Summer Festivals

With the nights getting longer and the sun shining (between the usual British downpours) summer is here. And as always at this time of year there are a raft of festivals to enjoy. Whether you are a fan of classical, rock and pop, opera, dance or folk music the explosion in the number of festivals in the UK over the past few years means that all tastes are catered for.

Britten Sinfonia performs in a number of festivals each year. Perhaps a highlight of recent years was last summers performance at Latitude. Although not performing at Latitude this year Britten Sinfonia are still hitting the festival circuit with a performance later this week at the Aldeburgh Festival, next month during the City of London Festival and also performances during the worlds famous BBC Proms and Glyndebourne.

The staff here at Britten Sinfonia will also be enjoying a variety of music at various events they’re planning on attending;

Will (Development Director) has just returned from Norway where he saw some events at the Bergen Jazz Festival including Gwilym Simcock who performed with Britten Sinfonia in April.

Hannah (Marketing & Development Assistant) will be going on tour with Leicestershire Chorale to the smallest city in the UK, St David’s. It sounds idyllic and she’s hoping the sun will shine gloriously for a week in July over this little Welsh city. The Chorale will be performing services at St David’s cathedral throughout the week and the tour culminates with a concert at the Fishguard International Festival. The Festival has been going for over 40 years and hosts a variety of events from 22 July to 2 August. Hannah is looking forward to a week of music making and a nice long walk or two along the Pembrokeshire coastline.

Rebecca (Finance Director) is really looking forward to the Cambridge Folk Festival, the lovely mixture of world folk music, sunshine (hopefully) and a cold beer. This year she is particularly looking forward to the showcase of Scottish folk performers, plus a young British band called Coco Lovers who Rebecca recently saw busking in the centre of Cambridge.

Hannah (Concerts Director) is excited about seeing the John Wilson Orchestra during this years BBC Proms. She saw his prom last year and can’t wait to hear his celebration of the music of Rogers and Hammerstein.

I will be attending the Ely Folk Festival and look forward to seeing the Oysterband again as well as discovering some new groups. I’ll also be trying to get along to a few proms and possibly the Secret Garden Party (a dance festival – but shhh - it’s a secret where it is) which I went too last year and danced the weekend away!

As you can see all of us are looking forward to discovering something new and unusual and Festivals are a great way to find that next favourite band or artist.

Claire (Marketing Director)

Creative Learning & Wordle

We’ve discovered a great new app for generating some lovely visuals regarding feedback we receive from our Creative Learning projects. Called Wordle it is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. And give a great visual representation of what participants thought of our projects.

To complement Britten Sinfonia's award-winning At Lunch series, the Creative Learning department has put on a number of workshops and projects designed to introduce young audiences to the repertoire. In association with the Wigmore Hall's Chamber Zone programme, we have held pre-concert workshops exploring Copland's Sextet and Ravel's Piano Trio, and visited Marlborough Primary School in Harrow to explore a new piece of music by Christian Mason. After they came to the concert, we asked the children at Marlborough to tell us what they thought of it and whether the workshop beforehand had helped them to understand the music better: Here is what the wordle cloud looks like from their feedback;



Workshop leader Rachel Leach and musicians from Britten Sinfonia also spent time with pupils at Witchford Village College near Ely and Handsworth Grammar School in Birmingham exploring the Copland Sextet. Here’s what the pupils from Witchford said;



You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

Give it a go - its great fun! www.wordle.net

Cancellations, Calamities and Forgotton Suitcases

It happens very rarely but sometimes a soloist or conductor has to pull out of a concert at the last minute. This is usually due to illness and this is exactly what happened to Britten Sinfonia last week.

We had a wonderful concert planned as part of the Brighton Festival with the exuberant and talented violinist Pekka Kuusisto. As usual with our concerts meticulous planning goes into each programme and for this performance Pekka and our artistic team had created an evening of music focussed upon the juxtaposition between Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Pekka was at the centre of this programme, as he would be not only the soloist but would also lead and direct the orchestra in the rest of the concert which was to feature music by Sibelius, Rautauvaara and a selection of duos for two violins by Bartok. After working with Pekka on our Britten in America tour with Mark Padmore the musicians were all very much looking forward to working with him again.

Then, a few days before the performance, our concerts director received a phone-call to say Pekka had strained his hand and may have to pull out of the concert. He really didn’t want to cancel and said he would make a final decision by the end of the following day. At this point heads were scratched and brains whirled into action as to what our Plan B might be. With Pekka being at the heart of this programme it wasn’t the case of just finding another soloist who could step in for one concerto but thinking more creatively of how we could retain the essence and style of Pekka’s performance and programming. Our concerts director spoke with Pekka as to whether he had any ideas and she also spoke to the leader of the orchestra, the inspirational Jackie Shave. A Plan B was formed, but with fingers-crossed that it wouldn’t be needed.

Then, on Tuesday our fears were confirmed. Pekka had seen a specialist who had recommended complete rest for his hand which meant no violin playing. Our Plan B swung into action. Back in October 2009 we had performed Eight Seasons at Norwich Theatre Royal as an opening to our regular series of concerts in Norwich. On that occasion four violinists from the orchestra played a season each from the Piazzolla and Vivaldi works. The concert was a huge success with the audience and as some of the same violinists were in the orchestra for the Brighton concert we thought we’d do the same again. However as Pekka would have led the rest of the programme our regular leader Jackie had not been booked for this concert and we really wanted her to be in charge. A few phone-calls, emails and texts later Jacqui had managed to change her diary around so that she could direct Britten Sinfonia for this project. This was incredible at such short notice and she even agreed to perform the 1st violin part of the Bartok duos having never played them before.

We then had to ask whether the violinists of the orchestra would take on the solo roles in the Vivaldi and Piazzolla. Jackie agreed to do one movement and Miranda Dale, Principal 2nd violin agreed to perform three pieces, some of which they had performed in Norwich back in October. Magnus Johnston, one of our principal players agreed to take on another movement and finally Warren Zelinski stepped up and said he would do the final three movements.

For the Bartok duos, Miranda, Magnus, Warren and another of our players Nicola Goldschieder agreed to be paired with Jackie. Another change was also made to the programme and instead of Sibelius the orchestra would perform Erik Sven Turr’s Passion-Action-Illusion which they previously had performed at the City of London Festival.


And then the concert day was with us. The musicians and staff travelled down to Brighton separately and arrived at St George’s Church, Kemptown for an afternoon rehearsal before the concert that evening. Upon arrival Jackie realised that she had left her suitcase containing her concert dress, music and other important apparel on the pavement in London as she was loading up her car (luckily it wasn’t her violin though…!). Once again, the orchestra pulled together – one of our first violinists offered Jackie a concert dress and our concerts director ran into Brighton centre to pick up some accessories for her.

The audience had all been informed of the change in soloist before arriving for the concert but as they entered the church you could tell there was a sense of anticipation and frisson in the air. The orchestra took to the stage and Jackie introduced the programme, explaining the circumstances for the changes and even told the audience about her forgotten suitcase. The concert was superb, the soloists each performed wonderfully and Jackie was her usual inspirational self. The audience were transfixed whilst the musicians performed but after the end of each work they burst into rapturous applause.

One member of the audience later commented;
“The ensemble dealt superbly with the loss of the soloist; one or two looked a little nervous before stepping forward but all performed wonderfully, the integrity of the programme (as Jackie put it) was maintained, and the variety of approaches in the Vivaldi made me listen more attentively than I sometimes do… in particular, the blend of superb musicianship with a informality and obvious enjoyment from the musicians was a refreshing change.. It helped to bring alive a programme that was – mostly – for me and my companion uncharted territory.”

We would like to thank each of the musicians particularly Jackie, Miranda, Magnus, Warren and Nicola for stepping in at the last moment and performing so wonderfully. And also wish Pekka a speedy recovery.

A View from a SinfoniaStudent on Work Experience

I was lucky enough to spend the first week of April away from my dissertation on a week of work experience with the Britten Sinfonia team. We had both brilliant sunshine and heavy rain in the same week, and the tasks I’ve helped with this week have been equally wide-ranging! The team here are all exceptionally helpful and friendly and told me about their different roles in the organisation in detail, Will Harris (Development Director) explained where the money comes from and who supports Britten Sinfonia; and Hannah Donat (Concerts Director) showed me where the money goes in her meticulous concert and recording budgets.

The internet is an incredibly important tool for all arts organisations these days, especially for an organisation like the Britten Sinfonia, which has regular concert series in three different cities and frequently tours the UK and abroad. The website is full of information about the orchestra and its concerts, as well as some interesting things like videos and, of course, this blog (which I’ve read several times on Facebook). On Tuesday I created web-friendly versions of the brilliant new publicity photos mentioned in the last blog entry. I then used these when updating the concerts page for the 2010/11 season.

Wednesday involved a lot of photocopying, as I helped Pippa (Concerts Administrator) with the library. We checked that there were no missing parts in the sets of hired music from this season’s concerts, and also took a record of the bowings in the front desk of the strings in case the same music was hired again. I then updated the OPAS database with all of this past season’s music. In the afternoon I sat in on the weekly Marketing meeting where Claire (Marketing Director) explained about the designs for the new season’s publicity material.

Thursday was the big day of the Britten Sinfonia and Polyphony concert in Trinity College Chapel with Carolyn Sampson. It was certainly a challenge loading the van with all of the music stands, lighting, staging, programmes, CDs and, of course, tea and biscuits for the performers’ rehearsal break. Hannah Perks (Marketing and Development Assistant) and I had to pack, unpack and repack a couple of times to make everything fit! Trinity Chapel was built in the sixteenth century and, as a soprano in Trinity Chapel Choir, I know how beautiful the building and its acoustic are. However, I’d never appreciated the effort it takes to set up all of those chairs! Brute strength is a definite requirement of this job, although Hannah Tucker (Orchestra Management) tells me that most of the venues already have seating in place…

The concert itself was fantastic and the audience clearly enjoyed the new works by Latvian composer Erik Essenvalds, who also gave an entertaining pre-performance interview. Carolyn Sampson was amazingly clear and forceful in Esenvalds Passion and Resurrection, and the percussion in Arvo Pärt was so atmospheric that we didn’t know if the concert had started or if it was chapel bells, but I have to say that my favourite item was Miranda Dale, Tom Gould and the Britten Sinfonia’s beautiful performance of the Bach double violin concerto. I joined the team of volunteer stewards to sell programmes, help people to their seats, and sell Britten Sinfonia CDs in the interval, and then helped put all of those chairs away again once the audience had left.

Because the new season will soon be on sale in Norwich, on Friday I wrote a letter to our regular subscribers there to let them know about the coming season’s concerts and the 20% discount and other offers that subscribers get. I helped to mail a letter to the Cambridge subscribers, inviting them to an interval drinks reception at the forthcoming Imogen Cooper concert at West Road, Cambridge. Finally, I helped Sophie (Creative Learning Director) come up with some Halloween names for all the events at the Family Music Day. Make sure you you ‘Come and Cackle’ with your ‘Little Spooks’ in October.

For the meantime it’s back to exams for me – but I’m looking forward to the At Lunch concert on 27th April where the Ravel Piano Trio will be perfect revision for my paper on Ravel!

Joanna Harries

All of us at Britten Sinfonia are extremely grateful to Joanna for all her hardwork during her work experience. Joanna is part of Britten Sinfonia's Sinfonia Student scheme - find out more about the scheme here.

Photographs

We’ve just uploaded the orchestra’s new publicity photos on to flickr! Take a look and let us know what you think.

Photographing an orchestra in an interesting way is always a challenge – trying to capture a live and dynamic ensemble is quite difficult with a static photo. You come up with an idea and then realise another orchestra has already done it or it dawns on you that it just won’t work.

For this set of images we worked with photographer Sussie Ahlburg. She’s photographed a number of soloists and ensembles in an engaging style. Firstly, we had a meeting with her to discuss what we wanted the new set of photos to convey and how we would be using them. At our meeting we realised the location for the photos was going to be key and set Sussie the challenge of finding somewhere that would be suitable. Sussie came back to us with some ideas and we settled on the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station. This is a fascinating industrial building tucked away in a corner of London. It is now used as an exhibition space and café/restaurant (they serve excellent coffee!) but still houses a lot of the machinery used when it was a power station.

Our next challenge was finding a date that the musicians could attend. We wanted a selection of players who represented the different sections of the orchestra. Britten Sinfonia is made up of a core group of freelance musicians and as with all freelancers it’s always difficult to get them in one place at the same time!

Eventually it all came together and late last year we congregated at Wapping Power Station. Once all the lights had been set, furniture moved and the make-up artists had done their work it was time to start the shoot. Sussie started with the smaller group photos and then on to the whole group. Sussie’s experience paid off as she worked fast to capture the smaller and whole group shots; standing around for even a short amount of time can lead to people looking bored in still shots. After these photos we then moved on to individual portraits of some members of the orchestra which will be great to use in programmes or online when they feature in a specific concert.


We’re all really pleased with the results of the photos and will be using them online, in print and for press purposes for the coming season. Hope you like them too!

Claire (Marketing Director)

Cambridge College Chapels

It’s been a while since we’ve blogged. Life at Britten Sinfonia has been pretty busy with lots of concerts and a massive amount of planning going on regarding our 2010/11 season – more news on that will follow in the next couple of months.

In the meantime we have a concert this weekend at King’s College Chapel as part of the Easter at King’s Festival and then next week a concert of Latvian choral music at Trinity College Chapel. As I was driving into work this morning it led me to thinking about the number of Cambridge college chapels we’ve performed in this season and what makes them such special performance spaces. I think it has something to do with their intimacy, as an audience member you feel very close to the performers on stage (if there is a stage). It’s not to say being an audience member is always the most comfortable experience – more than likely you have to sit on uncomfortable wooden chairs or pews (bring your own cushion if you don’t want a numb bum!) and sight-lines are often terrible leading to a bad neck. However the acoustics are generally superb and the vast array of music on offer in Cambridge College Chapels, either in the regular services or special concerts is amazing.

Perhaps the most iconic chapel in Cambridge is King’s College Chapel. With its famous gothic splendour the view from the backs is used on postcards, as a backdrop to many TV news interviews, and is also the venue for the Christmas Eve service, A Festival of Nine Lessons which is broadcast worldwide. The interior is indeed splendid with the largest fan vault ceiling in the world and some of the finest medieval stained glass. Britten Sinfonia has performed in the chapel many times and this Easter Saturday is joined by soprano Lucy Crowe for a concert of music by Arvo Pärt, Bach, Haydn and Mozart. There are still some tickets available.

Then on Thursday 8th April we move a down the road to Trinity College Chapel for a concert conducted by Stephen Layton and featuring the music of Latvian composer Eriks Esenvalds. The orchestra will be joined by choral group Polyphony for this performance. As these two concerts show, vocal music particularly flourishes in these spaces and all of the college chapels have associated choirs. In December we performed with Jesus College Choir in a Christmas concert of music by Benjamin Britten, and visitors to Cambridge are often welcome to attend evensong at the college chapels – a great way to experience these buildings in all their glory!

Claire (Marketing Director)

Creative Learning Bus(es)

Here in the Creative Learning Department it feels a little like we’ve been waiting for a bus. December and January were relatively calm – a few days at schools down in London, our annual Composers’ Workshop [with Nico Muhly] and our regular work at Cambridgeshire Pupil Referral Units, but by and large we’ve been in the office planning and preparing and watching February sail into view like the proverbial three buses that all come at once when you’ve been waiting for ages.

So on Monday 1 February, we were split three ways – quite a feat when you consider that there are only two of us in the department. Creative Learning Intern Nick Jukes spent the day in Witchford Village College, near Ely, for the conclusion of a project based on Aaron Copland’s Sextet. The aim of the project was for pupils in years 8 and 9 to discover more about minimalist techniques used by Copland, and to compose their own pieces in a similar style. In early January, Rachel Leach (workshop leader) worked alongside Joy Farrall and Miranda Dale (principal clarinet and principal 2nd violin respectively), using music, games and group activities to explain the theory behind Copland’s music. Between then and 1 February, students worked on their own pieces, and attended a concert at West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, to see Joy and Miranda playing the Copland sextet and (amongst others) a new piece by Nico Muhly. On our 2nd and final trip to the school, Rachel listened to the students’ pieces and spent the day developing and extending ideas through group discussion and performance.

Meanwhile I, along with oboist Emma Feilding and project leader Hannah Conway, journeyed to Norfolk to visit the lovely Browick Road Infant School in Wymondham (one of those wonderful English place names that is pronounced nothing like how it’s spelled – more like “Windam”, but why use one letter when three will do?).

Along with five other primary schools in the area, Browick Road is working with us on a project inspired by a children’s book about a character called Mr Big – a scary-looking gorilla who, despite his gentle persona, frightens off any potential friends. Finding his voice through music, his beautiful piano playing eventually charms his neighbours, until one day he receives a letter asking him to join a band, bringing fame and, more importantly, friends. The story is a gift to music making – from thumping gorilla footsteps to the sad and tender sound of lonely Mr Big’s tears as he watches other people enjoying themselves.

Hannah Conway has already led a training session for the teachers at the six schools, giving them plenty of ideas and resources to create music based on the story with their classes. The visit on Monday enabled us to see how they were all getting on, and help the children to develop their ideas further. With many primary schools lacking a music specialist on the staff – and music often a much-feared subject amongst teachers – projects like this one can be hugely helpful in demystifying the process of composition and showing that, as long as children are being creative and listening to each other and the sounds they are making, there’s no “right” or “wrong” way of doing it. Oh, and to continue with the bus theme, we also discovered that, when asked to mime being on a bus, most children did the traditional steam train action (arms shunting round, knees bobbing). Maybe with all the rail replacement services going around at the moment, it’s all getting a bit too confusing for young minds.

Finally workshop leader Simon Gunton and Britten Sinfonia flautist Sarah O’Flynn spent Monday afternoon at Romsey Mill in Cambridge, working with a small group of pupils from Ascham Road Pupil Referral Unit on writing and recording music. As that’s the bus that Nick and I both missed (so to speak) we will have to wait until we hear the results to find out what went on, but I’m sure that the pupils will have gained enormously from the opportunity to work so closely with such experienced musicians.

Looking ahead, there are plenty more Creative Learning projects to hop on to. We’ll be starting major new projects with two more providers of non-mainstream education in Cambridgeshire: Fenland Learning Centre and Hartford Student Support Centre, which both take pupils who are excluded from mainstream schools for medical, behavioural or other reasons. We’ve also got another visit to Handsworth Grammar School in Birmingham; the culmination of our Mr Big project in Norfolk; coaching / mentoring work with Orchestra Europa in London; and a masterclass at Krakow Academy of Music. So whether by bus, train, plane or (more usually, because - try as we might to be a green orchestra - carrying 30 percussion instruments on public transport attracts a bad back as well as some pretty strange looks) the Britten Sinfonia van, there will be a Creative Learning project coming to somewhere near you soon.

Sophie Dunn, Creative Learning Director