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Workshops, Page 4

La Vittoria – Waterloo in music

Katrina Faulds has recently finished her PhD on dance and dance music in the English country house c. 1800.  She is also an accomplished performer on early pianos, and last week saw her presenting some of her research in sound: In November last year,  Dr Penelope Cave and I were offered the opportunity to perform a concert at Chawton House Library as part of the Music department’s regular collaborative series. Continue reading →

Cantores in Germany

Choral scholar Emma Bryant reports on a recent tour by the university's choral scholars, who travelled from home base at the ancient city centre church of St Michael's in Southampton to some equally wonderful venues in Germany: Over the Easter vacation Cantores Michaelis, the University of Southampton choral scholars, spent four days in the German town of Lüdenscheid and performed two concerts there and in the nearby town of Herford. Continue reading →

Composing waves

Undergraduate composer Bekah Withers has just finished a rewarding community music commission: Since December I have been lucky to be part of the Sound Waves project run by the d.@rt community art centre at Wildern School. The project was created to explore the relationship of science and music, and the resultant performance featured such a broad spectrum of music, ranging from pieces exploring literal sound waves, to pieces describing the soundscape of the coast (this is where I came in). Continue reading →

Finnissy and EXAUDI at the Wigmore Hall

Jeanice Brooks (Professor of Music) has been listening to a recent performance of work by Southampton colleagues and friends: Michael Finnissy's extraordinary Kelir for unaccompanied vocal ensemble was the highlight of a Wigmore Hall concert last Tuesday, broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Kelir (1981) is the word for a curtain used for the shadows in Javanese puppet theatre. Its text is in Javanese, and consists of a ritual formula declaimed before the play begins. Continue reading →

Ensemble Fractales in Southampton

A special guest blog from Hannah Reardon-Smith, the flautist in Ensemble Fractales, who recently visited Southampton as part of a collaborative project with some of our PhD composers: Ensemble Fractales from the MaNaMa contemporary music master course in Ghent, Belgium, recently had the opportunity to visit the University of Southampton to work with three of the young composers there. Continue reading →

Places of Remembrance

Among the activities during last month's Remembrance Day premiere weekend was a composition workshop with guests from the world-leading new music vocal ensemble, EXAUDI.  Mate Szigeti describes the pieces he and fellow postgraduate composers created: The rite of remembrance is always connected with a place. We remember at festive dinner tables, we remember in churches, as we do in public spaces designated for this purpose. Continue reading →

Experiencing music therapy

Sarah Hodkinson, our Lecturer in Music Therapy, describes a workshop that allowed students to gain valuable hands-on experience to complement their year 3 music therapy lectures: Music students Alice Charlton, Esme Phillips, and Panos Mathicolonis assisted me in a music therapy workshop at the University of Southampton Auditory Implant Service. The students are well aware of the significance of music. Music is not only something they study, it is central in their lives. Continue reading →

Extending theorbo players from the inside

Head of Early Music Liz Kenny has been getting out of her comfort zone, playing very new music for a very old instrument:  I use my instrument the theorbo – the largest of the lute family with an extra long neck – for many things: annoying people on crowded tube trains, confusing airlines, accompanying students, demonstrating continuo harmonies, playing with singers and baroque ensembles . . . and so on. Continue reading →

Congratulations

We are super proud of two of our Music colleagues who were recently honoured with awards for their outstanding service to the university.  The Vice Chancellor's Awards are presented annually to individuals who have made especially valuable contributions to the university community. Continue reading →

Summer break

After a couple of busy Open Days last weekend, we are going to close down the blog for the summer.  Congratulations to all our finalists and postgraduates who will be graduating next week - we will try to post a few pictures here after the ceremony.  And we will look forward to welcoming everyone back when the new term starts in the autumn.  Until then, happy summer from the staff and students in Music at Southampton. Continue reading →

A year in Baby SUSO

Emma Blundell and Tricia Mann (year 3) spent part of their final year as highly successful educational managers of the innovative Baby SUSO scheme.  Here's their report on how their work helped kids to participate in orchestral music: In 2010, Southampton University Symphony Orchestra's (SUSO) then President, Kat Hattersley, pioneered a pilot scheme called The Baby SUSO Project which aimed to bring orchestral music to children in local primary and secondary schools. Continue reading →

Interview with Laurence Crane

In the third and final of a series of interviews by postgraduate students with eminent composers who have come to visit us at Southampton Alex Glyde-Bates asks Laurence Crane some questions: Alexander Glyde-Bates (AGB): Your music seems to have more in common with the minimalist school of artists (Dan Flavin and Donald Judd) — a focus on letting unaltered objects simply exist as they are — rather than the process-driven musical minimalism of Reich, Riley or Glass. Continue reading →

Transatlantic thoughts

US scholar-performer Dr Vivian Montgomery reflects on her stay in Southampton during a Fulbright fellowship:  As I near the end of my time in the UK as a Fulbright Senior Scholar, I’m astonished by both how much has happened and how much more I could do with another 6 months. I came to Southampton in January after 5 days staying in Durham Castle for the Fulbright Forum. Continue reading →