Upbeat Spring 2013 - Royal College of Music

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10 Farewell to Peter After 22 years as Director of the RCM’s Junior Department, Peter Hewitt is leaving for new adventures abroad. He tells Upbeat his most poignant memories… How did you come to be Director of the RCM Junior Department? I’d been teaching music in schools for a number of years, latterly as a head of department in Hertfordshire. Then this opportunity arose at the College, and for some reason I got it. I’d always known of the Junior Department. Edmond Fivet was the Director then, before that it was Barbara Boissard and Michael Gough Matthews (later Director of the RCM), also Marjorie Humby and Angela Bull – an illustrious set of forbears! I like to think it was serendipity that landed me here. I came into the Junior Department on several Saturdays before I officially took up the position, just so I could see how it worked, and I remember being absolutely amazed by the quality of the teaching and the focus teachers gave to individual students. I like to think that is still a hallmark of what we do now. How has the Junior Department changed during your time as Director? The number of teaching staff has increased and the quality of teaching is at least as good as it’s ever been. The number of students is also buoyant and the overall level of applicant at audition is rising inexorably. We’ve introduced new instruments such as Jazz piano and Jazz saxophone and the curriculum has evolved too – there is now chamber music for all and a wider range of such ensembles, and choral singing is offered to everyone, something close to my heart. I’d say Musicianship – classes such as Improvisation, Composition and Practical Musicianship – has also really developed over recent years. We give increasingly careful guidance towards career pathways for students now too. I’m very proud that our students go off in many different directions. It’s our job to make sure their decision is as informed as possible and of course we’re delighted if they want to study at a conservatoire, particularly the RCM, but sometimes it’s appropriate for them to follow a different pathway. In my time, about 2,000 students have come through the Junior Department. And they’ve gone onto all sorts of careers and branches of music. Some of them have even returned to the JD as teachers. There is an incredible loyalty to the department and the College itself. What is it that makes the Junior Department so special? It’s that coming together of like-minded people, all wanting to make music together at a very high level, which on the whole they’re not able to do locally. There is a very warm family atmosphere here: the team and I know all the students very well, as we also know their teachers and their families, which makes for a wonderfully personal approach. I work very carefully to match new students with teachers. You try to address individual student needs and then find somebody who can best develop them. And people seem to sense that we focus on the person, not just the music making. I like to think of it as nurturing rounded and grounded people who just happen to be skilled creative musicians. I have to mention my fantastic admin team too – we have such short terms and they do a brilliant job packing everything in, making Saturdays as efficient as they can be. “Peter Hewitt was extremely kind to me during my time at RCMJD, as he was to a great many of my contemporaries. From a young age he encouraged me to develop as a composer, and the success of Saturday mornings owed much to his incredible energy and ability to enthuse and organise a myriad of teachers and students every week. Peter is a superlative musician himself, and would even occasionally step in and take rehearsals when tutors were indisposed.” – Tommy Hewitt Jones (no relation!), composer and RCMJD alumni 1996-2003 How well is Sparks Juniors, the JD’s outreach programme, working? I was closely involved, with Hayley Clements and Sue Sturrock, in setting up Sparks Juniors, since a key feature was how to integrate the students with the rest of the JD. And I think it’s worked very well – particularly through the choirs – and it’s been great to welcome them and their families into the community. It’s been going for four years now and they’ve really become part of the fabric. It’s great to see them all benefitting from belonging to such a marvellous institution. In the future, I’d like to see the graduates really coming through as skilled and full members of the JD. This hasn’t happened yet and it is a very ambitious wish, but that would be the ideal. It would be wonderful to be able to provide that quality of experience to much larger numbers, but we are constrained by the size of the building. How does the JD collaborate with other institutions? We’ve set up a number of collaborations over the years which have greatly benefited our students. Two I’m particularly proud of are Sound Moves and Living Song. Sound Moves is a project with young dancers from The Place, and is led by JD teachers David Sutton-Anderson and Avril Anderson. Composers from JD collaborate with young choreographers to create a piece which is then performed by fellow students both here at the RCM and at The Place. It’s been going for about 14 years and is just terrific.
Similarly Living Song, a collaboration with the English Folk Dance and Song Society, has been an eye-opener for everyone involved. The students go back to original source material, learning folksongs by ear, and then our composers produce their own versions, very much in the spirit of Vaughan Williams. I think a highlight of my time at RCM was a performance on stage by Sam Lee (nominated for the Mercury Prize last year) singing a folksong, barefooted, and holding the audience in the palm of his hands. The RCMJD chamber choir then performed the (very fine) newly composed versions of the songs. It was very special. I think that this cross fertilisation – whether it’s dance, folksong, jazz, early or world music – is part of what makes this place so exceptional. It’s opening up possibilities and freeing up the creative musical mind. What about your favourite JD moments? Well, recently JD students got to participate in the Thames Pageant – part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. I was on the boat with The Mayor’s Jubilee Band which was made up of players from all four London based Junior Departments, their associated boroughs and senior colleges. It was such fun, although we were soaked and freezing, and desperately disappointed not to be featured on the TV coverage! Also, opportunities like performing every piece from Bartók’s Mikrokosmos at the Southbank were special. It made such “I remember the first time I met Peter – he was walking down the steps of the Concert Hall and I guessed he was the new Director as he was the only adult not surrounded by children. I said to him he should get to work straight away and pointed him towards some parents to speak to. I remember he hesitated for a moment, but then got straight to it. He’s always been a very fair person to work with and a good listener. I particularly admire him for keeping up the tradition of singing – it’s such a fundamental skill and important part of developing as a rounded musician – and many young people simply don’t get the opportunity these days.”– Joan Hale, former RCMJD flute teacher The Mayor’s Jubilee Brass Band an impact on our students and it was also a great opportunity for them to collaborate with Senior College. I can’t help not mention the recent BBC Young Musician successes… but the JD has always been prominent in this competition, from Michael Collins onwards. There are too many prominent participants to mention! Peter with Lara Melda (BBC Young Musician 2010) Do you keep in touch with many JD alumni? Yes, and it’s fabulous to see names of former Juniors on orchestra lists, on stage, and in chamber groups. But not only in musical contexts – some are now sitting at board level at major institutions. The training we offer is fantastic and it sets them up for the rest of their life, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be in music. Let me mention two sisters who were at the JD before my time: one is now an extremely senior partner at a financial institution and the other a member of a leading orchestra. So it goes both ways, even within families. How will you remember the Junior Department? On one level it’s all a wonderful golden blur. On another level, one mentions a name and it sets up a chain of memories. But actually every Saturday is memorable. You see these kids bounding up the steps in the morning and dragging themselves out at the end of a very long day still with their eyes blazing. Anybody who works in education can’t fail to be inspired by that. If you are a Junior Department alumnus, or know of any former students who would be interested in staying in touch with the RCM, please email jd@rcm.ac.uk with current contact details. 11
Page 1: The Magazine for the Royal College
Page 4 and 5: 4 In the news... Soirée d’Or 201
Page 6 and 7: 6 In the news... Welcoming Professo
Page 8 and 9: 8 In the news... Kids take over the
Page 12 and 13: 12 Simulating and stimulating perfo
Page 14 and 15: 14 Meeting the supporters... David
Page 16 and 17: 16 Student notes Composition congra
Page 18 and 19: 18 Staff notes Guitar professor Car
Page 20 and 21: 20 Alumni notes Anna Rice Composer
Page 22: 22 Obituaries Sir Philip Ledger FRC

Upbeat Spring 2013 - Royal College of Music

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