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February 2016

Saxophone Masterclass

America saxophonist, Professor Jonathan Helton (pictured far right) visited Southampton on February 23. It was a fantastic morning full of saxophone talk and playing. Finalists Wayne Hau, Emily Cox and Laurence Astill and second-year student Hannah Brierley all performed for the masterclass. Following the class Dr. Helton and his duo partner, cellist Stephen Thomas played an exciting lunchtime concert of music for saxophone and cello. Continue reading →

Perfect Pianists

On Friday March 4th at 8pm on BBC 4, Professor David Owen Norris presents Perfect Pianists,Ā  a compilation of archive film of great pianists, including Benno Moiseiwitsch, Myra Hess, Artur Rubinstein, Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia - David filmed the links at the Cobbe Collection at Hatchlands, so youā€™ll hear him as well, playing Chopin on Chopinā€™s own Pleyel. Continue reading →

Sounds of the North

The Music department and Turner Sims are celebrating Norwegian musical culture with an array of fantastic events featuring visiting performers across the genres.Ā  Lecturer in Composition Ben Oliver reports on one of the first of the series: On Saturday I had the great pleasure to attend a concert at Turner SimsĀ featuring the Daniel Herskedal Trio with The University Strings. Continue reading →

Aesthetics, Athletics and Advertising

I always like going out to schools and colleges to meet sixth-formers and their teachers. Itā€™s usually amusing, informative and largely straightforward. Some sort of entertaining academic talk aimed at the 17 and 18 year olds, and an outline of what itā€™s like to study music at university, career prospects, and so on. I do quite a lot of them, and they usually go very smoothly: everyone has a good time. Continue reading →

Finnissy and Grieg for five

Don't miss a rare opportunity to hear Professor of Composition Michael Finnissy perform his own take on Grieg with the fantastic Kreutzer Quartet at Turner Sims on Monday 7 March, at 1pm.Ā  The concert will be followed by a composition workshop with the Kreutzers for Southampton undergraduate and postgraduate composers. Continue reading →

David Owen Norris learns a thing or two from Jane Austen

David Owen Norris is a pianist, composer, broadcaster, impresario, and Professor of Musical Performance at the University of Southampton. Always a pleasure to visit Chawton House, the home of Jane Austenā€™s brother, which now houses the International Library of Womenā€™s Writing. I had a meeting with the director, Dr Gillian Dow, to discuss ways to mark this year's 200th anniversary of the publication of Emma. Continue reading →

Bastien Terraz Concert

Bastien Terraz is a freelance double bass and electric bass player and teacher based in Southampton. He is a Southampton University music graduate (BA 2001, MA 2002) and has taught Jazz & Pop bass in the department since 2001. Iā€™ll be playing the Monday lunchtime concert on March 14th this year. Now, Iā€™ve done this about 5 or 6 times before, and whilst Iā€™ve led or co-led the band almost every time in the past, this time itā€™s going to be a little different. Continue reading →

Jon Gingell in Wonder.land

Jon Gingell teaches guitar at Southampton as well as working for the National Theatre and in many other high-profile freelance roles. Ā He is a Southampton Music graduate. I have been working as programmer and copyist at the National Theatre on the recent production of ā€˜Wonder.landā€™, a new musical based on Alice In Wonderland created by Rufus Norris, Moira Buffini and Damon Albarn. Continue reading →

Residency, reception and regions

Master's student Daisy Smeddle reports on the most recent Hartley Residency, a programme that brings leading scholars to Southampton to interact with our postgraduates and staff over several days:Ā  Professor Katharine Ellis from the University of Bristol is amongst the most esteemed musicologists of her generation. We were lucky enough to spend 2nd ā€“ 3rd of February exploring and discussing her current research fields with her. Continue reading →