This project took place in collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama from London in December 2004. All first year students of the PCC could take part, and the objective was to start the students’ Orientation on the Professional Field connected to their Personal Development Plan. By creating and performing an artistic product together and reflecting on its realisation, a first step towards the Personal Development Plan of the first year students was made. This was achieved by preparing a series of creative workshops together, to be executed in two venues not very common to perform for a musician. The audiences were not very common for a musician to perform for as well: a primary school ('De Linde', Haren) and a nursing home for elderly and disabled people ('Coendershof' in Groningen).
Project description 2004
A day to day report 2004
Summary and films
When starting professional music training, students start thinking about their future as a musician. Making choices starts with a personal development plan. It is critical to consider questions like: which role do I want to play in society as a musician? What is my strength? This kind of reflection, as well as artistic development, is very important. By creating and performing an artistic product (a composition) together and reflecting on its realisation, a start was made. A series of creative workshops was prepared and performed in two venues: a primary school and a nursing home for elderly and disabled people. The first year students were divided into four mixed groups, mixed concerning instruments as well as departments. Each group was supervized by one or two workshop leaders, namely students of the Guildhall School who just graduated in the postgraduate programme Professional Development. Each group also had a mentor from the PCC. For two days the students worked on their composition, alternated with moments of reflection and information (e.g. from the teacher of the primary school and an activities coach of the nursing home). On the third day two groups performed their work in the primary school, and the other two groups performed their work in the nursing home. The last day was used for evaluating the project.
The Walter Maas Huis made a video registration of the performances in in the primary school and in the nursing home.
Films of the performances
The first group that performed in De Linde, was lead by Jules Buckley (jazz composer) and Jo Wills (electronics).
Jules Buckley: "We started by passing a note to each other, through eye contact. This created connection and concentration. We then began to create a piece, which should be well structured and developed through ideas and suggestions of the students. We created a harmonic sound world and then fixed upon a groove that we felt could be included in the overall composition. We then established the main theme of the piece, by improvising around the given harmonic language. After we had settled the melody in agreement with all members of the ensemble, we began experimenting with small performances of the musical material we had collated. The concert to the children was, I felt, a celebration and a public evaluation of this process. It was an invaluable lesson to the students in not underestimating your audience!"
Performance in De Linde
This performance was lead by Nia Lynn (jazz singer) and Guy Wood (jazz percussionist).
Guy Wood: "Point of departure was that the work needed to be musically very challenging to the students and that we should consider our audience in the primary school. A written tune of Nia's was taken, two elements were drawn from it and used as cellular materials to ‘jam’ on. The students really took to the freedom we gave them with their ideas and the level of the group interaction and solo improvisation was outstanding. It did take a while for the students to feel comfortable and confident enough to strongly lead and direct the group when we placed them in that situation, but it was encouraging to see the support they gave each other."
What is the connection with the concept of Lifelong Learning?
The components artistic and reflective were elucidated in several ways: audiences, different contexts, different kinds of demands for communication playing a role in creating a composition and the way to perform it. Mentors and tutors were working together in a small group (shared leadership). The project was shaped together with people from the primary school and the nursing home, was lead, reflected on and evaluated together (widening the mentoring circles).
Performance in the Coendershof
The groups perfoming in Coendershof were lead by Lucy Forde (flute player), Luke Crookes (bassoon player ) and Mara Miribung (cellist).
During the preparation period the two groups regularly performed for each other and finally it was decided to connect their compositions into one piece, creating a musical bridge together. Both groups took the same old Dutch/Indonesian folk song as part of their musical material. Lucy Forde: "We talked about what elderly people might enjoy listening to: jazz, gentle music, music they could remember from their childhood. For our composition we took three starting points: a jazz standard, the folk song and some tonality developed from ‘gamelan sounds’." Luke Crookes: "At first the students could not see how to build a composition out of nothing. It was great to see their faces change in the workshop process, from "what is going on!" then hearing a full run of the piece standing on it’s own as a composition created by them, to ‘wow where did that come from, it sounds like a piece of music and it’s not bad either!" Mara Miribung: "The ‘division’between jazz/classical musician began to merge over the days and what seemed to be a barrier became a productive exchange, a mutual feeding of different musical ideas."
Workshopleader Sean Gregory
Sean Gregory is Head of Professional Development at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He works as a composer, performer and creative producer, leading collaborative arts projects for all ages and abilities. The innovative programmes he develops embrace a number of partnerships exploring ideas and approaches which aim to develop new modes of good practice in the field of creative and participatory music-making, fostering a shared understanding between people from different cultural backgrounds.
What takes place in a creative workshop?
What is the role of the workshopleader?
Reflective practice
Students' views and the final report of this project?
More information