust within the group – all are essential elements in effective collaborative diverse society. He urges people from different disciplines, from different cultures and backgrounds to work together, to learning. In a later article Sawyer (2005) observes the importance of communication and interaction within any group explore their differences and commonalities together, with the aim of trying to solve pressing problems and to make sense activity. of the complexities of the world. Seeking to make connections through different forms of conversation is critical to this In group performance, the creativity of the performance depends on an intangible chemistry between the members process. Leadbeater (2006) claims that: of the group. In jazz, for example, no single musician can determine the flow of the performance. It emerges out of Innovation frequently comes from combining two existing ideas to create a new mix. That means that creativity is the musical conversation, a give-and-take as performers propose new ideas, respond to others’ ideas, and elaborate often highly conversational and so innovative societies need to be populated with spaces, real and virtual, where or modify those ideas as the performance moves forward. (p.47) people mix, publish, talk and debate. Innovation often comes from looking sideways, to seek ideas in adjacent fields It is through this interaction, with its unique chemistry, that creative ideas and leaps of imagination begin to fly. Creative or disciplines which when abducted into your own domain might yield a new insight or combination. (pp.9-10) challenges emerge from the group responding to the unexpected. Nothing will ever seem quite the same again.

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Vera John-Steiner (2006) in her comprehensive work, Creative Collaboration, reiterates this point by emphasising the For example, each element is integral to the way in which actors work within an ensemble. importance of the psychological dynamics of collaboration in which human possibilities and ideas are stretched and extended when people engage in creative processes together. She considers that this kind of ‘integrative collaboration’ The group’s goal has the potential of transforming ways of seeing and modes of thought to create a completely new vision (p.203). New Both jazz and improvised theatre are relatively unstructured activities where the goal is intrinsic to the performance itself. knowledge is ‘co-constructed’ through dialogue, risk-taking and the shared exploration of ideas and meaning within Sawyer (2007) describes this as “problem-finding creativity” (p.45). the group. This is the nub of creative collaborative learning, with ‘conversation’ being the engine driving the creative collaborative process. Close listening Active or deep listening, together with being open and receptive to the subtle nuances embedded in a shared learning Drawing together her final thoughts on the power of collaboration Vera John-Steiner makes a shrewd observation: process, are integral to the flow of energy and ideas within a group. These qualities help to provide the focus and quality of engagement fundamental to any collaboration that is felt to work. In collaborative endeavours we learn from each other. By teaching what we know, we engage in mutual appropriation. In partnerships we see ourselves through the eyes of others, and through their support we dare to explore new parts Complete concentration of ourselves. We can live better with temporary failures as we rely on our partners’ strength. By joining with others Flow is most likely to occur when attention is fully centred on the task itself. Challenges lie within and emerge from the we accept their gift of confidence, and through interdependence, we achieve competence and connection.Together activity, providing the focus for awareness and concentration. we create our futures. (Author’s emphasis: ibid., p.204) Being in control One important feature of this interconnectedness is that integrative collaboration transforms both the field of activity and Sawyer points to a paradox that has to be managed by any group working together. People work best, get into flow, the participants who are working together. By challenging habitual patterns of learning and working, by extending what when they have the autonomy to be in control of their actions. But in group flow “control results in a paradox because they know, by drawing on different perspectives, collaboration can enable the group to construct a creative synthesis participants must feel in control, yet at the same time they must remain flexible, listen closely, and always be willing to leading to a new paradigm in art or science (ibid., pp.65, 70 and 96). This is the ultimate in creative learning. defer to the emergent flow of the group. The most innovative teams are the ones that can manage that paradox” (ibid., p.49). 2.3 Group flow in creative collaborative learning Blending egos In musical improvisation, especially in jazz, individual egos need to be balanced in relation to what is happening within the But is it possible to get a clearer understanding of what happens – of the ‘magical chemistry’ – when a group is suddenly whole group. Without a shared sense of engagement and deep listening, group flow is likely to be impaired. “Group flow transformed by something seemingly intangible during a creative collaborative process? Not all collaborations produce is the magical moment when it all comes together, when the group is in sync and the performers seem to be thinking with something special, so what are the conditions that enable a process to ‘work’ effectively? one mind” (ibid., p.50).

Keith Sawyer, with his passion for jazz, began to explore the nature of this ‘magical chemistry’ when he was working at the Equal participation University of Chicago with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1990 and 2003), who coined the term ‘flow’ to describe a particular For Sawyer “group flow is more likely to occur when all participants play an equal role in the collective creation of the final state of heightened consciousness. performance” (ibid., p.50). As indicated above, this shared engagement brings with it an integrity of purpose based on fostering trust, mutual respect and listening to the voice of others. The synergy arising from equal participation not only [Csikszentmihalyi] discovered that extremely creative people are at their peak when they experience ‘a unified flowing contributes to group flow but is further strengthened by all participants evolving a shared ethos, shared values, shared from one moment to the next, in which we feel in control of our actions, and in which there is little distinction vision, shared goals leading to a shared sense of ownership (Renshaw, 2010, p.53). between self and environment; between stimulus and response; or between past, present, and future’. (Sawyer, 2007, p.42) Familiarity With his interest in the connection between improvised conversation, flow and creativity, Sawyer was curious to know how When members of a group or ensemble know each person’s ways of working and style of performance well, there is a flow functions in group processes. “Does the group itself enter a flow state? Might there be something like ‘group flow’? greater chance of group flow happening. At best, their shared language and shared understandings are built on a form of And what happens when everything comes together to help a group be in flow?” (ibid., p.43). Through his research into tacit knowledge. This echoes the view of Michael Polanyi (1966) who considers that the creative energy or spirit embedded jazz ensembles he found that improvising groups, when performing at the height of their ability, attain a collective state in tacit knowledge is caught through the act of doing and remains unspoken (pp.4-5). He observes that “we incorporate it of mind, a peak experience, that he called ‘group flow’. Sawyer considers that ten conditions are necessary for enabling in our body – or extend our body to include it – so that we come to dwell in it” (p.16). A sense of ‘place’ is created which group flow to flourish. These can be considered as important elements in the process of creative collaborative learning, holds people in the moment and helps them to feel safe in themselves and within the group. This enriched feeling of tacit but they also need to be seen in perspective, especially acknowledging the different contexts and processes of jazz and knowledge can strengthen a person’s sense of connection to their creative source and to the creative flow of the group. improvised theatre. Furthermore, the transferability of these elements across the performing arts needs to be recognised.

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Communication Sawyer recognises that group flow is nurtured through constant communication (2007, p.53) – through all participants 2.4 A supportive climate for creative collaborative learning making meaningful connections, understanding and responding to each other through engaging in open conversations. The kind of communication that is central to a dynamic conversation is a transformative force in generating shared meaning The personal and group challenges arising from the flow of creative collaborative learning might be energising and inspiring, and understanding because if it is to work, it has to respect differences, see commonalities and cross boundaries. In the but they can also be quite daunting. Living ‘on the edge’, constantly taking risks, responding to the unpredictable, drawing words of Theodore Zeldin: on one’s creative resources yet always listening to the voice of others – these finely tuned skills and states of being lie at the heart of any creative conversational process. But if they are to be allowed to flow and to flower, this can only take place Conversation is a meeting of minds with different memories and habits. When minds meet, they don’t just exchange in an emotionally supportive and understanding environment. The climate has to be right and this remains a challenge to facts: they transform them, draw different implications from them, engage in new trains of thought. Conversation many institutions and organisations. doesn’t just reshuffle the cards: it creates new cards. (Creative Partnerships London North, 2007, p.6) The necessity to create spaces that are responsive to conversational learning is discussed by Baker, Jensen and Kolb (2002). Again, it is the transformational potential of an enriched conversation that can contribute to the creative flow of any group. They stress that “mutual engagement, empathy and empowerment take place when the relational context provides both safety and encouragement to take the risks of tensions and conflicts” (p.22). The emotional connection at the basis of a Moving it forward collaborative process has to be understood and nurtured. Certain conditions help to make this happen: Innovation flourishes in contexts where the members of the group have the imagination and ingenuity to keep shifting the goal posts and to keep moving the conversation forward (Sawyer, 2007, p.54). Nothing stands still as the status quo is • Creating and sustaining a safe, receptive conversational space that is non-judgemental, trusting, empathetic and challenged and participants are encouraged to extend their ways of seeing and understanding. accepting

The potential for failure • Listening reflectively to the voice of others Sawyer’s final point about the enabling conditions for nurturing group flow is that “there is no creativity without failure, • Remaining engaged with and learning from different perspectives and there’s no group flow without the risk of failure” (ibid., p.55). The flow arising from group experience is a necessary condition of any significant innovation, but there is always the chance of failure occurring at some point in the collaborative • Understanding differences and conflict as resources for learning process. Feelings of edginess, rawness and unpredictability are inevitable features of the magical chemistry that energises • Recognising and valuing the cognitive and emotional dimensions of learning. (ibid., pp.109-110) people to ‘fly’ and take risks. But partly due to the intensity and flow of collective energy in the group, there will be times when participants might feel they have failed. The climate must allow this to happen without fear and judgement. One of the most important points here is to acknowledge the complex emotional dynamics of collaboration. If creative conversation is to flow, this process necessarily has to draw on both cognitive and affective support from within the group. Sawyer concludes by exploring the relationship between group flow and the paradox of freedom within a creative The emotional connectedness that can help bind a group together can be characterised by a sense of shared motivation, improvisatory process. shared purpose, solidarity based on shared values and a reassurance knowing that feelings of fear, vulnerability, self- Group flow happens when many tensions are in perfect balance: the tension between convention andnovelty; doubt and marginality can also be shared (John-Steiner, 2006, p.124). Mutual support is further strengthened when between structure and improvisation; between the critical, analytic mind and the freewheeling, outside-the-box temperaments complement each other in a group. This inevitably affects the chemistry of a group and the ways in which mind; between listening to the rest of the group and speaking out in individual voices. The paradox of improvisation people work together. is that it can happen only when there are rules and the players share tacit understandings, but with too many rules With her interest in what is entailed in nurturing individual identity within a collaborative process, Vera John-Steiner or too much cohesion, the potential for innovation is lost. The key question facing groups that have to innovate is observes that “building a resilient sense of identity is aided by a self that is stretched and strengthened in partnership” finding just the right amount of structure to support improvisation, but not so much that it smothers creativity. (ibid., (ibid., p.127), supported at all times by an emotional scaffolding that gives each person in the group the confidence to p.56) deal with feelings of fear and failure (ibid., p.128). Quoting personal correspondence with her colleague, Michele Minnis (26 February 1999), John-Steiner illustrates how collaborative success is dependent on the appropriate form of emotional support. Becoming emotionally fit for the rigours of collaboration requires increasing one’s capacity for and abilities to offer empathy, support, trust, and hard-headed, constructive criticism. It also means strengthening one’s endurance when faced with self-doubt, rejection, and feelings of vulnerability. (John-Steiner, 2006, p.190)

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Within the context of conservatoire training, with special reference to lifelong learning for musicians, Rineke Smilde (2009) One emerging theme from the Polifonia programme was that although organisational change is acknowledged as an has focused on the need to create a supportive learning environment for teachers and students that is responsive to enormous challenge, it is critical for individual teachers to be sufficiently empowered to create a collaborative learning different forms of creative collaboration. She states that: environment in their institutions in which they can feel a sense of engagement and personal responsibility. The evaluation stresses that: Teaching and learning in the conservatoire should encompass creating space for musicians’ own self-identity in a learning culture which distinguishes itself by an atmosphere of trust, and where students experience self-worth, It is important that teachers define their priorities and identify possible constraints that might stand in the way of excitement and challenge. Therefore transitions are required in which conservatoires become veritable ‘holistic learning their personal and professional engagement. The question of how you position yourself in the wider perspective of laboratories’ which are supported by a learning culture in a lifelong and life-wide context, and where transformative your job in the conservatoire is a key question for critical reflection as a start of teachers’ reflective practice and co- learning can arise from involvement of all participants in coherent communities of practice. In such laboratories mentoring processes. (ibid., p.98) experiential and cognitive learning can take place through, for instance, action learning and research. (p.252) As institutions build up a collective sense of responsibility based on shared learning and practices, certain key issues will Increasingly, professional groups working together, especially from different sectors, are finding strength, support and always remain central to their continuing development, as indicated in the Polifonia seminars: mutual understanding from being part of a ‘community of practice’. Collaborative ways of working in different contexts • the potential of continuing professional development of this kind, which sharpens reflective processes, and so helps can develop new forms of knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes, but they can also generate a shared sense of to shift the culture in institutions; belonging and knowing. In such situations meaning is socially constructed with learning arising from engagement in a community of practice (see Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). • the strategic place of co-mentoring development and the nature of a community of practice in institutional change;

An imaginative example of building up an international community of practice can be seen from the work of the Polifonia • the relationships between reflective learning and practice-based research, and how to negotiate these most Research Working Group on the Innovative Conservatoire: Creating a Model of Continuing Professional Development fruitfully. (ibid., p.98) for Conservatoire Teachers. This programme of personal and professional development was initiated by the Association For Rineke Smilde (2009) the shared reflective process embedded in co-mentoring should be seen as an integral part of of European Conservatoires (AEC; 2010). Its working group was chaired by Helena Gaunt (Guildhall School of Music & lifelong learning, with its commitment to exploring questions of identity, values, perspectives, purpose and meaning. The Drama), with seminars devised and led by Helena Gaunt and Bart van Rosmalen (Royal Conservatoire, The Hague) and the reflective dialogue that is rooted in a particular context has the potential to become a powerful form of learning and evaluation conducted by Rineke Smilde (Prince Claus Conservatoire, Groningen). The first phase of the programme was development that marries the personal, the professional and the artistic (pp.252-253). supported by Polifonia, but its success has generated so much interest from different conservatoires that a second phase of seminars is now taking place with support from individual institutions. Increasingly, co-mentoring within a community of learners is seen as a supportive form of collaborative learning in which both partners (possibly in a cross-arts or cross-sector context) engage in an equal exchange of knowledge, skills and One of the strengths of the programme was that it used creative forms of collaborative learning, including improvisatory experience in relation to a clearly defined shared focus. It constitutes a form of peer-learning (Renshaw, 2010, p.101). processes, to build up an informed and supportive community of practice. The emphasis was on facilitating creative conversations, critical reflection and research-led teaching, on deepening understanding of one-to-one teaching and Extensive work in co-mentoring can be found in REFLECT, the Creative Partnerships National Co-mentoring Programme generating dialogue and collaboration within and between institutions (Association of European Conservatoires, 2010, for creative practitioners and teachers, led by The Sage Gateshead. The main aim of REFLECT was “to provide one-to-one p.87). structured co-mentoring support for emerging leaders from schools and creative and cultural organisations and businesses to develop more innovative partnership practice and enhance creativity at the heart of their organisations” (The Sage In the evaluation, Helena Gaunt is quoted as to what she saw as the fundamental aim of the programme: “to create a Gateshead, 2007, p.33; also Renshaw, 2008, pp.23-24). The objectives of the programme were: dynamic international community of conservatoire teachers in order to liberate their potential to contribute to modernising and professionalising Higher Education music teaching and learning”, by: • To strengthen and develop innovative and sustainable partnerships between schools and the creative and cultural sector • catalysing the participants’ own professional development as teachers; • To build the capacity of the education sector to work effectively with the creative and cultural • enabling participants to take a leadership role and further professional development for other teachers in their sector through inter-organisational learning and reflective practice institutions as part of institutional innovation and change; • To give emerging leaders the opportunity to develop innovative partnership practice through • stimulating reflective practice and a research attitude, and engagement with existing research practice. (ibid., p.95) the process of one-to-one co-mentoring • To offer opportunities for collaborative professional development for the co-mentors

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• To promote the effectiveness of mentoring in developing co-learning and reflective practice within and across The peer group is pivotal in the learning and development of young popular musicians. Because they are unlikely to have organisations direct contact with a community of experienced adult role models, “a great deal is learnt from watching professionals or more experienced players from a distance, and perhaps more so from watching peers in close collaboration” (ibid., p.82). • To enhance the importance of creativity and innovation at the heart of schools, organisations The group provides the support but it also serves as a laboratory for experiment and creative learning. and businesses.

The REFLECT programme not only helped to strengthen understanding about co-mentoring but it also demonstrated the potential of this kind of collaborative support and raised crucial questions about the creation and sustainability of Creative collaborative learning in an organisation partnerships between organisations in different sectors. 2.5 Creative collaborative learning, then, best flows and thrives in an environment that is emotionally supportive and The legacy of REFLECT is that it has developed an interactive model of reflective learning between practitioners understands what makes collaborative processes work. The synergy and connectedness arising from a supportive context, who wish to extend their horizons by engaging in cross-sector collaborative dialogue. The strength of the co- one which is sensitive to the place of physical and psychological space, can help unlock the creative capacity of a group. mentoring process […] lies in the capacity of creative conversation to transform personal and professional practice. This is relevant not only to shared processes of learning at a micro level but most importantly, the philosophy and spirit It is underpinned by a framework of principles and procedures whose main purpose is to guide but not to impose. of the whole organisation must also be responsive to fostering a culture of creativity and collaboration. Achieving such Moreover, the cross-sector aspect of this process has been enriching because it has opened new doors, shifted coherence across a whole institution is challenging because it is likely to raise questions about the values, priorities and perspectives and resulted in some unexpected outcomes. (Renshaw, 2008, p.78) procedures of the organisation. The forum in which this debate takes place is in itself a collaborative process of learning Although REFLECT focused on the transformational potential arising from cross-sector dialogue, this does not preclude the that depends on choreographing and sustaining a collective ‘conversation’ or reflective dialogue aimed at facilitating rich learning outcomes that can accrue from collaborative ways of working within a community of learners from the same cultural change. The psychological climate in which these conversations take place is fundamental to sowing the seeds for domain. Several examples illustrate this. Andrea Creech, working with colleagues from the University of London Institute future development and transformation (Renshaw, 2010, pp.117-118). of Education, highlights the importance of establishing a community of practice for music students working collaboratively The key to ensuring that honest conversation takes place throughout any organisation is in adopting a style of leadership during their process of transition into the profession. that is genuinely open and facilitatory. Through the process of collaborative reflective dialogue an organisation can begin A community of practice was found to be important in terms of providing a source of moral support, for exchanging to reappraise its priorities and consider its values and vision for the future. Opportunities can be opened up for developing ideas with like-minded people and for forging performance relationships […] Membership of a musical community of a process of shared leadership and responsibility, in which all members of the organisation (e.g. staff and students; artists practice thus greatly contributed to reinforcing one’s self-concept as a musician. (Creech et al., 2008, p.329) and management) can begin to have a voice in shaping their own future (Renshaw, 2005, pp.114-115).

At Griffith University, Queensland, Australia, Don Lebler (2007) has been developing a ‘master-less’ studio in which students An interesting example of a major arts organisation embarking on a collaborative journey of change and renewal is that on the Bachelor of Popular Music programme take on responsibility for their own learning, underpinned by self-reflection, of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), which in 2007 commissioned the think tank Demos to follow the process of self-assessment, peer-based assessment and self-monitoring within a self-directed learning community. Lebler claims that: development throughout the whole company (see Hewison, Holden & Jones, 2010). What is especially pertinent to this study of the Barbican–Guildhall Campus is that the RSC decided to apply an artistic process – the principles of ensemble In the master-less studio, students’ abilities are developed through interaction within the community of practitioners, – to the leadership and management of the whole organisation. Its intentions are spelt out in the RSC’s current statement who have been selected on the basis of their strengths in a range of popular music-making activities. This has of its ‘Purpose and Values’: provided a peer-learning environment in which the rich resource of student abilities and expertise is readily accessed; collaboration is rewarded and formally recognised rather than being penalised as a form of cheating. (p.211) ‘To create our work through the ensemble principles of collaboration, trust, mutual respect, and a belief that the In fact, in the context of popular music, peer-directed learning and group learning are the backbone of students’ collective whole is greater than the sum of its parts’. This purpose should not only govern work on the stage and in the informal learning practices. For Lucy Green (2002), “peer-directed learning involves the explicit teaching of one or more rehearsal room, but extend throughout the operations of the RSC, so as: ‘to inspire artists and staff to learn and make persons by a peer; group learning occurs as a result of peer interaction but in the absence of any teaching” (p.76). The theatre at the same time’. (ibid., p.45) group is fundamental not only for support but it also serves as the main vehicle for acquiring performance, compositional, Drawing on the dual meaning of ‘ensemble’, the Demos report points out that it can either mean ‘together’ or ‘viewed improvisational and creative skills. From her research Green has found that: as a whole’. In band rehearsals, skills and knowledge are acquired, developed and exchanged via peer direction and group learning In its simplest theatrical context, ensemble means no more than a group of actors working together […] [but] when from very early stages, not only through playing, talking, watching and listening, but also through working creatively it comes to applying the term more broadly to organisational development, ensemble should be thought of not only together. (ibid., p.79) as a way of doing or as a management tool, but as a way of being, based on a set of moral principles that guide leadership decisions and administrative actions. (ibid., p.46)

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Michael Boyd, Artistic Director of the RSC, argues that collaboration, interconnectedness, lies at the core of creative It could be observed that this ecological model, premised on the principles of ensemble, is very idealistic and inevitably theatre making and that the moral values implicit in ensemble should underpin the life of the whole organisation. For confronts individual staff, directors and actors across the organisation with major challenges. Attempting to choreograph example: cooperation, altruism, trust, empathetic curiosity, imagination, compassion, tolerance and forgiveness, humility, such a fundamental cultural shift in any organisation always necessitates a continual dialogue if shared responsibility and magnanimity, love, rapport, patience and diversity. These are seen as an ideal to guide each person’s individual contribution collaboration is to work in practice. to the direction taken by the whole company (ibid., pp.47-48). It could be said that they are also central to any organisation committed to a philosophy and practice of creative collaborative engagement.

Observations of the RSC at work show the delicate balance that has to be maintained between valuing the shared 2.6 Competences, qualities and attributes required for collaborative work responsibility of working together as an ensemble with equal respect for listening to the individual voice of members of Building on the previous discussion of how creative collaborative processes can help to transform the culture and practices the company or of the organisation. The Demos report demonstrates how this collaborative process is exemplified through of an organisation, this section focuses on the competences, qualities and attributes (CQAs) required for collaborative the practice of ensemble. It states that: ways of working to be effective. It draws especially on the research conducted by Mission Models Money (MMM, 2010), Ensemble addresses exactly these questions of instilling behavioural norms through strong values, while reconciling which outlines ten necessary CQAs for successful collaboration. There are clear synergies between the analysis of MMM the individual’s needs for creative expression, reward, and liberty, with the need to be part of a social system that is and that of Keith Sawyer in section 2.3 of this enquiry. It helps to reinforce the connections between the CQAs of artistic efficient, responsive and liberating rather than conformist, restricting and inefficient. (ibid., p.18) collaboration and organisational collaboration.

As indicated earlier in this section, the approach adopted by the RSC has implications for adopting a shared form of Seeing systems leadership that is embedded across the organisation – that is, ‘distributed leadership’. The values articulated by the Artistic MMM comments that too many organisations limit their vision to the now, to immediate circumstances, rather than Director have to be lived throughout the organisation, by artists and management alike. The Demos report makes the valid project into the future with a long-term sense of direction and priorities. Short-term expediency can limit the wider sense of point that “when the values expressed are disconnected from the norms of behaviour within an organisation it leads to perspective that is so important for the healthy development of an organisation. In its guide, MMM suggests that “creative cynicism, and poor morale and performance”. It adds that “sustainable organisational change can only come about if the practitioners and organisations that collaborate successfully have learned how to view the larger systems in which they rhetoric of the way the organisation operates is matched by the quality of relationships it produces” (ibid., p.119). live and work. They look beyond events and superficial fixes to see deeper structures and forces at play. They don’t allow boundaries (either organisationally or culturally imposed) to limit their thinking” (MMM, 2010, p.25). This emphasis on the quality of relationships is critical to the effectiveness of how collaborations work in any organisation. From observing the RSC in action, the Demos report stresses the advantages of creating and sustaining networks Wanting to learn within organisations. They range from fostering innovation to promoting efficiency, building up resilience and providing As highlighted in the previous section (2.5), collaboration works best in a culture that actively supports learning, reflection support and a feeling of connection to the whole organisation. This sense of connection has been strengthened through and the transfer of knowledge. The vibrancy of this kind of environment not only helps to foster creativity and innovation opportunities for self-reflection and learning in groups, which has further enhanced the quality of communication, trust but also generates new ideas and practices. But MMM observes that learning and reflection are not central to the culture and mutual understanding between individuals and departments, leading to an increase in collective responsibility (ibid., of many larger arts organisations, with their hierarchical structures, discrete departments and internal competition for pp.121-124). In summing up the RSC’s ‘ecological sensibility’, the Demos report states that “it shows an understanding resources. MMM emphasises that “discovering how to tap people’s commitment and capacity to learn at all levels is key” that every part is needed to make a whole, and that every element is as vital as every other in creating a complete system” (ibid., p.26). (ibid., p.125). Building shared vision Finally, although the RSC does not talk specifically about ‘creative collaborative learning’, much of its recent development The commitment of ‘learning together’ throughout the whole organisation is critical to developing a shared vision which is and approach to cultural change is about learning from each other, of working creatively together, of experimenting felt to be inclusive and empowering. If a vision is genuinely ‘shared’, this can only be achieved through collaboration and together to produce something new, of creating a trusting environment that empowers people to collaborate and feel on-going creative conversations. As MMM indicates: that they belong both to their team and to the wider organisation. The Demos report illustrates the ways in which creative forms of collaborative learning have contributed to the success of the RSC. A sense of connection and community with respect to the vision is needed to provide the focus and energy for learning. It is the commitment to support each other in realising the shared vision that gives the vision power and As a leading cultural organisation, the RSC lives and breathes artistic creativity. But every organisation has to adapt, supplies the guiding force that enables organisations to navigate difficult times and to keep the learning process on innovate and be creative to some degree. The RSC’s experience shows that creativity can only be realised through course. (ibid., pp.26-27) collective and collaborative endeavour, and the more that is facilitated – through good communication, a strong common culture, the creation of the right set of attitudes, and so on – the more likely it is that the organisation will be able to experiment, and hence to innovate well, across its whole range of activities. (ibid., p.128)

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Building a critical mass for change within an organisation operation of the whole organisation. As was intimated at the beginning of section 2.5, the challenge to leadership is to Although the leadership might recognise that cultural change is dependent partly on building up a sense of shared responsibility choreograph a collective conversation that makes sense to people throughout the organisation. and ownership, in practice this often fails due to a gap between the rhetoric and the action. Ways have to be found for people throughout the organisation to be engaged in the process of change, knowing that their ideas, experience and points of Confronting issues and managing conflict view will be listened to as part of the collective conversation. MMM’s research confirms that change will fail if it operates in It is difficult to imagine even the most successful collaboration not experiencing conflict – or at least ameasureof isolation within an organisation. “With a critical mass of support behind the change effort, implementation occurs naturally, disagreement or creative tension – at some stage of its time working together. In fact, conflict that is managed effectively with greater speed and ease. Until a critical mass is achieved the change is very frail and can be easily destroyed” (ibid., p.28). and sensitively can be a powerful source of creativity and innovation. Creative tension asks for a resolution that can only be achieved by listening to and trying to understand other points of view. Mutually respectful dialogue is the only Developing mutual trust and respect constructive way forward. Making the distinction between emotional conflict and task conflict, the MMM research draws Collaboration will never succeed if the interconnected relationships within an organisation are not rooted in trust and these conclusions: mutual respect, as intimated in section 2.3 on group flow. MMM’s findings echo one of the main threads of chapter 2 in Collaborative leaders must be able to facilitate debate (conflict) over task issues and promote the expression of different its discussion of the most appropriate climate for supporting collaborative work. perspectives on how problems are defined and approached. If emotional conflict and personal issues surface within the The behavioural patterns that generate trust are generally considered to be reliability and consistency, reciprocity and team, leaders need to be able to redirect concerns away from the personal to the task, but when emotional conflict integrity, open and honest communication, sharing and delegating, and empathy and loyalty. (ibid., p.30) is experienced within a collaborative context, it needs to be discussed, not avoided. […] Rather than thinking of alternatives that lock into either/or situations, a collaborative approach develops a synthesis of perspectives to invent a But ensuring that these qualities underpin the working practices of any organisation represents an enormous challenge. As third alternative. This synthesis of perspectives is the desired outcome of collaboration. (ibid., p.34) corporate anthropologist Karen Stephenson (2005) says, “relationships are the true medium of knowledge exchange, and trust is the glue that holds them altogether” (quoted in MMM, 2010, p.30). Adapting to changing circumstances If organisations are to survive and flourish in the twenty-first century, they need the resilience and ingenuity to adapt Managing across boundaries and respond to changing circumstances. That is, their adaptive capacity has to be finely tuned and responsive to what The de facto power of an organisation rests in part on the structure and effectiveness of its human network – on the quality is happening in the world outside their organisational boundaries. They cannot remain trapped within their silos. MMM of its interconnections and on its ability to work together and bridge boundaries – not on its formal command and control maintains that ‘adaptive capacity’ “is no less important in enabling successful collaboration, which, as with any change structure. From its research MMM considers that collaboration is dependent on managing successfully across boundaries. process, requires participants to abandon the familiar and the routine” (ibid., p.35). The adaptability and flexibility of any This entails ensuring that the formal structural relationships work efficiently, but perhaps most importantly, the more successful collaboration depends partly on having an informed external focus, having the ability to see connections and informal, personal relationships (‘soft relationship bonds’) are respected and listened to. build up networks, having a sense of curiosity and a commitment for creativity and innovation. These qualities enable These softer bonds have been proven to have the most impact on managing across boundaries, and championing collaborative groups to adapt to change (see Sussman, 2004, quoted in MMM, 2010, p.35). the practices and processes that support co-operative relationships is crucial to bridging boundaries and sharing Valuing risk-taking, tolerating failure knowledge […] Tacit knowledge – the critical information that makes organisations functional – is in fact not through MMM recognises that “the interdependence and complexity that lies at the heart of collaborative working inevitably established channels within the formal hierarchy but instead through informal relationships. (ibid., p.31) increases exposure to risk” (ibid., p.36). Drawing on the work of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, MMM Managing the issues that frequently emerge from the complex relationships arising from collaborative work is partly a outlines the main risks arising from collaborations: question of trust (as we have seen throughout this chapter), but it is also seriously connected to organisational culture and outcomes not justifying the time and resources invested; loss of flexibility in working practices; complexity in decision- differences in organisational size and management styles (ibid., p.43). making and loss of autonomy; diverting energy and resources away from core aims – mission drift; damage to or dilution of brand and reputation; damage to organisation and waste of resources if collaboration is unsuccessful; lack Communicating effectively and appropriately of awareness of legal obligations and stakeholder confusion. (ibid., p.36) Effective communication is often held up as a challenge for those organisations aiming to strengthen collaborative ways of working. How is knowledge and information best exchanged and transferred within organisations? MMM suggests In weighing up the possibility of risk and failure in collaborative work, MMM considers that this challenge has to be that “successful collaborations tend to display two communication characteristics: communication is open and frequent acknowledged and tolerated by organisations who aim to be at the cutting edge of developments which can only happen among the partners to the collaboration, and both informal and formal communication links are established” (ibid., p.32). through collaboration. Risks can be assessed and minimised but are unlikely to be eliminated in an organisation committed to Opportunities should be created for groups to work together on shared tasks – for example, on exploring a shared vision, facilitating the collective energy and flow of creative collaboration and innovation. reordering priorities and identifying strategies for change, always listening to different points of view, understanding different contexts, focusing on making connections and searching for new ways of seeing and understanding. Such conversations and creative exchange can become the backbone of a form of communication that is likely to affect the

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This potential would be further strengthened by building up links between the proposed Centre for Creative Learning and a Barbican Arts and Media Centre with a complementary digital vision. Sean Gregory envisages that the Centre for Creative Learning would serve as a laboratory, a hub and a catalyst for new ideas and new practices, where artists, students and 3 The changing landscape across the Campus young people can experiment and work together. These collaborations would be enriched by the creative involvement of a state-of-the-art media centre operating at the cutting edge of digital technology. This partnership would also benefit from being linked to the growing clusters of internet pioneers who are rapidly building up a hub of creative technology and design around Old Street roundabout in Shoreditch – an area now called Silicon Roundabout. These creative partnerships 3.1 A growing shift in perspective across the Campus could serve as a catalyst for research and development across the Campus and beyond. In an organism as multifaceted as that of the Barbican–Guildhall Campus it can hardly be expected that everyone will In his interview Nicholas Kenyon emphasised that creative learning should be seen as underpinning all artistic activity across embrace the idea of ‘creative collaborative learning’ as soon as it is mooted. Each art form, each organisation within the the Campus. But he also added that everyone involved in the arts should be encouraged to be more reflective about the Campus has its own history, its own practices, against which each person defines who they are, both collectively and artistic processes and performances they are engaged in, as long as the reflection does not militate against the primary goal individually. Their sense of self, their identity is rooted in how they engage, and have engaged over many years, with – that of quality performance. He feels that many artists and audiences are stymied by a nineteenth-century philological their art form and professional colleagues in what is referred to as a ‘community of practice’ (see section 2.4). That is, we hangover which leads people to believe that ‘music is about scores’ and ‘theatre is about text’. For Nicholas Kenyon, both perceive who we are in relation to a form of life and network of relationships that give us a sense of purpose, meaning, these elements – scores and text – are actually about ‘performance’. values and a framework with which to judge the quality of our engagement. What stands out across the Campus is the enormous amount of personal, emotional and artistic investment in the quality of work produced through each Within such a context, how practitioners of all kinds collaborate, how they are motivated to work together, how they share organisation. Inevitably, each person and group of individuals are deeply committed to their own particular form of life, their different skills and perspectives, is absolutely critical. This is equally true in a theatre ensemble, a dance group, a jazz and this has to be understood and acknowledged as circumstances change and cultures begin to shift. band, a string quartet, a lieder duo or one-to-one instrumental teaching. In any successful collaboration it is a question of not compromising and of working towards an end product that amounts to more than the sum of its parts. At its best it One of the significant developments within the Campus over recent years has been its growing commitment to collaboration can be a transformational process that can liberate and energise participants and audiences alike. and shared creative processes. This is encouraging practitioners, producers, management, students and teachers to redefine who they are and what they do in terms of a different paradigm – one which is characterised by developing shared forms of learning and shared approaches to fostering creativity that necessitate a sharing of trust, vulnerability, responsibility and leadership. The collective creative energy at the heart of this collaborative practice is opening up new connections 3.2 The transformational potential of collaboration and new possibilities. It is generating new ideas, extending ways of perceiving and understanding that are leading to new forms of making and performing art. It is challenging teachers to explore new modes of teaching and learning, and is The transformational potential of collaboration is increasingly recognised across the Campus. Louise Jeffreys, Director of deepening understanding of the relationship between artists and their audiences. The creative thrust at the heart of this Programming at the Barbican Centre, argues strongly for developing the Campus into a ‘creative collaborative community’ new paradigm is the basis of the thinking underlying this R&D project. in which the ‘stitches’ between the different elements ‘dissolve’, and creative learning becomes absolutely integral to main artistic practice. Sean Gregory feels the current climate is very receptive to this idea: In his interview Jonathan Vaughan, Director of Music at the Guildhall School, commented that this change in attitude, the Central to current thinking is the consideration as to how the ‘stitches’ holding the artistic programme and creative increasing commitment to seeking new connections across the Campus, could not have been seriously entertained in the learning together might eventually ‘dissolve’ so as to think, plan and implement ‘as one’. Critical to this is the melding 1980s and ‘90s. He is enthusiastic that ideas are now being generated corporatively by senior managers in different fields of the artistic programme with the creation of exciting and original work that may come from new collaborations. looking at potential possibilities for collaboration in such diverse areas as space, students and artists. He feels that seeds (Gregory, 2011, p.10) are being sown that will result in tangible developments within the profession. Opportunities have also been created for collaborative conversations to take place at a management level. For example, this has occurred through Campus workstream groups (see section 1.1) and the recently established Barbican–Guildhall ‘collaborative committee’ set up to look at student-led creative proposals.

For Nicholas Kenyon, Managing Director of the Barbican Centre, the fundamental questions are “How is the Campus going to build a new model of what a collaborative approach to arts and learning could be?” and “How is coherence going to be achieved between the many different approaches being developed across the Campus?”. He very much values the richness accruing from the differences but he also stresses the rich potential of different creative processes interacting successfully in different contexts: for instance, cross-arts collaborations between music, theatre, dance, visual arts, cinema and literature.

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Louise Jeffreys envisages a future where projects are co-created aiming at coherence between creative learning and the Commenting on student perceptions, both Barry Ife and Jonathan Vaughan consider that many more students are now artistic programme. This would increase impact and broaden the reach by having “arts clusters of professionals and beginning to redefine how they see themselves as artists and human beings. They think that students are increasingly non-professionals, like young people and audiences, really making the most of opportunities offered by the Barbican”. valuing opportunities that are distinctive to the Guildhall School. Some students now claim that “I could only do what I As an example she instanced the impact of a residency of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company – on audiences at want to do here”. They are attracted to the profile of the institution rather than being beholden to one particular teacher. performances, on dance students working with the company, on film and study days, and on the artists themselves as their The silo mentality that bedevilled development in the past has now been pricked and challenged by a growing excitement own learning and development was enhanced by the whole experience. It is intended to build on this kind of multifaceted for new initiatives that are responding to the changing cultural world. As Barry Ife quipped, “there may still be a few experience in the future with the aim of ensuring that learning for all participants is strengthened, sustained and further Paganini Caprice players around, but I doubt very much that anyone would want to listen to them!” Students must now developed. engage with new aspirations and expectations of audiences.

Louise Jeffreys is a driving force for collaboration and her passion for cross-arts collaboration is compelling. In her interview Fundamental to this shift in attitude and values is the growing commitment across the Campus to a shared creative she asserted that “collaboration within an art form is one thing but the real prize is collaboration across the arts”. She collaborative culture. Many artists, producers, management, teachers and students are finding this dynamic thrust feels that a mutually beneficial relationship is developing between the Barbican and the Guildhall, in which the School exhilarating and very relevant to the multifaceted opportunities in their professional lives. But for others, it is raising can build on its existing track record of working with the Royal College of Art (MAP/Making), the London Contemporary uncomfortable identity questions as they begin to move into an arena where boundaries are no longer fixed. Life within Dance School and its recent collaborations between its Music and Drama departments. For example, the next MAP/Making a cultural bubble can feel comparatively safe and certain as the parameters are known and predictable. Once this is project, connected to the Barbican Gallery Rem Koolhaus exhibition in autumn 2011, demonstrates how an initiative that challenged by a paradigm that thrives on risk and uncertainty arising from innovation, creativity and collaboration, has evolved out of Guildhall R&D work is now becoming totally integrated and therefore mutually beneficial to both the appropriate conditions have to be created that will enable people to move on and become more adaptable to change. Barbican and Guildhall School. Also, the forthcoming Hoffesh Schechter collaboration in Barbican Theatre in January 2012 Embedding this change across the whole of the Campus remains a challenge both to individuals and to the leadership of will also involve Guildhall students. the respective organisations.

This philosophy of artistic collaboration is shared equally by the key leaders of the Guildhall School interviewed in this enquiry. For example, Jonathan Vaughan considers different forms of creative collaboration as central to developments across the Campus and he stresses that it is one of the Guildhall School’s “highest priorities” as it seeks to realise the full benefits of 3.3 Conditions for fostering creative collaborative learning across the Campus many of the new initiatives. For him, collaboration is the motor for innovation and he wants to ensure that students and staff This challenge to leadership is widely acknowledged, especially when placed in the current fragile economic climate. There make the most of this creative potential. He sees the Alliance between the School, the Barbican and the LSO as ‘porous’, is an understandable urgency prompting people to explore new ways of ensuring the survival and development of the with each organisation and their different partnerships co-existing within a clearly defined framework. He feels now there is organisations within the Campus and the Cultural Quarter. Engaging in different forms of creative collaborative learning is a shared political will, most of the difficulties are pragmatic – for example, the utilisation of time and space. seen by some as a vital way forwards as it would unlock a creative energy that would strengthen the artistic and educational The focus on future audiences was clearly evident in the interviews. Fundamental questions about the impact of performances life of the Campus. It would provide a breadth of perspective and skills for artists, producers, management, teachers and on audiences are now being raised. For example, Barry Ife asks, how far are performances connecting in a meaningful way to the students to be proactive and to engage with the world as it is, rather than as it was. Despite the inevitable resistance to outside world? What is happening to live audiences – to the segmentation (size and shape) of audiences; to the demographic change, the Campus is already moving forwards and providing a nurturing environment conducive to creative learning and (age, cultural and social background) of audiences? He poses a key question: “How can we enable audiences to understand collaborative practice. and get better value from their artistic experience?” The changing nature of audiences is having an increasing influence on Sean Gregory is very clear about the nature of this enabling environment: performance practice, programming and training. It is very much affecting what it is to be a performer in a cultural landscape that has significantly changed. This is partly why John Sloboda’s research on Understanding Audiences, as instanced in section 1.1, is In the first instance it has to involve the right people who want to do it [i.e. engage in creative collaborative learning], considered so important. who are interested and willing to leave preconceptions and more established ways of doing things behind in order to take the collaborative process further. The people involved have to be willing to learn and not be afraid to make Jonathan Vaughan considers that “old formulae for concerts, based on Victorian models of performance, are now being mistakes and to be committed to push boundaries. questioned as audiences become more challenging in what they are seeking in a performance”. He feels that performers are becoming far more adventurous and imaginative about programming and presentation as they try to engage with a These people need to know that they have the full investment and support of the organisations involved. There much wider and more discerning audience. He questions the traditional format of orchestral concerts and asks how far it should be no underlying agenda, like strengthening the identity of one particular organisation. Barriers need to come is always appropriate to have the full orchestra dominating a whole programme, especially when the School embraces so down and people need to be willing to give space to each other. The right context and space need to be provided, many different types of ensembles. Programmes could offer greater variety in terms of size and shape of ensembles, as can whether in the Campus itself or outside. Within that environment you have to have the full trust of everyone involved. be seen from the work of the Britten Sinfonia, the London Sinfonietta and the Ensemble Modern. Jonathan Vaughan adds the important point that “artistic matters should be seen as more important than logistical considerations”.

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It is also important for the Campus that as it plans ahead, it has workstreams in place that allow it to work collaboratively I don’t think you can insist that everyone engages in it. We are gradually introducing the idea of it into the curriculum. – sharing resources, sharing the use of the main concert halls, performance venues and galleries […] providing space for For example, this year for the very first time we’ve insisted that all the first year students from across the School new collaborations to take place in order to formulate new ideas […] engage in a creative project in the spring term. […] I know perfectly well that there are a lot of people who come into this building who are very insular and so the hope, the aim and aspiration of this project is that they will meet each There should also be an outward-facing side to the Campus in terms of how it should be offering opportunities for other and they won’t be scared of one another. […] If we can get students to stare each other in the eyes and learn the wider community – for example, audiences in East London. It could become a platform for these people to bring from each other, then maybe the dialogue will start and they won’t be so inhibited. (Interview) their ideas into an environment that is creative and collaborative. (Interview) There is no doubt that the proposed move towards establishing a Centre for Creative Learning would help to draw But creating this kind of environment presupposes that each of the three major organisations – the Barbican Centre, the together some of the different threads that exist throughout the Campus at the moment. As intimated in section 3.1, the Guildhall School and the LSO – works towards establishing a measure of coherence and sense of connection within the Centre is seen as a laboratory, a hub, where artists would work together creating new ideas, new practices and new work. Campus and the Cultural Quarter. Such conditions would enable creative collaborative learning to take root. Sean Gregory This would also involve collaborations between artists, students and people from the wider community. The collaborative expresses it this way: nature of the Centre for Creative Learning, with its distinctive commitment to cross-arts work, would help to inform the We now talk about a Campus and a Cultural Quarter that is a common platform for all of us – that has a shared development of the culture of the wider Campus. ownership, where the world of Higher Education, the students we are training for the profession and the profession itself, sit comfortably together. But I think whilst there is an aspiration to achieve that, the reality is that there are still a lot of hurdles to overcome. 3.4 Shift – an innovative programme of creative learning, artistic enquiry and In order for there to be a real cultural shift, we all have to be prepared to do things differently. It doesn’t mean that collaboration one has to throw everything out but we can’t continue to do everything based on our own assumptions, and that is at every level – from the way we teach and set up a curriculum to the way we programme and the particular artists we From April 2011 to March 2014 the Barbican and the Guildhall School are developing a new radical programme of creative draw in, to the way we communicate, from marketing to websites. We have to look at the different cultures within learning and artistic enquiry as part of a Special Initiative, ‘ArtWorks: Developing Practice in Participatory Settings’, set the Campus – the student culture at the Guildhall, the player-led culture of the LSO, and the audience-led and arts- up by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Further funding and support comes from the Arts and Humanities Research Council; led culture of the Barbican. (Interview) Creativity, Culture and Education (supported by Arts Council England); and the Cultural Leadership Programme (Paul Hamlyn Foundation, 2011). Despite Sean Gregory’s enthusiasm for facilitating collaboration, connection and creativity, he is well aware of the hurdles that have to be overcome in some parts of the Campus. For Elie Gussman, Head of LSO Discovery, the elements required The objectives of the national programme are: for setting up appropriate conditions are very human – basic qualities that are sometimes lost in the maelstrom of everyday • To develop, pilot and embed training and continuous professional development methods for artists working in working life. She stresses the importance of “making personal connections, of giving people the opportunity to get to participatory settings at all stages in their careers know each other, of building up trust, of sharing ideas, of making people feel they are being listened to, of encouraging them to think about what they would like to do in the future and what might enable them to reach new ways of working”. • To develop a better understanding of what constitutes quality in participatory work through sharing good practice Such qualities are fundamental because at the bottom line, successful collaboration and development is about people, not across art forms and demonstrating positive outcomes just about ideas or as in some cases, ideologically driven agendas. • To gather, document and disseminate compelling evidence of positive impact Julian Philips also made a very personal observation that must apply to all artists when trying to balance their own (Paul Hamlyn Foundation, 2011) artistic development with the needs and pressures of an institution. As a composer no one could be more committed to collaborative ways of working, but he stresses the need for artists to be given time and space to be, to create and to reflect. At the heart of this initiative is the development and support of ‘pathfinder partnerships’. I have to have time and space for my own creative work, allowing that to feed into the creative culture of the ArtWorks will support ‘pathfinder partnerships’ – cross-artform collaborations between organisations based in institution – that I am contributing to a kind of artistic debate or a reflective process about what music might be or different regions of the UK. Through action-based research each seeks to raise the standard of arts-led experience what music as theatre might be. (Interview) by improving the quality and understanding of what is required from artists in participatory projects, sharing good practice and demonstrating positive outcomes. Christian Burgess echoes the importance of providing time and space for collaborative practice to take root in the learning The pathfinder partnerships comprise artists, arts organisations and training providers and will work together to environment. By building in opportunities for Music and Drama students to work together on various projects, dialogue develop innovative proposals addressing the training and continuous professional development needs of artists between staff and students from both disciplines can gradually grow organically. working in participatory settings. (ibid.)

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The lead partners of ArtWorks London are the Barbican and the Guildhall, and this pathfinder aims: The potential of the Shift programme is enormous, providing opportunities for the Barbican and Guildhall School: To join up the best of existing provision and actively encourage new practice in the training and development of artists • to act as a catalyst and a hub for artistic, educational and community development working in participatory settings. The programme includes undergraduate and postgraduate provision, as well as the • to become an active and radical alliance for artistic innovation, learning and research for all establishment of a community of practitioners. Each training programme is tailored across portfolio roles, artistic skills and reflective practice. (ibid.) • to evolve a creative community embracing the international and local, and access and excellence

This initiative – Shift – is a powerful example of creative collaborative learning across the Campus, the main thrust of which • to aim for quality creative learning experiences that are appropriate and bespoke to their is captured in the opening comments of the Shift proposal (Gregory, 2011): particular context The Shift Programme proposes the creation of an innovative community of arts practitioners capable of working • to enable the Guildhall School to develop a distinctive role as a laboratory across artistic disciplines and social contexts. The community will be skilled as leaders, collaborators, performers and • to strengthen the opportunity for the Barbican to realise its vision ‘to create the model teachers. Their participatory practice will influence the way in which art is made. They will inspire and influence other for tomorrow’s international arts and learning centre’. (ibid., p.6) practitioners and pass on their knowledge to the wider world so multiplying the impact of their work. The successful delivery of Shift can only help to strengthen the validity of creative collaborative learning across the Campus. The proposal comes at a time of economic contraction, arts spending cuts, well-documented gaps in arts provision Without doubt, it is a very timely development that could have important repercussions way beyond the Barbican and the for many communities and widespread concern over how to keep the arts embedded in our education system. At Guildhall School. the same time, art forms are morphing and combining, and boundaries are becoming porous – between disciplines, styles, genres and between learning and practice. […] The Barbican and Guildhall School are uniquely placed to seize this moment and drive forward an audacious agenda of creative learning and artistic enquiry. The two institutions are in a significant geographical location, East London, where a new artistic energy sits alongside a pressing need for wider arts provision. Starting with the Barbican and Guildhall School working in an active and radical alliance for artistic innovation, learning and research, Shift will create collaborative artist-leaders who ‘make waves’. This core community will soon broaden with a wide range of adventurous new partners and collaborators drawn from organisations and individuals in the education, professional arts and community sectors. […] It is a given that the art itself needs to be of high quality. Through Shift more attention will now be paid to the context of the work; the quality of engagement, communication and the expectations of new audiences and communities, as well as the needs of those involved in making the work. A deep understanding of the context within which work is made is as important to ensuring quality as the artistic drive underpinning the work itself. (p.4)

One of the distinctive features of Shift is that it aspires to create a new paradigm that aims to generate forms of practice which are inclusive, flexible and collaborative in all respects. It encourages practitioners to go beyond partnership to genuine participative collaboration. It encourages a cross-arts rather than a multi-arts approach […] It deliberately blurs the boundaries between the teacher and the performer, the student and the professional and the conservatoire and the professional venue. (ibid., p.4)

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The second phase of the project focused on shaping a collaborative process that worked towards a common goal – putting on a performance based on the narrative of a particular patient. Twelve people came together bringing their different perspectives to the process – patients, nurses, musicians, actors, dancers and a film maker. Both the purpose and the 4 Examples of creative collaborative learning context were seen as critical when the outcome of the project was evaluated. across the Campus In her reflections on the second phase of the project, Helena Gaunt commented that the learning process was not only strong for the participants but it was also seen as illuminating for the audience. Having charted the terrain that makes the Campus such fertile territory for innovation, creativity and collaboration, this It was very much a learning process for everyone involved. The person who was the patient said that she was chapter examines a number of examples that illustrate the range and scope of creative collaboration in the Barbican learning so much – about her own self, her experience, her journey. But I think that what was also important, is that Centre, Guildhall School and the London Symphony Orchestra. having spoken informally to a few members of the audience, they found the performance extremely compelling and challenging about the central questions we were dealing with – e.g. the experience of being cared for and the many dimensions and qualities that might be invested in that. It was quite confronting in considering how poorly some care 4.1 Improvisation in Music, Drama and Nursing: An exploratory study of is done. (Interview) inter-professional learning This collaborative project comprised a series of ‘live-labs’ that explored improvisation in a multi-professional group of 4.2 You Me Bum Bum Train musicians, actors and healthcare professionals. The project was led by the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (GSMD) and the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery (FNSNM) at King’s College London. It was funded by the London You Me Bum Bum Train (YMBBT) brings a different and valuable perspective to the role that artists can play in participatory Centre for Arts and Cultural Exchange (LCACE). A description of the project can be found in a report written by Helena settings and it challenges existing notions of the relationship between performer and audience. In 2010 a collaboration Gaunt, Ian Noonan and Biranda Ford (2009). took place between the company, comprising two visual artists – Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd – and the Barbican. YMBBT had the original concept and with the help of Jill Shelley, Executive Producer of Creative Learning, the idea was transformed The ‘live-lab’ workshops were facilitated by Dr Helena Gaunt (GSMD) and Ian Noonan (KCL) over three days in into a performance. As described by Jill Shelley in the Shift proposal: September 2008 and included the presentation of a literature review commissioned as part of the project by Biranda Ford. They explored the themes of engagement, listening and touch by bringing together actors, musicians, YMBBT is an exhilarating participatory adventure for one audience member at a time. Audience members become music therapists, doctors, nurses and midwives to work collaboratively in a number of structured exercises and passengers who journey through a maze of live scenes featuring over 200 performers each night. The audience free improvisations. Exercises included musical responses to narratives about experiences of receiving healthcare, member has no idea what they are about to encounter, but soon work out that they are the focus of each scene expressive dance movements based on the touch and movement used in neurological assessment, and collaborative and can determine the outcome from the way they react. Some examples are: finding yourself interpreting at an creation of poetry about the process of engagement. international press conference for a Somali ambassador, taking part in a burglary, being saved by firemen from a car wreckage after failing your driving test, and becoming a winning contestant on a game show. Each day included a series of structured improvisatory exercises and a free improvisation exploring the identified theme. There were 20 participants from the UK, The Netherlands, Finland and Greece, who all wanted to find new Audience members find themselves at the centre of situations they would never ordinarily experience and transcend creative ways of working together and then reflecting on this work in relation to their own disciplines. their everyday lives. The themes explored are diverse: celebratory, moral, surreal, mundane, thrilling, challenging or uplifting, in order to create a roller coasting of emotions. Audience members are transported not only physically The first two days took place in the Clinical Skills Centre at Guy’s Hospital. Part of King’s College London, this ‘mock but psychologically. The 2010 production received wide critical acclaim and the company was awarded the Evening ward’ is used for teaching and has six beds laid out in a Nightingale Ward style with curtains separating each bed Standard prize for Best Newcomer. and a large amount of medical and clinical equipment. The final day took place in the Old Anatomy Lecture Theatre on the Strand Campus of King’s College. Both venues had a profound impact on the experience and nature of the The production is unique in that the entire company of several hundred people, which include set builders, set improvisation. dressers, performers, stage managers, are volunteers. The plan is to produce a large scale version of You Me Bum Bum Train in summer 2012. It will develop the volunteering aspect of the production to provide a comprehensive On each day the project was evaluated in a number of ways with a focus on recording what learning took place, how menu of accreditation and training options to encourage and develop the skills of both young people from the East this might inform participants’ own practice and how participants wanted to take the project forward. Evaluation London community where the production will take place, and emerging artists looking to develop particular skills. techniques included reflective discussion, free text written evaluation and written evaluation in response tothree (Gregory, 2011, p.14) categories – Engagement and Beginnings; Listening; Touch. (p.4)

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In her evaluation of this Barbican Residency with Jazz at Lincoln Centre Faculty, Hilke Bressers (2010) stresses some of the 4.3 United in Swing: Jazz at Lincoln Centre Faculty and Barbican–Guildhall key factors that contributed to the success of the partnership: Creative Learning Division It was felt by both teams that there was a level of really fundamental understanding between the two organisations. Starting off on a senior management level months beforehand, and gradually expanding to both artistic teams during The first Barbican International Residency, involving Jazz at Lincoln Centre (JALC) with Wynton Marsalis, and the Blue the residency, it was felt that the ethos and core values of both organisations were very similar. […] Pepper Group led by Paul Griffiths, was held from 14 to 20 June 2010. This was a model of excellent international artists residing in the Barbican, collaborating with leading musicians from Creative Learning, and working with Guildhall An important phase in the development of this partnership took place during the course of this first week spent students, teachers and young people largely from East London. It is a good example of a successful collaboration in which together. It was acknowledged by both groups of musicians that there was a need for this first collaboration to focus connections are continuing to strengthen in an organic way, leaving behind a much-valued legacy. on ‘sharing’, much more than on a truly artistic collaboration. By sharing skills, knowledge and drinks, people were able to exchange their respective ways of working, and to get to know each other both artistically and as people. It The residency included the following initiatives: was felt that throughout the week a sense of trust and deeply felt empathy was developed. • The formation of the East London Creative Jazz Orchestra set up as part of SoundEast, consisting of 13-19 year olds ‘I think where we ended up at the end of the week is where I would love to start the next one. The spirit that was from ten East London boroughs. This jazz ensemble continues to develop through its ongoing partnership with Blue developed at the end of this [week] was very positive, very open; that should be our starting point for the next time. Pepper. […] and everyone understands now, I think, what the concepts are and what it is that each element brings’ (JALC Faculty musician). (Bressers, 2010, p.5) • Establishing the Hackney Creative Jazz Ensemble which involved a group of 10-17 year olds from Hackney Music Service. • Jazz Schools Concerts – Does it Swing? These concerts reached up to 900 primary school children coming mainly World in Motion Drumming from East London boroughs. 4.4 • Leadership Day, based largely on JALC’s own Band Director’s Academy. It was a day-long training on band and World in Motion Drumming grew out the work of AfroReggae, a Brazilian cultural group from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, section leadership, which was attended by 53 band leaders, teachers, students and others with an interest in and has been developed by the Barbican in East London schools. It is led by Jo Wills and Ross McDouall in collaboration with teaching jazz. dancers from Boy Blue Entertainment, which is a hip hop dance company based in Newham led by choreographer Kenrick Sandy and music producer Michael Asante. Boy Blue Entertainment has become an Associate Company of the Barbican, • Essentially Ellington UK, in which three UK big bands worked on classic Ellington repertoire coached by JALC Faculty producing and performing original work with 30 professional dancers and a community company of 70. Together, the musicians, culminating in a combined workshop at the Barbican Theatre. musicians and the dancers are exploring a shared artistic language, mixing styles of dance, drumming and instrumental work that resonate with young people. They are now working towards a major community event for performance at the • As part of their World in Motion visit to New York in 2009 (see below), Morpeth School’s Urban Playgound, a Barbican in the summer of 2012. jazz ensemble of 13-16 year olds, worked with JALC Faculty musicians. During the Barbican Residency further opportunities were created for the JALC musicians to build on this working relationship. In 2009 a visit to New York took place involving 18 musicians from either Morpeth School’s Urban Playground jazz ensemble • Guildhall School master classes, led by JALC Faculty musicians, focusing specifically on the Guildhall Big Band, Small or Pulse, the World in Motion drumming performance group. Most participants were members of both groups. The visit Bands and ad hoc student combos. included working with Jazz at Lincoln Centre, as indicated above, and it has been well documented by Sophie Leighton- Kelly (2010). Describing the beginning of the collaboration, she writes: • Concerts by the Jazz at Lincoln Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis: Swinging Beginnings (Barbican Hall); Bebop and Beyond (Barbican Hall); Modern Jazz Masters (Hackney Empire); and Open-Air concert (Victoria Gardens, during The trip involved a workshop at Jazz at Lincoln Centre, […] attendance at performances there and on Broadway, Paradise Gardens Festival). and participation in workshops and performances in two high schools: 47, an American Sign Language and English School on the lower east side of Manhatten, and Sunset Park High School, a brand new Brooklyn school with a • Jam sessions at the Vortex Jazz Club, with guests from JALC. performing arts specialism. […] • A Midsummer Night’s Swing – two Swing Dance events in Stoke Newington Town Hall. At the centre of the trip were the schools sessions: each of the two schools was visited for a day of workshops. These largely followed the same format at the introductory sessions run at the London schools. Their style of collaborative composition and performance within what are termed ‘creative ensembles’ encourages the participants, including the workshop leaders, to share their own musical interests within an environment that is socially and musically inclusive. In this informal, creative setting of ensembles, comprising a mix of ages and technical abilities, leaders have observed a musical identity that is felt by the young musicians to be authentic and owned by them (pp.7-8)

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With her interest in identity in urban settings Sophie Leighton-Kelly comments that: As part of the work of Creative Learning, future MAP/Making projects have the potential to respond to the opportunities that arise from being part of the Barbican’s artistic programme: for example, the use of venues across the Campus, During the New York visit it was evident that together students from the two nations began to develop a shared collaborations with internationally-renowned artists programmed by the Barbican and collaborations across all art forms identity through the collaborative process, and confidence grew rapidly. They had the confidence to pick up new and within a broader range of contexts. instruments, to create new pieces, and to critique their own and each others’ compositions with remarkable sophistication. Being in New York City, another urban setting, encouraged the London participants to take in aspects Through Shift, the vision for MAP/Making is for it to move to being an annual project for postgraduate Guildhall of the urban experience that they would scarcely notice in their home city, and encouraged their American peers to and RCA students and to establish a community of practitioners extending from emerging professionals and project look in more detail at their own urban surroundings. (ibid., p.10) leaders through to young professionals who have taken part in past projects and to new students and learners of all ages. MAP/Making will therefore extend beyond the worlds of the academic institutions, becoming a widely- The Barbican, especially through Creative Learning, is continuing to strengthen its reciprocal relationship with the musicians recognised incubator for cutting-edge collaborative practice. (Gregory, 2011, p.13) from Morpeth School. Increasing opportunities are being created for the pupils to develop a sense of ownership over space within the Barbican. This is not only raising further educational possibilities but it is opening doors for cultural engagement In his interview, Sean Gregory commented that for over ten years the MAP/Making collaboration has manifested itself that will contribute to the developing identity of the young people. Sophie Leighton-Kelly makes an important observation in many different ways, but especially in how people perform and communicate ideas: whether through established about the possible sustainability of this long-term partnership: repertoire or through newly created work; through staged performance or an installation; or through a theme or topic that is non-arts related, aiming at a balance between the concept and how the actual idea is explored and developed. It is not One of the Barbican’s aims in the World in Motion project has been to make its space more accessible for the young surprising that MAP/Making is viewed as an important voice within the Campus. people who inhabit its neighbouring urban environments, as well as expanding the range of cultural practices with which they engage. The Barbican’s provision of a performance platform within its walls aims to give the young people a sense of belonging within an urban context radically different to that which they are used to, and to empower them to consume culture, as well as produce it. Most of the Morpeth pupils saw AfroReggae; more recently they 4.6 Centre for Orchestra were invited to a performance by Barbican Artistic Associates, Boy Blue Entertainment, a street dance company from East London. During their residency at the Barbican in the summer of 2010, Jazz at Lincoln Centre, who ran a A major Campus initiative is that of the Centre for Orchestra which is a unique collaboration between the LSO, the workshop for the Morpeth group during their trip to New York, is facilitating further sessions for the students. The Guildhall School and the Barbican. Its aim is to provide an extended training in orchestral development, designed to participants now inhabit the space confidently, and have been granted a sense of ownership over the Barbican space ensure that young professional musicians can take on the different roles and responsibilities required in a twenty-first through the provision of a performance platform for their collaborative output. But, I would argue, this could not century orchestra. The programme includes instrumental coaching led by members of the LSO, together with professional have been done with an invitation to partake in workshops held within the Centre. By going into a space in which development, early career support and insight into innovative approaches to audience building. Feeding into the Centre is the young people had a sense of identity, and developing their understanding of the complexities of the variety of a continuum of orchestral and ensemble work offered by the School, Junior Guildhall and the Centre for Young Musicians urban environments surrounding them, the students have been empowered to develop a relationship with the space (which is now a division of the Guildhall), enriched by further opportunities for orchestral experience provided by LSO as a cultural institution, and to identify themselves as consumers of the artistic programme as well as participants, and On Track and the Barbican Young Orchestra. The strength and potential of these distinctive yet connected partners is even potential future leaders of this kind of enterprise. (ibid., pp.14-15) enormous, but it is increasingly understood that if this is to be realised fully, all parties need to work together towards achieving a shared artistic and educational coherence and shared goals, within a framework of shared organic growth and development.

4.5 MAP/Making: Creating New Landscapes in Music, Art and Performance The Centre is keen to develop flexible and creative ways of working, with opportunities to engage in cross-arts work. This will be strengthened through links with the proposed Barbican Centre for Creative Learning, which will serve as a MAP/Making is a well-established creative collaboration between visual artists from the Royal College of Art and musicians laboratory, a hub and a catalyst for new ideas and practices. within the Barbican–Guildhall Campus. Nell Catchpole describes the project as follows in the Shift proposal: MAP/Making brings together instrumentalists and composers from the Guildhall School and visual artists from the Kathryn McDowell, Managing Director of the LSO, has a clear vision for the future of the Centre for Orchestra. Royal College of Art working in the fields of audio-visual, video and light projection, sound and multimedia. An We are now thinking that from 2012/13 this will be a defined postgraduate opportunity at the highest level – an ambitious and ground-breaking project, MAP/Making has enabled students from the two institutions to tackle extended training in orchestral development. We would recruit a full orchestra over a two-year period for that. Now completely new art forms, acquiring new expertise in the role of visual and audio technology within live performance, within this we have already made it clear that there would be a creative strand. How we do that is up for discussion, and has enhanced communication between the artists involved. It has opened up new career paths for a number but I anticipate that it is not going to be far off that sort of physical theatre interaction – and I would be rather of the participants and led to the creation of several dynamic cross-arts companies such as FILTER, Cipher and disappointed if it didn’t push the students into quite a different area, but within the confines and the safety of their music2communicate, which are already proving commercially successful. course of study. So if they want to pursue that further, they can but it is not obligatory. (Interview)

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Kathryn McDowell makes some interesting observations on the changing face of orchestral players, especially those within It’s hard to analyse this, but it is surely the sort of creative collaborative practice at the highest level of artistic the LSO. achievement, taking a known work to new heights (or depths) of interpretation. (Kathryn McDowell, email correspondence, 18 November 2010) I think we have already moved a long way with this because if I look back 20 years, the orchestral training was very formal. People came into the profession thinking that the only route was being able to play the repertoire to the highest level. That is still the primary objective and I think it should be. We still do not audition people on the basis of their aptitude for Discovery work. But what is very interesting is that out of the recent batch of intakes over the 4.8 Collaboration between Jason Yarde and the LSO last three years (about 20 new members), without exception they have turned out to be people who are good at This is a good example of the LSO embracing and nurturing musicians from different musical and cultural backgrounds. In [Discovery] work and able in that work because they are the ones that actually fit into the LSO and within the culture 2006 Jason Yarde, a saxophonist and composer from an Afro-Caribbean jazz tradition, became part of the LSO Panufnik of the LSO and have these characteristics. Young Composers Scheme, for which he was asked to write a three-minute piece for the full orchestra. As this was his Now if you move to the next generation, when we have the next major turnover of wind players, say, in another 20 years, first experience of writing for conventional orchestral forces it was considered important to integrate him gradually into it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we saw that this has moved forwards into what I think you are calling ‘creative collaborative the world of the LSO. In her interview Elie Gussman, Head of LSO Discovery, says that she saw this as a development practice’ being much more a feature of their skill-set and their aptitude. But they are still going to need to be able to play programme in which one of her roles was to nurture and support all participants. their Mahler symphony to the highest possible level. (Interview) What made the collaboration work was building up the trust, having a personal relationship where Jason knew that he could tell me honestly how it was going and that there was a support network for him once he came to a workshop. He got to know the LSO musicians and built mutual respect. His relationships blossomed with other 4.7 LSO Collaboration between Sir Colin Davis, Nikolaj Znaider (violin) members of Discovery. (Interview) and Gordan Nikolitch (leader) Jason Yarde’s next project was with Hugh Masekela in which he arranged some of Masekela’s songs for the LSO Community After her interview Kathryn McDowell raised an interesting example of a collaboration that was transformative and Choir. Jason attended all rehearsals and built up a good relationship with the choir, where there was a mutual desire to attained the highest quality of artistic excellence. Her email correspondence captures the spirit of this shared engagement, learn from each other. In the performance Jason also performed with Hugh Masekela, and Elie Gussman feels that this the integrity and intensity of which was caught by the audience. helped him to establish his credibility within the orchestra. In the last 10 days we’ve been working with Sir Colin Davis and violinist Nikolaj Znaider on two programmes that Jason built up his credibility and legitimacy by virtue of his quality of performing. [The players] can relate to another included the violin concertos of Elgar and Brahms. This is a partnership that has been evolving over the last 10 years, good performer. You are one of them. It helps to break down the barrier between player and composer. (Interview) but especially in the last three. Jason has recently been awarded a major grant from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to develop another piece for himself as Nikolaj has also been taking a serious interest in conducting in order to more fully understand the musical aspect of a saxophonist, Andrew McCormack (also a Panufnik composer) and the LSO. every concerto he plays (i.e. Beethoven only wrote one violin concerto, so if he’s to understand Beethoven he needs to know the symphonies from the inside as well as the chamber music). To this end he has become a disciple of Colin There is no doubt that this is a good example of informal learning whereby players and composers are working together – spending many hours discussing scores! and learning from each other. For Kathryn McDowell: As the series of rehearsals and performances got underway last week, we realised something very special was going the fact that Jason has become part of the LSO family means that he is on good terms with many of the musicians; on. Gordan Nikolitch was leading and the chemistry between all three of them was palpable. As we reached the third he can pick up the phone and talk to them asking ‘what would be the best way of writing this for you’ or ‘what is and fourth performances the orchestra was equally galvanised in an extraordinary musical endeavour – it was as if 90 the scope of your instrument?’ (Interview) people were making chamber music – the ultimate collaborative work – and the effect on the audience was achingly moving. I doubt I’ve heard such quiet audiences ever as in the four concerto performances. Colin rang me a few days From all accounts this collaboration continues to grow from strength to strength. later to say the concerts were ‘the best ever’. So, what made this happen? Firstly, Colin’s invitation to everyone to make music – more than ever, his opening gestures invite; and the respect and affection in which he’s held as a musician by our players has never been greater. The same is true of the leader – a rather anarchic musician who adores Colin and brings the best out of the orchestra and Colin. Then we had a soloist who doesn’t grab centre stage, but rather shares the music-making with the principals and responds to what the orchestra offers him.

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with young musicians from Guildhall Connect and the LSO Fusion Orchestra led by Paul Griffiths. These multifaceted 4.9 Collaboration between Tim Garland and the LSO experiences can only help to encourage the next generation of musicians to be more flexible and creative in their approach to music-making. Five years ago a UBS commission gave Tim Garland, a saxophonist and composer, the opportunity to write a piece for the LSO. This was a collaborative process involving workshops and discussions with the players over a 12-month period and is another example of what can be achieved through shared forms of informal learning. After this shared creative process he composed his first piece for full orchestra which was performed on the Barbican stage. 4.12 Professional Creative Ensemble

The success of this project led to further support from UBS that enabled Tim Garland to work closely with Neil Percy It is the intention of Jonathan Vaughan to set up a Professional Creative Ensemble at the Guildhall School, comprising (Principal Percussion), producing a 20-minute piece featuring percussion. The work was performed by a six-piece LSO staff and students from Music and Drama. This would serve as a laboratory for flexible, creative musicians and actors to ensemble in St Luke’s in November 2010 and is now in the process of being fleshed out for the full orchestra for a world work together with the aim of transforming performance practice. Jonathan Vaughan feels that the freedom of expression premiere in 2011 on the Barbican stage. acquired from engaging in creative work has a liberating effect on more conventional performance. He considers that the Professional Creative Ensemble could become a flagship when Milton Court opens in 2013 and it could work collaboratively with the proposed Centre for Creative Learning in the Barbican. 4.10 LSO On Track – Next Generation Scheme Next Generation is a scheme for up to 45 young instrumentalists with exceptional musical potential. It forms part of 4.13 ‘Tales from Ovid’ Production LSO On Track which was launched in 2008 with the aim of providing opportunities for instrumental learning for young people in East London. The LSO further strengthened its link with schools by forming a partnership with local authority Tales from Ovid, led by Christian Burgess in 2006, was a theatrical response to Ted Hughes’ treatment of ten of the music services in the boroughs of Bexley, Barking and Dagenham, Greenwich, Hackney, Havering, Lewisham, Newham, Metamorphoses of Ovid. It brought actors, musicians and a composition student together to devise the performance Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. In a 20th Anniversary Concert programme celebrating the work of LSO collaboratively. In their search for a new theatrical language “the traditional roles of the different disciplines became Discovery (2010), it points out that “as a partnership, LSO On Track now has a year-round series of activities that achieve blurred, to the extent that by the time of the performance the company had merged into a single homogeneous unit” more for young musicians than any partner authority could do on their own” (p.15). (Guildhall School of Music & Drama, 2010b, p.4).

The Next Generation Scheme comprises a diverse group of young musicians who are encouraged to develop their own This multi-disciplinary approach provided an opportunity for Christian Burgess to share his passion for creative collaborative creativity through workshops with Howard Moody, the scheme’s Creative Director, and LSO musicians who are especially learning, which he feels “has the possibility of radically changing the imaginative process of a young artist, who thus far committed to this project. As the 20th Anniversary Concert programme indicated: has been trained in a very traditional manner”. these workshops bring a new dimension to their music-making and provide stimulating and challenging projects which I like the idea that artists are motivated to work together. I don’t think that this can necessarily be counted on yet. It is significantly develop their instrumental, ensemble, performance, analytical, creative and leadership skills. (ibid., p.15) the experience of doing it which is persuasive because if one is working in a non-traditional way, it is hard for people to conceive of what it might be like. (Interview)

Commenting on the challenges arising from the collaborative process involved in Tales from Ovid, Christian Burgess said that: Barbican Young Orchestra 4.11 it was like pushing a skip up a hill. [The actors and musicians] were not convinced that we had anything of any value. Now in its fourth successful year, the Barbican Young Orchestra (BYO) provides the widest range of young musicians with They were really scared of it; scared of their lack of visibility as individuals because we were working on this concept the opportunity to develop their orchestral skills and work under world-famous conductors. The idea was conceived by of ‘chorus’ a lot and because I readily admitted that I didn’t know the answers – that threatened them. They wanted Sir Colin Davis who wished to create an orchestra of 8-16 year olds who are of Grade 6 Associated Board standard or to be presented with a director who was going to reassure them – ‘don’t worry, I know exactly what to do: you move above. He wanted to demonstrate what could be achieved with a generation younger than the National Youth Orchestra over there and you move over there’. of Great Britain. And I suppose what I’ve learnt, and as my confidence has increased, it is critically important to acknowledge that This initiative developed into a collaboration between the Barbican, the Guildhall School and the LSO, and it has you don’t know. Whilst that might foster insecurity in the short term, gradually the company understands that their enabled many young players to perform on the Barbican stage. The young musicians not only have the chance to play contribution is significant. That it’s not just my ideas. (Interview) in a classical orchestra, but they are also given the opportunity to work in a smaller Creative Ensemble, joining forces

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4.14 ‘The Last Five Years’ – a one-act musical by Jason Robert Brown (2001) 4.15 ‘Badenheim 1939’: Play adapted by Arnold Wesker from the novel The Last Five Years, a one-act musical by Jason Robert Brown, formed the basis of a collaborative project between Guildhall by Aharon Appelfeld drama and music students from December 2009 through to April 2010. The project, comprising two actor-singers and Arnold Wesker’s play, Badenheim 1939, was performed at the Guildhall School at the end of November 2010. This was a six musicians, was directed by Christian Burgess and produced by Fernando Pinho (a postgraduate student in Stage collaborative production, involving a cast of drama students and nine musicians, directed by Christian Burgess with music Management and Technical Theatre). Public performances took place in both the Guildhall School and the Barbican. composed by Julian Philips. With their strong shared interest in collaboration across the disciplines, they both see the collective devising process as a ‘creative adventure’. In his interview, Christian Burgess said “when you open Wesker’s script The project was researched by John Sloboda (2011), Research Professor at the Guildhall School, and written up as a paper of Badenheim, it’s pretty spare. There’s not much there. What there is, is hidden away in the stage directions. It’s a really titled What do musicians and actors learn by working together? ‘The Last Five Years’: A case study. What is groundbreaking interesting challenge. It doesn’t give us the answer – it poses the question”. about this research is that only a few years ago there would have been nothing of substance to research. It is only comparatively recently that a small, but committed group of teachers has been motivated to create opportunities for The devising process was new for the musicians but they had the skills and attitudes to respond creatively to each particular drama and music students to work together on devised projects that are genuinely collaborative. As John Sloboda points moment in rehearsal. The level of their interaction and collective engagement in the process made it natural for them to out at the beginning of his paper: put the music together by ear. This enabled them to internalise the musical material and readily modify it in response to The distinctive element in most of these projects is that musicians and actors are integrated within the performing the changing theatrical situation. What was clear to Julian Philips was that “the musicians wanted a stake in the music, so space under a unified artistic vision. Musicians share the performing space with the actors, rather than occupying they learnt it very carefully and then gained an ownership of the material. This enabled them to shape the orchestration a pit or cordoned-off area, and major aspects of their stage presence (be it movement, gesture or facial expression, on the spot”. He felt that the success of the musical process: positioning, clothing etc.) are explicitly designed to have dramatic, in addition to musical, effect on an audience. (p.2) depended on having nine committed, intelligent, responsive, generous musicians, who were also very skilled In many ways this development reflects the growing trend in the cultural field for arts practitioners to engage in cross-arts technically. One of my bugbears is that too often I am in a theatrical context and there is an element of music in the collaborations – as can be seen in the main thrust of this enquiry. Nevertheless, it is salutary for John Sloboda’s research to mix, but in a qualitative sense, it is ‘wallpaper’. (Interview) examine two particular claims. Firstly that: In this production of Badenheim 1939 there is no way one could see the musical element as ‘wallpaper’. The musical voice Collaborative work has direct benefits for the more traditional single-discipline activities that musicians and actors was integral to the integrity of the performance, thus echoing John Sloboda’s (2011) observation that “musicians and undertake. Working with actors makes musicians into better musicians. Working with musicians makes better actors. actors are integrated within the performing space under a unified artistic vision” (p.2). For Julian Philips: […] I wanted to know in what ways such collaborative work could improve musicianship and acting craft, and there were many moments where I watched them [the musicians] interacting and I was thinking, how impressive this whether clear evidence of this process at work could be gathered and assessed. (p.2) is, to have a group of young musicians who can work so responsibly and so quickly, and pick up a process and work in it with such openness. (Interview) Secondly, that collaborative work can strengthen the quality of communication between the performer and audience: He considered that the collaborative process opened up a wealth of learning opportunities for the musicians. For example: Does actor-musician collaboration have potential to enhance the richness of the communication between performers • Musicians learning how to interact with actors and audience, and can involvement in this type of work heighten performer awareness of and understanding of their audiences? It is often claimed that the relationship between actors and their audiences is more direct and well- • Musicians learning how to interact with each other in a mixed ensemble articulated than that between musicians and their audiences. Actors are acutely aware of their audience and seek • Musicians learning how to act ever more intense engagement with them. Musicians are often insulated from their audiences and more focused on their instruments and the music than on their audience. Are these claims accurate, and can collaborative work • Musicians collaborating with the composer inside a compositional process contribute to productive shifts in awareness and understanding? (p.3) • Musicians being challenged instrumentally in order to maintain a high standard of performance in the context of theatrical practice • Musicians being able to apply the knowledge they had learnt in a practical context. (Interview)

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Victoria Newlyn, who was responsible for choreographing the movement, points out that in such a multifaceted creative 4.16 ‘Lads in their Hundreds’ process there is always room for change and development: Lads in their Hundreds, devised and directed by Iain Burnside, comprised a concert production of songs and poems with the [The students] must accept that things need to change if they don’t work. It is difficult to accept and to let go of backdrop of war, different cycles of conflict and women left at home. It was a collaboration involving song, text, movement, something. […] I’m always encouraging them to be constantly engaged. The whole process of making the production theatre, lighting and design, with the aim of bringing singers into a dramatic context. is organic – constantly growing and changing. (Interview in Guildhall School of Music & Drama, 2010c)

The relevance of the text and music to the present day (e.g. Abu Ghraib) was very clear and according to Jonathan One of the pianists, who were on stage for the whole performance, stressed the importance of each individual’s contribution Vaughan, Director of Music, this resonance sparked off a powerful response from both the audience and performers. For and engagement in the process. the students especially, it heightened their sense of engagement and communication with the audience. In his interview The thing is that even if he [Iain Burnside] comes with very firm ideas and he wants to achieve something, you have Jonathan Vaughan claimed that “if it had been a conventional song cycle it wouldn’t have had any of that special quality”. to go for it. [But] another part is that you have to do things yourself. So there was a big aspect that was a bit like improvisation – you have to walk along and a lot of things happened in rehearsals from our other ideas. (Interview in Barry Ife considers that Iain Burnside is doing some very important developmental work which has had a major effect Guildhall School of Music & Drama, 2010c) on his own practice and development, as well as being transformative for the students – for example, working together as a group on challenging repertoire, thinking how to dramatise songs and projecting and focusing on the audience. By The students found working on the music, words and movement together in the same process most creative and rewarding. performing Lads in their Hundreds twice in successive years with different casts, the whole process was looked at again Music, mind and body were married together in a holistic process. At all times the students were expected to remain through a different perspective. Barry Ife sees this as “an excellent example of personal and artistic development, and focused on all aspects of the production so that they could perform with conviction and meaning. reflective practice”. The research potential of this project was not missed by Helena Gaunt, who commissioned a film to be made of the process, from auditions to performances (Guildhall School of Music & Drama, 2010c). In an interview with Barry Ife (Guildhall School of Music & Drama, 2010d), Iain Burnside responded to a question about 4.17 ‘Unknown Doors’: The Life of Ivor Gurney how he feels the students perceive what they have learnt from the process. After the success of Lads in their Hundreds it was decided that the next project to be devised and directed by Iain Burnside What do I think they’ve got out of it? That’s a really good question! Well, a lot of it is just the teamwork. Because should focus on the life of Ivor Gurney – an English composer and a First World War poet, born in Gloucester in 1890, a lot of them have done shows of one sort or another before they come here, whether it’s The Sound of Music or who died of tuberculosis while a patient at the City of London Mental Hospital, Dartford, in 1937. Unknown Doors, as it whatever, but since they’ve been here, of necessity their work has been very individual. They’ve done a bit of this and was titled, was piloted in March 2011. a bit of that, but they’ve never done something on this scale, where let’s not forget, they’re on stage the whole time. They never leave, so even when they’re in the dark they’re still a bit visible, or often they’re reacting even if they’re In his interview Barry Ife pointed out that for the next production the vocal students expressed a strong interest to work with just playing cards in the trenches. And the fact that they have to interact and have to you know, put their socks on drama students. This was very much supported by Christian Burgess who found that Lads in their Hundreds “stimulated and everything, it’s just… they’re multi-tasking where they haven’t done, and they have to be collaborative with one my imagination a lot. It was the imagination of the content as much as the quality of the performance that struck me”. another, with Victoria [Newlyn; responsible for Movement], in a way that they don’t really do in any other thing. Because I understood from my own experience what Iain is broadly trying to do, it became important to me […] him (Interview between Barry Ife and Iain Burnside) making himself available to the idea that an actor might add something to the next project. It became important to Iain Burnside considers that it is very important for students to experience the challenge of pulling together and supporting me to find him a good actor that would really take his heart […] because then that’s a step whereby Iain’s work might each other in an ensemble. Working within the parameters of a theatrical context gives the musicians a sense of freedom, develop as well. (Interview) as well as providing an opportunity to marry the physical with the emotional and the vocal. So many aspects of learning This is another example of staff and students seeing the potential for learning from each other in a collaborative process. come together within this kind of music-theatre context.

In the film made of the production of Lads in their Hundreds (Guildhall School of Music & Drama, 2010c), Iain Burnside makes clear that in addition to putting on a show and an hour’s entertainment, the broader educational aim is “to expand the vision of both singers and pianists about what a song is”. The students who are interviewed all recognise the challenge of having to be accepting and open to the ideas of the director. They need the confidence to share their vulnerability and they have to be flexible as things are always changing.

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process of shared learning. In addition, they are always able to communicate the collective ideas of the group effectively 4.18 A drama/music co-teaching project when it comes to the performance. Sean Gregory considers that “there is an integrity and a clarity to what one sees and hears; it feels totally connected to what the group, the project and the process has been about” (Interview). This ongoing collaboration in co-teaching and co-learning is led by Armin Zanner (Deputy Head of Vocal Studies at the Guildhall School) and Dinah Stabb (actor and theatre director, Guildhall Drama department). Having met at the international Towards the end of 2010 Future Band worked on a fashion project inspired by a Japanese fashion exhibition at the Polifonia Innovative Conservatoire Seminars, Dinah Stabb was invited to join the weekly Year 1 German Recitative class Barbican Art Gallery called Future Beauty. This comprised a 30 year retrospective of Japanese fashion and included a taught by Armin Zanner. Their collaboration has led to a reappraisal of how to teach German recitative at the Guildhall combination of tradition and innovation – ‘East meets West’. This innovative Creative Learning project, called Disruption, School and it has resulted in a number of changes, as instanced by both tutors: brought the creative talents of fashion industry professionals to a diverse group of young participants drawn from schools in the London Borough of Hackney. The classroom dynamic changed to one in which sharing was creative, experimenting was learning and dry rules of style and diction were taught in the most collegiate of contexts. (see Appendix 7.1 C) Various collaborative workshops were set up for the teenagers. The London College of Fashion led workshops on garment construction for performance, styling, film and photography, headwear and accessories. The project was choreographed by They point out that there has been: the hip hop dancers of Boy Blue Entertainment. The music for the performance was led by musicians from Future Band and • a shift away from a conventional ‘masterclass’ format Jetsam (Detta Danford, Natasha Zielazinski and Jo Wills, also of World in Motion Drumming).Disruption was performed in the Barbican foyer on 29 January 2011, with production support from Guildhall Technical Theatre students. One of the outcomes • a consistent active involvement of the whole group of the project is to develop a cohort of young designers for the future – a Connect model for designers. The Barbican now aims to offer selected participants post-event opportunities for further mentoring and support through relevant young enterprise • an emphasis on shared learning through ‘doing’ rather than observing schemes. • a new teacher–learner dynamic with the two tutors The results of this style of group teaching for the students’ work in German Recitative have been immediate, bringing a far stronger sense of embodying – and therefore communicating – the text. But more broadly the project has 4.20 Dialogue offered the students a direct experience of how they can and should integrate different strands of their course (e.g. drama, movement, German language and German repertoire). (ibid.) Finally, the Shift Programme intends to build on the existing intergenerational music and poetry project, Dialogue, in which professional musicians and poets work together with Guildhall students, primary and secondary school children, This project has demonstrated how beneficial creative collaboration can be not only for the students but also for the and older people from Gateway Housing in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and the University of the Third Age. personal and professional development of the teachers involved, and for strengthening connections between departments. The artistic processes are developed over a period of weeks and performed in a festival of activities in the Barbican Foyer Both Armin Zanner and Dinah Stabb claim that: and Pit Theatre. As Sean Gregory points out, “through Shift, the Dialogue project will enable a more sustainable model of intergenerational learning to be established, drawing on artistic and leadership expertise within the wider partnership” Through involvement in the project, [they] have encountered new models for their own one-to-one and group (ibid., p.14). teaching. As a result this has been an opportunity for their professional development. And on a larger scale, this pilot on collaborative teaching has encouraged other connections to be forged between the Drama and Music sides of the Summary School as a whole. So the innovation in teaching practice is benefiting students, staff and the wider institution. (ibid.) This chapter has tried to capture the richness and breadth of creative collaborations that have been evolving over recent years. In no way is it exhaustive, but it demonstrates the creativity in planning, programming, directing, curating, producing, performing, teaching, learning and researching that lies at the heart of the work of the Barbican, the Guildhall School and 4.19 Future Band the LSO. Moreover, it shows that the notion of creative collaborative learning has taken root and is blossoming since the formation of the Barbican–Guildhall Campus in 2009. In many ways this has legitimised the idea of collaboration across the Future Band is a flexible Creative Learning ensemble, comprising over 30 young musicians aged 8-14 from across London. arts and it is possible to see a future whereby projects are co-created, thus bringing coherence between creative learning It is led by Detta Danford and Natasha Zielazinski. The musical identity of the group reflects the personality and creative and the artistic programme. This has enormous implications for the future life and work of the Campus. voice of each band member, as well as taking inspiration from artists around the globe, including Danilo Perez (Panamanian jazz pianist) and West African musicians Kaw Secca and Outhouse Ruhabi.

In his interview Sean Gregory commented on their collaborative sensitivity in the way they work together and interact with different groups (e.g. young children of mixed ability, teenagers and students). They are good at drawing ideas out of each other and from the young people, ensuring that the group develops its own sense of ownership and identity through a

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Julian has a wide range of experience working in opera, dance, theatre and educational contexts. This has alerted him to the danger of losing his own voice as a composer when engaged in a creative collaboration. He stresses that the composer’s artistic identity, his own authentic voice, has to be heard within the collective – he is not merely a facilitator or 5 Findings and emergent issues enabler of others in the group. Perhaps the thing that you might call your greatest strength as a creative practitioner is often also your greatest risk or danger. Because the thing about collaboration and especially about working together with other artists, which is the 5.1 Response to the frame of reference most treacherous, is when you start out in collaborative contexts you think your role is to listen to everybody else and engage with everyone else and respond. But the problem with that is you disappear – your own identity is eradicated The rich tapestry of collaborations, characterised partly by a strong commitment to creative learning, lies at the heart of because if all you do is respond, then collaboration can be destructive and dangerous. What I have learnt is you have much of the development taking place across the Barbican–Guildhall Campus. The main point of this chapter is to try to to develop an ability to nurture your own creative identity and your own artistic needs in a collaborative context. deepen understanding of what is entailed in ‘creative collaborative learning’ as perceived by the participants in this enquiry. The narrative draws heavily on the conversations that form the backbone of the research. Both the individual and collective Within any collaborative process Julian observes that the artist has to maintain a balance between adopting a reflective voices demonstrate the potential of what can be learnt from engaging in collaborative work that necessarily brings and reflexive approach. together different perspectives, different historical roots and different world views. This can only constitute a rich seedbed I think my journey has been to learn how to nurture my own voice within a collaborative context. It is not about for creative forms of learning, as well as raising issues that have to be addressed by both individuals and institutions. control; it’s not about a wrong force of character. It is about being reflective and reflexive. So you have to be reflexive because you have to think about yourself – you have to keep going back to your own creative space – what you might Firstly, it is illuminating to examine the responses of some of the interviewees to the frame of reference underpinning the make in it and then bring it out back into the process. But it is also reflective because you need to have an objectivity whole research and development project. To reiterate: to think and observe the process. In the context of the arts, creative collaborative learning involves processes in which artists are motivated to work together, drawing on their creative imagination, their different skills and perspectives to formulate new ideas, to As a composer working in a collaborative context, Julian sees his role partly as helping to shape the musical response to explore new possibilities, to extend their ways of perceiving and thinking, their making and performing, in order to the material that is gradually unfolding through the collective creative process. In a sense he sees himself as “the voice of produce outcomes of originality and value in relation to the purpose and context of the activity. the musical material”. I asked him whether he felt people understand the subtlety of this process: It depends on the collaborative context. What I look for is a collaborative partner who doesn’t necessarily have any Conversation with Julian Philips detailed musical knowledge, but they need to have an instinctive, intuitive, imaginative response to music and an Julian Philips is a composer whose commitment to collaboration is well illustrated in this enquiry through his work with ability to imagine it when it doesn’t exist, so that you can talk about the potential of the project or an idea or where Christian Burgess at the Guildhall School and with Katie Tearle at Glyndebourne. At the beginning of his interview Julian it’s going in the future, and know that you are talking to somebody who knows, who can understand your language. immediately raised the valid problem of trying to translate the ‘essence’ of a creative process into words. He felt the frame Problems always set in when you are working collaboratively with somebody who can’t do that. There should be a of reference was very full and comprehensive but that: shared understanding of words like ‘emotional curve’, ‘sound world’, ‘structure’ or ‘shape’. It was trying to distil the elements of a process which is rich and multifaceted and feeds into intuition. Very often Julian understands that in any collaborative process a composer has to be prepared to let go and enter a conversation when you are working, you are not conscious of what you have written. Because if you are conscious you could kill with others about the nature of the musical material. He sees this as a highly sophisticated process involving feedback and it. What you want to be able to do is to work in a situation where you can work collaboratively and creatively in an shared decision-making. instinctive way. Anything where you are trying to encapsulate in language a process which is about intuition is almost impossible to express in language. Some composers avoid collaboration because someone might challenge them and say ‘I’m not sure that works’. ‘That’s too long’. ‘Why is that there? It doesn’t make sense’. ‘Julian, I know you say it’s XYZ, but I hear this as …’ You Julian picks up on several of the key elements in the frame of reference, starting with the important point that if a have to be interested in give-and-take if you want to work in a collaborative context. You have to be able to articulate collaborative project is to be successful, the participants must want to work together. He sees this as a very developmental what you need or what your material needs to do, and you also have to be able to respond to critical engagement process in which many composers are not interested because they function creatively much more within themselves. with what you are making […] Only in collaborative processes do you get the opportunity for your material to be The business of being motivated to work together is about how much your creative imagination responds to the explored by other sympathetic spirits who will engage and respond. outside. So it is a prerequisite for creative collaboration that you are starting with artists who are motivated to work together. I would almost go so far to say that any supposedly collaborative process in which one element is not motivated to work together is doomed. In order to work in a collaborative context you have to have an incredible sense of collective motivation to build something.

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For Julian a creative collaboration has the potential to be transformative in so far as it can extend the participants’ ways of It seems that Christian is taking the students in a direction that resonates with where contemporary culture is at. The perceiving and thinking. He feels that “out of a good collaborative process you should come out sort of different – that is cultural landscape is in constant flux and I commented that his commitment to collaborative processes, his attitude towards about perceiving. You have to take something away from a collaborative process”. sharing responsibility and his view of collective engagement are very much in tune with where things are moving at the moment. Christian responded: Finally, Julian stressed the importance of music theatre in its response to context: For me, it’s not just about wanting to work in a particular way. It’s about the gradual evolution for myself in my own Opera is all about context. In its best sense opera is a popular form and about a direct engagement with the audience. life – I find it’s a way I can explore the human condition, [especially] because words and music are so similar in their In a contemporary context there are so many different examples, positive models of how in the case of opera, one aspiration to express something of the human condition. I’m very interested in what it is that we in a company can find can make new work in a really wonderful responsive way to context. That might be the context of your performers, as a way to move forward. What are those conditions? your audience, your subject matter – what are the issues, the concerns. I think it is something about innocence, energy, spirit, not being satisfied with predetermined outcomes, not knowing Drawing on his wide experience Julian’s reflections are not only perceptive but also extremely useful in unpacking some what might come out of it, not knowing what we are going to learn – uncertainty yet with inner strength. of the issues arising from collaborative practice. He helps to clarify what the process might look like from a composer’s perspective. This very honest response gives some insight into the stage Christian is at within his own journey at the moment. I then asked whether he feels he has to keep a gap between his journey and that of the students, presuming it doesn’t become Conversation with Christian Burgess too wide. Christian Burgess is totally committed to collaborative ways of working and when interviewed he had just completed the I don’t feel it is wide at all – I really don’t. I’m trying to help them to learn how to manage their fear and I am also production of Badenheim 1939, in which the music was composed by Julian Philips. Like Julian, he finds it difficult to capture managing my own. Many days end for me in an absolute cloud of gloom because I think this is the time we get in words what is entailed in creative collaborative learning. Yet he acknowledges that: found out. In an educational context it is important that we can express it in words. But of course, it is not the way it exists in The non-judgemental, reciprocal relationship based on trust and mutual respect that underlies Christian’s approach to my mind or my imagination or my practice. But these words [those in the frame of reference], in this order, seem to collaborative work illustrates how such processes provide an opportunity for all participants to share the kind of fear and express it very well. vulnerability he is talking about. Christian made the important observation that one needs a lot of inner confidence in order In our discussion Christian quickly picked up on the complexities of collaborative ways of working, recognising the demands to share one’s vulnerability. arising from shared forms of leadership and responsibility. He pointed out that the whole chemistry shifts once a directing I can only go into that area of vulnerability as I am actually very confident through the accumulation of experience. mode changes into one fostering a more collective sense of responsibility. And I always say to them [the students], ‘I don’t know any more than you. I have perhaps more experience. That’s all’. It has taken me quite a long time to get to a point where I am confident to say to a group of young artists that ‘I This breadth and depth of experience, of course, has opened doors and helped to shape Christian’s attitudes and don’t know’; ‘I can’t save you’; ‘I’m finding out with you how to do this’. Now, that’s not to say that I’m not actually perceptions. They are fundamental to who he is and to the quality of engagement that he is aiming to foster in the quite happy to set the agenda – the artistic agenda – and I’ll veto things. But what I’m trying to foster is ‘shared students. I suggested that they actually ‘catch’ this from him rather than being taught it – that he is living an embodied taste’. I do believe that you can get to a point quite quickly when you can share the taste of some sort of vision. At philosophy which is picked up by the students. Christian commented: that point all the participants will start to really make useful contributions. I think the initial responsibility for setting that agenda is mine. Well maybe! When I say that I set the agenda, that’s what I mean – the importance of trying to liberate someone bound by fear. [P.R.: You understand from the inside what this is.] Yes, I have had many years of experience of being Central to Christian’s way of working is engaging in a dialogue with colleagues and students in any production. This scared of walking on the stage […] I have found that I am much more fulfilled by this work than by acting. As an approach is challenging to all participants, including the director, and I questioned whether the students see the point of actor I enjoyed the process but never the performance. But that is the wrong way round. All I wanted to do was be this different kind of choreographed journey. in a rehearsal room and as soon as we started the performance it wasn’t exciting for me. Where as a director all my I think they do. What I have had to learn is not to try and push at it too hard and not to be dismissive of other people’s energy goes into the process and then I hand it over and that is very gratifying. perspectives or points of view. (This is difficult when you are on a mission.) When you are obsessed it is easy to assume that you have almost a religious right – the moral high ground. But I’ve got no more right than anyone else and have to respect the position of other teachers.

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Conversation with Helena Gaunt Helena raised questions arising from artists collaborating within their own discipline and those working across disciplines. For example, she asked “how far do we experience creative collaborative learning when artists are all more of a kind?” In our conversation Helena Gaunt felt that the frame of reference draws out the complexity and multifaceted nature of (e.g. the violin section of an orchestra). She has no doubts that it could happen with a good section leader coaching in a creative collaborative learning. She was keen to emphasise the learning potential in any creative collaborative process. more creative, collaborative way, but maybe “it is easier for creative collaborative learning to take place when there are Learning is the central driver in the Guildhall School but it is much wider than that, as it is a critical part of artistic work stronger differences between people and their different perspectives”. It is difficult for artists to engage with the flow of and artistic engagement. If as artists we are to make our work have resonance, have meaning, and have real value in creative energy if they are trapped within their own silo. society, then learning has to be at its heart. It signals a move away from pure aesthetic values in artistic practice to a It can become set in its own frame of reference, its own rules. One of the key things in a creative collaborative process combination of aesthetic and learning values. This is key to artistic practice in the contemporary world. is that everyone is extended beyond their comfort zones or beyond their existing frames of reference. This is really important and challenging because it means getting involved with something that is unknown and unfamiliar. Persuaded by her own experience as a performer, an improviser, a teacher and researcher, Helena echoes many of the points of view made earlier in this report – that “creativity generally relies hugely on collaboration”. The collaborative Conversation with Sean Gregory process is a regenerative form of engaging people and really stimulating their creativity and innovation. For Sean Gregory this research and development project is important because it is interrogating the paradigm of ‘creative The collaborative process liberates creativity. Creativity is an innate part of a human being but we need a context to collaborative learning’. He thinks the frame of reference captures the main elements of the process but that each needs to nurture and support it. We need other people to generate ideas – a huge amount of collaboration goes into preparing be examined in some detail, as the term ‘creative collaboration’ can be over used and used too loosely. for creative work. The idea that creative learning happens in isolation doesn’t really work, although there may be Firstly, Sean makes the point that the desire to work together must be there if any creative collaboration is to be successful. some solitary moments on the way. The motivation of the artists working together needs to be clear and felt. There needs to be a communal sense of Helena is concerned that in the performing arts, especially in music, little is known about the kinds of collaboration that really purpose. The artists might be coming at it from a different point of view. They may not agree but that can provide a fuel creative learning. So much emphasis is put on re-creation that often an original, innovatory thrust is missing. It is felt that healthy dynamic in the collaborative relationship. The motivation needs to be there in the first place and it needs to in the performing arts a lot of attention needs to be given to re-learning. be felt from within and come from those people involved. We need to re-think interpretation and think of it in terms of creative practice. This has considerable implications as Sean recognises only too well that in the world we are in, sometimes the initial catalyst for a collaboration can be financial. to how we go about the process of engaging with repertoire. People might get paid a lot to work together for marketing reasons, but he makes the apt comment that “if this happens Boulez talks about the orchestra as an ‘ensemble of possibilities’. What does this mean in practice? What would this it can lose the meaning behind it”. look like in practice? These are some of the things that are really valuable for us to look at. From his wide experience Sean knows that at its best, collaboration can generate creative imagination – a creative dynamic Referring to recent collaborations between the Music and Drama departments in the Guildhall School, Helena feels that leading to new ideas, new skills and new perspectives. musicians can learn a lot from the way in which actors work as an ensemble. One would hope that from the creative collaborative process it’s going to spark new ideas for individuals. Your Collaborative learning takes many different forms. I am really aware, for example, of the ways in which the drama creative imagination is taken to a new level and a new direction to which you wouldn’t necessarily go if you were training at the Guildhall is premised on this collaborative way of working – some of which is creative and some going through a process on your own or in a more established collaboration that you are used to working in. It takes probably isn’t. Whereas the music model is very different, and yet both groups land up dealing with repertoire. you out of the box, out of your comfort zone into a new area. That stimulates your imagination and it allows you to use your skills in different ways. It allows you to redeploy your skills and to connect them to the context you are in, to Nevertheless, Helena recognises that great strides have been made by some musicians committed to fostering collaborative the energy you have going with the other people, and to realise the ideas that come through your imagination. It can ways of working. A good example in the Guildhall School would be the evolution of the ‘Connect’ model, which continues help you to discover new skills or skills that have lain dormant for a while that come back to the surface – but without to develop across the Campus. This opens up the possibility of involving the audience as part of the ensemble. As Helena leading you to do things that you are not trained to do. This leads to doing things badly. [But at best] it enables you to indicates, “if you rethink the relationship between performer and audience and ensemble, what does this throw up?” recontextualise your skills. This obviously impacts on your perspective at every level – your own individual perspective to why you do what you do, why you are involved with this particular collaboration, how this collaboration can inform your own practice, your own work as a practitioner, a creator, a performer, your own perspective on life, your perspective on people. The human aspect of collaboration is extremely important.

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The complexity and subtlety of a creative collaborative process is acknowledged by Sean. Partly because of this he stresses But there are points, particularly where one is working towards an outcome, be it a performance or something you the importance of giving participants space and time to pause and reflect on what is happening during the interaction want to present to another group who you want to draw in, where you need to capture those moments that become within the creative process. more set or those that remain open for further improvisation or allowing that moment of danger where anything can happen. Or equally important, leaving those spaces for other people to come into the process later on, so that they Whether it is explicit or implicit, a lot of these things [see above] are going on and often all at the same time. They can develop a connection and a sense of ownership. The performance is a further manifestation of what I have just may not necessarily reveal themselves at the same time, but on reflection – that is why the reflective aspects are so described. You are thinking more about the communication of your process and how that outcome will resonate with important, especially reflection-in-action rather than just reflecting at the end. You are capturing these things or you the people at the receiving end of the performance. are giving yourself and the individuals in the group time to acknowledge things that have happened on the way, to think back. The reflecting back is critical, and then how that reflection informs what you do next. That leads to the Sean finally comments on the meaning of ‘originality’ in relation to the outcomes arising from the creative process: formulation of new ideas. In terms of the actual outcomes and their originality, I think ‘originality’ is an interesting word that is just coming back The rich dynamic of the creative process and the energy that flows from a successful collaboration provide the seedbed into our language […] In terms of this framework originality has to come out of creative collaborative processes. The for generating new ideas and exploring new possibilities. Sean describes what this might look like from the perspective of nature of the originality can be informed by the context you are in and by the mode of delivery as much as by the a creative artist. idea itself. Not so much is ‘new’ now – it is more about the development of ideas. The core of the idea might easily Some new ideas come in the moment – you are improvising, you are playing, you are bouncing off each other, you have been done before but through the creative process one is shifting the paradigm. come up with an idea, someone else comes up with an idea, or you might find an idea by chance. That can happen and obviously it is about capturing these ideas in the moment. But other ideas take longer to surface – that comes back to the moment where you pause and think about them and identify them. 5.2 Language and reflection Exploring possibilities is also a critical part of the process [although] I think ‘new’ can be an overused word. What’s The previous section gives some insight into what creative collaborative learning means to four of the artists interviewed. new in this context is that there are possibilities that would not manifest themselves if you were doing them in your For them there was a resonance between the frame of reference and their experience of engaging in creative collaborative more usual way, either as an individual or in a group. Or there might be possibilities that you have imagined – what processes. Each person, in their different ways, placed reflection at the centre of their creative engagement. In contrast, if we could do this or explore that, but there never seems to be time for it because you’re up against a deadline or a some of the people interviewed raised questions about the nature of the language being used. They felt that the term particular rehearsal trajectory which doesn’t allow you to explore those possibilities. ‘creative collaborative learning’ is too technical, whilst the emphasis on ‘reflection’ runs the risk of alienating many practitioners. These are serious observations that have implications for how one might describe, analyse, monitor and Sean makes clear that for a collaborative process to work it is necessary to have an enabling framework that provides evaluate artistic practice, collaborative processes, creative learning and research and development. It is important to use a opportunities for creative ideas to flourish and for creative learning to take place. form of language which makes sense to people – especially to practitioners. What you should be doing through a creative collaborative learning experience is to have a framework that enables these things to happen. This is why the process is so important. It extends one’s ways of perceiving and thinking – What arises from the research is that the attitude towards language and reflection is finely nuanced across the Campus. one’s perception of oneself, of the people you are connecting and collaborating with. It can extend your perception of For Barry Ife fostering a climate of reflective practice is central to the developing culture of the Guildhall School. Both audience – who is this for, the people you reach, be they passive audience members, or people who are participating students and staff are actively encouraged to stand back and reflect on the nature, substance and quality of their learning through workshop activities. and performances. Jonathan Vaughan, Director of Music at the Guildhall School, sees one of his main tasks as challenging students to reflect and reconsider what they are trying to achieve in a musical performance. His aim is for them: By doing that you are extending your way of thinking – you are taking your thought processes further than you normally would or are given time and space for. This informs what you do, it informs the process you are involved To develop the ability to see beyond the notes and the technical restrictions – to reach a level of expression, in there and then, and in the longer term it could inform your art and your cross-arts activity. It contributes to your communication and possibility of understanding beyond the levels of normal conventions and have the ability to making process, your creative process, your rehearsal process, your ordering and organising process – the process of articulate that in a genuinely interesting and different way that makes us reconsider the piece. making sense of what is happening, making sense of where you set things, fix things so that they become literally scripted and notated, and where they are left open – play, improvisation and experimentation are a really important part of the process.

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He is constantly challenging the students to reflect on the fact that they are not a ‘note-factory’ – getting “the right notes, It is clear that the language of reflective practice should not become a barrier for the participants in a research project. in the right order, as fast as possible!” The comprehensibility of language certainly raises the challenge of how to move from a more conceptual, reflective style of language to the language of ‘everyday life’, which might be seen as less nuanced and lacking subtlety of meaning. Culturally we have to find new ways of getting their creative juices going […] Fantastic performances engage an Kathryn McDowell acknowledges the challenge of using a language that ensures clarity within a pragmatic context that is audience – one is lifted to another plane of listening and emotional response through the quality of engagement, complex and multi-layered. spirit, authenticity; through a genuine attempt to bring a new perspective and a way of seeing old ideas in a new way. The LSO musicians think in terms of musical exchange, rather than creative collaborative learning. They view Interestingly Louise Jeffreys, who has had the vision and imagination to create and develop the cutting edge programme ‘education’ in quite a formal sense, where learning needs to take place and has measurable outcomes. They want BITE over many years, feels that reflection “is not something that professional arts practitioners have much time to do: it is to feel that their work is valued in those terms. If they are working in a broader community context they are very just not a part of my practice”. She commented that when conducting staff appraisals in the Barbican, “all say they have comfortable with the idea that that they need to be working in an improvising forum, that they need to be sharing no time to think”. It is difficult to accept that with her creative track record and depth of engagement Louise Jeffreys does in just the same way as they would in an educational context, but the sharing might be across music genres, it may not reflect on her artistic programming. Unlike academics, whose job it is to ask questions, to reflect, analyse, explain and be across some of the less formal areas of music-making […] They see it very much as a voyage of discovery for the interpret data, she has a strong reflective stance but does not spend much time talking about it. This is probably true of people they are working with and for themselves. It takes them into another world that does not have the rigidity of many arts practitioners. the symphonic platform and it actually has huge benefits for them in this respect.

Reflection lies at the heart of learning processes such as monitoring, evaluation, mentoring, teaching and action research, This illustrates the versatility required by the modern orchestral player. On the one hand, working on the concert platform but it is also central to processes connected to formulating the bigger picture within organisations – for example, long- has its own form of life that uses a more practical kind of language with which to articulate what the players are doing. term vision, mission, priorities and future strategy. Inevitably, the process of critical reflection comes with its own language, But when they move into the more developmental learning context of LSO Discovery, they may encounter a different form which in some instances can seem threatening and alienating to those people whose normal mode of language is more of language – one that is more analytical and reflective. descriptive and less analytical. Many musicians, for example, see themselves as pragmatic people who can feel alienated by too much reflection focusing on ‘why’ questions. Their identity, their self-esteem and sense of self-worth are rooted in Kathryn McDowell makes an interesting comparison between the worlds of theatre and music, showing how their different practical music-making, not on reflection that might raise unsettling personal and professional issues. approaches influence the ways in which they use language.

The question of language was a particular issue for Kathryn McDowell who commented in her interview on the response of From my experience of twenty years ago working in music theatre, I always found the language of the thespians some of the LSO players to the current research initiated by the Centre for Orchestra on professional orchestral musicians was a much more colourful and conceptual language from that of the muses. But they weren’t necessarily mutually in the twenty-first century. The aim of this study is “to yield insights into the experiences of musicians in western classical exclusive. It is just that one begins everything from a conceptual base and the other starts from a very technical and orchestras: what skills and qualities are required, what factors help sustain the quality of the work and bring satisfaction, operational base. I think they actually meet at the pinnacle of the mountain but they start from rather different places what are the challenges?” (Guildhall School of Music & Drama, 2010b, p.2). […] As a result of my experience I have always been quite clear that the musicians start from a more technical place but are also willing to move into a more conceptual, compositional and creative place. According to Kathryn McDowell, some of the LSO players found the language used in the research “difficult and foreign […] they were baffled by it and quite alienated by it”. In our conversation Kathryn McDowell explored further the nature of the language used to describe the work of LSO Discovery. Musicians even at world class level are practical people. Their ambition is to play their instrument to the highest standard and to be able to respond to the demands of any piece of music and to be flexible. They live in the studio Looking back at where we are, I would say that the focus of LSO Discovery is very much on music education and as much as in the concert hall and they can respond to a very wide range of contemporary requests. They are not community exchange as opposed to being an exploration of collaborative practice. Because we would see our work stuck in Beethoven and Mahler, and when they are working with young people, many of them are happy to work in a very much in terms of the people we are engaging within the wider community of all ages – from tiny tots to the creative way, composing and inventing new music or to be working alongside a group of film makers or new media. elderly. The nature of their activities varies widely and involves a lot of compositional, creative, fluid work. It is by no But they would find some of this language around ‘collaborative learning’ a little bit from another place. means concentrating on Beethoven and violin technique. I wouldn’t want it to be seen in too rigid a format. It is very much focused on the participant – about meeting that person, whoever they are, in a way that takes their music- making to a different level.

Kathryn McDowell then instanced the creative work that the saxophonist and composer, Jason Yarde, has been doing with the LSO (see chapter 4). As this seems to be a very fruitful collaboration, I questioned Kathryn McDowell (KM) about the language that might be used when describing this important initiative.

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(Interviewer) Well, that is an example of creative collaborative learning. That is collaborative practice. Exploring this apparent gap between the use of a reflective mode of language and that of everyday life, I asked “why do you think there is an internal resistance to using a language which enables them to reflect on why they are doing what (K.M.) Yes, it is really. they’re doing? It’s a shift from descriptive narrative, and pragmatic action and doing to reflecting on the ‘doing’ in a slightly (Interviewer) It would be relevant to include the word ‘learning’ in what they are doing. They are learning together different language register. Why do you think that is?” from each other, from their interaction with each other and from the creative process. This would be a good example I think it is something about ‘letting go’ and for the players and for many of us, to feel comfortable to begin talking of creative collaborative learning, although they would not go around calling it that. about this in a language that allows us to reflect fully on what we have been doing. I think it fits uncomfortably with (K.M.) Exactly! the world musicians are used to, where it is very high pressure and in a way you can’t let your guard down. I wonder whether people feel that in order to take one step into this way of thinking, they might then somehow expose (Interviewer) If you unpack it… themselves or make themselves slightly vulnerable. I think they are probably not sure where that might take them and (K.M.) That is what they are doing […] although we wouldn’t call it creative collaborative learning. We come back to therefore they don’t really want to go there. the language question. I personally think that it would be wonderful to be able to set up a supportive environment for people to begin to (Interviewer) This is a good example of creative collaborative learning but there is no need for the players to use the term. do that. I know that for this to work, the people involved would need to feel from the very beginning that there is a But for other people reflecting on this process and trying to unpack what is going on, underpinning this practice, it can purpose for doing this, with support all the way through and that there is an outcome. I think this is really important be useful as long as the language is not embedded in jargon. for the orchestral world and ultimately it does feed back into the work we are all doing. But it seems to come with the territory of being in an orchestra at this level. Techniques and coping mechanisms have been developed over many Similar observations could be made about the creative work of saxophonist and composer, Tim Garland, with Neil Percy, years. It’s always been focused on consistently achieving extremely high levels of excellence in performance. For us to Principal Percussion, and the LSO (see chapter 4). This fruitful collaboration was a rich source of creative learning. stop and start unpicking that can be frightening.

Further points about language and reflection were made by Elie Gussman, Head of LSO Discovery, in her interview. She These feelings of vulnerability were raised by Christian Burgess earlier in section 5.1. Once anyone becomes engaged in a is well aware that this type of language can put off the musicians in the LSO, many of whom may feel uncomfortable collaborative process involving creativity, innovation, breaking new ground and taking risks, questions connected to shared spending time reflecting on why they do what they do. vulnerability are likely to be raised. These elements are inevitable in the work of any creative practitioner but maybe they do not fit comfortably into the mindset of an orchestral player. Orchestral life, with its high standards and expectations, is I think that many of the LSO musicians tend to explain the way they work in direct relation to something they have extremely pressurised, and it would seem that many players are cautious about entering a journey of reflection. Perhaps just been doing or are about to do, and often state what they have done rather than explain why they were interested the feeling of alienation, supposedly arising from the use of a more reflective type of language, has comparatively little to in it. I think it is an interesting point because this language expects an element of explicit reflection which is not the do with the language itself. Maybe people are hiding behind the veneer of language because of their fear of unlocking only way that this type of learning is communicated. deeper emotional feelings connected to their identity. Moving into unknown territory can easily feel threatening. As an example, Elie Gussman discusses the players’ commitment to creative work in LSO Discovery. In her response to this observation, Elie Gussman commented: I think many musicians in the orchestra relish the opportunity to be creative, to be thinking about how they work with It’s interesting because in my job working with orchestral musicians I am often thinking ‘what is it that lies behind other people. I know the musicians who regularly take part in LSO Discovery work really enjoy the feeling they get what they are saying?’ I try to put myself in their position and think, ‘OK, they’ve said they don’t really want to do this when they are doing that. But I don’t know whether they would describe it as drawing on their creative imagination, particular workshop, or have this particular conversation – but why have they said that? Is there another way I can because perhaps this actually touches a bit of a nerve for them. One of the elements many of the musicians say that approach this or is there something that is holding them back from this?’ I sense that the musicians I work with are they love about doing education and community work is the fact that they are being taken as individuals with their often keen to say something on one level but then back away and respond, ‘Oh well, I don’t really like the way this own creativity and that’s what we are really building on. is being put’. But actually it is much deeper than that.

None of this is really surprising. Many busy, high achieving people would respond this way as they strive to be efficient and deliver a high quality product. Pausing and reflecting do not come naturally in any frenetic business environment, including that of an orchestra.

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One of the distinguishing features of the YMBBT experience is that its success depends on building up a ‘creative 5.3 Perspectives on working together community’ that connects actors, set builders, prop-sourcers and passengers. Its overriding principle is that of equality and inclusiveness. As Kate and Morgan point out: Vision and motivation The merging of people and the shared excitement brings the sense of belonging and community. It’s like a pocket- From the pairs of artists interviewed it was clear that their vision and motivation are closely linked to collaborating with sized model of an ideal society that focuses purely on inspiring the imagination, without the drudge of everyday life. practitioners who share similar values and principles. The fact that our shows are temporary, works to its advantage with its community of volunteers. The show manages For example, Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd created You Me Bum Bum Train (YMBBT) out of a pragmatic idealism – a desire to retain their enthusiasm and interest as it is only for a limited amount of time and it is over before it becomes an to do something that feels really worthwhile. In their testimony Kate and Morgan explain it this way: uninteresting everyday job. (7.2 A)

The You Me Bum Bum Train concept was born out of trying to find meaning and fulfilment in life. We felt frustrated Another important dimension to this collaboration lies in the role taken by the Barbican. Why should this major international in not having found a creative outlet that truly inspired us, and were in desperate search for something that would. arts centre take such a lively interest in the challenging vision offered by YMBBT? In the joint interview with Kate Bond and Having felt frustrated with the banality of life, we wanted to find something that felt magical, that would inspire Morgan Lloyd, Jill Shelley (Executive Producer, Creative Learning, for the Barbican and Guildhall School), who produced the people to interact more freely. The idea arose to create other realities where anything was possible. (7.2 A; for details YMBBT event in 2010, explained why the Barbican wished to be involved. of the concept of YMBBT see Profile 7.1 A.) This show was the winner of the Beckett Prize last year, which is a prize run by the Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust, in which the Barbican is a partner […] This was the first year that it was a site-specific prize. The values of the Beckett The focus of YMBBT is on the ‘audience’ – that is on the ‘passengers’ who have committed themselves to being engaged Prize are quite similar to the values of BITE in which we’re looking for innovative practice and theatre that really pushes in a creative experience that is inspirational and likely to transform their ways of looking at themselves and the world. boundaries between art forms and that challenges audiences as well. And this, I would say, was far and away the As human beings, our experiences are limited due to the constraints we experience as an individual. We all want to winner [because] it was just so innovative. We were quite cautious about it because obviously it had been successful live life to the full but how do you begin to achieve this when there’s an infinite amount of options available? Which in an underground way, and as soon as you put it in the Barbican brochure and sell it through the Barbican website, route is the right route? As YMBBT is essentially a series of unrelated moments without there being a before or after, it becomes something slightly different and very open to criticism – especially with the use of so many volunteers. passengers have no choice but to engage with the reality that’s thrust in front of them. The YMBBT experience allows people to transcend themselves and experience other worlds from other perspectives. As we are each moulded What is clear is that the Barbican was prepared to take the risk of supporting and promoting You Me Bum Bum Train. In by our perception of ourselves and how we imagine others to perceive us, by creating a reality where ‘you’ are no the interview Jill Shelley was asked to identify the values that underpinned the synergy, the resonance between YMBBT longer you, as a passenger, you are not only gaining new experiences but you are liberated to experience yourself and the Barbican. in a new way. Success and failure are not an option. For this one period in time you are no longer your ‘self’. By I think it’s mainly this idea of coming to something as part of the BITE programme, and as an audience member putting a person in the moment where they have no expectation of the experience, nor the chance to anticipate their you expect to be surprised and challenged by it […] There’s also an enormous hunger from our audience just to be reaction, the passenger is psychologically stripped of what can cripple us in our everyday lives, and their imagination pushed and to not quite know what to expect. We have a huge audience for that, so I think that sort of value, really is unleashed. (7.2 A) challenging the audiences, is one key thing. And I think the other thing is about ‘playing around’ with art forms and what they actually mean, because we do a lot of work that’s sort of theatre, sort of music, sort of dance, sort of all There is something incredibly clear about the YMBBT experience being set up so that it is in the moment, generating an three […] We like work that isn’t just standard theatre. intuitive, improvised, imaginative response from the audience and removing any superficial baggage in their behaviour. This is a vital part of an enquiring life, balanced by processes of making sense of things. It is also a strong example of For Jill herself she saw her role as producer in a creative and collaborative way. She felt she understood what Kate and Morgan reflection-in-action against reflection-on-action for the audience. One senses an intuitive desire for a similar balance within wanted to achieve and she was really inspired by the project. In her testimony Jill observed that: Kate and Morgan’s own process of development. My role was to work closely with Kate and Morgan on the planning stages. I’m very aware that the Barbican can be The YMBBT experience raises many questions. For example, the intuitive, improvised experience is full of not knowing. a daunting organisation to work with, especially for artists not used to large venues. Kate and Morgan don’t come How far might some people find this too threatening? How much of this can one expect people to tolerate? What enables from a traditional theatre background, so a lot of terminology (particularly around job titles) was unfamiliar to them. people to frame the leap into the unknown with a sense of a safe place? There is no doubt that YMBBT offers something I feel that one of the key aspects of being a producer is to really understand artistically what the artists are producing, very special to all participants, to artists and passengers alike. and to be as open and facilitative as possible. When Kate and Morgan talked ideas through with me, even when there were obvious challenges re licenses, managing audience expectations (without giving anything away), I tried to approach the process as collaboratively as possible to retain the artistic vision they were looking to achieve.

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My personal perspective is that artists should feel as free as possible to develop ideas. What is lovely about Kate and Not surprisingly, people are drawn to collaboration for many different reasons. The roots of Dinah Stabb’s and Armin Morgan is that they are very open to understanding the boundaries that we needed to put around the show, and they Zanner’s shared commitment go back to their participation in the international Polifonia Innovative Conservatoire Seminars were happy to work with me to find the most creative ways to do that. (7.2 B) held between April 2009 and April 2010 (Association of European Conservatoires, 2010, p.86). These focused on the professional development of conservatoire teachers and Dinah Stabb, actor and theatre director at the Guildhall School, It is interesting that the motivation of Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd to work together grew out of their developing led a workshop on ‘Presence in Performance’. Her holistic approach, which made connections between mind and body working relationship at university. Similarly, the collaboration between Detta Danford and Natasha Zielazinski originated in both performing and teaching, was seen by many participants as compelling and refreshing. So much so that Armin on the MMus Leadership course at the Guildhall School. They have built up a symbiotic relationship that is nurtured by Zanner (Deputy Head of Vocal Studies at the Guildhall School) invited Dinah to share the teaching in his weekly Year 1 shared values and a vision premised on a commitment to people and to collective forms of music-making. Their successful German Recitative class. partnership, as evidenced in their ensemble, Future Band, is grounded in a mutual respect and trust that enables them to take risks, to give each other space and emotional support, to engage in respectful musical conversation, to listen actively This approach to co-teaching and co-learning resulted in a number of practical changes, including: to each other, to anticipate each other’s working ideas and thoughts, and to make joint decisions – all necessary conditions • a shift away from a conventional ‘masterclass’ format for a collaboration to work. • consistent active involvement of whole group When asked to reflect on those elements that are central to their emerging philosophy of collaboration, Detta and Natasha highlighted the following features: • emphasis on shared learning through ‘doing’ rather than observing • A mutual understanding of what collaboration involves • new teacher–learner dynamic with two tutors • A dedication and commitment to shared priorities; ‘working towards the same goal’ The results for the students’ work in German Recitative have been immediate, bringing a stronger sense of embodying – and therefore communicating – the text. But more broadly the project has offered the students a direct experience • An ease of friendship and communication of how they can and should integrate different strands of their course (for example drama, movement, German • An openness to and excitement about working with others language and German repertoire). (Association of European Conservatoires, 2010, p.93; also see Appendix 7.1C). • A willingness to push and stretch ourselves as individuals, within our own relationship This was a significant moment in Armin’s approach to teaching as he could now see the transformative potential of and collaboration, and within the context of a wider community. (7.2 C) collaboration and the active involvement of a whole group in collective forms of learning. In their joint interview Armin felt that Dinah’s approach: In their testimony Detta and Natasha further elaborated on what they considered as vital components of any successful collaboration: is just the opposite of what we tend to do in music education. We have our one-to-one lessons and we have our group lessons, which tend to be one person up at the front with the teacher being observed. And Dinah’s take on • Coming together and sharing – the coming together of people, the sharing of ideas observation is, it seems to me, active observation. Everybody has some kind of role, whatever the focus is. • The creation of something new, that is a combination of all those ideas, involving some kind of Dinah’s commitment to collaborative forms of learning is rooted in the notion of ‘ensemble’ which lies at the heart of exchange, interchange and conversation along the way drama training. • The finding of meeting points or links, based on sharing and a mutual understanding It’s the idea that everybody learns everything together. You might be learning it in a different way from each other, • Working from this common ground, a sense of stretching, pushing and extending of processes, but everybody is part of the learning process. Armin asked me to share the classroom with him and I just began ideas and spaces which encourages growth and expansion in a new direction treating the singers as first year drama students, only what we were doing was German recit. I encouraged the idea of a shared situation where everybody was very active. There was no sense of judgement. Fear of failure was banished • Being comfortable without knowing, cherishing a sense of exploration from the room. We talked about that a lot. So it’s about making a safe place, where everybody can move forward, • Openness and working very much in the moment and in a way that is defined by the explore and challenge each other eventually – making a safe, shared place where everyone, including Armin and I context of a particular collaboration were learning.

• A sense of letting go of any individual agenda, aim or expectation in order to find an For Armin, working together with Dinah gave him a totally different perspective on the possibilities of ensemble training. He understanding of what these might be as a group began to articulate the differences between the ways in which actors and singers are taught. • A buzz or feeling that results from having found a ‘new space’ together. (7.2 C)

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I suppose for singers we fall a little bit between the two areas, so we are actors as well as musicians. Because in the I am not sure I could give you a single phrase or word to encapsulate what you learn, because the way Katie works end, singers are working on stage with other people in an ensemble that is akin to what an actor would be doing in with composers, and in the best sense, the way Glyndebourne is, it’s very holistic. There are so many aspects in play a theatre company. But it’s the nature of the training at the Guildhall, this ensemble training that seems to be very […] With hindsight, I don’t think I felt I needed deep compositional creative support because I always had instincts different from the traditional attitude to training singers at a music conservatoire. So obviously the singers have their about how I wanted to do things. So I wasn’t looking for that from it. But what I was looking for was practical classes where they’re in rehearsal, they’re working as an ensemble, they’re putting on performances of opera scenes experience and I think most of the insights came from the collaborative relationships on the ground. etcetera and that is ensemble work. But I think, where my eyes have been opened by working with Dinah and seeing Collaboration and critical reflection how the Drama department works, is this creation of an ensemble – of trying to create a group of people who are going through their training very much together […] [The singers] might go into ensembles and have ensemble style In the context of this enquiry what stands out is the importance of the artistic and conversational aspects of collaboration. rehearsals, but they don’t necessarily see themselves as a class that is a unity working together, and that I think is Both dimensions are needed in order to relate to the fullness of being human. For example, one needs creative and reflective probably because of the way that the majority of lessons are taught. research; artistic and interpersonal enquiry; making and looking. The quality of shared critical reflection is fundamental to the success of any creative collaboration, and in their testimony Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd stressed the advantage of In their joint interview Dinah went on to crystallise what is entailed in the notion of ensemble from her perspective. having a partner with whom to share decision-making and building up a critical perspective on their creative work. There is little doubt that the YMBBT process is subjected to a rigorous critical stance which is enhanced from working in a trusted Everything that happens in the space is a product of a shared energy. Anyone who isn’t moving towards that, or partnership. focusing towards that, is pulling away from it, therefore making it less. So that if somebody is sitting out and observing, they’re not part of it. If somebody is only thinking about what they’re going to do, something less happens, both In regards to collaborating as creative directors on this project, being able to gain insight into each other’s perspectives in performance, in rehearsal, in attitude. So you can listen and stop someone learning because you’re not listening enables us to reflect on our own ideas. There isn’t a single-minded vision as we both have to agree on each decision. properly. So everything is about the other person, the other people. You have time to reflect and work on yourself and It means that our ideas go through twice the amount of critical analysis than if there were one writer/director. This can your own craft, outside the room, but when you’re in the room it’s about focusing your energy with the other people, only work if you truly trust the integrity and ability of your creative partner. The advantage of having a collaborative on them, on the text, on what you can make together, which would be more than you can ever dream of by yourself. partner is when you come to a joint decision on a creative matter you have twice the belief and conviction to see it through. Being a force of two increases the confidence of an artist to put an idea into creation. The collaboration between Katie Tearle and Julian Philips was again very different, especially as it grew out of Julian being appointed Composer in Residence at Glyndebourne in 2006. The residency, which was funded by the Arts and Humanities To be a good artist it could be argued that it helps to be sensitive and self-questioning, but having a self-critical Research Council, also became a laboratory for Julian doing a collaborative doctorate at the University of Sussex. It became a personality can also sabotage an artistic project before it starts. With another believer you are supported at self-critical seedbed for experimentation, innovation and different forms of collaboration. times. You can also discuss the stresses you are both under at any point and one may be able to overcome a problem where the other cannot. The disadvantage comes when you disagree with the creative opinion of the other. However, Julian was drawn to the Glyndebourne residency because it enabled him to deepen his understanding of opera, which he this stimulates further critical scrutiny of each opinion which can only be a good thing when creating something acknowledged in his joint interview as “a difficult and complex art form, with so much to assimilate and learn”. He saw the worthwhile, and you will learn something out of the process. (7.2 A) residency as “an opportunity for creative growth, through creating pieces, reflecting and thinking”. His relationship with Katie Tearle was seen as a form of ‘professional mentoring’ – a collaboration between composer and a commissioner with Detta Danford and Natasha Zielazinski were equally honest about the way in which their partnership has given them the 25 years of experience at Glyndebourne, in which time Katie has nurtured 22 new pieces into existence. As Julian observes: support and confidence to question and reflect on their evolving practice. They both instanced a project they were doing some years ago in the Gambia with Gambian musicians. This experience threw up many challenging questions which could Making a new opera in itself involves collaborating with lots of people – a writer, a director, a conductor, singers, only really be resolved collaboratively. Basically, they were concerned about why they were doing what they were doing – possibly a designer, maybe a movement person – lots of different people. That’s where the real collaborative activity about the nature of the collaboration between themselves, with the team out there in the Gambia and with the Gambian on the ground happens. But in terms of my relationship with Katie, it’s very much to do with being able to stand back musicians. These questions were borne out in their joint interview. and just observe what’s going on, and develop strategies to cope with a variety of collaborative challenges. (D.D.) I think I had lots of doubts about myself at that time. It’s a weird mixture, because I had a deep faith and trust [For example], how do you cope with the singer that’s not very confident? How do you cope with a writer who’s very in what we were doing and the people that we were working with, because we were really good friends with them defensive about changes or hard to navigate? How do you cope with rehearsal periods that are patchy and difficult as well, but there were quite a few moments where I was just like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know what I am doing. Is this to get continuity? How do you cope with yourself, when you should be at a given point where everyone wants you the right thing to do?’ to be with completing the piece? (Interviewer) When you reached this crisis moment of doubt, because you’re working with Natasha and others, is it a help to be in a collaboration? Can you share that self-doubt with a colleague you trust? (D.D.) Yes, absolutely huge. Huge. (Interviewer) So in a way, being in a collaborative process that works enables you to understand and manage the doubt?

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(D.D.) Yes. I don’t think the project would have happened otherwise as it was completely borne out of our collaboration I think that by putting the German recit into a human context makes sure that the focus stays on communication as the really, and that kind of support we were giving each other, enabling us to get over those moments and to pull each goal of the work. When we demand that they know who they are speaking to, what is the situation, emotional and other through, so to speak. geographical, we are continually putting the singer centre stage, not their expertise either in language or sung notes but as a whole human being with something to convey. If all the essential detailed work comes from this premise, a whole Natasha then commented on how asking questions and reflecting through a collaborative process has enhanced the way performer can continue to develop. in which she has worked with Detta and other musicians. This perspective on the work surprised me, but made me feel very validated. (7.2 D) I think there’s been a long journey in the last five years for me really digging a bit deeper into why we’re doing what we’re doing. I think there was a kind of interest in exploring that led me to what I am doing now. It’s really interesting In a subsequent conversation their reflections on the nature of co-learning raised some fundamental questions about the […] Sometimes you don’t realise how much you’re thinking and reflecting about things, and how supportive a good process of learning and teaching. Armin began with this challenge: collaboration can be in that respect, until you don’t have it. In our co-teaching and co-learning work with students we are aiming, I suppose, for them to let go and ultimately to find voices of their own. Yet that – as I discovered myself – is such an individual thing: it can take a very long time to Similarly, the co-teaching and co-learning environment developed by Dinah Stabb and Armin Zanner has proved to be a happen, and everyone we work with will be at a different point on the trajectory towards finding that voice. Is there not seedbed for critical reflection. In their joint interview Dinah commented that: a danger in co-learning situations that we eliminate that individuality and inadvertently hold some people back at the Everything seems new to me. Well, it is in a way in the music world. All the things I think about when I’m just working same time as others are helped forward? with the drama students, I think about that differently now as well. But it’s everything. I am just thinking about it all the time. ‘What’s this?’ – and listening and wondering. Dinah’s response is not only illuminating but it helps to characterise some of the most important elements that need to be fostered in a learning environment. Since his partnership with Dinah, Armin has transformed his approach to teaching, with the emphasis now being focused You asked was there a danger in a co-learning situation that individuality might be compromised and because much more on the quality of the students’ learning. everyone develops at different rates some singers might be held back. In terms of my outlook on teaching, it’s made me reflect very much on that, and to try and find different ways of I think there are two questions there. Namely, does the ensemble dilute the imaginative development of the individual? doing things, even when Dinah isn’t in the room – different attitudes to how I deal with the students and how they And does unevenness of ability and progress in the group hamper the more able? can learn from what they’re doing – rather than being told this is the way to do it or that’s the way to do it. It strikes me that I had never before had anyone else in the room with me when I’ve been teaching. I am sure that the answer to the first question is no. There is a journey of discovery to be made with your fellow singers, actors or musicians which feeds and sustains you in your development as a creative being. It also feeds the individual Their curiosity and enthusiasm for extending and deepening their dialogue continued in different ways, one of which was work done with a one-to-one teacher. It connects the student to the life of their fellow learners and establishes from through an e-mail conversation arising from their joint interview. The searching quality of reflection stands out in Dinah’s the start a community of music makers. To isolate a musician during the learning process seems to me to limit empathy, first response to Armin, when she tries to capture what is entailed in developing a ‘crafted’ voice, whilst at the same time awareness, respect for the other and the ability to communicate, all essential skills to the development of an imaginative enabling each student to remain connected to their ‘inner’ voice. and whole performer. It is also a shared experience and hopefully fun. It is a personal growth set in the context of a During the course of the interview with Peter, you were answering him and I suddenly understood the particular value group. of our work in the first year of the singers’ training. As to some being held back, that is a more difficult question to be sure about. In the Drama department the I, for the first time, reflected on what I was asking from them, apart from openness, generosity etc. When I talked to difference in experience not talent is very noticeable in the first year. It has as much to do with age as anything else. them about connection and asking them what they wanted to say in a given recit or song, I was asking them to bring The students who come having done a first degree or have had some experience of independent living have to adapt a personal investment into the work. At this particular moment, the beginning of their training, when it is all about a to the different energy and concerns of the younger school leavers. I noticed the same amongst the first year singers. newly learnt sound, a ‘voice’ that is crafted and produced, it is essential to stay connected to the inner voice so that it However, what is learnt and how the individuals respond and influence each other depends on the development of a can grow alongside and stay at the centre of the new self. That is what I meant by a bridge between themselves and shared ethos. This is where leadership and generosity need to be fostered. There needs to be a shared goal amongst their developing voices. the members of the group and ways of managing the challenges that some members create. Music-making is a collaborative endeavour. A known and trusted ensemble should be an ideal crucible for that development. A sharing of work, and in the struggle to improve, students are able to reflect on their own work and gain perspective on their development.

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Individual lessons, coaching, small group lessons and private practice should be valued and given It goes back to that thing of making up new rules for games and picking up new games – just taking any idea and appropriate time and the fruits brought back and shared in this ensemble of learning. If successfully knowing that we’ll get somewhere really interesting between the two of us. And part of that has to do with knowing guided, I can’t see how it would hold a talented student back, only validate and reward their that we’re each really strong in our own way, so that I know you’ll have loads of ideas and I might have loads of efforts. (7.2 D) ideas, but then these will change between the two of us. So there’s a wealth of options, of ways to go, or how to get somewhere. [This works best] if you’re working with someone you’re really comfortable with, or love working with but Although Glyndebourne is very different from the three previous contexts discussed, both Katie Tearle and Julian Philips it’s not always equal like that. found his residency a catalyst for deepening existing knowledge and for exploring critical questions. As mentioned earlier, Katie had a practical, supportive and mentoring role during the residency, but she also enjoyed the opportunity to stimulate Detta responded by saying that: reflection. In her joint interview she commented that: I also feel like part of that comes from a certain amount of openness, and both of us, right from the outset I think, I found the conversations that Julian and I had, around all the topics that Julian has outlined, did have a learning seeking something for ourselves that was new […] In the early days when we knew each other, we were both trying dimension for me as well. I suppose what was good was that it wasn’t learning from a standing start. It was learning to find a new way of expressing ourselves […] I feel with both of us, right from the start felt I’m going to change part from experience, and thinking, yes, well we’ve been here before. How might we tackle this? Quite a lot of the issues of what I’m doing because I like what you’re doing. I’m not going to ask you to totally fit in with me and vice versa. that Julian’s talked about were quite difficult at times, so I think we had to trust each other enormously in order to be So there was always this interplay and conversation going on musically as well as with ideas. able to have those conversations where we could find solutions. I mean, Julian was probably my main concern […] So in everything he was most important – I was always concerned for the way that he worked, how he worked, who Dinah Stabb and Armin Zanner also feel they have been on a creative journey together, but both from a different perspective. he worked with, all those things. Initially Armin saw the potential of collaborating with Dinah in order to try and capture the interest of his vocal students. I was struggling to interest the students in the repertoire that I was teaching them. I was struggling to make it relevant, From the interview it was clear that the synergy between Katie and Julian made the residency very productive and it and reaching for the tools of teaching from the way that I was taught didn’t seem to provide a solution. Dinah was opened up many new avenues, including the obvious benefits of having time for reflection. such an eminent figure in her own work, in her own field, and coming from another department, another discipline When Julian started, I realised that actually I wanted a bit of the time he was having to reflect myself, and started (but obviously related), has just opened up a new way of thinking about it. thinking about maybe having some time off to do some further study. Unfortunately it didn’t work personally to be able to have that time, but I have managed one day a week at the University of Sussex this last term [spring 2011], as Central to Dinah’s approach to teaching or rehearsing is the notion of creative exchange – “it’s the exchange that releases a Visiting Research Fellow to do some investigation and reflection on New Opera and Participation, and have found new thoughts, new energy, new ventures”. The challenge of ‘creative exchange’ resonated with Armin. In their e-mail that a fantastically rewarding experience. I would like to be able to manage something similar, possibly every two correspondence Dinah asks a fundamental question regarding the preparation of singers: years as an important battery recharge. Since I have begun to understand the very different way the singers prepare their work and the lack of expectation of there being a creative exchange in the room, how can we move our work on so that there can be a more dynamic Collaboration and creative imagination exchange between them? It is hardly surprising that the conversations with the pairs of artists demonstrated that creative imagination is nourished and ignited by a successful collaboration. The synergy, the combined energy of two people working in sync, has the Armin addresses this challenge from the students’ perspective: potential for generating new ideas and opening up new creative possibilities. For example, Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd claim that YMBBT would never have developed in the way it has without the shared vision and imagination of both of Where students struggle in this regard is their lack of a settled technical-vocal base and their inexperience in learning them working closely together. Collaboration at many different levels is integral to the concept. Kate says that people feel repertoire and roles. This must be an issue for actors as well, of course, but young singers are learning to use an they have an incredibly fruitful symbiotic relationship – “one just wouldn’t work without the other. We’re really balanced instrument that is often completely new to them with physical demands that take years to settle. So they are themselves [...] you almost multiply the inspiration don’t you, if you’ve found the perfect creative partner”. instruments that have not fully formed and find themselves asked to take creative risks and to experiment without the basic vocal tools. As educators, we must find ways to allow student singers to be comfortable taking those creative Detta Danford and Natasha Zielazinski are also well aware that their collaboration sparks off new ideas, a sense of risks, even if they cannot necessarily do so vocally. So taking the focus away from sound and technical perfection is innovation, because of the dynamism and chemistry between them. This applies to formulating ideas, ways of working, key. Those areas that can be perfected more quickly – pronunciation, musical accuracy, memorisation – can be given improvising, playing and planning. In their interview Natasha explained how they bounce off each other’s ideas and off weight. But the performance freedom, the ensemble work, the communication and embodying of what is being those of others in the group. said or sung are the areas most appropriate for encouraging dynamic exchange without risk of failure because the instrument is not in place. Singers can change their attitude very quickly if this sort of expectation of creativity is one we introduce from the start. There may be bad habits from previous training, but we have the opportunity with new undergraduates to say

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‘here is how we do things as creative performers at the Guildhall School’. No question of anything else. Along with Throughout the interview what stood out was the shared values and shared perspective that underpinned the residency. that, there has to be a shift in the attitudes of students about the centrality of technical vocal achievement. Without Their collaboration worked not just at a musical and practical level, but also at a human and psychological level. Julian that technical ability, they will never be singers; but equally, without the spark and energy and collaborative ability and Katie’s work not only rests on an integrity, depth of commitment and quality of engagement, but also on their strong and communicative skill that are learned in the creative room, they will not be able to be singers either. All the work sense of caring and empathy for the people they work with. This can only contribute to the success of their collaboration. that you do with them gives them exactly this element and the understanding of how important creative spontaneity and interaction is. (7.2 D) Collaboration and shared vulnerability In section 2.4, drawing on the insights of Vera John-Steiner (2006, p.124), it was stressed that for any collaboration to be For Julian Philips his Glyndebourne residency served as a crucible for exploring and realising creative ideas. In their joint effective it is essential for the partners to build up an ‘emotional connectedness’ that is characterised by a sense of shared interview he acknowledged that the quality of his creative engagement was enhanced by that of Katie Tearle, who not only motivation, shared purpose, solidarity based on shared values and a reassurance knowing that feelings of fear, vulnerability, has the insight and imagination to see connections, but also has the skill to make things happen. Her understanding of self-doubt and marginality can also be shared. the creative process is palpable, as can be seen from the 22 new pieces she has nurtured into existence at Glyndebourne. Therefore the chemistry between Julian and Katie was critical to the success of their collaboration. This feeling of shared vulnerability certainly arose in all the joint interviews. Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd were asked how far the environment they have created in YMBBT enables them to share their vulnerability with each other and with others Furthermore, the residency gave Julian the opportunity to put into practice one of his guiding principles – connecting his in the group. Their response was unequivocal in relation to themselves but not to other members of the group. creative work to the realities of a specific context. Understanding and relating to the context is fundamental to Julian’s way of working. “I like to know what the context is for what I am making. If I don’t know it, I feel like I’m fumbling in the dark. (K.B.) I’d say with each other, but maybe not so much with the others. Now that might just be where it’s performed, it might be the ensemble that’s doing it, it might be to do with an education (M.L.) Definitely yes, between each other at all times. I personally feel less vulnerable when it’s bill time and it’s show strategy; there’s all sorts of factors – sometimes the most innocuous bits of information can be the most inspirational.” time. That’s when you’ve got a job to do, and that’s when the ambitious element of the project, all that excitement takes over, and you just get cracking. But I guess it’s just times when we’re trying to make stuff happen, and things go quiet Not surprisingly, knowledge of the context helps to determine the nature of Julian’s musical language. and we’re struggling, that’s probably the hardest time, when we feel vulnerable. To me, language and identity are shifting all the time. I don’t see myself as the transmitter of one way of talking. You know, there are lots of ways of communicating as a composer and that depends on context. I don’t see it as a negative What stands out with Kate and Morgan is that they have the confidence and trust in each other to share their vulnerability. to have to think about how I communicate in one context as opposed to another. Kate adds that: Sometimes I get really sensitive and a bit raw, with overtiredness and stress. And Morgan is the backbone I’ll go Throughout their collaboration both Julian and Katie kept returning to the importance of integrity, authenticity and to. You’re the first person I’ll confide in because you’re most likely to be empathetic with what I’m going through, connecting to context. They never lost sight of these principles in their shared decision-making, whilst on the other hand whereas there is a divide between us and anyone else that comes on board because they’ve got a completely different always maintaining a strong grasp of the realities of the situation. Katie pointed out that: perspective on what’s going on. Managing expectations is one of the biggest challenges of the work that we do, especially in the context of a full-time opera company, especially during the Festival – what’s possible and what’s not possible. I found from experience the Nevertheless, they both carry this empathy, mutual respect and care for others into the whole network of relationships best way of doing that is getting in there very quickly and saying, ‘no, and these are the reasons why’ […] You have within the YMBBT project. They take their responsibility, their sensitivity towards others very seriously. This was also to know when to step back, and when to actually go in and start leading. apparent in their relationship with Jill Shelley (Executive Producer), who was responsible for making the event happen from the Barbican’s point of view. The cutting-edge nature of YMBBT certainly made Jill feel vulnerable because she knew Katie’s management role carries a lot of responsibility, but it is also creative in so far as it can either facilitate or block the it was a risk. flow of the creative process. For the process to work, the manager has to understand what matters artistically for the Although [YMBBT] is something, particularly in BITE, that we want to do, it still does feel risky. You’re not quite sure composer. Julian thinks that in any successful collaboration it is crucial to be clear about what you would like artistically. how it’s all going to work out. When we were talking about some ideas that came up, I was having moments of He said that: waking up at three o’clock in the morning thinking about people coming off this ride into the bar, and onto a bouncy One of the chief pitfalls or elephant traps of working collaboratively is that if you’re so responsive to everybody else, castle, heads smashed open. Oh, my God, I need to talk to them tomorrow. You do feel vulnerable because I was very then you cease to exist […] It’s hopeless collaborating with someone who’s not bringing anything into the process. aware that I was pushing in the Barbican very hard to take as much restriction away from you because I knew how There have got to be moments in a collaborative relationship where you go, this is how I see it, and these are my much we were putting around you. So I was trying desperately hard not to remove anything that didn’t have to be reasons. there. But had it gone wrong…

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In such challenging circumstances it is important for the producer to be able to share the responsibility with someone who (Interviewer) In your case you probably don’t even have to articulate it much because there are these almost implicit, understands the dynamics of the particular context. In this case Jill could go to Louise Jeffreys, who at that time was Head tacit nuances between you. If you can feel it together that can be very strengthening. of Theatre in the Barbican. (D.D.) It was a huge deal. I would say that I shared it with Louise who like me, loved the concept [of YMBBT], loved the research and development, (N.Z.) But this has also taken so long to build up – over years of just being friends and working together in every and was absolutely behind the show. It would have been more difficult if I hadn’t had her there. It would have felt a different context imaginable. Just now I feel like we really sense where we are. But even sometimes moments come bit like I was fighting on my own. where you don’t realise, and if one of us is oblivious to something like that it actually affects you much more. There is no doubt that Jill felt a sense of personal responsibility for the project, especially in relation to health and safety. (D.D.) Yes, because you didn’t even notice it […] She commented that “it’s the health and safety bit. Had there been injuries or something, I would have felt a personal responsibility for that because I felt that was my role, making sure it was safe”. But it is reassuring that within the structure (N.Z.) Sometimes it’s just when you don’t quite recognise the convictions that someone has about something, like of the Barbican she could share her concerns with the then Head of Theatre. Teamwork and collective responsibility are when we did the Jetsam recording. If one of us feels strongly about something and if other people aren’t really aware essential in such circumstances. of that, it can feel kind of alienating or excluding. If you’ve got this strong belief in something and someone else doesn’t, you have to make space to talk about it and be ‘on the same page’. We always say that, ‘the same page’ – In a similar way to YMBBT, Detta Danford and Natasha Zielazinski over several years of working together have established for all of us to know and for you to know, to share where you are and to be aware. a sense of mutual understanding and trust within which they can readily share their doubts and fears. Therefore, if either of them feels vulnerable in any particular situation, this can be raised and shared in a positive spirit. In their joint interview In the interview with Katie Tearle and Julian Philips, the issue of vulnerability was not discussed at length but they did they were asked, “If you feel vulnerable, do you show it? Do you articulate it? Do you share it? Or do you bottle it up and comment on the potentially scary response some people have to collaboration and interaction with other people. Julian sit on it?” observed that: (D.D.) It depends on the circumstances, I guess. Particularly in our relationship, I think these kinds of things happen You have to learn to get beyond that and therefore weirdly it develops your own inner confidence, because you move at many different levels, and sometimes it’s really subtle. Sometimes we’ll be doing something together like a project, together with someone else in a creative way and you realise that there are kindred spirits out there who face many and I’ll just look over at Natasha and think she is having a moment or something. You can just see it or hear it, and similar questions. You know, to put it glibly, ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’. How do I write the next note? you feel just… Okay, that might be a simplistic way of expressing it about composition. It’s interesting to talk to a writer and ask them how they write the next word. (Interviewer) ...really tuned in. In Katie’s position at Glyndebourne working with many different kinds of artists, she is well aware of people’s possible (D.D.) It’s really, really subtle. Yes, and at other times, especially in Future Band, I’ll get a moment…and just look round vulnerabilities when they are engaged in creative processes. Her antennae are tuned in to issues that might arise and in this and think we really sense where we’re at emotionally with each other. Quite often I’ll be like, oh God, I am just getting context she performs a very empathetic, supportive role. But in her interview she makes a very pertinent point about her into tricky territory and I’ll turn around and [Natasha] will say, ‘can we just try this one thing?’ It’s amazing really. role and the need for reciprocal support. They then raised a challenging situation during a project in a prison where they felt very vulnerable, yet the whole experience (K.T.) Yes, it’s a nurturing role and a caring role. But in order to do that, I have to feel nurtured and cared for as well much strengthened their working relationship. […] You have to have your strength and I have to make sure that I take care of myself. That’s what they say for (D.D.) One thing we shared, where we really felt vulnerable was the prison project. For both of us, in actual fact mothering as well. You have to take care of yourself in order to be a good mother. You’re the most important person. going through such a difficult process together was really strengthening for our relationship. Personally, it was really You can’t just give out the whole time. You’ve got to make sure that you have enough food, drink, sleep, whatever. difficult and I am sure it was for you as well. I remember feeling really alone and doubtful on a massive scale. After (Interviewer) Yes, but in terms of your other food, drink and sleep, what nurtures you and enables you to do what so many great positive experiences through the [Leadership] course, and then having this thing that I couldn’t work you do? Are there things you do in your life which in fact enrich what you’re doing, or does it come actually through out what was going on. your professional work? (Interviewer) But you could share it? (K.T.) Yes, it does come from professional work because it feeds you the whole time. I like to go out and see things – (D.D.) Exactly. go to conferences, go and see other work, meet with other people who do the type of work I do. (Interviewer) Yes, and do you find increasingly there are more people on your kind of wavelength than before or are you still rather unique in this area?

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(J.P.) Well, I think we’re just talking about different ways of being and I think we have to be careful not to overplay Jill Shelley was crucial in her supportive and facilitatory role in the developing collaboration with Kate and Morgan. The it, like it’s some… future direction and sustainability of YMBBT were quite understandably seen as major issues and Jill was in a position to help steer the process of discussion. (K.T.) Alchemy. (J.S.) It’s such a different model that you have. I’ve talked to you a lot about it, about where you might go, and how (J.P.) Alchemy. Because there will always be composers who want to write in their ivory towers and there will always to make it more sustainable and give yourselves more time to be artists. I think it’s really important that we find a way be commissioners who don’t see their role as nurturing at all. They just see their role as one step removed and of working with someone, or with a team of people, to absolve you of some of that responsibility – to claw back a wouldn’t engage with half the stuff Katie does. So it’s to do with individual personality and integrity. bit of that artistic time and space. The conversation between Katie and Julian demonstrated that a collaboration rooted in the same principles and values can But I also absolutely see the benefit of you being in the producer role as well because I think it keeps your feet on become a dynamic motor for innovation and creativity. The quality of their shared engagement rests on a pragmatism that the ground. It makes you completely aware of all the stakeholders and their perspectives in it – whether that’s me is driven by those principles that are critical to a supportive creative relationship. representing a venue, or whether it’s the council, the building, the volunteers. You are then absolutely aware of all the demands that we’re asking, what our needs are. So I think that how you move forward, you need to think about Collaboration and artistic identity that quite carefully, because if you absolve yourselves of the responsibility for, say, the host venue and the building, One important issue that arises in any collaboration is how far the collective process militates against the development then you might lose a bit of that awareness. So it’s a really tricky one. […] of the practitioner’s creative identity and artistic voice. Is the artist seen as a facilitator of others or can a balance been maintained between the creative role of the artist and the creative voice of the participants? Most importantly, can the (M.L.) I don’t think we ever would. We would never let the decision of a venue go to somebody else because that’s a collaborative process be seen as a seedbed for fostering the creative ideas and energy of both the participants and the huge part of what the show is. And we would never be able to let anybody else decide how the route goes through artists involved? the building.

This is a particular dilemma for Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd, both of whom are continuing to search for ways of reconciling (K.B.) Every element of the show we want in on – like costume design, lighting and sound – because we’re so inspired all the roles and responsibilities that arise for them in such an unpredictable process as YMBBT. Kate puts it very succinctly: by all the creative elements to it. We want to be involved in the decision-making process. “To be honest, we’re like dogs that have been thrown a ball. The Bum Bum Train is the ball, and then whatever processes A critical element in the support of the creative collaboration came from the Barbican understanding that the work of Kate are needed to go and fetch the ball, we incorporate”. In their joint interview, Kate, Morgan and Jill Shelley, their producer and Morgan would benefit from allowing them space and time for a period of research and development. This was seen from the Barbican, explored this issue. as being beneficial for their artistic and creative development, but also for their personal development. Morgan pointed (K.B.) The draining part for Morgan and I is after each show there’s nothing. The Bum Bum Train doesn’t exist. It’s out that: like an apocalypse has gone off, because we change the venue, we change the scenes, we have no money. That’s I’d say that the R&D we did for the last show was really beneficial, because sometimes you have an instinct about an when it’s draining. But as soon as we’ve found a venue and people come on board, the nurturing side is actually the idea, and so far so good. But think we were able to be far more ambitious because certain scenes that we weren’t pleasurable side. We get to meet hundreds of new people and then it becomes an unpredictable creative process. sure about could be tested, and we could have confidence in them and how they would be built, or how they could (M.L.) Taking care of the people who come and volunteer is a good thing because you have that feeling of responsibility. be improved upon when it came to the actual show. But when you’re talking about the role of a producer, where you have to take care of other external agencies and loads of other things, the extended role of being a producer does suffocate the role of being a director. But at the Both Kate and Morgan could well see the advantage of having the opportunity for exploring their creative ideas. This was same time, as individuals, what we’ve experienced from having to do that has inspired scenes and concepts. But I echoed by Jill who firmly thought that research and development should be built into the process. think, even though it has done that, we would rather sacrifice the responsibility or organisation, because in actual I certainly think that when we’re working together (i.e. with the Barbican), R&D is something we should build in fact, if we really are going to call ourselves artists, we should say that we really want to develop scenes more. We because I think it’s really important. Especially if you are carrying on with the producer role as well, because that takes want to be writing scripts way in advance, and workshopping them. We don’t have time to do that, so at the moment up so much time, it is just to have some time that is purely artistic. we are directors and producers. But in our core, we are just directors. There have been benefits and a massive learning curve, but we feel we’ve gone through that, so we’re happy to let it go. In their joint interview Detta Danford and Natasha Zielazinski were asked how they reconciled their facilitation role with nurturing their own artistic voice in Future Band. Within this ensemble they both have a strong sense of shared responsibility, but the way in which they choreograph the creative process results in developing a shared ownership that is respectful of the voices of the young people. How do they see this collective empowerment in relation to their own creative identity?

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(N.Z.) I feel, at least in Future Band, that we’re just very much a part of the group. So I don’t feel like we’re just What is encouraging here is that Armin’s creative engagement in co-teaching as co-learning has helped to feed and facilitators in any way. nurture his artistic voice. He now finds his teaching a very rewarding learning process but he remains concerned about how things will develop in the future – the fear of losing his artistic identity as it becomes swamped by management and (D.D.) I feel the same as Natasha in that we’re definitely part of the group, although it’s true that we have more of leadership responsibilities. a role than anyone else in the group. […] When we start a Future Band project we’re on an equal footing. Where our musical personalities come in is trying to get everybody’s ideas, because they’ve got so many ideas. In a process (A.Z.) It’s something I worry about in a sense. At the moment I am not particularly concerned because I still think I point of view I don’t feel that so much of my musical personality is there at that initial stage, which just focuses on have a journey to go on, but I worry that the further away I get from having been a performer, the more I’ll feel that everybody pouring their thoughts down. I’ve lost something. (N.Z.) A lot of the times I think that’s achieved by coming in with a concept or an idea that’s outside us all. So that (Interviewer) My guess is, that because you are so open and aware, other things will take their place in your journey, could be just the sound of the gamelan, and all of us coming into that sound and bringing our sound into that and you’ll receive them and you’ll find them just as nurturing as performing. sound, and taking that sound back into our sound as a group. Or, with the Disruption event, just looking at a few big concepts in Japanese fashion, like the interplay of shadows, or folding and space, and looking at those as a big group, In section 5.1 Julian Philips touched on this question of retaining the artist’s creative identity in a collaborative context but with a pretty blank slate musically speaking, and then just seeing what comes in. […] – achieving a balance between who you are as an artist, yet at the same time responding to the creative needs of one’s colleagues and those of the participants. In his interview with Katie Tearle, Julian pointed out that: (D.D.) I feel that as the process goes along our artistic voice comes out more in terms of just trying to bring together all those ideas and making sense of them in a way that allows them all to have space, but also allows them to have With collaborative experience you learn how to balance the need to listen and respond to what other people bring, a musical structure to them. while at the same time having a clear sense of what your creative concerns are in making a piece. I feel it’s important to have an ability to perhaps sometimes say quite difficult and uncomfortable things in a constructive and free way. (N.Z.) And an integrity in putting everything together. Because in any collaborative relationship, part of the process is to run with ideas, and then realise that they’re not (D.D.) That’s where, from a leading point of view, we have that bigger picture in our minds. And I think they do too, right. You have to reject things. It can’t just be a ‘love in’, because you won’t make anything interesting. There’s got but it’s just harder to have the whole picture in your head when you’re playing as well. to be a vision.

In many ways it seems that in Future Band both Detta and Natasha feed off the creative energy and musical ideas of Then, Julian drew on his experience with Katie Tearle during his Glyndebourne residency. the ensemble. Through the collaborative process they help the group to find a shared musical language, but it is also a (J.P.) In this residency context I, as the composer, had the opportunity to work with very different people, whether language that they have invested in themselves. They receive immense creative satisfaction from the process that they are directors or writers, etcetera. With each one of these you have to slightly reconstitute yourself. With hindsight, with subtly leading – they are not mere facilitators. the writer of X, I could say anything. It was an entirely open relationship because he is a thoroughly secure and open- minded writer. The collaborative process that Dinah Stabb and Armin Zanner have embarked on is still comparatively new for them and thus very fulfilling. Through working together they find it is strengthening their individual artistic voices. (K.T.) Experienced writer. (D.S.) It feels new and it’s engaging my imagination and my sense of purpose, sense of creativity in the world, in the (J.P.) Very, very experienced. Whereas with the other writer on Y, you needed to be more firm. Actually, sometimes I room and in the larger world, because I believe in the idea itself. wasn’t firm enough. When it comes to opera, essentially you have to write the piece in the end and if something is not going to work, it’s not going to work. That might be an instinctive feeling, like I wouldn’t want to write a scene (A.Z.) Yes. I think it strengthens it, perhaps mostly because we don’t come from the same stable. about this. It isn’t interesting. And if am not interested, then the audience are not going to be interested. So I don’t think we’re going to interfere with our artistic voices, are we? (K.T.) And it is those instincts. (D.S.) No. And this process is about a part of your artistic persona. (Interviewer) What’s your view, Katie? For Armin, his collaboration with Dinah has enhanced his sense of artistic identity, but he is aware of the possibility of losing touch with it through his teaching and administrative roles. (K.T.) Totally, exactly the same. It is your instincts and […] about being true to yourself. (A.Z.) I do think about that because I don’t have very much time for performing, I hardly have any time as I am What emerges from these conversations is that although collaboration can serve as a crucible for creativity and innovation, essentially a teacher and an administrator now. So I do have a shift in my identity as a musician, and I think this work it is imperative that the individual creative voice of the artist is not submerged under the collective voice of the participants. (with Dinah) is one of those things that I can hold onto and say, yes, it’s still creative and new. So that artistic side, the The integrity and authenticity of the artist’s voice has to be heard and respected alongside that of the participants. A creative side, has a slightly different outlet, different direction, but it’s creative in an educational arena. delicate balance has to be maintained between the artists and participants in any collaborative process. This is a challenge to leadership.

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Collaboration and leadership (N.Z.) Future Band has been really good for us – to have a long-term project that has enabled us to experiment with the group. We’ve been through so much together as an ensemble, and been able to work with these different There is no doubt that collaborative ways of working raise issues regarding leadership and responsibility. How do artists and people. It means us changing the way we’re working all the time, and our approach to leading and responding to the participants view leadership, roles and responsibilities when working together in different contexts? strong personalities in the group. And more than any other group, I think, the project has made me […] think about how I’m leading. Do I really need to do this? How much can I step away from this role? We would both like to try and Both Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd were very interesting on this matter because although they see YMBBT step away. I know we’re both up front a lot of the time when there’s a big band. But I think we’re looking all the time. as a very democratic venture, they also recognise the need for artistic direction during the creative collaborative process. (Interviewer) But there are different ways of leading. You don’t have to be up front. What are your views of leadership? (K.B.) I love this utopia we’ve created where everyone is equal. There isn’t a director. There isn’t a runner. We’re all (D.D.) Yes, I think exactly that. There are so many little things that happen in Future Band that aren’t to do with us as just chipping in, and no-one’s above cleaning the toilets or making the sandwiches. But people, as a group, do need well – that are to do with just the small relationships in the band between the kids, between the assistants and some a leader. If you don’t have some kind of hierarchy or direction, then you just get chaos – which is what we did have of the Guildhall students. Where there’s so many people leading each other in lots of different ways. And that’s been in the old days. a huge learning for both of us as well, I think. (Interviewer) But do you need a hierarchy, or is there such a concept as shared leadership, shared responsibility? (Interviewer) Is that shared leadership? (M.L.) I think you definitely need, creatively, for the directors to be people with integrity, as they’ve got to have the (D.D.) Yes. I think there are a lot of things going on. We quite often feel we leave quite a lot of things to the people final say. Because like you say, there is a moral responsibility there. in the band. Yes, there is an element of us being up front but I am super aware for example, when I am up front, (K.B.) There has to be a vision that everybody understands. Otherwise there can be conflict. We have had that where and I am sitting playing the flute, that I am still leading. And I think so is everybody in the band to some extent. We there’s been a scene and there’s been conflict amongst actors as to how it should be carried out, because they didn’t are all taking responsibility for our part but also for our section. Rowan (12 years old), for example, is really good at attend the same rehearsal. So then there’s conflict. There needs to be a vision that everyone is seeing. leading the clarinets, and there’s Guildhall students – Jones at the back has got his own thing going on. Often he’s quite autonomous, but he is always checking that somebody’s with him, or he’s got somebody smaller with him. He’s (M.L.) I guess I think it’s quite simple isn’t it? There are people who do have responsibility – so if you have a manager, making sure they’re playing with him. And there’s lots of little leadership things going on. a cast manager, they have that responsibility and all their cast would have to listen to them. But nobody is above sweeping up or cooking or changing the bins – and that’s the same for Kate and I. (Interviewer) It seems to be very shared and yet you are the key choreographers, because that is your ultimate responsibility – but it is a shared responsibility. (Interviewer) That’s more to do with shared responsibility. Have you got views on this leadership question Jill [Jill Shelley]? (N.Z.) Yes, and in so many different ways too. Sometimes those are really obvious ways. For example, the two smallest violinists, and they’re leading a gesture or something, and sometimes it is similar but in a bigger way. Like one time (J.S.) I think the two of you do have very strong leadership skills and I think that comes across during the build period when Sam Jones was leading a section, but leading basically from the back. Nobody could see him, but we all or during shows. I think it is absolutely shared jointly, which is something I find really interesting […] I know I could listened – and it was a freely improvised crazy section. Other times have involved different people coming up front ring either of you and I am quite indiscriminate really. If I am emailing, I tend to email both of you, but if I phone, I and conducting people from the front. In the gamelan project everybody was responsible for their own parts weaving just pick one at random because I know you’ll be able to give me an answer, and it won’t be, ‘oh, I’ll have to check’. in and out within each section, leading a section or holding their part within a larger part that’s played by their whole I know that you’ll both be able to answer and you’ll be saying the same thing. You’ve absolutely developed that joint section. There are a lot of different levels that this is happening on. sense of owning it. (K.B.) Yes. A lot of people have actually said that recently. They never knew who decided what. They assumed that it At the end of the conversation between Katie Tearle and Julian Philips about respecting the integrity and authenticity of really is both of us at all times. the artist’s voice in any collaboration, Katie stressed the importance of never losing sight of the principle of ‘being true to oneself’. She sees this as fundamental to the exercise of leadership and responsibility. She was asked to expand on this: (J.S.) Yes. And during the show, it’s absolutely the two of you that are in control of everything […] It’s part of your perfectionism and it’s part of what you instil in the team […] There’s no detail, there’s no stone left unturned. [Being true to oneself] is about not going home and thinking, God I really feel uncomfortable about that decision […] You know, it’s about caring, and about thinking about things beyond the room that you’re discussing them in at that Both Detta Danford and Natasha Zielazinski also see that the democratic ways of working in Future Band raise crucial time. If you do have reservations, it is important to voice them. questions about leadership and responsibility. Although they always maintain a clear sense of direction for the band, they also seek out opportunities to devolve leadership responsibility to the young musicians in the group if it is considered Both Katie and Julian were then asked for their views on leadership in a collaborative context. appropriate.

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(K.T.) Well, it’s different types of leadership at different times […] I suppose the thing I have to do, is not to get so can we make this experience meaningful for them – whether there’s some sort of accreditation, meaning they would confident with my own experience that I go in on auto pilot, because you have to really think and contextualise. get some sort of arts award certificate, or it’s part of a BTech module. I don’t know the answer yet but I think it is Before you make an absolute quick decision, you’ve got to think if I make this decision, what’s the effect on all these something we should explore. different people? Then make the decision, not just think, oh if I don’t think about that, it will go away. Because it probably won’t. Kate and Morgan are also excited at the possibility of opening up young people to the YMBBT experience, both as members of the audience and as part of the production team. Morgan instanced the Roundhouse as an example of what (J.P.) It’s difficult, this word ‘leadership’ in this context. I am not sure with any of the projects we did as part of the might be developed by YMBBT as training opportunities for young people. residency, it would be quite right to talk about leadership, apart from Knight Crew, where Katie absolutely led the project. Because it was a project of bewildering complexity, in terms of how it had come together, over such a long (M.L.) The Roundhouse have been in touch and they’ve got these fantastic interns from the age of 18-25. They have timescale, that it needed somebody of vision, who could just see this whole process go through. And that was where an interview process and screen them, and have the best come and assist on certain projects. For us that would be Katie absolutely led the project. There were clear decisions that had to be made at certain points. Sometimes those brilliant. I would definitely go for those people because they’ve left university, they’re bright, they’re going to be going were creative decisions, sometimes logistic, educational, financial, economic, you know, all sorts. Then of course places themselves, and they’re appreciative of new experiences. And if they’re on your team, it’s a mutually beneficial there was the whole television aspect to it as well, so that all had to be managed. I think it was right to use the word thing. You’ve got really competent help, and at the same time it’s a pleasure equipping them with new skills. Having ‘leadership’ in that context, but I didn’t see my role in that project in any sense as being a question of leadership […] I skilled volunteer help is really appreciated, but when it comes to people sampling what we do, we just want … didn’t see my role as leading anything really. I had a role to make things, and to be open and responsive, and to work (K.B.) The participants. with Katie … but also with the conductor and director. But I wasn’t … (M.L.) We want to cast a wide net, don’t we? We want everyone from all walks of life to be doing it, who haven’t (Interviewer) But you don’t think that is exercising some form of leadership? heard of it. (J.P.) No, I don’t. I think with that project, at every stage, Katie was looked to as … at the top of this complex food (K.B.) We went through all the testimonies that passengers gave after their experience [last year] and most people chain. I think [with Katie] there was leadership the whole way […] When you talk about the number of young people spoke about it, comparing it to other theatrical experiences. And that made us think, because it’s been labelled involved, the number of people who were engaged through workshops and auditions, the orchestra, the youth ‘theatre’, which is irrelevant. Not that it’s got negative connotations, but is it going to become just solely for theatre orchestra players, the rehearsal period, the television, you know. goers, whereas we want, you know, the carpet fitters, who came to fit the carpets. Collaboration and learning and development (M.L.) Tower Hamlets people. The examples explored in the joint interviews are very different but each collaboration raises so many issues that could have (K.B.) They don’t go to art exhibitions or theatre, and they will get as much, if not more, out of it because it isn’t an major implications for the learning and development of professional artists, teachers, students, audiences and young people. exclusive experience. You Me Bum Bum Train is now regarded as an imaginative model of a participatory process leading to a challenging interactive It is clear that Kate, Morgan and Jill can see the rich potential for engaging a wide range of people in the collaborative processes performance in which the ‘audience’, that is the passengers, are integral to the performance. But quite understandably, both that form the bedrock of YMBBT. The possibility of opening up a learning and development dimension to their work is fully Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd are fearful of becoming institutionalised and they do not wish to be identified as an “exclusive recognised. It is now a question of finding a way of making it happen. theatrical experience”. As Kate pointed out: We don’t want to become this exclusive theatrical experience, not only for those people who want to be in set design Towards the end of their joint interview, Detta Danford and Natasha Zielazinski stressed the learning potential of the or performance, but also for the passengers. I hate the thought of it just being theatre for theatre goers. At the same young people in Future Band. It would be quite difficult for the students and young musicians not to develop musically time, how do you create a production where you access other members of the community who aren’t exposed to art, and personally through the collaborative processes adopted by the ensemble. Detta highlighted some of the learning or wouldn’t hear about art events, without being condescending? possibilities experienced by the members of the Band. I feel it’s so bound up with the music, the actual musical stuff that’s being learnt; about who you are as a person, The potential of this concept for contributing to the training of students is not lost on Jill Shelley, especially in relation to how you relate to people, how you can communicate in different ways, and how you can share ideas and make them the Guildhall School. into something together. It’s such a difficult process, but such a rewarding process. I think that so much of what they For 2012 we’re looking at how we might introduce a training element to it. I know from the Guildhall School that do in Future Band (maybe it’s just like our collaboration), there’s a lot going on there in terms of social interaction. I Ben Sumner, who runs the Technical Theatre course, is quite keen on some of the students being involved [in the probably even put that above the music. 2012 YMBBT production]. But, given that we want to do it in East London, I think it’s really important that we bring in young people from East London communities as part of it. That’s where it might be appropriate for technical theatre students to be involved in some elements of it. We also want to make it a valuable experience for exactly the people that you’re talking about – people who don’t know anything about art and just think, ‘oh that might be fun’. How

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I think they learn a lot about music and they get the chance to work with so many different musicians – young Similarly, Dinah Stabb and Armin Zanner, through their collaboration, have also created a safe space resulting in a shift musicians, students and composers. It’s really opening their ears and helping them develop a musical voice at quite a towards a more student-oriented form of learning. This has had a significant effect on the curriculum and on modes of young age, which I think is invaluable and is certainly something that I didn’t experience as a young person. So that’s teaching. amazing, but more than that, I think they are learning about themselves and having to react to the same situations (A.Z.) It has transformed not just the process of teaching, but also the view of the curriculum. So we have made as we’re responding to. They are having to make decisions, and let ideas go, and then think of ideas and match the changes to the curriculum, adding things in on the back of this sort of work. And in terms of my own attitude ideas to the people and personalities of the people around them. And all of that complex stuff, that one is more or towards the students, it is asking them the questions, letting them set agendas regarding things they’re resistant to. less aware of, but it’s happening and they struggle with it as well, just like we do. And I feel great friendships are also being formed. (Interviewer) Has it become more student, not led, but student-oriented?

Building on Detta’s observations, Natasha commented that: (A.Z.) That would be my vision of it, yes. Because I think I’ve become more open to allowing that. I suppose what I’ve always taught have been things like the German language, where you know, you’re going to learn the language and I think for all the participants, it gives them the space to experiment, to find their place as an individual within a group. we’re going to learn to do this. Yet with something as free as when we are working together, it doesn’t need to be, That’s such an important thing to have, like the space to play and try things out, to take chances yet to feel safe and ‘this is what we’re going to do’. ‘That is what we’re going to do.’ ‘You must follow these rules’. You just let it emerge. comfortable – but also to be pushed and stretched sometimes, but never too far. Having the space for that to happen is important because so much of their learning (e.g. at school) is not like that. [Future Band] is a kind of halfway (D.S.) I think not knowing – allowing the students to know that you don’t know, so you don’t have to be the fount point, because there is this social thing where they’re with lots of friends and peers, but it’s not just about having fun of all information or knowledge, is very important. They might know something more and I don’t know so much, so and being together as a group. It’s about the integrity of the ideas we’re all exploring together. But it’s not really like that’s easy. And I say things like, ‘are you allowed in recit to do this or do that, or does it mean, can we ask people to learning something that’s taught. It’s rather like finding your own way of learning. do this, and can the piano just follow?’ So I am asking absolutely ‘unknowing’ questions. (Interviewer) In a sense this is so powerful and that is the premise for being really open on this learning journey. And There is no doubt that in Future Band Detta and Natasha have given the young musicians the psychological, social and of course, it is a bit scary, but hasn’t it got incredibly rich potential really? musical space to be themselves and to develop a strong sense of ownership for their work. They are empowered to put their own stamp, their own voice on their music-making. Collaboration lies at the heart of the vibrancy of Future Band. (A.Z.) Enormous potential. That’s the ensemble thing again. It’s going back to learning altogether, and the teacher is Natasha gives another example of the work of a smaller group from Future Band – the ID project. Here a 12 year old part of that, or the facilitator or whatever you want to call them. They become part of this big question mark, where clarinettist, Rowan, is given the support and responsibility to compose and to lead the group. These opportunities have it’s an exploration rather than an instruction. helped to develop her musical skills, her initiative and depth of engagement. (Interviewer) I agree, and I would have thought that ensemble has been the trigger for this journey. But isn’t it possible The ID project has been interesting because it has given Rowan and I the chance to get to know each other. We’ve for one-to-one teaching actually to be premised on the same set of principles? had a couple of one-to-one mentoring sessions, and lots of group reflection in this small group of eight people. (D.S.) Yes. Sometimes it’s only four people. It is something we would love to do with Future Band, but with 35-40 people you don’t get that much space to talk and share. (Interviewer) I would have thought so. I mean, if you see teaching as a ‘conversation’, and you said it, you will be learning as much probably from the students as they will be learning from you. That is part of the transaction that It’s been really interesting because I think overwhelmingly the response from all of Future Band has been very positive. is going on. So over the last year or two, you have developed a very different model of how you approach learning. They love the band and they feel like it’s theirs. They share this passion and excitement, completely separate from us. It’s nothing to do with us as they’re excited to be in this thing that they feel they’ve created as well. And I think it’s (D.S.) Also, something else I hope has changed is how the students themselves talk about their own learning. I something that transfers and they take back into other contexts. suppose if somebody stands up to do something – something that I’m trying to get rid of is applauding in the room, because then it seems like a performance as opposed to shared work. The drama students very rarely do it, but the For example, Rowan has made a CD on her own, and she’s in four or five other ensembles, but I don’t think she’s music students, by showing their appreciation of someone’s work, they clap them. It’s a performance then that takes finding them as satisfying in the same way […] She now wants to compose a piece. I said great and asked whether it into good or bad. I think the more that you share the investigation of work with each other, both as a teacher and a she has composed anything. She showed me the CD she had made, but she didn’t consider it a composition because learner and amongst yourselves, then your way of talking about what somebody’s work has enabled as well, because she had just played and improvised. She also produced a couple of pieces she had written on paper. Then she said, you’re not criticising them. You’re sharing their discovery. I’d like to write a piece with a group of people. I said that’s great and maybe we can set that up. I then asked, what kind of ensemble are you thinking about? She answered a group about the size of Future Band!

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For Dinah and Armin one of the most significant insights that they have experienced in their collaborative journey is the going to get hung up on why you chose that chord or why you scored it for those instruments. Whereas a choreographer importance of students and young people taking on responsibility for their own learning. They can see the power that might talk about texture, or the relationship of one bit of material to another, or more intuitive and adjectival ways of this can have when the students’ voice is heard through developing their sense of engagement and ownership. In their engaging with things. At the Guildhall a lot of our [composition] students, particularly on the Master’s course, do projects interview they were asked how they saw the benefits of collaborative forms of learning for the students or young people. where they are engaging with the challenges of collaboration with writers and choreographers. It’s something I’ve witnessed time and time again at the Guildhall, that for a significant number of the composers that come onto the Master’s course, (D.S.) Owning their own learning. those collaborative projects change their way of viewing composition. You watch and you can see the light bulbs go on. (A.Z.) Yes, they become responsible. Student response to collaboration (Interviewer) Yes, responsible for their own learning. Now, have you had any resistance to that? A student perspective on collaboration draws on the response of two students who worked on Badenheim 1939, the (A.Z.) Well, I suppose resistance in the sense that it’s new for them, so it takes a while for that to become part of production in November 2010 directed by Christian Burgess, with music composed by Julian Philips. A joint interview was what they do. The key thing in my experience now of resistance, has been the second year [students], who are no conducted with Laurent de Montalembert, a third year actor, and Rebecca Toft, an undergraduate trumpet player. As was longer getting the co-teaching. I feel they’ve suddenly become much more closed off again, and that’s what worries discussed in chapter 4, both Christian and Julian approached this as a shared devising process, in which “musicians and me. We need to think of a different way of linking what we’re doing with the first years into the second year, so that actors are integrated within the performance space under a unified artistic vision” (Sloboda, 2011, p.2). Working in an they’re not … ensemble in this way provided a rich new experience for the nine musicians, whilst the actors welcomed the chance to work with musicians. (D.S.) They’re not abandoned. Motivation This model of co-teaching that has been developed by Dinah and Armin has sown the seeds of a potentially transformative From our conversation it was clear that for Laurent and Rebecca the whole experience helped to make the Guildhall School way of facilitating and strengthening students’ learning. It is early days, but their initiative has opened doors towards of Music & Drama a reality in which supposed barriers between musicians and actors could be broken down. They also saw new ways of approaching vocal and instrumental teaching in conservatoires and beyond. Through generating a ‘creative it as a possible opportunity for opening new doors for their future careers. The students explained it this way: conversation’ between students and themselves, Dinah and Armin have stimulated students to learn from each other in a supportive, non-judgemental environment. They are now seeking ways of sustaining this approach in the future so that (L.M.) We rejoiced in the idea of collaborating with musicians. I think we all thought it to be a great experience for the principles can be more deeply embedded in the curriculum and across the conservatoire. the future, for our careers really, and an opportunity to try a new kind of work and to learn about working with other disciplines. As has been said before in this chapter, collaboration is the lifeblood of Katie Tearle and Julian Philips’ ways of working. They see it as central to the learning and development of artists, teachers, students and young people. They further (R.T.) It was a chance to do something different and to meet the actors. It was a good opportunity to get involved with emphasised its importance in the interview. everybody. But I think the main reason why everyone was so keen to do it, is because it was something that hadn’t been done before and something where no-one really knew what was going to happen. But it was a very interesting (K.T.) Having a composer in the room is an extraordinary learning [opportunity]. Most of the projects that we do with idea which everyone liked. young people have a creative element in them. If it’s devising, composing, choreographing, all those sorts of things, it’s never ‘park or bark’, like the old style of opera workshops used to be. So it’s about understanding through doing, Learning from collaboration and collaborating is key to that, with each other, with artists. One of the interesting aspects of the two disciplines working together was that, despite the obvious differences, the students increasingly saw similarities between both worlds. This is beautifully put by Laurent: (J.P.) I think one sees it at every level. It’s incredibly formative, to work in some kind of collaborative way. You can see it at school level, you can see it at university or conservatoire level, and then you can see it at a professional level. The vast (L.M.) We are called actors and they are called musicians, but on the night of the performance these two worlds came majority of creative artists grow through engaging with someone else’s way of seeing things. So that could be a composer together. The musicians had lines to speak and we had tunes to sing. So in the end there weren’t two disciplines. and a choreographer. Sometimes it’s engaging with someone whose practice is not yours, such as in cross-arts. Someone There were two art forms serving a story. In a way I learnt that we do all speak the language and it’s just the shapes else’s framework for discussing your own practice, which might have different vocabulary and be posited on different ways that change. I remember speaking about rhythms, dynamics and qualities, so I never felt we were talking a different of thinking, is far more developmental than just listening to another composer going on – because that’s too close. They’re language. One thing that stayed with me after the project is that I can speak with a musician in a way where we understand each other and therefore we can create things together.

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What was striking in the production was that there seemed to be a meeting of minds in which the actors and musicians (R.T.) Just capturing an audience and getting them to portray music. You want the audience to feel what you feel worked effectively together. Rebecca looked back on the process: when you play the music, or what you think, or what the moods are. You want the audience to have the same feelings as [embodied] in the music. We have classes which are just performance classes, so you come along and give (R.T.) It did take time for the musicians to get into the right mindset of the actors, and to come to that ensemble took a performance and do a speech beforehand. A lot of people say that you need to be more confident when you speak, a little bit of time. But the actors were very helpful and they guided us along the way. and you need to be more confident the way you stand. But doing this project [Badenheim] has just helped me a lot, (Interviewer) In what way? Was that to do with informal conversation or actually on the set in the process of and helped me to say to ensembles that I’m in, ‘how are we going to do that?’ – so just being more confident really. workshops? The drama students are exposed to many processes connected to building up their performance presence and their (R.T.) A bit of both. All the actors were very friendly and they all came and spoke to everyone all the way through it. engagement with text, with the people in the ensemble, with themselves as individuals and with the audience. Laurent And then we played loads of games at the beginning which I think got many of the musicians more comfortable with was asked how he sees what it is to be confident in the process of performance. What are some of the key elements that who they were around and where they were. Because as a musician you don’t normally do that – you sit down on a you would feel are important whether you’re a musician or an actor? chair and you’re behind some music. You’re not having to express yourself in yourself. (L.M.) As you say, it’s so important for us. It’s a quest to understand and master this. For someone to say, be more (Interviewer) Can you see advantages for all musicians to engage in those kinds of preliminary workshops, warm-up confident is really unhelpful, because it actually makes you feel even less confident […] Really, I think it’s all down to workshops, which are to do with voice, body and awareness? fear – a fear of failure and a fear of not being liked. Therefore, it’s all down to a lack of recognition and a need for (R.T.) I think it gets people comfortable with who they’re around, because if I was sitting in an orchestra, I wouldn’t recognition; and the fear of breaking a rule or making mistakes and therefore being punished for it. This is something know any of the string players. I would never talk to them and they would never come and talk to us. We’re kind of like you are not aware of. two different worlds, but we have to be in an ensemble. So doing that kind of thing, it may be difficult in an orchestra It took me six years to just begin to grasp and to feel this within me, and therefore whenever I am in an audition, situation, because there are so many people, but the principle is very good. rehearsal or performance situation, and tensions rise up in my body because I was told to be aware of these things, I have like a protocol – it’s okay, I ask myself a few questions such as, ‘what rule am I trespassing if I fail?’, ‘what Laurent, as an actor, made an interesting commentary regarding their respective crafts and disciplines. punishment am I going to receive if I fail?’ and ‘who is going to punish me?’ (L.M.) Well, I have learnt things from the musicians, not from this project, but from the discipline and the technical To all these questions there is a big void. There’s no-one. No-one is going to punish me. I am not going to trespass craft. It’s harder for an actor to understand as our instrument is our body and voice. And we need to practice with it in any rule. No-one is going to dislike me because I failed. And therefore the pressure goes down and I stop caring in a the same way a musician practices his own instrument. We need to do scales and technical exercises with breath and way. I feel more confident. I feel free and all my creativity starts to rise. Then I start to play, take pleasure. And when body and voice. I don’t know what kind of exercises you do, but you know, your speed of movement, your fingers I take pleasure, then everything is possible. or things like that. (Interviewer) (To Rebecca) Does that speak to you? Collaboration and sense of performance One important aspect of the collaborative process is the way in which it strengthened the students’ performance presence (R.T.) Yes it does. I suppose a lot of people in the music industry do have a fear of failing and not getting anywhere, or and the quality of their engagement with an audience. Rebecca now makes a clear distinction between ‘performing’ and people not liking what they do or criticising what they do. Because everyone criticises everyone in the music industry, ‘playing’. so that makes perfect sense. (R.T.) I suppose I imagine things differently now. I imagine things more as a performance rather than just playing. If (Interviewer) So when you go into a performance space, ready to perform, what is on your mind, which I’m sure you you’re in a concert situation, I now see, rather than just playing the music, everything has to be a performance […] A might have learnt partly from Badenheim? When you see a performance room, a platform, do you see it as a space lot of people don’t see it that way. They just turn up and play. But audiences are interested in the way you walk on, to be filled with you and your presence? Do you look at it that way? Isn’t that how actors look at it? and the way you bow and talk to an audience. In the first year we had one class with Christian, as a group, just on (L.M.) Taught to. stage presence. And that was only one class. But [in Badenheim] we did it as a whole group, a whole project working on stage, having stage presence, and seeing things from an audience’s point of view. (Interviewer) Taught to, well that’s different. There’s a difference in being taught it. So, are you sceptical about that bit of teaching? (Interviewer) How has this affected your notion of performance? What do you mean by ‘presence’, ‘having presence’ – what does that mean? (L.M.) No, I am not actually. I think people go into acting, some have the ability to go into the room and literally, as we say, take the space, or some rather steal the space.

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(Interviewer) That’s interesting. of being an actor rather than having an impulse, desire, to become an actor. I became aware of all these impulses and desires, and they were not good enough for me. And so I asked, why do I want to be an actor? (L.M.) And some others, they have the desire to [take the space], and this is a great paradox. You know people who want to be actors, and they go into the room to do, say, a monologue. They go in but they’re very shy and scared. These kinds of projects make you ask yourself, why do you want to tell a story? Why would you spend time researching And there’s this paradox. They have the drive, the natural drive within them to get there, to shine, to show what in other people’s lives, what’s the aim of it? What can you offer? What can you give of yourself? And why should you they’ve been dreaming about and rehearsing in their bathrooms. Then immediately, when the opportunity to succeed do that? Is it going to change anything? You know, no-one ever changed the world. Maybe a few people changed is available to them, it seems almost immediately a second artificial drive – a kind of fear of success, a fear of existing it a bit, like Socrates. Because you have a desire to change the world through stories and you ask yourself, how can and a lack of aggression in a way – that makes them go, ‘oh no, I am going to …’ I do that? (Interviewer) It makes them small again. (Interviewer) (To Rebecca) Did you find yourself asking different questions that were a little bit new to you? What kinds of questions were thrown up? (L.M.) It makes them small again, as if they were afraid, as if I was afraid to be successful and take the space, because I feel almost guilty. Oh, but you know, they’re not going to have the time to do their own if I take my three minutes. (R.T.) A lot of questions, but not quite of the same order as those of Laurent. They were largely about technique. As And all of this goes on. Where ensemble is, you know, it’s not to take the space, but it’s to share the space. So I know a musician you learn a very specific technique. But inBadenheim we had to be very versatile. If my teacher had come that I am going to have my three minutes and they know that they are going to have their three minutes. and heard us play what we were playing, they would have told us off. They would have had a big go at us because a lot of the technique we were using just wasn’t right for the situation – and all the different styles that we had. This is something I think should be changed in education, you know. We’re told to take the space and sometimes it becomes a competition. It’s like there’s that amount of cake, take it as quick as you can because it’s yours. But the A lot of the musicians questioned, why aren’t we allowed to play like this? Why aren’t we allowed to explore the cake belongs to everyone. So everyone fights for it, whereas if we share it, then everyone has a bit of the cake, enjoys different styles and different ways that people all around the world play and that people in different eras played? We it and doesn’t feel guilty about taking too much. have to stick to a style that is specific to now. I mean, a lot of questions were asked about why we were doing it, and why we couldn’t have more to do with the acting department. (Interviewer) (To Rebecca) Does that resonate in some ways? (Interviewer) Why do you have to stick to one specific style? (R.T.) Yes, because musicians come into those categories as well. People who want to show off as much as they can, and then people who are very timid in performances. They really want to succeed, and you can tell in their playing, (R.T.) Generally [instrumental students] are all training in the basics to become an orchestral, classical orchestral player. when they do play. That it’s amazing and they want to show it to the world. But they’re afraid when they get up there, I suppose it’s different for piano players as they’re all training to be soloists, and so are many of the string players as that people aren’t going to like it, or they’re going to take up too much time and space. well. But overall people are taught to be orchestral players. (Interviewer) So you’ve really found this process of collaboration helpful, but is it continuing to be helpful now you are (Interviewer) Particularly in the wind that would be true, but if you look at the whole cultural industries, the classical reflecting on it? Have you built it into your perception of yourself now as an emerging performer? world, the orchestral world is a very small component within it. (R.T.) Yes. I never used to see it this way. But I now see that people are more likely than not going to enjoy what you (R.T.) And you’re very lucky if you get into that. do, and they’ve come to watch you already. They’re already there so you’ve done the hard bit. They’re there to watch you, so you might as well enjoy what you’re doing. And the more you enjoy it, the more the audience will enjoy it. Challenges arising from collaboration That’s how I see things now. While I was doing Badenheim, I had no fear in doing the performance. There were no Inevitably, the process of working on Badenheim 1939 threw up personal and artistic challenges for the students but nerves in there. That was much to do with the surroundings and everyone, but it just helped to enjoy it. any issues arising were generally addressed collaboratively in the supportive climate that had been created by the whole ensemble. This is especially true for the musicians who were not accustomed to working in this way. Collaboration and reflection (Interviewer) (To Rebecca) When working together on Badenheim, did things come up that made you feel There is no doubt that working together on the production of Badenheim 1939 was a rich learning experience for Rebecca uncomfortable? Did you feel vulnerable in that context or were you perfectly comfortable with it? and Laurent, and probably for all the other students as well. The substance of the play itself, the relationship between music and text, the shared devising process, the collaboration between musicians and actors – all contributed to a significant (R.T.) It was quite hard at the beginning because we were in a room of a whole new group of people. Even the artistic and personal challenge that raised fundamental questions about learning processes and performance. The whole musicians didn’t know each other very well. I always find it quite hard in a big group of people to be yourself straight creative process became a seedbed for reflection. Rebecca and Laurent were asked what kind of questions concerned them away. I find I have trouble and have to spend a bit of time before I am comfortable with my surroundings. But after both during and after the production. one or two rehearsals, I mean it didn’t take long, we all felt – especially the musicians – we all felt comfortable with each other, and then with the actors it was fine. No-one held back really. (L.M.) Well, it made me think, why would I be an actor? Why would I be willing to spend my life as an actor? What are the reasons? What am I trying to do in the world? What am I trying to get from that job? Towards the end of the (Interviewer) Were there times when you felt a little vulnerable? second year I grew out of acting because I realised I did it for the wrong reasons. After that I made a conscious choice

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(R.T.) I suppose when we had to say our lines for the first time. That was quite a tricky one in the situation we were in Rebecca felt that the musicians gained a lot of artistic satisfaction from the whole experience, both from the way the and we then spent quite a lot of time in the theatre having to project our lines, which took a bit of time. music was created with Julian Philips and the freedom they were given on stage. “In the acting sense, we were free to do our own thing. It wasn’t set, like you stand there and you do that. It was very free, and everyone could do their own (Interviewer) So when you were doing that and going through these processes, did you find after the rehearsals you thing, so I think that helps people to have as much or as little involvement in standing out as they wanted. I thrived in could go to, not just your music colleagues, but to the acting students you were working with, to share some of that. It was great.” these problems? (R.T.) Yes. Christian told the actors that they had to help us with our lines and with projecting, so they knew that we In his response, Laurent added another perspective to his artistic engagement in the production: were going to ask, and they helped. Everyone helped us out. (L.M.) I forgot myself in Badenheim. Maybe it was easier for me because I had both a solo performance as well as an (Interviewer) So there was a shared professional knowledge there. ensemble performance. I think when the story is bigger than your character, then you don’t try to make the character the story, and therefore you have no egotistical issues […] We all came together because this story touches even the (R.T.) Yes. actors. My granddad went into a concentration camp and so I felt a responsibility and an honour to tell the story. It (Interviewer) (To Laurent) What’s your perspective on any personal challenges you might have had? wasn’t about my performance really and this is what I think made it a success and achievable. It is an ensemble piece about a story. It’s about these people who died there, and let’s serve that story. (L.M.) I don’t think I had any particular personal challenges due to collaborating with musicians. Although, I don’t know if you were there, but do you remember when we all had to sing a song? For example, I was the only one who (Interviewer) Because of your family history, do you feel there was a moral drive behind your commitment to the couldn’t do it. So I held back and felt rather vulnerable. But there were no particular challenges other than the ones narrative of Badenheim? There was a story there that had to be told and there was a kind of moral imperative driving already there with the performance. you?

Laurent pointed out the challenge of working in an ensemble with musicians who could only be present from time to time (L.M.) Not moral, but more of a testimony, embodying witnesses. The director took away all parallels with the Nazi due to other commitments. The whole company, actors and musicians, only met together maybe a couple of times before regime and we changed the flags, the uniforms. I thought we should have embraced it, but that’s personal. But the technical and the dress rehearsal. it wasn’t really moral. It was more to do with this happened and let’s not forget. Basically, because the character (L.M.) So that was like the danger. It was very dangerous, which was exciting. We felt responsible because we knew lived, we had a voice and this was really gratifying as an actor, to feel that you were useful. Badenheim, that kind of we could count on them with their instruments, but we also knew that when it came to speaking words – and even universal story, met all our romantic ideas about why we want to be actors. for us it was hard. It was the widest stage we’ll probably ever work in and they had to do this. I think most of us felt (Interviewer) That’s interesting. Maybe the word moral is wrong, but there was a deep-seated awareness of the responsible […] and we really wanted to make you feel comfortable, because in a way that would also make us feel human condition, and human frailty and human cruelty, and what men can do to men. For me, if one ever raises comfortable. questions to do with the holocaust, there are moral questions being addressed in the play. But that never caught your (Interviewer) (To Rebecca) Did you feel that you were getting this support? emotional state at all? (R.T.) Yes, it was very obvious that they wanted us to be involved. They didn’t want us to be people who just came (L.M.) I’ll tell you why. I think I’ve just understood why. It’s because all the research we did on the characters and on in. And it was hard, because things did overlap, and we had rehearsals and whatever, which meant that we couldn’t the community, we [as characters] had no idea about what was going to happen. We could not imagine that this be at Badenheim rehearsals. And so we weren’t all there and a lot of us didn’t know what we were doing until the was going to happen to us, and in the story it finishes when we go there. So our focus was not so much on what tech rehearsal, when we did it all. But in the last week before it went up, all the musician’s lives revolved around could happen to us, but more on the confusion and the state of communal fog. We debated a lot about this and Badenheim and anything else was secondary. we tried to put it into context today. [In the play] there’s no violence yet, that’s why we weren’t morally questioning anything. Nothing awful happened and we were just moved on to a ‘better’ place. So we didn’t have so much debate Collaboration and the artistic voice of the student and didn’t see it like this. But maybe from an audience point of view, who knew, things might have looked different.

An inevitable challenge in any creative collaboration is remaining in touch with one’s individual artistic voice within the (Interviewer) (To Rebecca) Did you think about those kinds of questions, those deeper moral, psychological questions? shared dynamic of the whole group – how to balance responsiveness to others in the ensemble with one’s own creative (R.T.) I don’t think we did really. From our point of view, as a project it seemed so rushed and we were very overwhelmed impulse. Rebecca and Laurent were asked how they married these two elements. Did they feel there was a conflict? Did by everything that was going on. We had to learn all the music by ear […] It took a bit of time but we were all very they feel comfortable with this situation, with their inner relationship and not just with what was going on between much concentrating on that and also being in this different environment. We didn’t get to the stage of questioning other people? why we were there and researching.

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(Interviewer) No. But what you’ve just said seems to cover the question about how far you felt your own creative (Interviewer) (To Rebecca) Now what about the musicians’ stance on that? Has collaboration of this kind shifted your and artistic voice was nurtured through the collaborative process. This was quite strong for you because you were views on leadership and responsibility? engaged more with improvised creative work of your own and there was no score to follow. That’s quite a challenge! (R.T.) Well, I think in the beginning, all the musicians, while we were acting, were all looking for someone to follow. (R.T.) Especially because the music was complex. Julian used so many complex chords and the tunes weren’t Everyone was looking round and trying to fit in and follow the actors in what they did. We all knew that if anyone symmetrical. It seemed as though it was going to be obvious but it never was. He composed it as people at the time was going to get it right, they would. I suppose the musicians didn’t have the confidence to stand out in the crowd. would have done it. He did a lot of research into the music of the time and tried to show that in his music. Some They didn’t have the confidence to lead in that situation. They were quite happy just to follow. But as time went on, people played from music, but those of us who were moving on stage didn’t have any music at all – we were just you grew into yourself and you didn’t have to follow anyone anymore. I mean, people still did. I don’t know what the very much concentrating. others felt, but by the end of it, I felt that you could be yourself and you didn’t need the support of the actors there […] (Interviewer) Well, you seem to have internalised the music just as much as the actors internalised the script, and (Interviewer) In Badenheim did you miss the normal kind of leadership you are used to in music ensembles – e.g. a made it your own. conductor or the leader of a smaller ensemble? Because it seemed to work. (R.T.) We still got it wrong, some of the time. I wouldn’t be able to say that there was a performance where everyone (R.T.) It did work. Because we learnt the music in Badenheim by ear, everyone was listening to what everyone else was got everything right. Getting all the notes right was a big challenge, and then remembering them from one rehearsal doing. It was very hard in that theatre to hear everyone, because the piano was in one position and we would be on to the next. The actors were doing it nearly every day, whilst we were doing it once or twice a week, and not everyone the other side of the stage. You couldn’t really hear anyone else around you. I think you could latch onto the person was always there. So it was hard to keep it in your memory, where we’re used to just reading it. next to you and hear what they were doing, just so you were in the right place at the right time. But it was quite hard in the theatre and we had a bit of a problem with that. Collaboration and leadership Working collectively in any ensemble raises important questions about leadership and responsibility. Both Laurent and (Interviewer) But did you ever feel the need for a conductor? Rebecca made illuminating comments about this from their experience of the collaborative process used in the production (R.T.) No. of Badenheim 1939. (Interviewer) You were taking on the responsibility yourselves. (L.M.) I think ‘letting go’ would be the main thing. In such a project with 30 people, if Christian hadn’t let go as much as he did, it would never have happened. If he’d tried to force things into something he had in mind, in a really (R.T.) Yes. No-one really saw that. restricted way, it would never have worked. What worked was the flexibility of what he had in mind, and the creativity (Interviewer) That’s very interesting. There’s something to learn from that isn’t there, in a musical context? that the artists proposed to him. He managed to embrace all these different points of view, and made it really an ensemble – he himself became a member of the ensemble. If the director, the leader, is too imposing or contrived, (R.T.) Yes. then there’s no ensemble. He gives us the freedom to be an ensemble. So, letting go is of most importance. Even Collaboration and engagement with audiences as an artist we have our own vision of what it should be, how it should be. And oh, I didn’t like what he did and I’d From their experience of working together in Badenheim 1939, Rebecca and Laurent could see quite significant ways in rather do what he has done before – you have to let go of that. which collaborative work could strengthen the quality of their engagement with audiences. (Interviewer) Did Christian’s approach maximise a feeling of shared responsibility in the group? Did this way of letting (R.T.) I always saw audiences before as if there was a glass screen between you and the audience, with you performing go, of allowing things to happen, actually strengthen the collective sense of responsibility? and they were just watching. But having interaction with the audience, whether you’re talking to them or just looking (L.M.) I think in that particular case I think it did, because with the little amount of time we had, we did as much at them, I think that brings them in a bit more. Last year people would say to me, you need to interact more with research as we could individually and we shared it every morning with the group. But you know, this was done in four your audience when you’re playing. I never understood what they were talking about, because when I watch people weeks. At some point, like a week before the actual performance, I remember we had no shape. We had tried things. play or if someone was looking at me while they were playing, it would seem a bit weird. But it’s not looking at one Some people were desperate, including Christian, and he admitted it. Most people were desperate to be honest. The particular person, it’s looking at an audience and getting out of the music and the stand, and just being open with honesty was one of the great things. He wasn’t faking anything. He wasn’t saying, yes, this is great, we’re going to your body language and with your playing. have something amazing, when everyone felt it was going nowhere. It was like, okay, so it’s hard, but there are lots of (Interviewer) Your sense of presence. And you felt, because you were on a stage with actors, because that was a very reasons to be cheerful. At least we know this doesn’t work so we can try something new tomorrow. This was good different environment, this was much easier for you. because we were all in the same boat together. So letting go, listening, being flexible – this for me is probably the most important question in education. I have been with directors who only have one way of working, and there’s no (R.T.) Yes. education in that. (Interviewer) Because the conventions of normal classical performance were not there, and in that new environment you felt comfortable so the communication with the audience was a non-issue.

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(R.T.) I suppose in our heads we were acting, and when we’re giving a performance, you’re not acting. You’re being (R.T.) I think for musicians it makes people more comfortable with themselves. A lot of musicians have performance yourself. anxiety problems. A lot of people come to the Guildhall with that and they try to face it. But I think acting can help them. Doing something different on stage, they’re still on stage, but they’re engaged in a different way. It helps (Interviewer) Are you? people to be more comfortable in themselves and on stage, and performing in front of people. (R.T.) Well, people ask you questions and you are yourself, and you’re talking to people, you’re portraying ideas of I do think that when they do collaborative workshops, you still need a leader. You need someone to have a focus and a piece. It’s all your own really, whereas in Badenheim, we were acting. We were being different musicians and that an idea of where the workshop is going. It’s a very good thing for musicians to do, even if there’s no actors involved. gave us licence to have more fun with it and maybe do things that we wouldn’t do if we were being ourselves. Just getting them to act would be helpful and getting them more comfortable with themselves, with their colleagues (Interviewer) That’s interesting. What’s your take on that Laurent? and friends. (L.M.) Yes, I would agree with what you said. I think working in a collaborative way takes a lot pressure off your (Interviewer) It’s a long journey, isn’t it? In a way Badenheim concentrated everything for you and opened a Pandora’s shoulders and it makes it more fun in a way. Being on the stage with the musicians was about a music festival. It was box – it’s been a very strong experience for you. like, oh we’ve got some strong musicians here and the music is going to be fantastic. They’re going to smash it, we (R.T.) Yes. I really enjoyed it. It was hard because it took up a lot of time. used to say, so we’d better smash it too. So it took a lot of pressure away. (L.M.) And you were hardly there! In the rehearsal room there was a nice curiosity. Just to get to know each other and be confronted with something different, and just push ourselves further and break the walls you know, of being shy and pretending to be actors. So (R.T.) It was amazing. We didn’t understand how the actors did it. They did it every day and we found it so hard to the curiosity was something that you could learn from, and that would engage your imagination. But overall I think be there for just a small fraction of the time we were supposed to be there. But it was worth it and I think everyone it takes some pressure away working like that. found it worth it.

Benefits of collaborative forms of learning for students (Interviewer) Well, many, many thanks. It is clear that this comparatively short four-week project made a strong impression on the actors and musicians. Both (L.M.) My pleasure. Rebecca and Laurent have presented a refreshing and insightful perspective on what they gained from the experience and the final part of the conversation pursued further some of the benefits of collaborative forms of learning. (Interviewer) I hope you got something from it as well. (L.M.) What comes to mind immediately is the fact that you realise there are other things going on outside the acting (L.M.) That’s great. You see that’s one of the ripples of collaborative work. That’s another form of collaboration, and corridor of the Guildhall. There’s another experience of art, and there’s other sorts of inspirations. There are other it’s endless you know – ripples for all of us in the future again, and that’s really nice. ways of expressing yourself, but the great feeling is that we’re all after the same thing. There’s this great diversity. Laurent’s notion of a ‘ripple’ could serve as an apt metaphor for collaborative work with its sense of Because I now know some musicians, when I go home and think about what I might do next, I’m like, oh I can do a flow, effortlessness, quiet energy and openness to new possibilities – all valuable qualities in our search forworking play with musicians, whereas before this would have been, oh no, it would be too hard to find musicians. So diversity together. is one of the good outcomes. (Interviewer) You feel it’s opened up opportunities? (L.M.) Yes, of course. I’ve already started planning some projects with musicians, and with musicians only. I’ve come 5.4 Emergent issues to love music so much. You know, with musicians, and no actors. This enquiry has uncovered a wealth of creative ideas and energy from artists, producers, management, teachers and students (Interviewer) And that’s all since Badenheim? working together right across the Campus. Their passion, insight and commitment are catching, but I think that everyone (L.M.) Yes. interviewed would acknowledge that what has been achieved so far is only the beginning of an exciting shared journey driven partly by different collaborations both within and beyond the Campus. (Interviewer) The seeds were there before? (L.M.) The seeds were there before but working with Badenheim showed me that it was really possible. The final part of this chapter draws together some of the dominant themes emerging from the rich conversations that have formed the backbone of the enquiry. It is hoped that they are true to the mission of the Alliance, and that they might serve (Interviewer) Now Rebecca, how do you feel about this? as a framework for possible future development and as an indicator for further research across the Campus.

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• Working towards establishing a creative collaborative community in which creative learning becomes integral with artistic practice • Continuing to create a culture in which creative learning and collaborative arts practice open up 6 Looking ahead new connections and new possibilities, underpinned by research and development • Seeking to ensure that coherence and a sense of connection is achieved between the many With collaboration and creative learning firmly embedded in the DNA of the Campus, the potential for future development different initiatives being developed across the Campus is enormous. Both from the interviews and the various documents tracing the recent history of the Alliance, it is clear that there is no shortage of imaginative initiatives drawing on the shared experience of the many people who are motivated • Capitalising on the wide-ranging potential of the Shift initiative – the innovative programme to work together. The synergy between the three organisations that form the Alliance can only act as a motor for further of creative learning, artistic enquiry and collaboration collaborative developments that will open up new opportunities for shared learning. The following questions might help • Building up a network of support that gives people working across the Campus permission, to contribute to the debate about future developments across the Campus. time and space to pause, to be, to create and to reflect • How far will the Shift initiative generate opportunities for creative collaborative learning by: • Providing further opportunities for artists, producers, management and teachers to engage o acting as a catalyst and a hub for artistic, educational and community development? in collaborative forms of artistic, personal and professional development o becoming an active and radical alliance for artistic innovation, learning and research for all? • Discovering a shared language that is clear, meaningful and coherent, and that resonates with the different constituencies across the Campus o evolving a creative community embracing the international and local, and access and excellence? • Engaging in further research and development in critical areas arising from this enquiry. For example: o aiming for quality creative learning experiences that are appropriate and bespoke to o Motivation driving collaborative work their particular context? o The link between collaboration, creativity and innovation o enabling the Guildhall School to develop a distinctive role as a laboratory? o The place of critical reflection in collaborative arts practice o strengthening the opportunity for the Barbican to “realise its vision to create the model o Artistic identity in a collaborative arts context for tomorrow’s international arts and learning centre”? (Gregory, 2011, p.6)

o Leadership and responsibility in collaborative work • In what ways might Shift create a collaborative mentoring and co-mentoring development programme, providing o Establishing what counts as quality in collaborative practice support for artists, teachers, managers and producers working together across the Campus?

o Values and principles underpinning successful collaboration • What are the most productive avenues for building on existing initiatives in the Barbican, Guildhall School and LSO, for promoting further artistic collaborations in cross-arts, cross-discipline, cross-sector and cross-cultural contexts? o Engagement, ownership and authenticity in collaborative work • From 17-20 March 2012 the third international conference, The Reflective Conservatoire: Performing at the Heart o The resonance between conversation, ensemble and collaboration. of Knowledge, will be held at the Barbican Centre and the Guildhall School. One of the main themes is creative collaborative learning, from one-to-one partnerships to ensembles and companies. In what ways might intellectual property be shared and cross-arts knowledge be most effectively exchanged across the Campus and beyond after the conference? • How far might knowledge exchange be strengthened with other arts Higher Education institutions working in the area of cross-arts and cross-sector collaboration? For example, with the Research Group in Lifelong Learning in Music and the Arts in Prince Claus Conservatoire, Groningen, and the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague, where two of the research strands focus on ‘Cross-arts and Cross-sector Practice’ and ‘Healthy Ageing through Music and the Arts’.

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• How far might collaborative work across the Campus be supported and strengthened by organising interactive, performance-oriented symposia in which participants could engage in and reflect on creative collaborative processes and performance? Participants could be drawn from a wide variety of people involved with the Campus – artists, directors, managers, teachers, community leaders, students and young people. 7 Appendices • To what extent might further professional development opportunities be devised for facilitating a developmental approach to creative collaborations, with the aim of strengthening the quality, integrity and coherence of work Profiles across the Campus? 7.1 • How feasible would it be to strengthen the range of income-generating courses drawing on the expertise of staff working across the Campus? For example, these could focus on: 7.1a You Me Bum Bum Train

o Pre-conservatoire or post-conservatoire skills development in music, drama or Concept technical theatre What would it feel like to be in someone else’s shoes, to be uninhibited, unconstrained by the expectations of others, experiencing something usually beyond all reach? You Me Bum Bum Train encourages individuals to be free to explore who o Lifelong learning opportunities for adults wishing to deepen their knowledge they are in circumstances that are normally inaccessible to them. of the arts Lack of confidence or lack of opportunity can mean that certain adventures are closed to us. With o Continuing Professional Development opportunities, especially those growing You Me Bum Bum out of the Shift programme Train, we have gifted them to you as a passenger in a journey in which you have no choice but to participate, no chance to opt out through self-doubt. Alone you have entered a surreal world where, through suspension of disbelief, everything o Adapting the Weekend Workout courses for public programming. becomes possible. • How far might a research programme be set up with the aim of creating a unified framework for Because the You Me Bum Bum scenarios are essentially not real, passengers can throw themselves into a role without measuring value and understanding the impact of arts practice? fear of judgement or consequence. This is why it is important that audience members travel alone so that they accept the • To what extent might further research be promoted in aspects of creative collaborative learning, the scope of which environments to which they are exposed, thereby transcending everyday limitations. could be extended to include doctoral students working in this area (e.g. Collaborative Doctoral Awards)? As a participant, we want you to have discovered what it is like to be treated as insignificant one moment and in a position • How far might the growing knowledge base across the Campus be harnessed to design an external funding bid to of power the next, awkward and embarrassed in another, but elated soon after. The journey captures the fleeting character support a major research initiative in the area of creative collaborative learning? of experience, each superseded by the following event, moments that are sometimes intense and uncomfortable, then • To what extent might cross-arts collaborations across the Campus be strengthened by building up links between exhilarating, just like a condensed life sequence. Each scene is a product of the passenger’s own personal interpretation of the proposed Centre for Creative Learning and a possible Barbican Arts and Media Centre with a complementary the opportunity offered to him or her. You Me Bum Bum Train makes the audience member feel included and engaged. vision? Might this serve as a laboratory for new ideas and practices, where artists, students and young people can It takes courage to be a passenger, but everyone who embarks on the journey is left with a sense of achievement, as well experiment and work together? as a series of incredible anecdotes and intensely emotional encounters. After all, it’s not often that we’re on the receiving • To what extent might the possible partnership between Creative Learning and a state-of-the-art media centre benefit end of so much attention from hundreds of strangers. But once you’ve completed your unique You Me Bum Bum Train from being linked to the growing clusters of internet pioneers who are building up a hub of creative technology and adventure, we ask for your help in maintaining the mystery so that future participants can enjoy their ride to the full. design in Silicon Roundabout, Shoreditch? How far might these creative partnerships serve as a catalyst for research and development across the Campus and beyond? History Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd both studied Illustration at the University of Brighton but independently found more This enquiry is testimony to the cultural shift that continues to take place across the Campus. But with this transformation creative scope in making films, books, animations and documentaries. After university Morgan became an award-winning of attitude and practice come renewed responsibilities. Collaboration per se is insufficient. It is intrinsically complex and animator and published illustrator, while Kate worked in a restaurant kitchen. She was desperate to find something to do any developments and initiatives have to be accompanied by an informed attention to quality, integrity and coherence. An that provided her with a more imaginative form of enjoyment. Her opportunity came when her elderly neighbour, Peggy understanding of shared artistic and educational goals has to underpin creative collaborative work. It is hoped that the voices Macgrillan, left her money in her will, allowing Kate to invest in enough wheelchairs and props to host the firstYou Me of the participants in this enquiry, with their wide and varied experience, will have helped to inform and deepen knowledge of Bum Bum Train. (The rest of Peggy’s will was left to a donkey charity. We don’t know what the donkeys did with their what is entailed in creative collaborative learning. money.)

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Morgan, along with other friends, collaborated on the first show that took place in Brighton in 2004 in an office block basement. The experience proved overwhelmingly positive for everyone involved. Passengers made a speech at a dinner 7.1b Future Band party, were serenaded by a band in a cardboard box, stumbled upon a bored couple at home watching television and were greeted by friends and family at their own surprise birthday party. May/June 2010 – with guest artist Aris Daryodono

Morgan became the perfect creative partner for further You Me Bum Bum Train shows. Together, with the support of Working for four days, Future Band created and recorded a piece of music with guest artist Aris Daryodono, a gamelan artist friends and friends of friends, they scraped together money by hosting fundraising events, begging and borrowing props and composer from Java. The project involved a day of work at the LSO Gamelan room as well as three days composing and to keep the events going. You Me Bum Bum Train has only survived because of the thousands of kind people who have creating at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. In the performance of the final piece, all members of Future Band moved given up their time to support it during an inspiring five-year period. fluidly from playing the gamelan to playing their own instruments, showing an ownership not only of the music they had created but of the process which had given rise to that music. After five years of not knowing whetherYou Me Bum Bum Train was theatre, art or entertainment, it was deemed ‘theatre’ by virtue of the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award, which has resulted in vital funding and further recognition. In our reflection on this project we looked back on what stood out within this collaboration: www.bumbumtrain.co.uk As a collaborator, Aris was wonderful to work with. He suggested we might start with small groups comprising Review mixed instrumental and gamelan sounds to generate material. This led to a real exploration of sound and Secrecy is important to these encounters, as it is to the shows of Punchdrunk, godfather of the movement. Get wind of the investigation into such things as the ring of the gender and how it might be matched in tone with cello plot, and you build up a cagey preparedness. Never more so than with the marvellous You Me Bum Bum Train. Reviewers and clarinet. are sworn to secrecy about its content but there’s no need for restraint about its effect. It’s a high-speed, ever-morphing, An engagement with the history, stories, and context of gamelan music that resulted from the LSO session and our work grab-you-by-the-guts show in which the audience – habitually referred to by the company as “passengers” – are never with Aris. We discovered a respect for the gamelan and found inspiration in the stories which inform much of Indonesian merely spectators, are sometimes on the brink of being fodder, but are nearly always dazed with delight. From the moment culture. This engagement and respect permeated the band. For example, we learned about the connection between a you are lowered into a wheelchair to the minute you arrive in a glitter-filled bar, you are guided – without bullying – to be gamelan instrument and its spirit, and this had an impact on the way we approached our own instruments and the aim people you didn’t think you were. and intention of our music making. It wheels you and pushes you and carries you aloft. It surrounds you with the glare and the gloom of everyday life and In our approach to this piece, we looked deeply into how to structure the music as one group, creating a narrative that was treats you as if you’re an object of veneration, glory and derision. It transforms its audience as surely as it lights up the inspired by the Ramayana and the monkey battle. This led to every member of the group having a real connection not only former electricity headquarters in Bethnal Green. to individual pieces of musical material but also to how it might come together into a larger form. We made time to have If you wilt at the idea of speaking in public, of being grabbed by unknown hands, of having to improvise a conversation, of a discussion as a group and work in a laboratory fashion to try out different structures and come to a collective decision. getting your power of movement taken away from you, this is a show from which you’ll shrink. You’d be wrong. It doesn’t There was a real sense of ownership of the material we created and each individual’s part within this. In our final structure, cudgel: it enables. It’s sold out but you can see it as a volunteer cast member. Get your bum bum along. each member of the band was moving from playing the gamelan to their own instrument or vice versa in what might have Susannah Clapp The Observer, 11 July 2010 been an incredibly difficult choreography. However, with each person in the band (even our youngest member of seven years of age!) not only taking a real responsibility for their part and its place within the greater structure but also where they might need to be next, this led to an awareness and fluidity that contributed to a seamless performance.

April 2009 – with guest artist Maxwell Golden

Working for four days, Future Band created a piece of music with performance poet and MC Maxwell Golden. At the end of the four days we had a sharing which featured the band entering the performance area singing and moving through the space freely before finding their seats. Exploring movement, text, and our instruments within the context of a narrative created by the group, it was an exciting project for everyone involved.

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In our reflection on this project we looked back on what had made this a particularly explorative collaboration: Lastly, this project saw the development of leadership from within the band. This ranged from individuals to whole sections being responsible for leading within the ensemble. At one point, our drummer, Sam Jones, led the whole band in a series As a leadership team, Maxwell pushed us to approach new ways of working. The majority of the first day was spent of semi-improvised staccato stabs that acted as an interruption of a consistent percussive texture. exploring and having fun as a group. In addition to this, we created an additive narrative in which each and every member of the group contributed. With only forty minutes left of our first day, we finally got to work on our instruments. Even ‘This project was the catalyst for a long-term commitment to experimentation, openness and engagement with sound in though we had waited so long and had only a very short time, the music making was immediate, strong and informed by its most general sense, and a real sense of shared responsibility and leadership.’ all the work we had done as a group throughout the day. Detta Danford ‘We were all on the same page, in terms of our thinking, where we were and what we wanted.’ Natasha Zielazinski

One of the new ways that was opened up to us through working with Maxwell relates to our role and identity as performers. This allowed us to move from a standpoint of a group of musicians working as instrumental band to a group of performing artists who were able to play with our space, our audience, our instruments and each other in a free and 7.1c Co-teaching as co-learning expressive way. Moreover, Maxwell’s skills as a poet, MC, and lyricist encouraged us to embrace the world of language, The project words, and vocal sound, whether through songwriting, storytelling or spoken word. This has come to have a lasting legacy with Future Band, infiltrating all of our subsequent work. Over the past six months a co-teaching pilot project has been run at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. This project, which grew directly from work at the international Polifonia Innovative Conservatoire Seminars (Association of European One thing that made this project special was that although it was conceived as part of an informal laboratory week, some of Conservatoires, 2010, p.93), brought together two tutors (Dinah Stabb and Armin Zanner) from the School’s Drama and the material that was created was able to be developed further. In our 2009 Barbican performance, the love song that was Vocal departments, working in tandem once per week with the class of Year 1 Vocal students. part of this piece formed both a part of the Future Band set, and a starting point for tutti material that was performed by over 300 people from across the Creative Learning community. For a young conservatoire vocal student, learning recitative is hard. Bad enough in the student’s mother tongue, worse in a foreign language and near-unapproachable when it is a setting by J. S. Bach, laying bare the torments of the soul for a February 2010 – with guest artists Dave Smith and Johnny Brierly congregation of eighteenth-century Lutherans. The comment from one student that “I can’t sing this because I don’t believe it”, seemed to capture the problem and was the catalyst for a re-think of how to teach German Recitative at the This project was a four-day lab week which explored free playing with two of London’s top jazz musicians. Drummer Dave Guildhall School. Smith brought a self-composed starting point to the group, which formed the basis of a more groove-based and structured piece of music. We also spent much of our time exploring free improvisation through exercises that Johnny and Dave The result was co-teaching between the recitative tutor and an actor/director from the Drama department. The classroom devised, both in smaller groups and as a whole ensemble. The resulting piece is included in this writing because it marked dynamic changed to one in which sharing was creative, experimenting was learning and dry rules of style and diction were a real change in approach to sound and our relationship to each other and our audience. taught in the most collegiate of contexts. The project demonstrates how co-teaching has become the starting-point for developments in co-learning between actors and singers. It resulted in a number of practical changes, including: Our ‘free’ piece started with us asking the audience to close their eyes whilst we encircled them and created a freely devised moving vocal sound bath. From this mysterious beginning the audience was then asked to take part in the piece • a shift away from a conventional ‘masterclass’ format both as listeners and as participants. At one point, the audience was asked to think of a word which they then exclaimed • a consistent active involvement of the whole group as part of the piece in response to a signal given by one of the band members. This freedom to play and improvise with the audience was hugely exciting and empowering for the whole band and hopefully for the audience. • an emphasis on shared learning through ‘doing’ rather than observing • a new teacher–learner dynamic with two tutors ‘It focused us on our relationship to the people around us, the sound they’re making and the sound we’re making in response to that.’

Alongside our exploration of the relationship between us and our audience, this project pushed us to begin thinking about sound in an intentional way. From using our environment as a sound source (be that feet scratching on a floor or the breath and vocal input of our audience) to expanding our repertoire for instrumental and vocal sound, we discovered a rich and broad palette of colours which enabled us to respond, react and converse in new ways.

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The results of this style of group teaching for the students’ work in German Recitative have been immediate, bringing a Julian Philips far stronger sense of embodying – and therefore communicating – the text. But more broadly the project has offered the Composer and Head of Composition, Guildhall School of Music & Drama students a direct experience of how they can and should integrate different strands of their course (e.g. drama, movement, German language and German repertoire). The interface between words and music has long been at the heart of Julian Philips’ work, whether in song, dance, theatre or opera. The success of his recent AHRC funded residency at Glyndebourne grew partly out of the creative synergy established Through involvement in the project, the two tutors have encountered new models for their own one-to-one and group between his collaborative approach and that of Katie Tearle. The residency culminated with the production of his youth teaching. As a result this has been an opportunity for their professional development. And on a larger scale, this pilot on opera, Knight Crew based on Nicky Singer’s opera of the same name. The opera featured in a three-part BBC 2 documentary collaborative teaching has encouraged other connections to be forged between the Drama and Music sides of the School in June 2010 and followed on from two other substantial works conceived for the Glyndebourne context. Followers – a as a whole. So this innovation in teaching practice is benefiting students, staff and the wider institution. site-specific promenade opera devised with writer Simon Christmas (to be premiered at Glyndebourne in August 2011), and The Yellow Sofa – a chamber opera based on a novella by Eça de Queiros, with a libretto by Edward Kemp (August 2009), Biographies shortlisted for the 2010 British Composer Awards. Julian Philips’ Glyndebourne residency grew out of earlier operatic work Armin Zanner is a baritone, Deputy Head of Vocal Studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama; Artistic Director both with Welsh National Opera – for whom he wrote the RPS Award winning operas Dolffin and Wild Cat, and for The of the Franz-Schubert-Institut in Baden, Austria; and Artistic Assistant of the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie in Opera Group – Varjak Paw (ROH Linbury and national tour). Neumarkt, Germany. He holds degrees from the University of Cambridge and the Guildhall School. Julian Philip’s work in opera follows on from his wide collaborative experience in theatre and ballet – incidental scores Dinah Stabb has been a professional actress since 1970. She teaches and directs in the Drama department of the Guildhall for director Michael Grandage at the Almeida, Crucible (Sheffield), Lyric Hammersmith, Old Vic, Donmar Warehouse/ School of Music & Drama, is on the advisory board of Ecole des Ecoles – the Association of European Drama Conservatoires West End, and for Christopher Luscombe at the Globe Theatre. His full-length symphonic ballet Les Liaisons Dangereuses – and works on performance skills with actors, singers and instrumentalists. was commissioned by English National Ballet for choreographer Michael Corder, with whom he also devised a Prokofiev- based score for their new production of Snow Queen (Coliseum and national tour). An especially effective example of collaboration at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama was a production of Badenheim 1939 (December 2010), in which 7.1d Collaboration at Glyndebourne Festival Julian Philips worked closely with actors, musicians and the director Christian Burgess. Katie Tearle Head of Education, Glyndebourne 7.2 Testimonies

Katie Tearle founded the Education department at Glyndebourne in 1986. Her pioneering work is rooted in different forms of collaboration and it has inspired personal, creative and community engagement and development for a wide range of 7.2a Collaborative Learning within You Me Bum Bum Train people of all ages and background. The programme of creativity, participation and learning has three strands: youth and Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd community work, talks and events and new work. Major projects have included three site-specific community operas, the youth operas Misper and award-winning Zoë (filmed for Channel 4), School 4 Lovers, A Hip H’Opera and most recently, You Me Bum Bum Train is a collaborative project where we act equally as creative directors and producers. Although we have Knight Crew, a new community opera with music composed by Julian Philips which was performed in March 2010. The created You Me Bum Bum Train experiences over the past six years, it was only last year that we called ourselves directors and opera, which involved over 100 young people alongside professional performers, was the subject of a BBC2 documentary producers, and assigned other job titles to members of the team. Originally the experience wasn’t intended to be defined as a series, Gareth Malone Goes to Glyndebourne. particular art form. The concept was pure, and so everyone who created it worked fluidly with their involvement without role definition. However the project was creatively led by us. Glyndebourne Education has, in recent years, been an important force behind the company’s commitment to new work, commissioning an impressive number of works involving the community, both for the main stage, in community and Unlike a fully funded production where the production team is cherry picked, everyone and anyone is welcome to join. This educational settings in Sussex and across the country (community operas in Hastings, Ashford and Peterborough). is where the spirit of the production comes from. People aren’t there to get paid (as no one is) so the project is all heart. The diverse range of people that come on board makes the process interesting and unusual. There is no manufactured outcome. Katie Tearle worked closely with Julian Philips during his recent AHRC funded residency at Glyndebourne. This was a strong Every single person is there with the same goal, having limited self-interest as there is neither a monetary reward nor example of Glyndebourne Education producing and nurturing composers and creative teams in the context of education individual accolades to achieve. Volunteering for this show is an altruistic act, sometimes involving repetitive unrewarding and the wider community. tasks to give passengers a magical, convincing experience. As there aren’t official boundaries instilled in the structure – a carpenter can become an actor, and an actor can just as easily assist on creating the sets, people aren’t restricted to one role. The freedom a team member experiences allows them to venture into unknown territory discovering hidden talents and gaining new experiences, without the intimidating judgemental process that some work places can entail.

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Every creative avenue we explored before collaborating on YMBBT, during and after university, didn’t quite make our hearts We enjoy the unexpected element of not knowing what actors, set builders, prop-sourcers, and especially audience sing. Potentially because we were creating alone and unable to learn from others. Other people naturally fascinate us, so members will bring to each production. This surprise element is inspiring. Every element of the show changes with each working with others keeps the project alive. The format of You Me Bum Bum Train inspires the imaginations of actors and production: the venue, the scenes and the team. This is a fundamental part of the format which prevents it going stale. passengers alike, in ways we could never predict and makes the project permanently fascinating to us. The You Me Bum There’s always a creative spark that energises the project and it remains fresh each time. Bum Train concept was therefore born out of trying to find meaning and fulfilment in life. We felt frustrated in not having found a creative outlet that truly inspired us, and were in desperate search for something that would. Having felt frustrated It’s also important for us to create something with people whose core intentions are honourable. The concept luckily mainly with the banality of life, we wanted to find something that felt magical, that would inspire people to interact more freely. attracts kind, lovely people who want to be part of something creatively exciting and whose values we share. Because of The idea arose to create other realities where anything was possible. this it is ambitious in the best possible way. People feed off kindness and are naturally uplifted and inspired by positivity, which is infectious in the group. There’s also the awareness that we are all attempting to create something together that As human beings, our experiences are limited due to the constraints we experience as an individual. We all want to live life feels completely impossible on paper. If it were easily achievable it might not be such a creative stretch for the team. to the full but how do you begin to live life to the full when there’s an infinite amount of options available? Which route Because of the enormity of the task at hand everyone involved gets far deeper into the project, staying all hours to get is the right route? As You Me Bum Bum Train is essentially a series of unrelated moments without there being a before or the job done. after, passengers have no choice but to engage with the reality that’s thrust in front of them. The You Me Bum Bum Train experience allows people to transcend themselves and experience other worlds from other perspectives. As we are each The merging of people and the shared excitement brings the sense of belonging and community. It’s like a pocket-sized moulded by our perception of ourselves and how we imagine others to perceive us, by creating a reality where ‘you’ are no model of an ideal society that focuses purely on inspiring the imagination, without the drudge of everyday life. The fact longer you, as a passenger, you are not only gaining new experiences but you are liberated to experience yourself in a new that our shows are temporary works to its advantage with its community of volunteers. The show manages to retain way Success and failure are not an option. For this one period in time you are no longer your ‘self’. By putting a person in their enthusiasm and interest as it is only for a limited amount of time and it is over before it becomes an uninteresting the moment where they have no expectation of the experience, nor the chance to anticipate their reaction, the passenger everyday job. is psychologically stripped of what can cripple us in our everyday lives, and their imagination is unleashed. Part of the magic of You Me Bum Bum Train is that all people, no matter who they are, all are made equal. People with Too many stunting factors in life prevent us from so much possibility. Dreams can be quashed through a poor education status in their day jobs may perform in a subordinate role next to someone whose experience of power may be novel to which doesn’t always, if ever, instil the sense that anything is possible. Having both felt let down by the education system, them. Likewise, audience members who are used to having status and respect may for the first time experience being and uninspired by the working environments we have experienced, a huge part of You Me Bum Bum Train is that we hope inferior. Passengers are able to enter other realms that they may only dream about entering. This for us feels like an to create a structure that isn’t bureaucratic or institutionalised. It is important for us to allow people to feel unhindered and infinitely creative project that we’d find it difficult to tire of. enthused by the creative possibilities at their finger tips.

The ethos of what we do is to include everyone and create a real sense of equality – that we are all part of a whole, and that no role is more important than the next. It isn’t just about the means to an end or the final artistic outcome. It is about 7.2b Creative collaborative learning wanting to inspire the people who get involved and the group achievement of ‘We did it!’ at the end. The communal Jill Shelley (Executive Producer, Creative Learning, Barbican and Guildhall School) effort connects so many individuals that it creates a strong sense of belonging. You Me Bum Bum Train feels like one giant team-building exercise. I first met Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd when they were short-listed for the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award (which the Barbican is a part of). This is a prize for artists who have an innovative approach and who have some experience In regards to collaborating as creative directors on this project, being able to gain insight into each other’s perspectives (usually at the fringe theatre level), but have never had proper funding. The prize is aimed to be a potential ‘big break’ for enables us to reflect on our own ideas. There isn’t a single-minded vision as we both have to agree on each decision. It companies, and as well as the money to put on the show, it is also part of the Barbican Theatre programme and gets the means that our ideas go through twice the amount of critical analysis than if there were one writer/director. This can only same press and marketing support as all the other companies in the programme. work if you truly trust the integrity and ability of your creative partner. The advantage of having a collaborative partner is when you come to a joint decision on a creative matter you have twice the belief and conviction to see it through. Being The Barbican is a partner on this prize, and as well as a contribution to the prize fund, we also provide a lot of in-kind a force of two increases the confidence of an artist to put an idea into creation. support, including the support that I give to each company. I see my role within this as a really important one. Companies who have won the Beckett Prize have often never worked with a large venue before, and learning how they operate and To be a good artist it could be argued that it helps to be sensitive and self- questioning, but having a self-critical personality what sort of deadlines each department works to, is an important development for the winning company. can also sabotage an artistic project before it starts. With another believer you are supported at self-critical times. You can also discuss the stresses you are both under at any point and one may be able to overcome a problem where the other It was clear that You Me Bum Bum Train was an incredibly ambitious project, and the way they described it was hugely cannot. The disadvantage comes when you disagree with the creative opinion of the other. However, this stimulates further exciting. It was obvious from their past experience that they had managed to deliver the near-impossible in the past. critical scrutiny of each opinion which can only be a good thing when creating something worthwhile, and you will learn something out of the process.

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YMBBT were short-listed and got an R&D grant of £2,500 to develop and test ideas for the show. This grant is always valued highly by the artists who receive it, and Kate and Morgan clearly benefited from having the money without the 7.2c Collaborative work in Future Band pressure to produce a fully finished show. Detta Danford and Natasha Zielazinski

Kate and Morgan used the grant to produce 5 scenes: a mini You Me Bum Bum Train experience. Going through these Our collaborative work together really started from when we first met on the MMus Leadership course at the Guildhall scenes was exhilarating and really impressive. It was at that point that I really understood what they were trying to achieve School of Music & Drama in September 2006. Over the course of our two years as part of the MMus programme we and I was really inspired about the project. developed a strong personal and professional relationship based on shared experiences in which we explored new processes, My role from then on was to work closely with Kate and Morgan on the planning stages. I’m very aware that the Barbican ideas and ways of making music together. This process of learning together helped to develop a strong foundation for can be a daunting organisation to work with, especially for artists not used to large venues. Kate and Morgan don’t come all of our future work. In addition to this, we discovered a friendship, respect and admiration for each other, both for our from a traditional theatre background, so a lot of terminology (particularly around theatre job titles) was unfamiliar to differences and similarities. Throughout the course we were continually pushed to expand our playing and our approach them. to music-making within different contexts. These included projects with artists from different disciplines and cultures as well as within many different educational settings. Alongside this we were continuously collaborating as players within a I feel that one of the key aspects of being a producer is to really understand artistically what the artists are producing, and range of ensembles, and slowly became aware of a musical dialogue and friendship which had an ease of understanding to be as open and facilitative as possible. When Kate and Morgan talked ideas through with me, even when there were and felt both rewarding and worth investing in. obvious challenges re licenses, managing audiences’ expectations (without giving anything away), I tried to approach the process as collaboratively as possible to retain the artistic vision they were looking to achieve. Towards the end of the Leadership course we quite frequently would get together to talk about ideas. In these discussions we discovered, in parallel to our musical relationship, an ease of communication and equality of energy and passion. We My personal perspective is that artists should feel as free as possible to develop ideas. What is lovely about Kate and were able to bounce ideas off of one another and find a confidence and support which was the result of a very equal Morgan is that they are very open to understanding the boundaries that we needed to put around the show, and they commitment and dedication to both ourselves as co-collaborators and to the wider impact that our work aimed to effect. were happy to work with me to find the most creative ways to do that. When the opportunity arose to co-lead a new Connect ensemble in September 2008, it was this strong personal and One of my first jobs within the arts was working for the National Dance Agency, Dance 4. One of the projects that I took a lead professional relationship that enabled us to kickstart the ensemble with a clear understanding of what we wanted to on was called Show Room. This was a bi-monthly platform for emerging live artists in the East Midlands. I feel that I use many achieve, the approaches we would use to bring this about, and the underpinning philosophy and values which informed of the skills I learned during that process when I work with any of the Beckett Prize companies. I gained a real understanding of all of these. This ensemble came to be known as Future Band and is now in its third year. Over the course of that time it allowing artists the space and time to develop their ideas, and not to put practical hurdles in the way too early on. I realised how has grown from a small ensemble of 10-15, to a band which has nearly 30-40 regular participants. From the outset we important it is as a producer to really understand the artistic ambition, as you are the person representing that with marketing, were privileged to have a great deal of trust and support both financially and otherwise from Barbican–Guildhall Creative press, Front of House, etc. Learning. The freedom that this gave us allowed the ensemble to develop organically and gave space and time to establish an atmosphere of inclusiveness, openness and experimentation, which has since become fundamental to our way of For me to do my job successfully, I need to allow myself to get artistically inspired by both the ambition of the final work, and working. Furthermore, at the core of all of the work we have led with Future Band is a continuing dedication to the idea of by the artists making it. collaboration. This is evident across the ensemble: between every participant and their relationship to the band as a whole, in the way we approach a concept or musical idea as a group, and in the way we realise those ideas as compositional structures. This has led to a strong sense of ownership by every member of the band, from participants to assistants to leaders.

Future Band meets three to four times a year, mainly in school holidays and half term breaks for 3-4 day projects. Over the last three years we have performed at the Barbican Centre and the Vortex Jazz Club and have completed a recording project at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. One of the things we most love about Future Band is that we have had the chance to work with musicians and artists of all backgrounds, genres and cultures. The process of collaboration that we are committed to as a band informs our approach to working with our guest artists. We have worked with jazz musicians, film makers, electronic musicians, theatre and poetry, as well as musicians from West Africa, Palestine and Java. Having the opportunity to work with these guest artists creates an amazing buzz within the band. For everyone, the process of collaborating and working together means that we are all constantly engaged and challenged to understand each other and find a common ground in which we can create something new. From the participants to the guest artists, to ourselves as leaders, musicians and composers, it is finding these meeting points that has led to such excitement and momentum.

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Over the last five years, we have had the opportunity to work together in many different places and contexts. We hope to Between us we share: be able to continue this work and that the strength of our friendship and professional relationship will continue to grow • a mutual understanding of what collaboration involves and lead us down new paths. In our most recent work with Future Band we are exploring the possibilities of mentoring as a tool for developing the personal pathways of individuals within the group. We feel this is an exciting step forward for • dedication and commitment to shared priorities, ‘working towards the same goal’ all of us; allowing more space to reflect and examine our practice, spark conversations and questions, and give individuals • an ease of friendship and communication within the group the confidence to realise their ideas, be that musical or otherwise. All of our work with Future Band, from our first sessions to our most recent projects have had a powerful impact on our personal development and our growth as • openness to and excitement about working with others a collaborative team, and we feel that as the band has grown, so have we! • willingness to push and stretch ourselves as individuals, within our own relationship Further reflections on collaboration and collaboration, and within the context of a wider community.

In a conversation we recorded and transcribed, we looked at what collaboration meant to us and were able to distill it down to a few ideas. 7.2d Co-teaching as co-learning: e-mail conversation Collaboration involves: Dinah Stabb and Armin Zanner

• coming together and sharing – the coming together of people, the sharing of ideas 4 April 2011 • the creation of something new, that is a combination of all those ideas, involving some kind Armin Zanner to Dinah Stabb of exchange, interchange and conversation along the way Dear Dinah, • the finding of meeting points or links, based on sharing and a mutual understanding Peter in an e-mail recently writes that “the process that you and Armin have devised really does help the students to build • working from this common ground, a sense of stretching, pushing and extending of processes, a bridge between themselves (that is who they perceive who they are) and their developing singing voices”. A big area of ideas and spaces which encourages growth and expansion in a new direction discussion, but do you have some thoughts to expand on Peter’s point? • being comfortable without knowing, cherishing a sense of exploration Armin • openness and working very much in the moment and in a way that is defined by the context of a particular collaboration • a sense of letting go of any individual agenda/aim/expectation in order to find an 5 April 2011 understanding of what these might be as a group Dinah Stabb to Armin Zanner • a buzz or feeling that results from having found a ‘new space’ together. Dear Armin,

Following on from the above discussion, we then looked at discovering why our own collaboration together, in a range of During the course of the interview with Peter, you were answering him and I suddenly understood the particular value of contexts, has been exciting, fulfilling and something we are interested in carrying further. our work in the first year of the singers’ training.

I, for the first time, reflected on what I was asking from them, apart from openness, generosity etc. When I talked to them about connection and asking them what they wanted to say in a given recit or song, I was asking them to bring a personal investment into the work. At this particular moment, the beginning of their training, when it is all about a newly learnt sound, a ‘voice’ that is crafted and produced, it is essential to stay connected to the inner voice, so that it can grow alongside and stay at the centre of the new self. That is what I meant by a bridge between themselves and their developing voices.

I think that putting the German recit into a human context makes sure that the focus stays on communication as the goal of the work. When we demand that they know who they are speaking to, what is the situation, emotional and

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geographical, we are continually putting the singer centre stage, not their expertise either in language or sung notes but literary and emotional languages to speak through me. That’s very easy to write, and easy to say. Very hard to do because as a whole human being with something to convey. If all the essential detailed work comes from this premise, a whole it means letting go: the ego needs to get out of the way, the little voices we have been taught to impose about what is performer can continue to develop. right or wrong have to be sidelined, and technique needs to be good enough that it does not interfere with what the creative side wants to achieve. My good fortune was that shortly after that summer course, I worked with a teacher, first in This perspective on the work surprised me, but made me feel very validated. masterclasses, then privately, whose attitude to technique was very free, very much about finding the most elemental and basic of sounds and building upon them in a physical and metaphysical way. So the point in my creative life when I have A question for you: been most aware that I was able to do what the music seemed to be telling me to do, was in the time I worked together As you reflect on your education as a singer, can you identify when you became aware of your own voice in the work? with him and managed to get the ‘me’ out of the equation.

How or who helped you have an awareness of your autonomy as a creative person in music? Funny that what I equate with being ‘my’ voice is also what turns out to be lacking in premeditation, planning, ‘crafting’. Still working on it, too! How’s that for a question or two? Does that give a few answers? Dinah Now for your next question:

In our co-teaching and co-learning work with students we are aiming, I suppose, for them to let go and ultimately to find 13 April 2011 voices of their own. Yet that – as I discovered myself – is such an individual thing: it can take a very long time to happen, Armin Zanner to Dinah Stabb and everyone we work with will be at a different point on the trajectory towards finding that voice. Is there not a danger Dear Dinah, in co-learning situations that we eliminate that individuality and inadvertently hold some people back at the same time as others are helped forward? It has taken a bit for me to get back to you about these questions for Peter, but here goes... Armin You asked: As you reflect on your education as a singer can you identify when you became aware of your own voice in the work? 3 May 2011 How or who helped you have an awareness of your autonomy as a creative person in music? Dinah Stabb to Armin Zanner

Challenging questions! The first is a challenge because I suppose the interest in singing came from two directions: one Dear Armin, was discovering the repertoire, specifically song in German, French and English, later followed by operatic repertoire (which in my case I got to know backwards, from some of the key 20th-century works back); the other was my attraction You asked was there a danger in a co-learning situation that individuality might be compromised and because everyone to particular singers, those whose recordings I had access to or the few I was able to hear live. So the development of an develops at different rates some singers might be held back. own ‘voice’ was bound up with getting to know the music itself – its styles, its performance histories, its internal workings, its language, both poetical and musical – and with getting to know what certain singers did to bring that music to life I think there are two questions there. Namely, does the ensemble dilute the imaginative development of the individual? in a way that spoke to me. In trying to emulate certain aspects of other singers’ uses of their voices because I wanted to And does unevenness of ability and progress in the group hamper the more able? achieve certain effects, I was starting to build up the technical tools that led towards an ‘own voice’. And in reading the I am very sure that the answer to the first question is no. There is a journey of discovery to be made with your fellow singers, texts, analysing them and the settings, playing the piano parts, thinking about the music from a more academic point of actors or musicians which feeds and sustains you in your development as a creative being. It also feeds the individual work view, and in building experience through performance, that ‘voice’ was becoming increasingly present. It was finding a done with a one-to-one teacher. It connects the student to the life of their fellow learners and establishes from the start a voice in stages. community of music-makers. To isolate a musician during the learning process seems to me to limit empathy, awareness, But the turning point in understanding what my ‘voice’ might be, came by working with one particular teacher and respect for the other and the ability to communicate, all essential skills to the development of an imaginative and whole experiencing a particular summer course. The two came one after the other, first the course where through study of the performer. It is also a shared experience and hopefully fun. It is a personal growth set in the context of a group. poetry and through being immersed quite literally in the landscape and culture of the German song repertoire, the focus was turned away from crafting sound, from adding an interpretation, from finding a voice, towards allowing the musical,

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As to some being held back, that is a more difficult question to be sure about. In the Drama department Where students struggle in this regard is their lack of a settled technical-vocal base and their inexperience in learning the difference in experience not talent is very noticeable in the first year. It has as much to do with age as anything else. repertoire and roles. This must be an issue for actors as well, of course, but young singers are learning to use an instrument The students who come having done a first degree or have had some experience of independent living have to adapt to that is often completely new to them with physical demands that take years to settle. So they are themselves instruments the different energy and concerns of the younger school leavers. I noticed the same amongst the first year singers. that have not fully formed and find themselves asked to take creative risks and to experiment without the basic vocal tools. As educators, we must find ways to allow student singers to be comfortable taking those creative risks, even if they However, what is learnt and how the individuals respond and influence each other depends on the development of a cannot necessarily do so vocally. So taking the focus away from sound and technical perfection is key. Those areas that can shared ethos. This is where leadership and generosity need to be fostered. There needs to be a shared goal amongst the be perfected more quickly – pronunciation, musical accuracy, memorization – can be given weight. But the performance members of the group and ways of managing the challenges that some members create. freedom, the ensemble work, the communication and embodying of what is being said or sung are the areas most appropriate for encouraging dynamic exchange without risk of failure because the instrument is not in place. Music-making is a collaborative endeavour. A known and trusted ensemble should be an ideal crucible for that development. A sharing of work, and in the struggle to improve, students are able to reflect on their own work and gain perspective on Singers can change their attitude very quickly if this sort of expectation of creativity is one we introduce from the start. their development. There may be bad habits from previous training, but we have the opportunity with new undergraduates to say ‘here is how we do things as creative performers at the Guildhall School’. No question of anything else. Along with that, there has Individual lessons, coaching, small group lessons and private practice should be valued and given appropriate time and the to be a shift in the attitudes of students about the centrality of technical vocal achievement. Without that technical ability, fruits brought back and shared in this ensemble of learning. If successfully guided, I can’t see how it would hold a talented they will never be singers; but equally, without the spark and energy and collaborative ability and communicative skill that student back, only validate and reward their efforts. are learned in the creative room, they will not be able to be singers either. All the work that you do with them gives them My question to you is... exactly this element and the understanding of how important creative spontaneity and interaction is.

Since I have begun to understand the very different way the singers prepare their work and the lack of expectation of there Armin being a creative exchange in the room, how can we move our work on so that there can be a more dynamic exchange between them?

What do the singers need to change or do you think it appropriate for them to change?

Dinah

3 June 2011 Armin Zanner to Dinah Stabb

I think the issue of creative exchange in the room is one that is faced particularly by student singers. In the profession, singers work constantly with directors whose main experience is in straight theatre (terrible term, but I mean not opera), so they will be faced with that experience of creative exchange in the room. Of course, there are aspects of performing with music that restrict flexibility – timing is generally not flexible (at least in accompanied material) and the need to be heard over an orchestra demands certain stage/positioning or stamina tricks – so the nature of that creative exchange will inevitably be different, but it is creative nonetheless. The actor, however, can come to the rehearsal space a ‘clean slate’, ready to learn the role as it develops, from what I understand. That is simply impossible for a singer because of the technical vocal challenge of building the music physically into the system and of learning a whole musical structure along with words and character etc. Singers engaged for an operatic role will be learning it for a year or two, or even three, before they venture into the rehearsal. So the trick is to be creatively free and open, yet so well prepared vocally that the body and voice will allow that freedom.

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Guildhall School of Music & Drama. (2010d). Interview of Iain Burnside by Professor Barry Ife. Bibliography London: Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Hewison, R., Holden, J. & Jones, S. (2010). All Together: A creative approach to organisational change. London: Demos. Association of European Conservatoires. (2010). Researching Conservatoires: Enquiry, innovation and the development www.demos.co.uk of artistic practice in higher music education. Utrecht: AEC Publications. www.aecinfo.org www.polifonia-tn.org Jackman, A. (2010). Open Spaces Conference. London: Barbican Campus/LINK Alliance. Baker, A.C., Jensen, P.J. & Kolb, D.A. (2002). Conversational Learning: An experiential approach to knowledge creation. Westport, Connecticut: Quorum Books. John-Steiner, V. (2006). Creative Collaboration. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Barbican Campus/LINK Alliance. (2010). Second Annual Report to the HEFCE Strategic Development Fund. London: Kenyon, N. (in press). Performance Today. In C. Lawson (Ed.), The Cambridge History of Musical Performance. Barbican Campus/LINK Alliance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Barbican Campus/Alliance. (2011a). Mission Statement. London: Barbican Campus/Alliance. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Barbican Campus/Alliance. (2011b). All Workstreams Update. London: Barbican Campus: Alliance. Leadbeater, C. (1999). Living on Thin Air: The new economy. London: Viking. Bressers, H. (2010). United in Swing: Evaluation report for Jazz at Lincoln Centre Faculty and Creative Learning. London: Barbican and Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Leadbeater, C. (2006). The Ten Habits of Mass Innovation. NESTA Provocation 01. London: National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. Creative Partnerships London North. (2007). Exploring the Impact of Creative Learning on Artists and Practitioners. London: Creative Partnerships London North. [email protected] Lebler, D. (2007). Student-as-master? Reflections on a learning innovation in popular music pedagogy. International Journal of Music Education, 25 (3), 205-221. www.ijm.sagepub.com Creech, A., Papageorgi, I., Duffy, C., Whyton, T., Himonides, E. & Welch, G. (2008). From music student to professional: the process of transition. British Journal of Music Education, 25 (3), 315-331. Leighton-Kelly, S. (2010). Performance and the City: Urban experience and identity in London and New York. London: Department of Drama, Queen Mary, University of London. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper Collins. London Symphony Orchestra. (2010). LSO Discovery 20th Anniversary Concert. London: London Symphony Orchestra. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2003). Good Business: Leadership, flow, and the making of meaning. New York: Viking. www.lso.co.uk Gaunt, H., Noonan, I. & Ford, B. (2009). Improvisation in Music, Drama and Nursing: An exploratory study of inter-professional learning. London: Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Mission Models Money. (2010). Fuelling ‘The Necessary Revolution’: Supporting best practice in collaborative working amongst creative practitioners and organisations – a guide for public and private funders. London: MMM. Green, L. (2002). How Popular Musicians Learn: A way ahead for music education. Aldershot: Ashgate. www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk Gregory, S. (2010). Creative Learning Strategy for the Barbican Centre and Guildhall School of Music & Drama. London: National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education. (1999). All Our Futures: Creativity, culture and Guildhall School of Music & Drama. education. London: DfEE/DCMS. www.culture.gov.uk/pdf/naccce.pdf Gregory, S. (2011). Shift: A proposal from the Barbican Centre and Guildhall School of Music & Drama to ArtWorks (The National Council for Voluntary Organisations. (2005). Collaborative Working. www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/advice-support/ Paul Hamlyn Foundation). London: Barbican and Guildhall School of Music & Drama. collaborative-working/information-and-tools/whatcollaborativeworkinginvolves#Benefits_and_risks Guildhall School of Music & Drama. (2009). Research and Knowledge Exchange Strategy 2009-2013. Paul Hamlyn Foundation. (2011). ArtWorks: Developing practice in participatory settings. London: Guildhall School of Music & Drama. www.phf.org.uk/page.asp?id=746 Guildhall School of Music & Drama. (2010a). About the School: Research – Projects. Polanyi, M. (1966). The Tacit Dimension. New York: Doubleday & Co. www.gsmd.ac.uk/about_the_school/research/projects Renshaw, P. (2005). Connecting Conversations: The changing voice of the artist. In M. Miles (Ed.), Guildhall School of Music & Drama. (2010b). Research and Knowledge Exchange. New Practices: New pedagogies. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 99-116. London: Guildhall School of Music & Drama. www.gsmd.ac.uk/research Guildhall School of Music & Drama. (2010c). Lads in their Hundreds. London: Guildhall School of Music & Drama. DVD Production: Cordelia Donohue & David G. Hill. www.dghedit.co.uk

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Renshaw, P. (2008). REFLECT Creative Partnerships National Co-mentoring Programme: Evaluation report. Gateshead: The Sage Gateshead. www.reflectco-mentoring.com Biography Renshaw, P. (2010). Engaged Passions: Searches for quality in community contexts. Delft: Eburon Academic Publishers. In 2001 Peter Renshaw retired from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama as Head of Research and Development, where he pioneered the innovative programme in performance and communication skills (1984-2001) and was Gresham Robinson, K. (2001). Out of Our Minds: Learning to be creative. Oxford: Capstone. Professor of Music (1986-93). Formerly he was Lecturer in Philosophy of Education at the University of Leeds Institute of Robinson, K. (2009). The Element: How finding your passion changes everything. Education (1970-75) and Principal of the Yehudi Menuhin School (1975-84). London: Allen Lane, Penguin Books. He has a special interest in lifelong learning, mentoring, personal and professional development, and cultural change in Sargent, A. & Zeserson, K. (2007). Beginning at the Beginning: The creativity gap. NESTA Provocation 04. London: organisations. He has devised and led mentoring development programmes for Prince Claus Conservatoire Groningen, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Barbican Centre, the National Institute of Sawyer, R.K. (1999). Improvised conversation: music, collaboration and development. Creative Arts & Industries, University of Auckland, the University of the Arts, London, The Sage Gateshead, Youth Music and Yo! Opera, Utrecht. Consultancies have included Banff Centre for the Arts, Sydney Conservatorium, Queensland Psychology of Music, 27 (2), 192-216. Conservatorium, Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama, the Irish Government (developing an Irish Academy for the Sawyer, R.K. (2005). Music and conversation. In D. Miell, R.A.R. MacDonald & D.J. Hargreaves (Eds), Performing Arts), International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation, Brussels and the London Borough of Newham. Musical Communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press. From 2001-2002 he was Chair of the Steering Group for Youth Music’s Creating a Land of Music and from 2001-2003 Sawyer, R.K. (2007). Group Genius: The creative power of collaboration. New York: Basic Books. he was Moderator of the EU Socrates project, Sound Links, on cultural diversity in music education. In 2005, as part of Sloboda, J. (2011). What do musicians and actors learn by working together? ‘The Last Five Years’: A case study. Musical Futures, The Paul Hamlyn Foundation published his research report on Guildhall Connect, titled Simply Connect: Research Working Paper 11/01. London: Guildhall School of Music & Drama. www.gsmd.ac.uk/about_the_school/ ‘Next Practice’ in Group Music Making and Musical Leadership. His report Lifelong Learning for Musicians: the Place of research/projects/understanding_audiences_research_programme.html Mentoring was published in 2006 by the Lectorate Lifelong Learning in Music at Prince Claus Conservatoire Groningen and Royal Conservatoire The Hague. In 2008 The Sage Gateshead published his evaluation report on REFLECT, the Creative Smilde, R. (2009). Musicians as Lifelong Learners: Discovery through biography. Delft: Partnerships National Co-mentoring Programme. His book Engaged Passions: Searches for Quality in Community Contexts Eburon Academic Publishers. was published in 2010 under the auspices of the Research Group in Lifelong Learning in Music & the Arts at Hanze Stephenson, K. (2005). Trafficking in Trust. The Art and Science of Human Knowledge Networks. www.drkaren.us/ University of Applied Sciences, Groningen and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Design, Music & Dance, The Hague. For the KS_publications01.htm last year he has been working on this enquiry into creative collaborative learning across the Barbican–Guildhall Campus. Sussman, C. (2004). Building Adaptive Capacity: the quest for improved organisational performance. Newton, Massachusetts: Sussman Associates. www.systemsinsync.com/pdfs/Building_Adaptive_Capacity.pdf The Sage Gateshead. (2007). Handbook: REFLECT Creative Partnerships National Co-mentoring Programme. Gateshead: The Sage Gateshead. www.thesagegateshead.org Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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PAGE 128 Barbican Centre Guildhall School Silk Street, Barbican of Music & Drama London EC2Y 8DS Silk Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DT www.barbican.org.uk www.gsmd.ac.uk