Director of Music 22-26
The Wykehamist
Vale SRB
Director of Music 22-26
Four incredible years of music-making come to an end here. How do you feel?
I
have always had a real admiration for music at Winchester, ever since I first started working at the Cathedral all the way back in 1998. The outstanding people here have made the past few years feel like living life in technicolour rather than in black and white, not to mention it’ s such an incredibly exciting time in the life of the College, with the move to a co-educational sixth form. The day girls and boys have added so much to the orchestras and choirs and have, I think, refreshed the year groups— there are so many new faces and personalities around! You also observe certain things like random VIBkII unexpectedly taking up practising their instruments— take from that what you will, but changes are happening. We’ ve developed really solid foundations for this expansion, from simple things like refurbishing the classrooms and communal areas to starting new ensembles such as Chantry Choir, facilitating better communication between pupils and staff, building relationships with feeder schools and improving data collection and reporting systems.
Meanwhile, the number of people applying for music awards goes up every year, and that is one big metric for a music department— that people actually want to come here! We’ ve also managed to open up performance opportunities to a much greater range of pupils. Elite solo playing has always been really strong at the school, but instead of the same people appearing in ensemble after ensemble, school concerts now have some 170 different musicians playing in them. Just look at Concert Band— it’ s genuinely accessible to anyone who can make a sound on their instrument, whilst also boasting some of the best players in the school. Such vertical interaction is extremely rare in a school environment, and it’ s very special when it happens.
And then there are the highlights which are not seen in public, things that are small on the surface but really big for the pupils involved; for example, working through things for the better with a pupil on the cusp of giving up an instrument, or encouraging another to pick up music rather late in their school career. Other highlights are events like SongFest— there are the incredible singers, of course, but also plenty of pupils going through voice change, still prepared to stand up and sing in front of the crowd. When something goes wrong, people don’ t laugh— they support and admire their courage. I tend to think that if a pupil can do that, they can basically do anything in life.
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