The Magazine for the Royal College of MusicI Autumn 2014 Working in Music Forging a career after the RCM What’s inside... Welcome to upbeat... This cover ofUpbeat shows just one of many inspirational workshops for local children that took place over the summer as part of our ground-breaking outreach programme, Contents RCM Sparks. As well as making music available to many local children, this scheme also provides valued vocational opportunities for RCM students. These are skills they 4 In the news can take beyond the RCM and on page 12 we meet five RCM alumni who are all Updating you on recent RCM working in different musical roles and find out about their experiences in the years activities including Mitchell Tanner following graduation. being awarded the first John Barry This issue also explores the fantastic resources and professional opportunities the Scholarship for Film Composition Woodhouse Professional Development Centre provides for students and recent and the RCM’s star appearances graduates. The Centre has been celebrating its 15th birthday this year and we look on BBC programmes Celebrity at the 15 special events arranged to commemorate the anniversary. MasterChef and The Honourable Woman As usual, Upbeat brings you all the news from around the RCM, including the College’s starring role in BBC One’s Celebrity MasterChef, and the establishment of the John Barry 10 Woodhouse 15 Scholarship for Film Composition. Find out about all the events that have been held this year We’re always keen to hear from students past and present so if you have anything you’d to celebrate the Woodhouse like us to feature in the next issue of Upbeat, please send your news and pictures to Professional Development Centre’s [email protected] by Monday 12 January. 15th birthday NB: Please note that we cannot guarantee to include everything we receive and that we reserve the right to edit submissions. 12 Working in Music Five recent RCM graduates tell us all about their experiences in the Upbeat online music world and how they carved Did you know that Upbeat is available to read online at www.rcm.ac.uk/upbeat out a career path for themselves If you’d prefer to read it in this way, do contact us at [email protected] and we’ll stop sending you a paper copy. If you’d like us to send you an email notification when Upbeat is published, let us know your email address too. 14 Meeting the supporters Upbeat meets Janie Orr, of Universal Music – supporter of the RCM’s Sparks Juniors programme 16 Student notes… Current student success stories 18 Staff notes… News from professorial, academic and administrative staff 20 Alumni notes… Updates from RCM graduates 22 Obituaries and births RCM cellist Jo Dee Yeoh taking part in a masterclass in the RCM’s Britten Theatre with Julian Lloyd Webber in October Front cover – RCM Sparks workshop © Sheila Burnett Inside front cover – Images from the RCM International Opera School’s production of ‘La Gazzetta’ Inside back cover – A selection of images from the 2014 RCM Alumni Reunion Benjamin Britten Piano Fellowship See page 6 for more details All photography © Chris Christodoulou 3 In the news... to create lunch dishes for 120 RCM RCM on the BBC students and staff – including the Director of the RCM Professor Colin The Royal College of Music has been Lawson. The programme also featured featured in two prime time BBC TV an interview with Professor Lawson and programmes. scenes filmed in the RCM Library, Parry The popular cookery competition Rooms, Studios, and Britten Theatre, Celebrity MasterChef and new BBC where vocal students were working drama The Honourable Woman were with Kasper Holten, Director of Opera both broadcast at 9.00pm on Thursday at the Royal Opera House. 3 July, and both featured scenes filmed at the RCM. At the same time on BBC Two, the RCM was the location for an important scene In BBC One’s Celebrity MasterChef, four in the first episode of The Honourable celebrities (Christopher Biggins, Charlie Woman, featuring Maggie Gyllenhaal. Boorman, Tina Hobley and Jason The episode showed Gyllenhaal’s Connery) took on a catering challenge character Nessa Stein attending a at the RCM. After a briefing from concert in the RCM’s Britten Theatre, MasterChef presenters John Torode with scenes filmed in the main entrance and Gregg Wallace in the Amaryllis of the RCM, the foyer and backstage Fleming Concert Hall, the celebrities of the Britten Theatre, and in the worked alongside chef Steve Robertson auditorium itself. Photo © Courtesy Shine Soho Shine © Courtesy Photo the hospital using an interactive map Announcing the on the app. In this way patients have RCM Live! begun creating a trail around paintings, Rhapsody App sculptures and installations, making The RCM has continued in its ground- progress every day. breaking series of online broadcasts via the RCM website. The artworks on the app have all been paired with newly composed pieces of In July the RCM broadcast the entire relaxing music, commissioned from 15 2014 Graduation Ceremony from emerging composers from across the UK, Holy Trinity Church, just opposite the selected from more than 250 applicants: RCM on Prince Consort Road. With Chloe Louise Potter, Amal Lad, Joseph students from more than 60 countries Currie, Mika Sawai, Juan Carlos Vasquez, graduating, it provided a unique Daniel Andreas Baboulene, Marcos opportunity for their families and Fernandez, Nick Pike, Soosan Lalavar, friends from all around the world to Katie Chatburn, Charlotte Harding, share the special day. Chris Williams, Isaac Ssebandeke, Chris Roe, and Tomas Challenger. Many of our broadcasts are now available to watch on the RCM These composers have worked with YouTube channel, including past The Royal College of Music has project ambassador Eric Whitacre and masterclasses with mezzo-soprano contributed to a brand new mobile project mentor William Mival (Head Sarah Connolly, award winning phone app which promises to improve of Composition at the RCM) to create violinist Nicola Benedetti and the treatment and rehabilitation of works inspired by both the artworks international star pianist Lang Lang. hospital patients. and physiotherapy at the hospital. Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity The musical element of the project Also available on YouTube are videos has launched the app as part of its new was delivered in partnership with showcasing various aspects of RCM arts in health project Rhapsody, which the RCM’s Woodhouse Professional life. You can witness RCM Concerto brings together music and visual arts into Development Centre, and all of the Competition winners Junnan Sun an interactive audio tour for the benefit 15 pieces of music were performed by and Christopher Mothersole prepare of hospital patients. RCM singers and instrumentalists, and for a performance of Mendelssohn’s recorded in the RCM Studios. Concert Piece for clarinet and basset Created with input from physiotherapists, horn, or watch composer Nicholas occupational therapists and digital media The app is available to download Moroz prepare for the premiere company imagineear, the app aims to from iTunes and Google Play. performance of his new work with the motivate patients in their rehabilitation. RCM Philharmonic. For example, instead of patients The project was supported using public practising their exercises along the same funding by the National Lottery through You can visit our YouTube channel at stretch of corridor, physiotherapists Arts Council England’s Grants for the Arts www.youtube.com/rcmlondon are inviting them to locate artwork in programme. 4 CMF and The Queen’s Birthday Honours YCAT Artists CBE for services to the financial and insurance services industries and voluntary service. Fellow RCM Council member Victoria Sharp – founder and Chief Executive of London Music Masters and Chairman of the London Philharmonic Orchestra – was awarded an OBE for services to music; so too was Janis Susskind, Managing Director of Boosey and Hawkes, who also served on the RCM Council. Honours were also given to two Several talented RCM musicians have Our warmest congratulations go out outstanding musicians who have given been selected as artists with the City to several individuals associated with memorable recent masterclasses at the Music Foundation and Young Classical the RCM whose achievements were RCM: soprano Susan Bullock, who was Artists Trust this year. recognised in the Queen’s Birthday made a CBE, and pianist András Schiff, Honours List. who received a knighthood. RCM pianists Samson Tsoy and Dinara Klinton, and the Foyle-Štšura Duo The RCM’s Deputy Chairman Jane Our congratulations to them, and to all (violin alumnus Michael Foyle and Barker (pictured) was awarded a of those honoured. doctoral pianist Maksim Štšura) have all been named as 2014 City Music Foundation (CMF) artists. Selected by reported that they were satisfied with a rigorous audition process judged by a National Student ‘the overall quality of the course’, while distinguished panel of judges, they follow the quality of RCM teaching came in the footsteps of RCM violinist Mari Survey Poll and folk group Tir Eolas, who were in for particular praise. The survey two of last year’s inaugural CMF artists. The Royal College of Music has excelled results revealed that 91% of students in the 2014 National Student Survey, were satisfied with ‘the teaching of the The City Music Foundation is one of achieving the joint highest figure across course’, the highest figure across all UK the UK’s newest music charities and all UK conservatoires. conservatoires. provides classical, jazz and folk musicians with expert mentoring, professional According to figures published by HEFCE * The percentage ‘satisfied’ is calculated by development skills and performance (the Higher Education Funding Council combining the ‘strongly agree’ and ‘mostly opportunities to help them build for England), 89%* of RCM students agree’ responses to questions on the survey.