GUILDHALL SCHOOL news Spring/Summer 2009 Tasmin Little and life after The Naked Violin p4 Centre for Orchestra p6 Bring on the Hard Hats p10 Two Shakespearean Actors speak GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING/SUMMER 2009 1 . Forthcoming Events . Damn Yankees 30 June – 8 July Joe Boyd, a middle-aged fan of the ailing Washington Senators baseball team, sells his soul to the Devil for a chance to play for his favourite team. All goes well until the Devil comes to collect… Damn Yankees boasts a hilarious script and fabulous score, which includes ‘Goodbye Old Girl’, ‘You’ve Got to Have a Heart’, ‘Near to You’ and ‘Whatever Lola Wants’. Tuesday 7 July is the Guildhall School Summer Gala. Tickets are £65, which includes drinks reception, two-course supper with wine, entry to the performance of Damn Yankees and a programme. All proceeds will go towards the Scholarships Fund. The Marriage / La Cambiale di matrimonio (Martinů/Rossini) 3 June – 10 June Martinů’s one act opera was written in 1952 for NBC television. The libretto is based on the original play by Gogol and the music is humorous and witty, with many characterful ensembles. Rossini’s entertaining farce, dating from 1810, makes a fitting companion piece. New Music Festival 29 June – 3 July This year’s festival features music by the School’s Composer-in-Residence Julian Anderson alongside new works by composition students, and two exciting collaborations with the City of London Festival, whose theme this year focuses on seven international cities on or close to the 60˚N latitude. Junior Guildhall Lutine Prize 11 July Junior Guildhall’s most prestigious award, The Lutine Prize, holds its final at the end of the school year with a showcase of young talent. Previous winners include Thomas Adès, Tom Poster and Annabel Thwaite, and the standard of this year’s competition promises to be as exceptional as ever. Faculty Artist Series 29 October Martin Hathaway, saxophone 16 November Paul Archibald, trumpet 15 January Rinat Ibragimov, double bass . 2 ForGUILDHALL further SCHOOL information NEWS • SPRING/SUMMER about 2009 any Guildhall School event, please go to www.gsmd.ac.uk Contents Editorial 18 Building Connections FEATURES Report from the Reflective Welcome to the Spring/Summer issue of Conservatoire Conference 4 Centre For Orchestra Guildhall School News. You may notice a NEWS few changes, both in style and content, 4 HEFCE Grant for which we hope will meet with your approval. Barbican Campus Creating the world’s leading We would love to know what you think, so centre for performance, please write to us at [email protected] training and education in the with any feedback. 6 Hard Hat Prom Bringing performing arts Milton Court to life! 7 Recent Prizes In this issue we outline the latest developments 8 Ten Cheers for 9 Cardiff Singer of Guildhall Opera The the World The chosen in and around the ‘Barbican Campus’, opera department’s latest Guildhall Singers offering – The King Goes enabling the School, the LSO and the Barbican Forth to France 17 Junior Guildhall to join forces to create the Centre for Big Bassoon Day Orchestra (pp 4-5); two recent productions 27 Obituaries Two Shakespearean Actors (pp 10-11) and The King Goes Forth to France (pp 8-9) ALUMNI PAGES are examined from very different angles; and 21 Beethoven’s 9th at the Professor Barry Ife interviews Tasmin Little 10 Two Shakespearean Anvil and the Barbican Actors An interview in the first of a new series of interviews with with the two lead actors 22 Over to You Stories from Guildhall Alumni outstanding alumni. 12 Connect – Full Circle The Schools outreach 23 Alumni Spotting programme profiled The Alumni Pages (pp 21-25) include our 24 Class Notes Alumni news Over To You Class Notes 14 Tasmin Little regular and sections interviewed by Professor 25 Alumni Weddings along with details of reunions and a new Barry Ife about her latest projects 26 Reunions Recent and feature ‘What can you tell us about…?’. Coming Up For those of you who would like to receive more frequent alumni news, we have also launched an Alumni Ezine which will be emailed at least once a term (to subscribe, contact [email protected]). If you have anything you would like us to Editorial Group include in the Autumn/Winter issue, email your Rachel Dyson (Editor), Alumni Relations Manager news (and pictures) to us at editorial@gsmd. Deborah MacCallum, Director of Corporate & Student Services ac.uk by 1st July. Jo Hutchinson, Marketing & Communications Manager Duncan Barker, Head of Development Enjoy! Phylip Harries & Richard Grosse, Falconbury Ltd Rachel Dyson Editor Contact: [email protected] The Guildhall School (Please note, we cannot of Music & Drama is guarantee to include everything provided by the City of that we receive and we reserve London Corporation the right to edit submissions.) GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING/SUMMER 2009 3 News Barbican Centre for Orchestra: Campus A Major New he Guildhall School of Music & Drama has been awarded Initiative in T a major grant from the Higher Education Funding Council Orchestral for England (HEFCE) Strategic Development Fund to support the Training creation of the ‘Barbican Campus’. The grant will enable the Guildhall School, the Barbican Arts Centre and Centre for Orchestra is the London Symphony Orchestra to a major new initiative create the world’s leading centre for performance, training and education in orchestral training, in the performing arts. education and early career support for Specifically, the grant has been awarded to ensure effective delivery of the Guildhall “I am delighted young professional School’s new performance and teaching that HEFCE has musicians – led jointly by facilities at Milton Court, development of a agreed to support ‘common platform’ of shared services and the Guildhall School and this programme joint programmes between the three campus the London Symphony partners and initial three-year support for and look forward the Centre for Orchestra. to realising the Orchestra together with vision in the years The Barbican Campus is a unique collaboration the Barbican Centre. ahead.” between a leading conservatoire, an international Professor Barry Ife, arts centre and one of the world’s great Principal, Guildhall School orchestras. The submission to HEFCE promised the collaboration would: ‘ • sustain excellence, build audiences, increase the impact of the Campus’s work and make a fundamental difference to the lives of those it reaches locally, nationally and internationally • create powerful links between young people, emerging and established professional artists, diverse audiences, the creative industries and society at large • offer a model of large-scale, systematic artistic and institutional collaboration that will deliver significant benefits within and beyond the higher education and arts sectors. 4 GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING/SUMMER 2009 Unprecedented social and technological ‘The LSO believes this could A pilot year is already underway changes are transforming the landscape transform the orchestral profession with students benefiting from of classical music. The technology used in the UK and Europe… Across the regular coaching and sectional for recording as well as listening to three partner organisations we work with LSO players as well as music is continually evolving and the have the potential to bring some a mentoring programme of every range of leisure pursuits available, due of the world’s greatest artists and student partnered with a professional to the rapid expansion of personal and players together to nurture and player, masterclasses and orchestral home entertainment, mean that the shape the orchestra of the future.’ rehearsals with leading conductors challenge of attracting audiences to Kathryn McDowell, (such as Sir Colin Davis, Valery Gergiev, orchestral music has never been greater. Managing Director, LSO Daniel Harding, Pierre Boulez, James All of these changes present challenges MacMillan) and a string ensemble Centre for Orchestra will comprise a and opportunities for established led by Gordan Nikolitch. programme of postgraduate orchestral and aspiring players, conductors and training and development based Centre for Orchestra will also develop composers as well as the listeners around works that will be performed a range of research and development themselves. Centre for Orchestra within the LSO/Barbican season, and activities that amplify existing LSO, will provide a forum for orchestral including: Guildhall School and Barbican development in the 21st century. • study of existing orchestral initiatives and explore new ideas, repertoire and the art of playing making full use of the opportunities within a section presented by the connections and • advanced techniques for dealing technology available to the three with contemporary repertoire partner organisations. Key artists from What the the LSO and Barbican seasons will be • development of skills in devising involved in talks, lectures, webcasts and leading education and and video conferences; a range of musical community work new works for orchestra will be world has • alternative approaches to commissioned drawing in composers maintaining well-being as a from different musical genres and performer leading composers (such as Guildhall been needing • development of basic conducting professor Julian Anderson) will engage techniques and skills in practical research around the issue Sir Colin Davis • administration, promotional and of orchestration; and examination entrepreneurial skills for survival