4 Behind the Scenes Guys & Dolls

6 Your latest School news and stories

12 Guildhall to the World Making a scene in Shanghai

14 Sir Simon Rattle to join Guildhall

18 Understanding Audiences

24 Postgraduate Certificate Teaching the Performers

26 The Interview Lily James

30 Then & Now Anthony Alderson

32 Class Notes

34 Recent Releases

36 In Memoriam

38 A Day in the Life Manu Delago

PLAYThe Guildhall School MagazineAutumn/Winter2015

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Editorial

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Rachel Dyson, Editor

Editorial Group

Deputy Head of Development (Alumni & Supporter Relations) Rachel Dyson

Head of Marketing & Communications Jo Hutchinson

Head of Development Duncan Barker

Marketing & Communications Officer Rosanna Chianta

Writer & Editorial ConsultantNicola Sinclair

Art Direction & DesignPentagram

Contact

Emaileditorial@gsmd.ac.uk

Twitter@guildhallschool

FacebookGuildhallSchoolAlumni

PostDevelopment & Alumni Relations OfficeGuildhall School of Music & DramaSilk Street, BarbicanLondon EC2Y 8DT

Photo Credits

Mikel Aramendia, BBC, Clive Barda, Disney, Alistair Muir, Mat Hennek, Rex Features, Daniel Shaked, Clive Totman

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PLAY talks to the talent behind 2015’s end-of year show, the ever-popular Guys and Dolls

Michael Haslam, Musical Director

Working as a Musical Director is like putting together all the pieces of a massive jigsaw, and at the end of it what you’re doing is helping to tell a story. I’ll take charge of all things musical, liaising with the sound department, choreography, lighting and the orchestra, respecting the musical score, working with the director and teaching the cast the solo and chorus music.

What’s fantastic here is that the cast are all actors – in the real world, directors don’t want the best singers; they want people who can act. It’s a treat to get to work with them just as they complete their training and begin their professional careers. I actually did my first musical as an assistant here in 1984 – that’s where my career in musical theatre started so I have a lot to thank Guildhall for.

Katrina McKeever, actor (played Miss Adelaide)

As an actor, Guys and Dolls is an absolute joy to work on. This isn’t a frivolous musical where the text is just padding before the big number at the end; the script and lyrics are incredible and the characters are fully formed with their own histories, desires, dreams and downfalls. The journey isn’t just in the songs and the music, but in having a story that you can

really sink your teeth into. The musical show helps us to develop really strong working relationships – and friendships – with people, and that’s so vital not only here at Guildhall but out in the professional world. That’s the way it is: you have to be able to pull together as a team to make the production work.

Bill Deamer, Choreographer

I started working with Guildhall in 1995 and come back every summer. It’s a unique school because it doesn’t have a complete dance training for musical theatre – students are trained in movement – so it’s my job to make an actor dance. People might ask ‘Why do a musical for the end of year show?’ but we’ve always done it that way. It brings together the whole school - actors musicians and stage management. Some years work better than others, but Guys and Dolls is one of the best productions I’ve done here for choreography. Many theatre critics and professionals will say it’s the best musical ever written and I’m inclined to agree, because the writing is genius and the score is light years ahead of its time. What really impressed me was the actors’ commitment to the dance routines – this is 15 years of style and dance training delivered in six weeks. And it just worked.

Jocelyn Robinson, Stage Manager

This was my second time working as a Stage Manager at Guildhall and it’s one of my favourites because there are so

many elements to juggle. Working on a musical you have two extra creatives, so as well as giving plenty of time to the actors you also need to pay attention to the Choreographer and the Musical Director. It gives you a taste of the kind of logistical challenges that can crop up. For example, for the performance of Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat the designer and choreographer each wanted a different kind of chair, and I had horrible visions of it collapsing mid-performance! That’s the good thing about having a props department on site, as they could quickly reinforce it to keep everyone happy.

Having completed my training I’m about to start work with Trafalgar Studios – it’s a daunting thought but my experience working ‘for real’ at Guildhall was incredibly valuable.

Luke Dale, actor (played Sky Masterson)

Performing in the is strange in terms of timing, because as people reach the end of their training they’re busy doing auditions and planning what comes next, yet at the same time you have to be completely committed to putting on this show. It was incredibly hard work but we had a great time, too. Working on Guys and Dolls was particularly rewarding because it’s such a rich musical and there are countless stories to draw on in developing your character. We’re really lucky at Guildhall to have technical theatre students providing their support, and they really help you to focus on what you’re doing as an actor. It’s sad to think that this was my last production at Guildhall – the final curtain call was pretty emotional!

BEHIND THE SCENES

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Gold Medals 2015The School’s highest accolades, the Gold Medal and Lutine Prize, were awarded to four outstanding students this year.

The Drama Gold Medal was awarded to actor Oscar Batterham. Oscar, whose roles in Guildhall productions included Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls and Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, left the School this summer to feature in Trevor Nunn’s The Wars of the Roses alongside Joely Richardson and Rufus Hound at Kingston’s The Rose Theatre.

Danish student Emilie Kaas Claesson took the Technical Theatre Gold Medal. While at Guildhall Emilie’s roles included Assistant Stage Manager for Napoli Milionaria and The Three Sisters, Stage Manager for autumn 2014’s Opera Scenes, and Costume Supervisor for True Dare Kiss. Emilie was also a nominee for The Association of Stage Managers 2015 National Student Stage Manager of the Year Award. She leaves Guildhall to work as Assistant Stage Manager for Welsh National Opera.

In May, the Gold Medal for Music was unusually awarded to two performers as joint winners: soprano Jennifer Witton and mezzo-soprano Marta Fontanals-Simmons. Jennifer, who

studies on the Opera Course with Sarah Pring, performed a selection of songs including Poulenc’s Fêtes Galantes with piano accompaniment from Ben-San Lau and Bellini’s ‘La Sonnambula – Ah! non credea mirarti…Ah! non giunge uman pensiero’ with the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dominic Wheeler. Marta, who is an Artist Diploma student training with Marilyn Rees, performed works including Britten’s ‘A Charm from A Charm of Lullabies’ with piano accompaniment from Timothy End and Rossini’s ‘La Cenerentola – Nacqui all’affanno…Non più mesta’ with the orchestra. Notably, Marta is the first recipient of the Gwen Catley Scholarship to win the Gold Medal; Gwen Catley herself won the Gold Medal in 1937.

And in Junior Guildhall, the Lutine Prize was won by 18-year-old Moldovan violinist Dan-Iulian Drutac, who studies with David Takeno. Dan-Iulian looks set to continue his Guildhall success story, having recently won a scholarship to commence his undergraduate degree at the School.

News Student success

Hitting the top note This year has seen a steady stream of Guildhall music students winning external prizes, competitions and auditions. Highlights include:

Violinist Savitri Grier was selected as a YCAT Artist for 2015. Savitri joins fellow Guildhall students and alumni Michael Petrov, Richard Uttley, Bartosz Woroch and the Trio Isimsiz on the prestigious YCAT artist roster.

Harpist Oliver Wass, Luba Tunnicliffe (viola) and Henry Roberts (flute), aka the Pelléas Ensemble, won First Prize in the first-ever British Harp Chamber Music Competition.

Doctoral student Elizabeth Ogonek was appointed Composer in Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, starting this September. Elizabeth will also take up a Lectureship in Composition at the Oberlin College, Ohio this autumn. Her new commission for the London Symphony Orchestra will be premiered by the LSO at the Barbican in March 2016, conducted by Francois-Xavier Roth.

BMus students James Garner (composer) and Anna Pool (director/librettist) were commissioned by English Touring Opera to create a new opera, Dust Child, which will tour the UK in 2016.

The Keyboard Department has witnessed a string of successes in major competitions, with Guildhall piano students awarded Overall Winner in the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artist Competition (all the finalists in the piano section were from Guildhall), 1st and 2nd Prize in the Dudley International Piano Competition, Gold Medal and First Prize in the Royal Overseas League Music Competition, 1st and 3rd Prize in the Christopher Duke Piano Competition and 1st and 2nd Prize in the Brant International Piano Competition.

Vincent Bruggeman from Vocal Studies won a prestigious Deutsche Bank Award, which includes £10,000 plus mentoring and support for his venture, Lyribox.com. Vincent is now joining the School’s Creative Entrepreneurs scheme for 2015-16 to further develop Lyribox, which is an online learning tool for classical singers.

Benjamin Appl (Opera Fellow) was selected for the BBC New Generation scheme this year, and next season will feature in the ECHO Rising Stars scheme, giving him recitals in major concert halls all over Europe.

Josep-Ramon Olivé, above, who is on the Opera Course, won the 1st Prize and the Audience Prize at this year’s Handel Singing Competition. A couple of weeks previously, he also won the Oxford Lieder 2015 Young Artist Platform with fellow Guildhall student Ben-San Lau.

Meanwhile, Raphaela Papadakis (Artist Diploma) took first prize in the Mozart Singing Competition.

And in September, Opera student Milan Siljanov won the Wigmore Hall Song Competition. Richard Morrison in The Times, in his review of the event, commented “the words ‘He’s the winner, no question’ formed themselves silently in my mind within ten seconds of [Milan] opening his mouth.”

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School news

Guildhall Centre for Young Musicians opens in Essex

This October, the doors opened on Guildhall’s third Centre for Young Musicians outside London.The Saffron Centre for Young Musicians will support young people throughout the area to progress in music education, with a bursary scheme on offer to promote access. The Saffron Centre will be based in the £10m concert venue Saffron Hall and supported by the Hall, neighbouring Saffron Walden County High and Essex Music Education Hub. The Saffron Centre joins Norfolk and Hestercombe (near Taunton, Somerset) as Guildhall’s third CYM outside London. All three follow the curriculum of the original London CYM, which was founded at Morley College in 1970. Over more than four decades, CYM has provided high quality progressive music training for talented children, many of whom have gone on to pursue careers in music. More than 420 young musicians aged 8 to 18 attend the Saturday Centre in London for 32 weeks of the school year, each following an individual programme of study across a range of genres from classical to jazz, gamelan, folk and music theatre.

The Saffron CYM will be headed up by professional trumpeter Kate Goatman. A Guildhall alumna and former teacher at Saffron Walden County High, Kate has a strong connection with both institutions. “This partnership precisely reflects the National Plan for Music Education’s commitment to collaborative working across the under 18 sector,” said Stephen Dagg, Director of the CYM. “The Guildhall School’s Young Artists Division now has a truly national reach and we are delighted to offer talented young musicians in the Saffron Walden area access to the same opportunities we are able to provide in London, Norwich and Taunton.”

School news

Director of Technical Theatre awarded prestigious fellowship Ben Sumner, Guildhall’s Director of Technical Theatre, has been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy. Ben is the only member of a specialist institution to feature on the list of 55 higher education staff receiving the prestigious award in 2015. Higher education institutions from across England, Wales and Northern Ireland nominate individuals whose teaching and support roles enhance the student learning experience. Ben’s varied career has included education, lighting design, production management, stage management, technical management and theatre administration. He first taught at Guildhall in 1987 and taught in Hong Kong and Perth, Australia, before returning to the School in 2007 as Director of Technical Theatre. “I am surprised and delighted to have been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship,” said Ben. “It genuinely wouldn’t have been possible without being made to look good by a fantastic, supportive and talented team of very dedicated staff who are an inspiration to our students.” Professor Stephanie Marshall, Chief Executive of the HEA, hailed the ‘outstanding achievement’ of the Fellows: “Each year when I read about our new National Teaching Fellows what stands out for me are the comments made by their students, who describe them as innovative, engaging, entertaining, genuine, and passionate about teaching. This year is no exception. The new 2015 National Teaching Fellows we honour today are truly deserving of the award.”

School news

Guildhall professor completes V&A residency Guildhall’s Professor of Viola da gamba, Liam Byrne, has recently completed a six-month Artist Residency at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. His work focused on various experimental relationships between musicians, audience, and space in the performance of baroque music, including a two-day project with students from the Guildhall Historical Performance department.

This year Liam has also collaborated on several major sound installation pieces exhibited at the V&A, the Metropolitan Museum in New York and in the Soundscapes special exhibit at the National Gallery, highlighting interesting possibilities for the role of musicians in arts venues.

School news

Guildhall inspires support with Beyond the Stage appeal

This summer saw the launch of the School’s first annual fundraising appeal: Guildhall Beyond the stage The campaign highlighted the extraordinary work of Guildhall staff and students away from the public eye, including its diverse and inspirational community activities in London and internationally.

The campaign struck a chord with alumni and supporters, who generously donated more than £25,000. Of those who gave, 35% had never made a donation to Guildhall before.

The funds will help to ensure that students continue to benefit from outstanding training and artistic opportunities, in world-class facilities. Last year, the School received around £2 million in donations, which created artistic opportunities across music, acting and technical theatre and ensured that 47% of our students received scholarship support.

“We’re thrilled with the results of our Guildhall Beyond the Stage appeal,” said Jennifer Slater, Regular Giving & Stewardship Officer. “The £25k raised will help us to continue to offer the highest standard of training to the next generation of actors, musicians and technicians and support our growing programme of outreach activities in London and further afield. We’re so proud of this aspect of life at Guildhall and it’s heartening to discover that our alumni and supporters are too – many had no idea that our students and staff undertake such inspiring work beyond the stage!” Read more at

gsmd.ac.uk/beyondthestage

School news

Take our online tourFancy a virtual walk around the Guildhall campus, or a trip down memory lane? Look no further than our new online tour.

The tour features video content placed alongside a campus map, and visitors can browse according to subject area or campus. With more than 40 brand new films presented by current and former Guildhall students, it’s a fascinating glimpse into life at Guildhall, and our impressive range of facilities.

Take a look for yourself at gsmd.ac.uk/online-tour/

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School news

Guildhall welcomes three new professors to department of Music

Three eminent musicians have been appointed professors in Guildhall’s highly regarded Music department. Pianist Julius Drake has been appointed Professor of Piano Accompaniment in the Keyboard department, and two LSO Principals join the Wind, Brass and Percussion department: Gareth Davies as Professor of Flute and Dominic Morgan as Professor of Contra Bassoon.

Julius Drake, Professor of Piano Accompaniment Pianist Julius Drake specialises in chamber music and has worked with many of the world’s leading artists. Career highlights include performances at the Salzburg Music Festival, Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, La Scala and Châtelet and Musée de Louvre. He has also performed at Wigmore Hall and BBC Proms.

Julius Drake has recorded extensively, including a widely acclaimed series with Gerald Finley for Hyperion, which won the 2007, 2009 and 2011 Gramophone Awards. He recently embarked on a major project to record the complete songs of Franz Liszt for Hyperion: the second disc in the series, with Angelika Kirchschlager, won the BBC Music Magazine Award for 2012.

“I’m delighted to be joining the staff at the Guildhall School,” said Julius. “I have long admired the commitment here to song in its many disciplines, and I am looking forward to contributing in whatever way I can to the course’s continued excellence.”

Gareth Davies, Professor of FluteGareth Davies is Principal Flute of the London Symphony Orchestra and one of the most sought after flautists of his generation. A Guildhall alumnus, he was appointed Principal Flute in the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at the age of 23, shortly after graduating.

In 2000, Gareth was invited to become Principal Flute with the London Symphony Orchestra, where he has remained ever since. During his time there, he has played and recorded with many of the great conductors including Sir Colin Davis, Valery Gergiev, Sir Simon Rattle, Mariss Jansons, Bernard Haitink, André Previn, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Pierre Boulez.

He also works as a writer and presenter, writing regularly for the LSO and also for BBC Music Magazine, as well as presenting a series of pre-concert talks and interviews for the LSO.

Gareth commented: “It’s exactly 25 years ago that I began studying at Guildhall. Having moved in next door with the London Symphony Orchestra some time ago, I am delighted to be returning to the flute faculty as a member of staff. I’m particularly excited to be working with the flute students on the Orchestral Artistry specialism, and helping to develop the unique partnership between the LSO and the Guildhall.”

Dominic Morgan, Professor of Contra BassoonDominic Morgan is Principal Contra Bassoon of the London Symphony Orchestra. He began playing the bassoon at the age of 13 and graduated from Royal Northern College of Music. He joined the LSO in 1994, after playing for the English National Opera for nine years.

Dominic commented: “I’m delighted to be joining the Guildhall School staff and I’m looking forward to working with some very talented young players. It’s exciting to be in a position to strengthen the links between the Guildhall School and the LSO and to be able to pass on something of the long LSO tradition.”

Flashback

Christus Requiem, St Paul’s Cathedral , 1975

Patric Standford’s Christus Requiem was written for the Guildhall School. Hugh Barty-King wrote that the premiere in St Paul’s brought together

“the children’s choir, chamber choir, Graduate chorus, speakers, soloists, dancers and a large orchestra under the Great Dome; the huge cathedral was packed to the doors.”

Were you involved in this epic performance? What are your memories of the day?

We would love to hear your stories and see your photographs. Please get in touch (see contact details on p3).

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Opera bootcampGuildhall’s Resident Producer Martin Lloyd-Evans calls the Scenes element of our Opera course ‘bootcamp for singers’ because it’s designed to help singers get to grips with every element of their craft.

In the first year of the course, the students perform three sets of fully-staged operatic excerpts, before moving on to three full productions in their second year. The Scenes teach the students to put together music, drama and movement and incorporate it into what may become key roles they will sing over the course of their career. It’s a great opportunity to start to develop your professional portfolio while the support is there. Singing storytellersThis spring 2015 ‘Opera Scenes’ opened at Milton Court Studio Theatre on 25 March before transferring to the Shanghai Grand Theatre on 3 April. We had 12 singers and two repetiteurs performing 11 scenes that spanned the centuries, from Handel’s Ariodante to Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring.

It was a wonderfully diverse mix, including Poulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias; Mozart’s Così fan Tutte,

Mitridate and Don Giovanni; Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, and Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann. The programme was completed by excerpts from two Bellini operas – I Capuleti e I Montecchi and I Puritani – and Massenet’s Manon. We hope that the variety of composers, languages and styles helps the students to develop as ‘singing storytellers’. Working performersWhen performing excerpts in a workshop setting, directors will often try to pull everything together into a theme, for example by setting all the scenes in one place, such as a restaurant or an office. I thought about that but decided with our designer, Guildhall student Giulia Carisi, that we’d like the students to perform the scenes in a flexible setting, and for the singers to wear clothing from different periods, suitable to each scene.

Since many operas are updated to modern times, singers often don’t get the opportunity to perform in period costume, but it’s a worthwhile learning experience. For example, female singers will have to adapt their technique when dressed in a corset, and the men will learn to move differently on stage when wearing heavy riding boots. It reinforces the importance of movement and stage presence alongside vocal skill. It also introduces the logistical challenge of having to make quick costume changes between scenes, which is a useful insight into life as a working performer.

On the roadOur trip to Shanghai was a wonderful experience, like a mini tour. In addition to our singers and pianists we had seven stage management and technical theatre students, and they did a brilliant job adapting the production to a new venue. Our Production Manager, Matthew Holiday, has taken a number of performances to China, while Associate Producer Stuart Calder has experience touring

with rock bands, so he knows how to get people places! Their expertise was very helpful.

Opera is an international career and our singers will need to learn to adapt to all the travel, potential jet lag, language barriers, cultural differences and new venues. For example, the Milton Court Studio Theatre is a fantastic, intimate venue – it seats just 100 so the audience can see every moment on stage and our singers have to be fully immersed in the performance. By contrast, the Shanghai Grand Theatre seats 600. The performers learned how to adapt their movement to suit a larger stage and how to use their voices to best effect in a much bigger auditorium – they relished the opportunity to flex their singing muscles. Connecting with new audiencesOur performances in Shanghai were part of Guildhall’s ongoing cultural relationship with China, and 2015 is the UK-China Year of Cultural Exchange. Western opera is becoming more popular in China but the idea of scenes is fairly new, so we were excited to offer a ‘buffet’ of performances designed to introduce new audiences to the joys of opera. Both dates sold out quickly and Guildhall Principal, Professor Barry Ife, even reported seeing ticket touts outside the theatre!

The audience was diverse in age, with lots of families and young children, and they seemed curious, intrigued and open to what we were presenting. One interesting cultural difference was the amount of chatting that went on in the audience. They were much more expressive than a Western audience and willing to share their experience of the performance, even taking photos. Once they got used to the change, our singers really enjoyed this more informal atmosphere. Opera is for everyone so it was lovely to see so many people embracing something new.

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MAKING A SCENE IN SHANGHAI★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

This spring, Guildhall’s award-winning Opera department performed a series of ‘Opera Scenes’ to a sell-out audience in Shanghai. Director Victoria Newlyn tells all

GUILDHALL TO THE WORLD

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SIR SIMON RATTLE

TO JOIN GUILDHALL AS ARTIST-IN-ASSOCIATION

In 2017, world-leading conductor Sir Simon

Rattle will return to the UK with a goal that’s been a lifetime in the

making: to bring the joys of music to all.

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a challenging economic backdrop, and more recently with acting as a catalyst for the fruitful collaboration between the LSO, Barbican Centre and Guildhall. His radical vision for the Centre for Music, the proposed new concert hall in London, is to create a culturally diverse and accessible education centre for the whole community, breaking down financial and cultural barriers.

“Simon is self evidently as comfortable playing music with primary school children as he is conducting the Berlin Philharmonic,” he says. “He has this great saying, that he wants the entire nation to be exposed to an infection from which it never recovers – the infection of music. Make no mistake, Simon’s presence at the heart of this collaboration is not only one of the great moments in cultural history but will go down as a game changer for music in this country.”

Monster in the Maze

This July, Sir Simon Rattle led a very special performance to celebrate 25 years of the LSO music education and community programme, LSO Discovery. Sir Simon and the Orchestra shared the stage with 25 Guildhall students and 220 amateur singers aged 7–70, drawn from the LSO Community Choir and LSO Discover Choirs for children.

They performed the UK premiere of Jonathan Dove’s new children’s opera The Monster in the Maze. Described as “full blooded and passionate” in The Telegraph, the community production went down a storm, proving – said the paper – that “championing music education fires Rattle up as much as performance”.

On the same ticket but in a different vein was the performance of William Walton’s First Symphony, performed with what The Guardian called “pulsing energy” by nearly 60 Guildhall School musicians and LSO members under the baton of Sir Simon.

Sir Simon first conducted for the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) in 1977 at the tender age of 22. Four decades later, he will return to London as Music Director for the LSO and Artist-in-Association for the Guildhall School and Barbican Centre.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join up every element of our work,” says Sir Simon. “I am thrilled to become involved with this pioneering collaboration between a world-class orchestra, arts centre and conservatoire at the heart of one of the world’s greatest cultural cities. It gives us the chance to develop a unique offer of inspiring music for a new generation.”

Speaking to The Guardian, Sir Simon revealed he is thrilled to be ‘coming home’, and vowed to put education at the heart of his efforts. Plans are already in place for a series of cross-arts collaborations and special projects across the LSO, Barbican and Guildhall.

Initiatives include:

– A series of commissions by the Barbican for Rattle and the LSO when he becomes Music Director

– An annual series of semi-staged operas mounted jointly by the LSO and the Barbican, launched with Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande in January 2016

– A regular series of orchestral ‘side-by-side projects’ by the LSO and the Guildhall School, which launched in June with a performance of Walton’s First Symphony and Jonathan Dove’s Monster in the Maze– Championing the development of new Guildhall School postgraduate courses in conducting and choral training

– Championing the development of new Guildhall School postgraduate courses in conducting and choral training

– Supporting the role of singing with LSO Choral Director Simon Halsey

Guildhall Director of Music Jonathan Vaughan pulls no punches as to the legacy Sir Simon’s appointment could leave. “I truly believe that this will change the thinking of an entire generation,” he says. “Sir Simon has the qualities which make people think about who they are as musicians and as people. Music is not just about performance, but about life; it’s about being human and the responsibilities that go with that. Simon’s compassion and astounding musicianship are talents which are hard wired into him and combine in a way rarely seen. They make him the most extraordinary ambassador for music and its power to reach into people’s hearts.”

Jonathan recalls working with Sir Simon as an orchestral player very early in his career, and recognised even then his potential to become influential on a global scale. He credits Sir Simon with delivering the extraordinary Symphony Hall in Birmingham against

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From creating the world’s first ‘mindfulness opera’ to researching jazz-style improv sessions, Guildhall is shining a light on the nature of 21st century audiences. How can performers create a deeper relationship with their audience, and what does this mean for our concert halls? PLAY finds out

UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCES

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T his September, audiences flocked to LSO St Luke’s for a show like no other. A show that would introduce a gentle yoga session, blend opera performance with

meditation, weave music seamlessly into the atmosphere during a vegan feast, and even conclude with a communal dishwashing experience. This was art pushed to its limits, but with a very worthy cause: enriching our understanding of the relationship between audience and performance.

Entitled Lost in Thought, it was billed as the world’s first mindfulness opera, and co-produced by the Barbican and Mahogany Opera Group. Composer and Guildhall professor Rolf Hind, who came up with the concept and wrote the music, explains

“It was very important to me that the show honoured the form of a meditative retreat. I had an early idea to dramatise it all, but we decided it would be much more interesting to actually make it a retreat, because something very fundamental happens to people at a retreat. It changes how people perceive things. It allows their mind to be still enough to not judge things in the normal way.”

The audience maintains a silent, meditative state of mind throughout, suspending what Rolf calls the ‘critical mind’ and exploring the points of contact between sound and silence. The boundary between audience and performer is eroded, with mezzo-soprano Lore Lixenberg and a cast of seven musicians mingling with the small, 100-strong audience throughout. In a fun twist, the audience is tasked with washing their dishes during a period of communal performance. Rolf continues: “The piece starts with very simple musical objects to focus on – breathing sounds, the sound of one note – and people are really tuning

in, so when the music becomes more complicated they’re open to it. They’re really close to the players, which is a wonderful thing because they can physically feel the music and also have the chance to make it.”

“We’re stripping away the workings of the theatre to place the core of the drama in the audience’s imagination,” adds Director Frederic Wake-Walker.

Bridging the gapExperimental as the opera may be, it plays into a growing body of research that seeks to examine how audiences consume live performances. Guildhall and King’s College researchers were on hand during the Lost in Thought world premiere to gather thoughts and feedback from the audience, and a special symposium brought together a roundtable of mindfulness practitioners to discuss audience experience and engagement in the opera. Professor John Sloboda, Guildhall School research professor, explains that events such as these are critical in engaging new generations in classical music.

“What’s intriguing about Lost in Thought is the extent to which the audience is actively involved in the performance, effectively becoming part of the cast. Opera is often perceived as being traditional and stuffy, where people are expected to pay a lot of money to follow

certain rules about how to dress and how to behave. In Rolf Hind’s production the audience sits on the floor and the performance is very intimate. It’s a radical departure from traditional models.”

And Guildhall’s own substantial body of research suggests that a departure from tradition may be long overdue. The Understanding Audiences research strand – headed up by John as one of three key research themes at Guildhall – brings together a broad spectrum of work which aims to help performers, sponsors and teachers to better understand their audiences, influencing their future work. One of the underpinning motivations to this research is a worrying downward trend in audience numbers. Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that while 16% of 55-64 year olds have attended a classical concert, in the under 35 category this figure drops to just 5%. This compares to 90% attendance at films and pop concerts.

“We can’t blame this on the recession,” observes John. “People aren’t going out less – attendance levels at pop concerts, cinemas, art galleries and theatre productions are stable – but there’s been a big fall away in audiences for classical music, particularly in the young adult category. When I was young the average attendance age for a classical concert was 35, and it’s now 55.”

‘Creating a two-way relationship with the audience results in a richer experience’

A sense of eventIn a bid to understand the underlying cause of this disengagement, the Understanding Audiences team has undertaken a range of innovative musical experiments which break the mould of traditional performance. There were classical music recitals during which audience members were encouraged to get out of their seats and move. Gigs staged in a London jazz club to discover how performances change in more casual, intimate settings. Chamber music performances which saw musicians experiment with the lost art of classical improvisation. Each experiment took classical performance out of its ‘comfort zone’ to assess the impact on audience engagement.

For John, the message is clear. “Today, 95% of our experience of music is recorded, so a person will only be persuaded to part with their time and money for a live event that offers something really memorable and special. For contemporary

audiences, that’s not about sitting in silence, as passive consumers. Today’s audience wants to feel included and acknowledged as participants. They want a sense of event, of happening. The challenge is to make live musical performances more personal and build a richer relationship between the performers and the audience.”

The concept might sound somewhat opaque, but in fact Guildhall’s research pinpoints a number of small changes that have a big impact. In their 2012 paper What Classical Musicians Can Learn from Other Arts about Building Audiences, John Sloboda and Dr Biranda Ford found that new audiences responded much more positively when the musicians spoke directly to them from the stage, or mingled with the crowd after the performance. “To simply walk to the front of the stage, smile and say a few works about what this piece means to you can really help to create a deeper engagement with the audience,” says John. “Afterwards, we

can learn to listen to the elements people most enjoyed about a show. It’s common to do this in theatre but very much overlooked in classical music.”

Creative risksCritics of this approach warn that performers could become preoccupied by audience feedback, or performances could become increasingly populist. The graphic scenes of sexual violence in the Royal Opera’s production of William Tell this summer provoked outrage in the audience, which even resorted to heckling and booing. Yet while it caused offence to many, it also hit the headlines next day, provoking debate and challenging preconceptions both about the limitations of art and the role of opera.

Might an audience given too much power actually hamper creativity? Not so, says John. “Creating a two-way relationship with the audience results in a richer experience that informs the art and brings out the best in the

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Behind the scenes with Britten SinfoniaBritten Sinfonia is well known for its bold approach both to programming and performance, so why stop there? In 2014, the ensemble teamed up with Guildhall and the University of Cambridge in a bid to deliver a truly inspirational audience experience. Working across three concerts, the research team invited audience members to attend pre-concert talks and open rehearsals, and take part in post-concert discussions. Would this ‘behind the scenes’ experience enhance their appreciation of the production? The audience feedback suggests so…“Having listened to the rehearsals/behind the scenes, I felt more connected in some way. I loved hearing them discuss and talk about the process that went towards this concert. I felt like I was part of a journey.” “It made the performers seem more human in the sense of fallible and subject to variation and imperfection. This made the occasion of the concert feel more unique and special, and in fact I felt more empathy with the performers… and because of that more involved with the whole event.”

The study concluded with an idea: what if we treated the audience as companions on a creative journey?

Jamie’s ConcertsToday, Noriko Ogawa is an internationally renowned classical pianist and a Professor of Piano at Guildhall. Yet an experience from her first few years in the UK has

profoundly shaped Noriko’s career. On first arriving in the UK in the 1980s, Noriko lodged with a British family who had a child with severe autism, named Jamie. Noriko became acutely aware of the challenges faced by parents and carers of children with disabilities.

The seed of an idea was planted, and in 2004 Noriko launched the first in an international series of Jamie’s Concerts, held in partnership with the National Autistic Society. Designed to fit with the demanding lives of parents and carers, the concerts start at 11am and end well before the school day is over, enabling families to enjoy some musical respite while still being there to care for their children in the evening.

After the concerts Noriko serves tea and biscuits and the audience has a chance to talk in a relaxed atmosphere. Noriko has observed that music provides a therapeutic outlet that not only positively impacts on the wellbeing of parents and carers, but also has a knock-on effect on the wellbeing of the child. Guildhall is currently undertaking research to measure this particularly meaningful element of ‘Understanding Audiences’.

performer. It’s not about pandering to some glorified notion of market research, but about creating the best possible environment for the music. The audience makes or breaks live performances: you can’t give your best when people are shuffling their feet.”

John points to jazz as an illustration. “Jazz recitals tend to take place in more intimate, club surroundings, and there’s no green room – the performers stay and mingle with the audience. Jazz musicians are very highly attuned to what’s going on in the room, and they can rise to new heights when they sense the audience is buzzing. It gives them the confidence to take creative risks.” [Read Hang player Manu Delago’s take on this on p39].

A further example of this interactive relationship is the unconventional Night Shift series by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Guildhall researchers attended one of the Night Shift concerts, which staged Handel, concerti grossi and operatic arias in the unlikely setting of a trendy Hoxton nightclub. The £8 admission fee covered access to the club all evening as well as the one-hour orchestra performance, which was compered by an informal presenter who interviewed the performers about their musical instrument and tastes. “There was very much a party atmosphere,” says John. “Applause was frequent, vocal and enthusiastic, and was clearly buoying the performers up as well as the whole room. I felt I’d not only met Handel but also the performers, and I had met my fellow audience members in a quite unique way.”

This feedback is typical of the reaction to Night Shift. In a study by Sheffield University one audience member said:“It’s like we were completely a part of it… He was telling us: ‘This is how it is, this is how it will be, this is how I’m going to do it, and I hope you like it.’ I did love it, absolutely, it was great.”

Cultural evolutionIn both the jazz and nightclub examples, we see that, far from being a passive consumer, the audience has an empowering role to play in bringing out the best in the performer. John notes the historical context of this cultural shift, observing that while raucous audiences of the 18th century freely harangued the stars of the stage, since the 19th century the tradition has been one of respectful silence. “Classical musicians still have an embedded notion that their primary responsibility is to the composer, especially a revered dead composer! So a musician playing a Beethoven Sonata feels a responsibility to Beethoven, rather than to the people in the room. The audience, by turn, is expected to pay humble attention,” says John. “We’ve now almost come full circle as the relationship once again becomes less formal.”Indeed, as social media elevates the individual voice to a global market, it seems as though a more democratic and collaborative mood is sweeping through our cultural life.

“Guildhall is at the forefront of research into institutional evolution, which explores how institutions stay creative and renew their mission in the 21st century,” says Dr Cormac Newark, Head of Research.

“The sheer breadth of research at Guildhall, connecting us with numerous very different institutions outside academia, is fast becoming our USP, setting us apart from other conservatoires and university music departments.

“To give just a few examples, we’re one of relatively few institutions to offer a Music Therapy course, and now we have a partnership with a local NHS trust; we have forged strong research links with the Royal Opera House, most recently in the context of an AHRC-funded project on the history and future of the operatic canon; and we’ve recently announced a new doctoral research studentship in partnership with the Barbican.

“Our reputation is based on our pedagogical and practice-based research—which includes Drama, of course, and which draws on the rich environment of our School and our wider community generally—but we also work in the fields of music psychology, music and literature, and historical musicology, among others. Ultimately, research combines scientific enquiry with creativity, so, as a modern conservatoire, we could hardly be better placed.”

‘The audience makes or breaks live performance’

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They say that teaching is a vocation, but only when face-to-face with your students does the truth of that expression hit home. Teaching in the performing arts requires creativity and strong communication skills in addition to excellence in the craft of your discipline – skills that

Guildhall students are not short of – but, just like mastering a musical instrument, it also requires practice. Guildhall School’s new Postgraduate Certificate in Performance Teaching combines all these elements in an innovative course that is typical of the conservatoire’s approach to supporting artists in the realities of 21st century portfolio careers.

Having chosen a pathway of either Reflective Practice in Higher Education or Inclusive Learning, students on the course will take part in intensive workshops which offer practical experience and the opportunity to share expertise in a range of performing arts contexts. These sessions will give students experience of facilitating learning amongst a diverse range of groups, and support the development of personal reflective practice.

The course is supported by a team of world-renowned practitioners, researchers and guest presenters, who will develop students’ skills and knowledge in the fundamental principles of pedagogy, dynamics of learning, professional frameworks, teaching and facilitator approaches.

Of course, portfolio careers in the arts are highly individual, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to teaching performance. With this in mind, the course will enable students to develop their own personal pathways best suited to their career aspirations, with the help of an individual mentor. On completion, students will be well prepared for employment as an artist-teacher, either at Higher Education level, or in specialist performing arts schools and junior conservatoires, state and independent schools, community and lifelong learning, and inclusive learning programmes such as Sistema-inspired initiatives.

“We are delighted to extend our offering to postgraduate students with this new PGCert in Performance Teaching,” says Professor Helena Gaunt, Vice Principal and Director of Academic Affairs. “Led by an experienced, inter-disciplinary team, the educational philosophy of the course celebrates professionalism, international perspectives, creativity and innovation in performance teaching. Through practical learning underpinned by evidence-based research, it will provide a great depth of knowledge from which performing arts professionals can draw throughout their career.”

The programme is subject to validation.

Visit gsmd.ac.uk/perfteaching to find out more and apply online.

POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE

New postgraduate certificate at Guildhall will support creative

and reflective teaching styles for performing arts professionals.

Teaching the performers

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THE INTERVIEW

Lily James takes time out of a dizzying career to discuss her love of theatre, the people who keep

her grounded, and a long dark corridor that marked the beginning of it all.

C I N D E R E L L A I S H A V I N G

A B A L L

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Your career has taken off in a remarkable way since you graduated just five years ago. Is life as a professional actor all you hoped it would be? I don’t know what I expected. In a way you can never really prepare yourself for this. I’ve not had much time to stop and think about it all. It’s been so busy and I’ve had to adapt to that. But I’m very grateful that it has been so busy – I’d much rather have plenty of work than be waiting around for the next call.

Your portfolio is very diverse, including Disney’s Cinderella, TV dramas Downton Abbey and War and Peace, and, in 2016, horror comedy Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Kenneth Branagh’s Romeo and Juliet. Do you make a conscious effort to avoid typecasting and keep things fresh? Actually, up until now I’ve just been saying yes to good projects and scripts. It felt really good to accept a vastly different role, like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I’m trying to be brave and bold and to challenge myself rather than stick to playing the same type of character. In this line of work your time gets filled up so quickly that you really have to make the effort to do jobs that fulfil you. I remember Dominic West telling me during Othello that you return to theatre to feed your soul. Romeo and Juliet is such a treat for an actor. Ultimately, I just want to do really varied work, with great people, and to make the most of it.

You’ve spoken in the past about how your studies at Guildhall were a sanctuary for you. Have you found that acting offers a creative outlet?Guildhall is so all-encompassing, you’re in this little class of just 24 people and you have to be really present every day. There are so many texts and genres to learn, it demands all of your time and energy, and that’s a great release. I think to some extent all actors are just working out their own bullshit! But yes, I absolutely had the most wonderful time

at Guildhall. I loved the training, particularly the strong grounding in theatre, which was invaluable to me. I like the craft and the freedom of it. You feel totally uninhibited and lose yourself in the moment, and that’s intoxicating. Guildhall is still a great support to me – when filming started on War and Peace I went back to see Christian Burgess and just said ‘Help!’

Working on the set of Downton Abbey must feel like a bit of a Guildhall reunion... Yes! So many of the cast of Downton studied at Guildhall – Kevin Doyle, who plays Joseph Molesley, Lesley Nicol who plays Mrs Patmore and lots of others. Then of course there’s Lady Mary, Michelle Dockery. She’s been through it all and has been a wonderful friend and a great inspiration and support to me. She has such a great sense of humour and a great outlook on life.

It must have been strange with the success of Downton to become famous virtually overnight?Actually, I hardly ever get recognised – I’m really lucky. Recently I cut my hair off and dyed it brown so that’s made me even more invisible to the paparazzi. Every now and again I do get unwanted attention and it’s very annoying when it disrupts your ordinary life.

How do you deal with the media, for example the controversy about your slim waist in Cinderella?It’s the first time something like that has happened to me so I did find it hurtful, but I guess you have to develop a thick skin about it. I understood when I took on the role of Cinderella that I would be seen to some extent as a role model, and that’s fine, but it’s a complicated thing to get to grips with. Things like Instagram and Twitter mean that every little thing you say can have an impact on young people and that’s a big responsibility. I’m still trying to decide how I feel about it all. The comments about my weight were so silly, the media making headlines out of absolutely nothing. I’m lucky that I’ve never really had to think about my weight, but it’s

annoying that these kind of comments are only ever made about women. I try not to read the papers, even the reviews, because it makes you feel too vulnerable.

How do you stay grounded when your work and travel demands are so chaotic?You have to stay positive and focused on what matters – the character, the story, and working hard to realise that vision. I do sometimes find it hard to feel settled because I’m always on the move, so I find things that make me feel at home, and not like I’m blowing in the wind. My friends and family are key to that, and they help me keen a sense of perspective about what matters to me. I also enjoy reading and I recently took up a life drawing class – I stumbled into it and found that I was quite good at it! I think it’s important to keep your life varied and balanced.

Having experienced all you have so far, what advice would you offer to students at Guildhall now?Actually, I’d encourage them not to worry too much about making their way in the industry. It’s easy to become

preoccupied with worrying about leaving, and that’s counterproductive. Instead, try to be present in what you’re doing now. Enjoy every moment and allow yourself to be excited by it.

Do you have any particular fond memories from your time at Guildhall?So many – circus class with Ken, who was the most wonderful teacher; jumping across chairs in the pitch black as Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Seagull with Christian. It has an especially fond place in my heart as it’s where I first discovered what it’s like to fall in love with a character and really immerse yourself in the skin of someone else. I shared the role of Nina with Elenor Wyld and learned so much from watching her do all this magical stuff. Most of all, I remember the long corridor with no windows that was my whole life for two years. It sounds odd but we were all there together in this corridor, and it was like we were festering in our own energies and passions. The mood felt electric and you were constantly amazed by the people in your year, who you had grown to love.

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THEN & NOWAnthony Alderson (Stage Management, 1989) tracks his journey from stage-struck teenager to Director of the Pleasance Theatre, and explains why fortune favours the brave

M y first taste of theatre was as a singer in the Scottish Ballet production of the Nutcracker in 1980. As part of the cast I didn’t get to watch the performance

– instead I listened to the sounds of the dancers’ feet from backstage. I remember realising that the worlds on either side of that black line were totally different, and I was absolutely captivated.

From that point on I knew I wanted to work in theatre. When I was about 16 one of my teachers at Uppingham School left to set up the Pleasance Theatre, so I landed my first full time job there. At the time there were only two venues and about twenty shows at the Pleasance. It was a very small part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, compared to to the 23 venues and 250 shows that now fly under the famous Pleasance banner. The Pleasance now accounts for almost 25% of the tickets sold on the Fringe.

I did a bit of everything, working as a carpenter and welder literally building the sets every night – it was a brilliant apprenticeship. I developed a keen interest in scenery building and applied to Guildhall’s then two-year Stage Management diploma, attracted by their fantastic facilities in the centre of London. It was a totally different experience to school; a melting pot of actors, singers, musicians and technicians from every walk of life. For the first time I felt comfortable in my own skin.

What I loved about the course was its very practical nature. It gave you the skills you needed to put on a big show, and in first year you were immediately tasked with acting as Assistant Stage Manager on a production alongside second year students. I stage-managed a big opera directed by John Lloyd Davis. It was a huge responsibility and we were gifted with a great deal of freedom, coupled with an almost invisible safety net should anything go wrong. It gave me a true understanding of the workings of theatre and I knew that I would leave with the ability to go to any theatre, anywhere in the world, and know what I was doing.

The social experience was wonderful too, and I made a huge number of friends that I still have to this day. In fact, I married a girl who was in the year above me at Guildhall, and five of my three children’s godparents are alumni!

I have so many fond memories of labouring for hours in the basement working on a production, and have a particular affiliation with the workshop where I earned my craft. After graduation I worked as a set builder for a while, before feeling a pull to go to Africa. I spent a very interesting year selling spark plugs, building church pews and creating sets for the first Kenyan Festival in South Africa. In 1993/94 I ran the King’s School Theatre in Canterbury, before the travel bug bit again. I set off on a tour of Australia as Production Manager with Lady Chatterley’s Lover and followed that up with a world tour of Cheek By Jowl’s Much Ado About Nothing. It was during this time that it dawned on me that technical staff are usually the first to arrive and the last to leave. By then I had done loads of work in the West End, building big sets for some truly brilliant designers. I loved it but I was beginning to grow out of it. I wish I could point to some incredible moment of revelation, but really I decided that I wasn’t going to miss out on any more parties!

I got a start as a production co-ordinator on the world tour of Stomp for Glynis Henderson Productions, before working with Glynis as an Associate Producer from 1999. After five years I got a call that was to change my life for the better. My old teacher and Pleasance Theatre founder Christopher Richardson had decided to retire, and he asked me to

come back and take his place. It was an unbelievable responsibility, but I remembered a piece of advice that was first given to me by the Master Carpenter at Guildhall: never turn down a job due to inexperience, as there’s always someone you can call! I don’t have any regrets today because I’ve always accepted the challenges that come up and tried to grow into them. There are risks in everything, and the best response is to follow the thing you want to do.

I was appointed Deputy Director of the Pleasance Theatre in 2004 and my commitment to the challenge was immediately tested when I was tasked with opening and programming the 770-seater Grand with three weeks notice! I worked with Christopher for a year before he retired and will always be grateful to him for everything he taught me. I succeeded Christopher in 2005 and, 10 years later, I can’t imagine doing anything else. People who work in festivals generally aren’t motivated by commercial gain; they’re in it for the art. I love being at the beginning of so many amazing projects and careers, watching extraordinary pieces of work come to fruition. This is a kind and generous collection of people, and for me one of the most rewarding things about it is being able to help another generation of young people to get their ideas off the ground. You throw them in at the deep end and then somewhere along the line you see something click in them – it doesn’t get more rewarding than that.

Centre, Yehudi Menuhin School, National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and Live Music Now. This exciting commission follows the premiere last May of Oscar’s latest orchestral piece, Entfaltung, commissioned by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León. Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Salamanca Youth Orchestra (2011–2014) Oscar has recently been guest conductor with the Castilla y León Conservatoire’s New Music Ensemble (March, 2015). In 2013 Oscar was appointed professor of orchestration at the Royal Academy of Music.

Oliver Gerrish and Meeta Raval (Voice 2005)

“Last year we started an opera company called ‘New Georgian Opera’. The company aims to put on operas and galas in historic buildings, often to help save their fabric. I thought you might like to hear we set this up and have been best friends since meeting at GSMD in 2001. Our website is: newgeorgianopera.co.uk.”

Dr Timothy Hands (Violin/Voice 1980)Previously Master of Magdalen College School, Oxford, Dr Hands was appointed Headmaster of Winchester College from September 2016.

James Henshaw (Repetiteur 2013)James has been appointed Assistant Chorus Master at English Natural Opera. James was assistant conductor fellow at Guildhall during 2013/14 when he worked as chorus master on The Adventures of Pinocchio.

Sholto Kynoch (Piano 2005)Guildhall alumnus and pianist Sholto Kynoch is Artistic Director of the Oxford Lieder Festival, which won the Chamber Music and Song category at the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards in May. Sholto has now returned to Guildhall to offer coaching.

Nevena Pavlovic (Voice 2009) Nevena made her National Opera debut in Belgrade, Serbia, as Susanna in Marriage of Figaro.

Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour (Composition 2004)

Amir’s opera, The Doll Behind the Curtain, received its premiere in August at the Tete a Tete opera festival, the world largest chamber opera festival. Based on a short story by Sadegh Hedayat, The Doll Behind the Curtain is the first Iranian composed opera with a contemporary musical style. tafreshipour.com

Dr Raymond Yiu (Composition 2014)Raymond’s first BBC commission Symphony – for the counter-tenor Andrew Watts and the BBC Symphony Orchestra – received its world premiere to widespread critical acclaim on 25 August 2015, under the baton of Edward Gardner as part of the BBC Proms 2015. raymondyiu.com

DRAMA

Mark Baron (SMTT 2007) Mark has been appointed Production Director for leading creative agency Collider, where he will lead the production arms and oversee global brand projects and events. Previously a production manager for the creative agency Imagination, Mark has worked with global brands including Jaguar, Land Rover, Ford and MasterCard.

Maja Ehliar (TTA 2014) Maja has got a full time job as the

‘Biträdande Scenchef’ (Production Stage Manager) with the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm – one of the biggest theatres in Stockholm.

Susannah Fielding (Acting 2007) Susannah has won the 2015 Ian Charleson Award for outstanding performance in a classical role by an actor under the age of 30. Susannah won the first prize for her portrayal of Portia in The Merchant of Venice at the Almeida Theatre. The Ian

Charleson Awards were set up by the National Theatre and the Sunday Times in memory of the late stage and film actor, to celebrate the next generation of outstanding classical stage performers.

Sally George (Acting 1985) Guildhall alumna and actor Sally George shared the stage with her son in a new play entitled Positive at the Park Theatre. Written by Shaun Kitchener and directed by Harry Burton, the play offers a comedic take on HIV. Sally’s son Timothy George played the lead role while Sally, fittingly, played his mother. Sally has also recently completed filming Love Somehow, where she depicts Dylan Thomas’ wife Caitlin.

Ceri Hazelden (TTA 2013) and Jamie Robson (TTA 2012)

Ceri and Jamie were married on 11 July 2015.

Zak McClelland (TTA 2014)Zak has been appointed Technical and Stage Assistant for the LSO St Luke’s. Zak’s role has been specially created to help the LSO meet the increasing technical demands of its events at St Luke’s.

James Nelis (SMTT 1998) James has been awarded a Master of Education (in Education) degree with distinction by Ulster University.

Emma Rice (Acting 1988) Emma has been named as the new Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe. Currently the joint artistic director of Cornwall-based theatre company Kneehigh, Emma’s role with the Globe commences in April 2016.

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Christopher Austin (Composition 1992) Christopher won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Orchestration for the musical An American in Paris. Considered one of the UK’s foremost conductors, Christopher’s previous work in film includes The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse, and he has created arrangements for Alice in Wonderland for The Royal Ballet and Eau for Opera de Lille. Originally intending to be a composer, Christopher studied at Bristol University and Guildhall before embarking on a career as a conductor. He is currently a professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

Fiona Bennett (Piano 1983) and John Heritage (Trumpet 1982)

Fiona and John were married on Friday 24 July 2015. Having not seen one another since John graduated from Guildhall in 1982, John and Fiona became Facebook friends in 2010. They chatted from time to time but both assumed the other was married or had a partner. It was on 22 April this year (John’s birthday), they both realised the other was single and arranged to meet up. They chatted on the phone every day for a week and John visited Fiona in Newbury (his home town) on 28 April. He proposed the same night and Fiona accepted. Mr and Mrs Heritage spent their honeymoon in Malta, playing cornet with Bedford Town Band!

Rebecca ‘Bex’ Burch (Timpani & Percussion 2007) Percussionist Bex Burch has recently completed a successful UK tour with her band Vula Viel. The band includes

Bex, George Crowley, Dave De Rose, Dan Nicholls and Simon Roth. Bex was first introduced to African music by the Music Stage Manager at Guildhall, Bill Bannerman, who invited her to visit his native Ghana. The culture appealed to Bex, and she later visited again, this time on her own and staying for a year. Touring across 10 regions, Bex met the Dagaare tribe and with it Thomas Segkura, who taught her to make and play a xylophone (or gyil). Vula Viel

– which is Dagaare for Good is Good – expresses the ‘innate inspiration’ Bex discovered during her travels. During her tour Bex found UK audiences very receptive to the music, and she now plans to tour internationally and release an album.

Nell Catchpole (PCS 1996, Course Leader for MMus in Leadership) Musical director, collaborator, violinist and electronic musician Nell Catchpole has made her Royal Ballet debut as co-composer of the score for Hofesh Shechter’s Untouchable, part of the Spring 2015 programme. Nell’s previous work for the Royal Opera House includes the score for Kate Tempest’s award-winning Brand New Ancients.

Robert Chavner (Early Music Voice 1986) Father Robert Chavner, the Vicar of Brighton, has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London. Robert was born in South Shields and won a scholarship to Guildhall School, where he studied Early Music Voice. After graduation he embarked on a career as an opera singer which has spanned three decades. Nominated by the Worshipful Company of Musicians, Robert said he was “proud and honoured” to receive the freemanship, which he hopes will help raise the profile of his charity work, including St Clare’s Hospice in Jarrow, for which he is patron.

Oscar Colomina i Bosch (Composition 2006)Oscar has been commissioned by the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition to write the compulsory piece for its 2016 Junior Finals. The world leading competition will return to London in 2016 in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Music, Philharmonia Orchestra, Southbank

MUSIC

Class

Notes

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New WavesMax Mausen (Clarinet 2014) and Jason Anderson (Composition 2012)bandcamp

Andalusian FantasyLionel Sainsbury (Piano/Composition 1980)Navona Records

Modest Mussorgsky: Scenes from an ExhibitionPaul Lewis (Piano 1994)harmonia mundi

Return to the FireTim Garland (Saxophone 1989)Edition Records

Good Sad Happy BadMicachu & The ShapesMica Levi (Composition 2009), Raisa Khan (Electronic Music 2010) and Marc Pell (Electronic Music 2009)Rough Trade

Gavin Bryars: Tre Laude DolçeAudrey Riley (Cello 1983) with James WoodrowAR Records

BidlaAgnew McAllister Duo Aisling Agnew (Flute 2004) and Matthew McAllisterBaros Records

Silver KobaltManu Delago (Jazz Percussion 2008)Tru Thoughts

Cynthia’s RevelsThe Flautadors Recorder Quartet: C. Fleming (1997), C. Ireland (2003), M. Harrison (2007), I. Wilson (2000) with L. Chadburn (2001) First Hand Records

Iberian ColoursMaria Camahort QuintetM. Camahort (Guitar ’12), V. García (Violin ’11), L. Ruhí-Vidal (Opera ’15), S. Serra (Cello ’12) and P. DominguezConvivium Records

Light and ShadowsTom Poster (Piano 2004)Edition Classics

HedoniaBen Hayes (Electronic Music 2016)Independent

CDs

Recent Releases

Postcard to Bill EvansBruno Heinen (Piano Fellow 2008) and Kristian Borring (Jazz Guitar 2006)Babel Label

The Oldest Living Thing Fulvio Sigurtà (Jazz Trumpet 2005) CamJazz

Everest Dario Marianelli (Composition 1994)Varese Sarabande

The Argentinian AlbumAmsterdam Sinfonietta featuring Candida Thompson (Violin 1990)Channel Classics

Schumann: Das Paradies und die PeriLSO and Chorus with soloists including Sally Matthews (Opera 2000) and Kate Royal (Opera 2003)LSO Live

CHRIS WELLS: 3 BEAT featuring Charlie WoodChris Wells (Percussion 1990) ELECTRICO 18

The MartianHarry Gregson-Williams (Voice 1981)Columbia

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Maureen Guy 1932 – 2015 (Voice, 1957)

Born in Penclawdd, west of Swansea, as the youngest of six children to a coal miner, Ruth Maureen Guy won a scholarship to study at Guildhall in 1950 and left for London ‘burning with ambition’, she later told the BBC.

Happily Maureen had the talent to back up her ambition, a gift that did not go unnoticed at Guildhall. In 1955 she won the Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Silver Medal and made the finals of the Kathleen Ferrier Award, while her performance of the aria Inflammatus from Dvorák’s Stabat Mater won praise from reviewers.

By the early ‘60s Maureen was a regular soloist in London, and she became principal mezzo at the Royal Opera in 1963. Subsequent career highlights included singing at the investiture of the Prince of Wales in 1969, appearances at Sadler’s Wells and the Royal Opera, and regular performances at the Proms throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s.

After many years as a performer Maureen decided to focus on family life, and she subsequently spent many happy years teaching both privately and for the Welsh College of Music & Drama. Maureen retired from the Welsh College in 1998 but continued to give private lessons until two weeks before her death. Maureen is survived by her husband andtheir two sons.

Terence Kern1938 – 2015 (Piano/Conducting 1963)

Terence James Kern was a celebrated musician and conductor. It was – says his family – ‘a calling that would take him around the world’.

Terry was born in Swansea, Wales on March 14, 1938 to Clifford James and Doris Hilda Voyle Kern. After graduating from the University of Wales, Terry went on to study piano and conducting at the Guildhall School, where he won both the coveted Conducting Prize and the Kapsalis Memorial Cup in 1962, followed by the Dove Memorial Prize in 1963.

Terry began his career as Staff Conductor for the Sadler’s Wells Opera Company (now the English National Opera) and subsequently spent eight years as Music Director of the London Festival Ballet. During this time, he made major ballet recordings for EMI. In 1980, Terry became the Music Director for the Scottish Ballet and later for the Joffrey Ballet. While working with Joffrey, Terry conducted most of the leading symphony orchestras in the United States.

Renowned throughout the dance world, Terry travelled extensively as a freelance conductor, before joining Ballet West as Music Director and Principal Conductor in 1988. Writing in 2010, New York Times dance critic Alastair Macaulay described Terry as “one of the most expert ballet conductors in America.”

Terry passed away in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 30 April 2015 and is remembered as “a loving father, brother and friend.”

Roger Payne 1947 – 2015 (Trumpet 1967)

Hailing originally from Copthorne in Sussex, Roger Payne was a self-taught trumpeter who studied composition and trumpet at Guildhall School before going on to win a scholarship to complete his studies with Roger Delmotte in Paris.

So began a distinguished career as principal trumpet with the London Festival Ballet, London Philarmonic, Menuhin Festival and Welsh National Opera Orchestra. He then became principal trumpet and soloist with the Northern Sinfonia and remained in post for over 20 years. He became a professional brass band conductor and advisor, being highly successful in both local and national contesting with various bands across the country, eventually settling in the North East.

He was appointed Musical Director of the City of Oxford Orchestra, performing and broadcasting as a conductor and soloist. In 1990 he founded La Rejouissance, a virtuoso baroque trumpet ensemble performing the music of the 17th century – the vast majority of which he painstakingly reconstructed from the collections of Philador, the librarian of Louis XIV.

Ill health caused his retirement from the concert platform in 2008. Until his dying day his concentration focused on writing a book about the construction and harmonic language of Mozart’s Piano Concerti.

He died peacefully in his sleep in hospital after a series of battles with a variety of illnesses. He is survived by his second wife Sandra and two sons, Roger and Andrew.

Written by Roger Payne (son of the late Roger Payne)

Ronald Senator 1926 – 2015 (Professor of Composition, 1981–84)

Ronald Senator, was tragically killed in a house fire along with his wife on 30 April 2015.

In addition to his position at Guildhall, Roger served as a senior lecturer for London University for more than 20 years, from 1960–1981. A distinguished composer, he held a number of academic positions in his lifetime and was a founding member of the Montserrat Composers’ Association of Sacred Music and of the UK’s National Association of Music Theatre.

Roger is perhaps best known for his Holocaust Requiem, an oratorio based on children’s poems from Terezín, which premiered at Canterbury Cathedral in 1986 and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1990. His other works included six operas and musicals on texts by notable contemporary writers, and he was himself a prolific author. His book, The Gaia of Music – which describes his approach to music education – was the subject of two BBC documentaries.

Susan Sheridan 1947 – 2015 (Speech and Drama, 1969) An accomplished actress and voice artist, Susan Sheridan is perhaps best known as

the voice of Noddy in the BBC TV series. It was one of her many roles in children’s TV, voicing characters on Jimbo and the Jet Set, Moomin, The Family Ness and Animal Shelf. In 1992 she delivered such a convincing performance of Princess Eilonwy in Disney’s The Black Cauldron that producers sent a chaperone to meet her at the airport!

Susan was part of the original cast for BBC Radio 4’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio series, voicing the highly trained astrophysicist Trillian, a role she reprised 30 years later for a live touring show in 2008. In television she won roles in BBC’s Macbeth and Midsummer Murders, and her theatre work included a ground breaking production of Howl’s Moving Castle at Southwark Playhouse, The Beggars Opera with Barbara Windsor, The Country Wife and Midsummer Night’s Dream. Susan also fronted her own one-woman show, The Merry Wife of Wilton.

Known for her impeccable timing, Susan studied Speech and Drama at Guildhall, winning the Malvern Prize for comedy. Susan passed away on 8 August and is survived by her husband and their three daughters.

Michael Tubbs1936 – 2015(Conducting 1961)

Michael Tubbs, who has died aged 79, spent 40 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Michael joined the RSC as Deputy Music Director in 1967. He subsequently became Director of Music and also took care of the day-to-day running of the department. In the latter part of his career, he became Music Advisor. Michael’s wife Andrea wrote, “A true RSC man, he gave his heart and soul to the company.” Michael ran the music department for many years, booking players, helping composers, organising concerts and events, and performing on shows. In addition, he was a notable fast bowler and run-scorer for the RSC cricket team, which he captained in the 1970s. Michael was extraordinarily versatile musically, learning and playing unusual instruments, including the hurdy-gurdy, dulcimer and theremin, his favourite being the accordion. After leaving the RSC in 2007, Michael acted as Music Director for Alison Sutcliffe’s Bridge Theatre Company. He travelled extensively in Greece and learnt to read and speak Greek, passions he shared with his wife Andrea.Born in Harrow, north-west London, Michael went to Harrow school, after which he completed two years of national service as a lieutenant

with the Middlesex Regiment, based predominantly in Cyprus. He gained a music degree at Corpus Christi, Cambridge, and then studied conducting at the Guildhall School of Music in London before going on to the RSC. He is survived by his wife Andrea and his sister Ann.

In Memoriam

NOTICES

Peter Howell 1919 – 2015 Former director and Acting tutor

Stephen Gordon 1947 – 2014 (Acting 1968)

Colin Sauer 1924 – 2015 (Junior Exhibitioner)

Rainer Schuelien 1930 – 2015 (Flute 1955, Former professor of Flute)

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Atypical day for me really falls into one of two camps: on tour or not on tour. I spend roughly half of my life on tour and have played in 40 countries across every continent. It’s been a packed itinerary since my band, Manu Delago Handmade, signed with a new label and released our latest album. We did 41 shows in 49 days

this spring. The only way to survive a schedule like that is to keep things fun and to look after yourself – I don’t really go for the rock and roll lifestyle!

Generally my day on tour will start with a morning run before breakfast, then we set off for the next city. Sometimes we fly but more often than not it’s seven of us sharing a van. Luckily we’re all very close friends so we have a laugh along the way. We all come from Austria and have been playing together since my Guildhall days (Jazz Drums, 2007) some eight years ago. We all now live in different countries – UK, Switzerland, Germany and Austria – but still gel together well as a group. When I’m touring with other artists I meet all sorts of interesting new people but as part of a band it’s really important to have people I can count on, so it really helps that we’re friends.

When we’re on the road we all share the driving and often stop for some fresh air and a game of volleyball or Frisbee. Moving keeps you fit but it’s also really important for your mind. It can be tiring just sitting around and waiting, so we all try to keep active.

When we arrive at the venue we spend some time getting set up and doing the sound check. On tour with the band we usually do club shows to around 100-500 people. These are small, intimate venues so every detail counts, and people watch you very closely. It’s exciting to see how differently people react.

There are cultural differences too, and it’s really interesting to see our music spread worldwide. When we perform in South America there’s this immense energy and the crowd will cheer throughout a two-hour performance, whereas audiences in Japan are very quiet and don’t applaud much. Once you realise that’s their way of showing respect and attention you come to appreciate the beauty of that. The audience reaction is really important to me. I’m a composer as well as a performer so whenever I write music I imagine myself in the crowd and I know I want to hear something new and unusual. Particularly when performing with my own band, I have the confidence to try new things.

Working with global artists such as Bjork has really helped me develop as a performer too. You’re often playing to crowds of up to 60,000 people, and the sheer power of that creates an electrifying atmosphere. I’ve been a fan of Bjork since I was a teenager and it’s inspiring to work with her because she’s interested in every element of the show, from set design to acoustics to costume. I’ve learned not just to focus on the music but also the performance element.

Travelling across the world is a great opportunity to absorb new influences and meet interesting people. It’s a huge source of inspiration and as an artist I’m always hungry for new ideas, so I wouldn’t have it any other way. That being said, with so many shows to fit in you have to look after yourself. At the end of each performance I’ll go to the merchandise stand, talk to the crowd and occasionally go out for a drink, but I’m very disciplined and on most days insist on an early bedtime!

A DAY IN THE LIFE

Manu Delago

Internationally-acclaimed Hang player, percussionist and composer Manu Delago is no stranger to a life on the road. Here, he talks tough schedules and inspiring audiences – and shares the lessons he’s learned from Björk

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Wednesday 25 November, 7.30pmBarbican Hall

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra Michail Jurowski conductorJulian Clef piano

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 in C, Op. 15, Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 in E minor Op. 93

Friday 27 November, 7.30pmMilton Court Concert Hall

Guildhall Big BandDirected by Scott Stroman

Friday 27 November – Wednesday 2 DecemberSilk Street Theatre

Lulu Christian Burgess director

Thursday 14 January 2016, 7.30pmMilton Court Concert Hall

ALUMNI RECITAL SERIES: The Film & TV Music of Debbie Wiseman MBEGuildhall Chamber OrchestraDebbie Wiseman conductor

Friday 8 January, 6pm, Milton Court Concert HallWednesday 20 January 2016, 8pm, Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall

Guildhall Artists at Carnegie HallAvitri Grier violinStephen Williams clarinetJean-Sélim Abdelmoula piano

Programme to include Bartók’s Contrasts

Friday 19 February 2016, 7pmMilton Court Concert Hall

Guildhall String Ensemble Roberto González-Monjas director

Vasks Musica DolorosaHartmann Concerto Fùnebre, for violin and strings Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht

Monday 22, Wednesday 24, Friday 26, Monday 29 February 2016, 7pmSilk Street Theatre

Britten: The Rape of LucretiaDominic Wheeler conductorMartin Lloyd-Evans director

Thursday 17 March 2016, 7.30pmBarbican Hall

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra Takuo Yuasa conductor

Forthcoming events

The Guildhall School is provided by the City of London Corporation.

For full information and booking, visit gsmd.ac.uk/events