Royal Philharmonic Society Magazine Winter 2023 by Royal Philharmonic Society

philharmonic THE MAGAZINE OF THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY

ROLL UP! The BBC Concert Orchestra invites the people of Great Yarmouth on a musical adventure...

WINTER 2023

WELCOME Welcome to the RPS Magazine, created especially for you, our Members, to thank you for your support. This issue, the voices of young people resound, from the Peckham teenagers who’ve won an RPS Award to the recipient of this year’s RPS Young Classical Writers Prize. We chart musical initiatives from East Anglia to the Highlands, and readers share their favourite new recordings of the year. As this edition goes to print, we’re also busy planning the next Royal Philharmonic Society Awards taking place on 5 March 2024 at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music. With tickets priced £10 to £25, we’d love you to join us for what The Sunday Times calls ‘the biggest night in UK classical music’.

As always, we love to hear from Members, so please do get in touch at members@philharmonicsociety.uk to let us know what within these pages has resonated with you. If you aren’t yet an RPS Member but find this magazine in your hands, please do consider joining: as an RPS Member, you can help the Royal Philharmonic Society – a registered charity – to support, celebrate and protect classical music and musicians nationwide. Please visit royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk for more details. With thanks and best wishes,

The RPS Team

CONTENTS Create Yarmouth

Legitimising a Genre

Speaking out through Music

Listen to This

Resounding Echoes

Revealing the Secret

A Day in the Life

Q&A with Alice Farnham

The BBC Concert Orchestra heads to Norfolk Meet Peckham’s RPS Award-winning teenagers

Disabled composers shine in a landmark initiative Lively Saturdays in central Manchester

Singing the praises of music for brass bands Readers share their favourite new recordings Travel back in time to the world of William Byrd

The inspirational conductor shares her passions

Cover: the BBC Concert Orchestra raising the roof of Great Yarmouth Hippodrome (photo: David Street)

Royal Philharmonic Society

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Registered Charity 213693 royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk

CREATE YARMOUTH Think of the BBC Proms and it’s likely that the Royal Albert Hall comes to mind. Whether it’s the queues of Promenaders on the Queen Elizabeth II Steps, the mosaic frieze adorning the exterior, or the acoustic ‘mushrooms’ under the domed ceiling, this iconic venue has become synonymous with the treasured festival. This summer, audiences in Derry, Gateshead, Aberystwyth, Dewsbury, Truro, Perth and Great Yarmouth also heard the BBC Proms live in their own share of landmark venues.

residencies in Great Yarmouth, produced by Orchestras Live. The Arts Council England-funded organisation works nationally to ensure that communities in under-served areas of the country have access to world-class orchestral experiences. For the last two years, the BBC Concert Orchestra has played a key role in Create Yarmouth, a sustained initiative designed to raise aspirations, provide learning pathways, and improve wellbeing through collaborations with world-class musicians and digital artists.

A strong sense of place and connection with the local community amplified the Prom at the Great Yarmouth Hippodrome – one of only two purposebuilt circus venues still in operation in the UK. The historic venue played host to conductor Anna-Maria Helsing and the BBC Concert Orchestra with a programme of orchestral favourites evoking both the Norfolk coastal town’s circus heritage and its intrinsic connection to the sea. This marked a key moment in a programme of orchestral

Describing the vision for Create Yarmouth, Sarah Derbyshire, Chief Executive of Orchestras Live, says ‘Orchestras Live and the BBC Concert Orchestra have collaborated over many years to produce some transformative work in a range of communities. The current three-year residency, part of our long-term Create Yarmouth strategy, has taken this work to a new level. The vision is to inspire and involve local young people and adults in discovering, creating, producing and performing

Wayne Pilgrim

music together. Not only does this bring profound enjoyment, it develops skills, broadens audiences for orchestral music, and contributes to the cultural infrastructure and living heritage of east Norfolk.’ The residency has become an important part of the BBC Concert Orchestra’s range of activity. The orchestra’s Director Bill Chandler adds ‘Create Yarmouth is a great example of how music can bring people together. Our musicians have been co-creating music in schools, working with young musicians to compose and perform their own work, often bringing a crucial first encounter with the creative power of music. This is not only important for the communities we serve but also adds a deeper sense of connection for our musicians, playing a vital role in lifechanging encounters and reminding them why they picked up their instruments in the first place.’ In a year when Create Yarmouth has reached and engaged with 4,500 people – including all eight primary schools in Great Yarmouth – the Prom created a unique atmosphere. Stravinsky’s Circus Polka, Khachaturian’s Masquerade and Andrea Tarrodi’s Festive Overture took flight in the magical surroundings of the Hippodrome, and Seascapes, a new commission from Norfolk-based composer Sarah Rodgers was a highlight for audience members:

‘I felt very lucky and privileged to be able to see this in my home town.’ ‘I brought my 40-strong community choir so they could experience a professional orchestra at first hand. It was a joy to hear Sarah Rodgers’ new piece.’ ‘My grandson with special needs was enthralled with his first classical concert.’ ‘Loved it! I brought my children (11 and 14) to the event and the experience of being so close to an orchestra in such an iconic building was really special.’ Upcoming plans for Create Yarmouth include continued engagement with under-served groups like the local Portuguese community, and multiple opportunities for young producers to take a greater role in delivering BBC activity. It’s a shining example of what can be achieved through the longstanding partnerships and local connections made by Orchestras Live and the BBC Concert Orchestra, developing new ways of working directly for the people and the place. 5

Mark Allan

Clockwise: rehearsing and performing The Endz in Peckham; receiving the RPS Impact Award at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in March; performing The Endz at the same venue this Autumn

Abov back musi

SPEAKING OUT THROUGH MUSIC For proof of music’s power, look no further than The Endz, a remarkable project led by young people in Peckham with the boundary-breaking Multi-Story Orchestra renowned (as their name hints) for performances in a former car park . It was an unforgettable moment when its young creators took to the stage of London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in March to receive their much deserved RPS Impact Award. As RPS Awards host and BBC Radio 3 presenter Hannah French said at that moment: ‘All of us in music have something to learn from The Endz. When local teenager Malcolm MideMadariola was killed, standing up for a friend in a knife fight, Multi-Story’s young participants wanted to make a piece to express their feelings, and their views on the injustices and inequalities they face. 6

Here is music helping a community to heal and be heard. Here we witness what energy, catharsis and unity come from giving people the opportunity to be part of the music.’ Fittingly, The Endz then came to the Queen Elizabeth Hall for two rousing performances this Autumn and, fuelled by its success, its young pioneers are busy creating new works. Here they tell their story… Imani says ‘The Endz has been the most remarkable experience: creative, vibrant and touching topics that needed to be spoken about, such as gang crime, black stereotypes, and institutional racism. It was incredible to be a part of this project alongside such amazing young people.’ Dupri says ‘This piece

ve: conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes a moment kstage before the performance; the swiftly-prepared sheet ic for the National Anthem

Pete Woodhead

teacher invited us to sing in a bigger choir for a project called The Endz. An opportunity to sing properly? Yes please. For the next few months, the Multi-Story team came into school each week and together we learned the songs which – spoiler alert – are really GOOD.’

was created in a classroom sparking from a conversation we had about how artists make pieces of music. For a few months in our music lessons, we spent time writing the lyrics and creating the music. Everyone in the classroom had a huge impact. Since then, we’ve developed the piece multiple times: removing songs, and adding new ones and monologue.’ Dilhan says ‘I joined Multi-Story early this year and the creative process is so interesting. We brainstorm ideas as a collective for each individual song, and from there we translate these ideas into chord progressions, melodies and lyrics.’ Carmen says ‘In Year 8, I joined the school choir, but it ended up being a one-time thing. In Year 9, my

Dupri continues ‘Since being a part of Multi-Story, I’ve been part of the creation of several new pieces, not only in the choir, but writing the songs, and getting to sing lead on some of them. I became one of Young Creatives, a scheme set up for the musicians who created The Endz and will now be an ongoing part of Multi-Story whose members change yearly.’ Carmen says ‘All I’d heard about the Young Creatives was that they wrote the shows’ songs. Not knowing much more about them made them seem all the more cool in my eyes. Given that songwriting had become my passion, imagine my excitement hearing that I was invited become a Young Creative myself.’ Daniel says ‘I first performed in The Endz in 2021 and it’s the reason I am now a Young Creative, so it holds a special place in my heart. Seeing it grow, watching it evolve and win awards has been an amazing journey. It was really a pleasure to perform it again at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. I can’t wait to see what’s next!’ Dupri concludes ‘For us to win an RPS Award for something that started so little is absolutely amazing to see. I am extremely proud of our accomplishments and how we have worked together to create such a powerful piece that has touched so many people.’ 7

RESOUNDING ECHOES Sunderland’s Ben Lunn has been part of this year’s RPS Composers programme, writing a trio for Sheffield’s Ensemble 360. He holds artistic positions with Drake Music Scotland and Hebrides Ensemble where he’s been Associate Artistic Director since 2017. An advocate for disabled musicians, Ben has led two pioneering projects: Diversions (2019) and Echoes (2022) which united a host of disabled composers, celebrated creative diversity, and won one of this year’s Scottish Awards for New Music. Here, Ben reflects on his work, and what’s next. Congratulations, Ben! How did Echoes come about, and what makes it unique? So, this is quite an epic tale as things I do gan. I’d been eager to do genuinely open, accessible concerts before collaborating with Hebrides Ensemble. All good ideas take time to come together, and the ultimate thrust came from a dual commission, writing a large work for Hebrides Ensemble and the Digital Orchestra (Drake Music Scotland’s disabled orchestra), and researching how to adapt performance settings. Unlike relaxed performances, which can feel like an extension of an accessible children’s concert, ours don’t have a creative ceiling. We’re still disabled over the age of 18 and need space to be ourselves without limitation. 18 disabled composers featured in Diversions and Echoes. Musically, this means everything from neo-romantics to microtonal madness, lots of funky tech, and much between. The core concern is to make the environment right, so you’re in a position to focus on the music. 8

After the success of Diversions, what were your goals for Echoes? We wanted to keep the core element of Diversions alive to show it wasn’t a fluke. I also wanted to showcase a different core group of disabled composers to demonstrate there are tons out there – we’re not some curious tiny club. We didn’t want to lose momentum, so had to make sure it was Covid-compliant too, but still as ambitious as we were with Diversions. Working with disabled people during Covid was particularly difficult because on the whole we were more at risk of it, and each person had to adapt differently. The result was a core quartet from the Digital Orchestra and a quartet from Hebrides Ensemble, blended throughout. With no conductor, people had to work closely together. The results were wonderful and some special friendships formed: I’m particularly thinking of the wonderful duo of Will Conway and Rhona Smith

Sandy Butler Alasdair Watson

Pictured: Ben (central) with Hebrides Ensemble’s Nick Zekulin and Drake Music Scotland’s Thursa Sanderson at the Scottish Awards for New Music; above: Rhona Smith and Will Conway performing in Echoes

on cello and digital harp brought together by Sarah Lianne Lewis’s music, as well as Chris Jacquin and Gordon Bragg who are doing more exciting projects together. How has this experience influenced your own music? Staging concerts is a lovely parallel to my own composing. I’m always looking to speak to people and highlight things that concern and reflect me, be it my North-East upbringing and the cultural history of that, my fondness for trade unionists, or seeing a development which I need to respond to. Putting on these projects means I’m practising what I preach: not just highlighting issues in society, but doing something which can challenge the existing order of things. The fact I’ve now commissioned the largest number of disabled composers in the world is testament to proactively fighting for something I believe in.

Sarah Lianne Lewis, who was one of our RPS Composers in 2022, adds ‘My work Ocean of Stars was written reflecting on my lived experience of M.E., and the brain-fog that’s present almost daily. Echoes was a special project where I was able to turn up, knowing I was fully supported, and focus my energy on composing, rather than spend portions of it navigating a challenging environment.’ Ben tells us plans are afoot to take this model to the Nordic countries and Kazakhstan, with a recording of new works by Sarah as well as Sonia Allori, Sorcha Pringle, Leon Clowes, Jo-Anne Cox and Elinor Rowlands due for release by NMC Recordings in 2024. You can meanwhile hear Ben’s new RPS string trio premiered by Ensemble 360 on Saturday 9 March 2024 at Upper Chapel, Sheffield. Please visit musicintheround.co.uk to find out more. 9

Tomi Edwards

LEGITIMISING A GENRE Each year, we invite young people aged 16 to 25 to share what they love about classical music, with the RPS Young Classical Writers Prize. This year’s guest judges – BBC Radio 3 presenter Donald McLeod and writer Leah Broad, author of the acclaimed new book Quartet – were wowed by the range of entries, and on our website you can find six they specially commended. Here is this year’s winning entry, by 20-year-old Oliver Picken who plays the trumpet, conducts, and studies music in Southampton. As the 150th anniversary of Gustav Holst’s birth approaches, Oliver invites us to look beyond the composer’s most famous works... 10

I owe most of my musical upbringing to brass bands. Yet it was only recently while playing in my university band that I was formally introduced to what could be considered one of the most significant works in the banding repertoire – Gustav Holst’s A Moorside Suite. I had heard of Moorside before, the piece is naturally more cherished in brass band circles than in the wider classical sphere. However my playthrough of this historic piece inspired

From left: Oliver; Holst’s statue in Cheltenham where he was born; Oliver playing in Southampton University

Molly Ellis

Brass Band for which he is also Assistant Conductor

me to investigate further into its landmark status, and how Moorside changed brass banding. At the peak of their popularity in the late 19th Century, brass bands formed a vital part of British musical identity. In contests, a band’s technical skill was applied to a set test piece, typically an arrangement of music from the orchestral repertoire like selections from an opera. For working class audiences, it was through brass bands, not orchestras, that they would hear the ‘art music’ of the day. It was not until the turn of the 20th Century that contest organisers would strive towards a distinct stylistic voice for banding. Attempts made by the committee of the National Championships to ‘woo’ conservatoire graduates were mostly unsuccessful, bar a handful of younger composers like Percy Fletcher, who penned Labour and Love for the 1913 Nationals. As Holst wrote extensively for youth orchestras throughout his life, it’s perhaps no surprise that he was the first English composer of serious pedigree to recognise the potential of the amateur brass band movement, with a new work for the 1928 Nationals.

Inspired by his affection for walking along the North York Moors, the suite explores modal harmony that was a hallmark of Holst’s later writing. In contrast to the likes of Fletcher, Holst was bold enough to venture far from simply a pastiche of the operatic selections of the past, writing a suite in three distinct movements and exploring the full range of tonal colour of a brass band. Holst’s writing draws on the bright sound of brass, from the brisk folk-like melody of the Scherzo, to the lyrical solo for the principal cornet in the Nocturne. From my own experience performing the work, there are clear technical hurdles for a band within Moorside. However, Holst moves away from the idea of test pieces as a technical challenge simply for flushing out the bands that cannot keep up, and instead tests musical expression over twiddle. Holst, satisfied from attending the 1928 contest, wrote that he heard ‘musicians, conducted by musicians’. With Moorside, Holst legitimised the brass band in the world of classical music by giving banding a voice. Today, while the banding movement has formed its own canon of esteemed composers of both concert works and test pieces, we celebrate works from contemporary orchestral composers like Gavin Higgins’ Concerto Grosso for Brass Band and Orchestra, recipient of the 2023 RPS Award for Large Scale Composition, that shine a light on banding just as Holst did 95 years ago.

A DAY IN THE LIFE... OF JUNIOR ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC On 5 March, we’re set to take the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards out of London for the first time: to the cultural powerhouse of Manchester. In a city bursting with musical activity, our RPS Awards venue – the Royal Northern College of Music – teems with creativity from dawn to dusk. It’s especially effervescent on a Saturday when every inch of the site is taken over with its Junior Programmes for bright young talents aged 8 to 18. New to the role of RNCM Head of Junior Programmes and quickly finding his feet, we invited Aled Tudor (pictured below right) to describe a typical day in the life of ‘JRNCM’… JRNCM is such a vibrant community of gifted young musicians who come together each Saturday to develop their talent with us. Our work is based on four core values: opportunity, balance, flexibility, and responsibility. In just one day, most students receive one hour of study on their principal instrument, 45 minutes on a second study, two 45 minute ‘academic’ music sessions (on such matters as theory, harmony, musicianship and improvisation), a chamber music session, and at least one large ensemble! Within this, each student follows their own bespoke programme agreed in discussion with me and reviewed and updated regularly. Lessons start from 8.15am and we finish at 4.30pm. Between those times, the whole place is a hive of activity, very much in 12

keeping with the hard-working ethic of our city! I’m fortunate to work with a team committed to providing fantastic educational opportunities and experiences for our young people, and some incredible people across the wider organisation, who unfailingly encourage and support all aspects of our Junior Programmes. A JRNCM Saturday is a joyous and rewarding day. Watching and hearing these wonderful musicians develop is a rare privilege. I arrive around 6.30am and my first job is to take music to the various ensemble rehearsal rooms. Fortunately, we have a fantastic team of porters who ensure all rooms are fully prepared for the day ahead. I then meet Euan (JRNCM’s Deputy Head of Junior Programmes) and we have a quick chat about auditions, examinations, changes to schedules, and anything else that could affect the smooth running of the day. Next are operational tasks that must be completed to ensure the safety and wellbeing of nearly 300 young musicians and give our exceptional team of tutors the ability to focus on what they do best, teach! Between 8am and 9am I have a much-needed coffee in the refectory, saying hello to staff (a mere 97 attend on a Saturday) and students as they arrive. I also use this time to share early plans. Last Saturday, I met with our composition tutors to discuss an exciting composition project – Thanks

Roscoe Rutter ey Robin Clewl

for the Memories – run in conjunction with a post-doctoral composer at the RNCM and an immunologist from Oxford University, and funded by the Wellcome Trust. Central to the ethos at Junior RNCM is performance, and every musician is encouraged to perform, so most Saturdays feature auditions, rehearsals and performances of some sort. I oversee all these, and they usually run from 9.15am until the early afternoon. The diverse backgrounds of our students mean we’re not elitist, but we always set high expectations and encourage excellence. I eat when I can and take the opportunity to talk to some of the young musicians. Then I visit all the large ensemble rehearsals, including our orchestras, brass band, vocal and percussion ensembles, big band and Young Artists groups. Through this I learn so much about the young musicians and develop my own knowledge too. By 5pm the students have all departed and we have a debriefing session to finish our day. I’m normally ready to leave for home by 6pm. A long day for sure, but the most continuously rewarding time for me! 13

LISTEN TO THIS As 2023 draws to a close, we invited a range of music-lovers, including some RPS Members, to share with us a recording released over the last year that’s really stayed with them, that for other music-lovers might just make an ideal festive gift. Of the many new recordings I’ve heard this year, The Unreleased Masters (Decca) of RPS Gold Medallist and soprano Jessye Norman in music by Wagner, Strauss, Haydn, Berlioz and Britten have given me the greatest pleasure. They’ve re-ignited my youthful passion for her artistry (I was lucky enough to hear her live several times in the 1980s), not least because the first disc of three offers substantial highlights from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Isolde was a role that Norman’s voice could have been written for. While her famed self-criticism blocked the release of this 1998 recording conducted by Kurt Masur, one remains puzzled by her anxieties for she brings to bear considerable vocal artistry, opulent tone and intelligence. No less gorgeous are the live accounts of Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder (the composer’s ‘rehearsal’ for Tristan) and Strauss’s Four Last Songs. Philip Reed, RPS Member 14

Every now and again, a recording comes along that simply exudes joy. Orazio Benevoli: Missa Tu Es Petrus (Coro) from vocal group I Fagiolini features multi-choir music from 17th-century Rome. The composers – Benevoli and Graziani – aren’t very well known, but it absolutely fizzes, especially with this glittering combination of solo voices and instruments. I Fagiolini set the trend for this sort of mixed texture with their ground-breaking recording of the Striggio 40-part mass and Tallis’s Spem in Alium (recently re-released) and it makes this kind of music sound really interesting and dynamic. I love listening to it on headphones – it never fails to make me smile from ear to ear! Kieran Cooper, RPS Member If you love new music or you’re simply curious to hear 20 brandnew works for orchestra, written by 20 exciting composers making a name for themselves in the UK, Sounds New (NMC Recordings) is sure to be on your wish-list. The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra marked its centenary by commissioning this collection of short orchestral works showcasing a vibrant range of contemporary voices. You’ll hear echoes of works you know among the fireworks, lyricism and evocative timbres. Personal highlights for me include Laurence Osborn’s The Biggest Thing I’ve Ever Squashed, Heloïse Werner’s crossings, and Liam Taylor-West’s Turning Points, but there’s much to enjoy in each fourminute snapshot. Harriet Wybor, RPS General Manager

Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No.3, recorded by John Wilson and Sinfonia of London (Chandos) has been my soundtrack to 2023. The music is glorious and the ensemble playing is superb, compelling, and immediate. Rachmaninoff hadn’t written a symphony in almost 30 years and there are the gorgeous lyrical themes, as well as the emotional punch we’d expect from his earlier works. But for me it’s the sense poignancy, deeply felt and beautifully conveyed in the rich string sound of the Sinfonia of London, that sets this piece apart. Listen out for the perfectly placed horn solo, accompanied by harp, followed by the utterly gorgeous solo violin at the beginning of the Adagio second movement. It is achingly beautiful… then the string section creeps in and it’s sublime. There is sparkle too. I love the opening bars of the final Allegro. They somersault from the speakers as though they are headline news. The opening of this movement was playing in my earbuds as I travelled by boat to visit Rachmaninoff’s home Villa Senar on Lake Lucerne this April. I will always associate the music with those glorious mountain views, crystalline waters, and an image of Rachmaninoff among family and friends before taking his swim on the lake. Marie-Claire Doris, RPS Member

‘It was a deep and humble pleasure performing Secret Byrd with Martin Randall Travel, in Byrd’s birthplace on the weekend of his 400th anniversary. Anniversaries should be leveraged to re-establish great artists and works from our history, not just play the hits, and this Byrd-athon felt like the perfect amount of depth and breadth. We hope it will remind the UK that one of its greatest artists was nearly lost by standing up to the state.’ Bill Barclay, Director, Secret Byrd Romey Kinsella from RPS Premier Corporate Member Martin Randall Travel accounts a unique occasion celebrating a musical giant whose work deserves to be heard more often. This July, Martin Randall Festivals joined forces with a stellar line up of ensembles to commemorate the quatercentenary of the death of William Byrd. The festival was designed to be a thorough, fitting tribute to one of Britain’s greatest musicians. It featured ten celebratory concerts in parish churches across the glorious Lincolnshire landscape, and of course at Lincoln Cathedral where Byrd was an organist and choir director for nine years. One of the most radical performances of the festival which, also featured The Tallis Scholars, Tenebrae, and the Lincoln Cathedral Choir, was Secret Byrd, masterminded by writer, composer and director Bill Barclay, and performed by The Gesualdo Six and Fretwork. Staged after dark in the entirely candlelit Church of St Peter in Eastgate, the concert was a portal to post-Reformation England and an invitation to reimagine the worship of a secret Catholic mass. 16

Welcomed in whispers by members of The Gesualdo Six, clad in full 17thcentury costume, the audience was offered cups of soup and wine while, stationed at the altar, Fretwork played Byrd’s consort music. A central table dressed for mass, formed the focus, around which the singers gathered. The space was arranged in such a way to inspire people to move around throughout the performance. The atmosphere was truly stirring with hushed murmurs of anticipation

REVEALING THE SECRET from the audience; a new experience for those used to the formality of seated concerts. This free movement paired with the music, atmosphere and ornamentation of the church drew participants irresistibly closer into the performance. Together the musicians and audience delved further into the emotionality and spirituality of the story being told by the music.

I would like to single out the immersive concert. It could so easily have become an exercise in pretentious campery, but it was imaginative and atmospheric and as a member of an old Catholic family I found it very poignant and moving.’ Elwes, attendee The experience was reflective and roused a heightened awareness of the prosecution that Byrd and many others faced for practising their beliefs. For those already very familiar with Byrd, this theatrical spectacle yet felt like discovering him anew, unlocking unexplored meaning in beloved works. For those previously unacquainted, like myself, it was an immersive, intimate introduction. The concert is touring currently, and I urge Byrd fanatics and novices alike to experience it for themselves.

‘From the moment I met with Bill Barclay, I knew we had something special on our hands. The idea of memorising the fivepart mass was daunting, but it’s been one of the most rewarding projects we’ve undertaken. We particularly enjoyed singing around a table, with musical partbooks on show, transporting both ourselves and the audience back in time. The atmosphere created by Fretwork’s intimate playing, with flickering candles and members of the public in whispered contemplation, was electric.’ Owain Park, Director, The Gesualdo Six

Pictured: The Gesualdo Six in Secret Byrd, and the church of St Peter in Eastgate, Lincoln

ALICE FARNHAM

Conductor Alice Farnham is the Founder and Artistic Director of the RPS Women Conductors programme. Through this, not to mention her multiple endeavours overseas, she’s helped over 500 women build their confidence and skill and further their dreams of conducting. As we write, she’s poised to lead new RPS courses in Cardiff, Gateshead and London. This year, The Daily Telegraph commended her for ‘doing more than anyone to change the face of conducting in the UK’. Also this year, she published her book In Good Hands: The Making of a Modern Conductor, vividly accounting her life in conducting and drawing on the insights and wisdom of a host of fellow conductors. It could be an inspired festive gift for musicloving friends or family.

Q&A with

Who was your childhood musical hero? I had two: trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and organist Gillian Weir. Tell us about an inspirational teacher. Graham Garton was Music Director at my secondary school and ran our chapel choir like a choir school. It was a huge commitment that drove the other teaching staff mad, taking us out of class for concert tours, cathedral evensongs, and the like. Yet we all performed well academically and were fiercely loyal forming friendships across year groups which remain to this day. What was the first classical performance you remember? I was 12 before I heard my first professional symphonic concert. It was the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Watford Town Hall, performing Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto with soloist Philip Fowke. It blew me away. What’s your proudest musical moment? I honestly can’t put it down to one moment. I’m proud that I have earned a living doing 18

Above: Alice; Wynton Marsalis; Dame Gillian Weir

what I love and have helped normalise the idea of women on the conducting podium. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever done in music? I conducted an open-air performance of Puccini’s opera Turandot (excerpts) in the open air in the Arctic Circle in February. It was minus 28 degrees and I wore and cloak from the Kiruna Ice Hotel with giant mittens! What’s your favourite piece to perform? The piece I am performing on any given day, but if I had to choose, another Puccini opera: La bohéme. If you weren’t a musician, what might you do instead? I would have loved to be an artist (oils on canvas), but I would get too lonely, so perhaps combine that with being a radio chat show host.

You can have two musical figures – living or dead – over for dinner. Whom do you invite, and why? Tchaikovsky and Ethel Smyth. They knew each other a little, so we could get down to proper conversation quickly. Tchaikovsky saw through Smyth’s bluster and recognised her sensitivity and loneliness. What is a dream piece of music that you haven’t yet performed? Definitely Belshazzar’s Feast by William Walton! If you could change one thing about classical music in the UK, what would it be? Free individual instrumental lessons for all children with a wide variety of instruments on offer.

Share one vital piece of advice for anyone studying music. Work extra hard on your weaknesses but embrace them as exciting challenges.

Below: Alice with participants on our RPS Women Conductors course at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music; right: Alice’s new book

CELEBRATING MUSIC AND PLACE

18–24 OCTOBER 2024

The south-east corner of Sicily is blessed with many delights, among them a number of gorgeous 18th- and 19th-century theatres. This festival presents five performances in a selection of these atmospheric buildings, all of which are located amid breathtakingly beautiful Baroque towns and cities. Stay throughout in historic Ortygia, one of the loveliest coastal towns in Italy.