Swavesey in C Full Evaluation

8/3/2019 Swavesey in C Full Evaluation

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Swavesey in C

Karen Thomas

Arts Development Manager

Swavesey and the surrounding area

Final performance by Britten Sinfonia with children and young people from Swavesey



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Introduction

Swavesey in C is a partnership project between Britten Sinfonia, Swavesey Village College

and StART. The aspiration for Swavesey in C was to encourage musical mentoring betweenthe children and young people of Swavesey Music School, Swavesey Village College and

the professional musicians of Britten Sinfonia. Children and young people took part in

inspiring workshops led by Fraser Trainer and Judith Kelly of Britten Sinfonia and developed

a performance of In C by Terry Riley, to mark the official opening of the new performing arts

venue at Swavesey Village College.

Background to the project

Britten Sinfonia

One of Europe’s most celebrated and innovative chamber orchestras, Britten Sinfonia is

praised for the quality of its performances and an intelligent approach to concert

programming that is centred around the development of its players. Unusually it does not

have a principal conductor or director but chooses to collaborate with a range of the finest

international guest artists from across the musical spectrum as suited to each particular

project.

Swavesey Music School

Swavesey Music School was established in 2009 by Audrey Caldwell, Director of Music at

Swavesey Village College. The Music School stemmed from conversations between,

students, music teachers and parents regarding the lack of opportunities for children toaccess quality music provision have opportunities to play together and to learn to appreciate

music from a young age. This led to the establishment of affordable introductions for music

for children aged 5 – 19 years on Saturdays at the local secondary school.

Swavesey Village College

Swavesey Village College has a strong reputation for performing arts and particularly for

music. The school offers many extra-curricular opportunities for young people to engage

with music including a girls chamber choir, boys barbershop, Folk group, string quartets,

drum groups and many more.

StART

StART is a network of Arts Development Managers based in rural South Cambridgeshire.

The Arts Development Managers work in partnership between South Cambridgeshire District

Council and the local Village College. The Swavesey Arts Development Manager works with

the communities of feeder villages to Swavesey Village College offering opportunities and

removing the barriers for engaging with the arts traditionally faced in rural areas.



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Swavesey and the new performing arts venue

Swavesey is situated to the north-west of Cambridge city but is rural and faces a number of

challenges, including transport issues, patches of deprivation, ever-decreasing opportunities

for young people and much more, all leading to rural isolation. Swavesey Village College

serves thirteen parishes which make up the Swavesey area. These are; Over, Longstanton,Bar Hill, Lolworth, Boxworth, Knapwell, Papworth Everard, Papworth St Agnes, Graveley,

Elsworth, Connington, Fen Drayton and Swavesey.

The Swavesey Venue is located at the heart of the village, at Swavesey Village College,

which holds true to its founders’ principals. The Village College is the hub of community,

providing enrichment and true life-long opportunities, opening its doors to the local

community to make full use of facilities.

The Swavesey Venue removes many of the barriers faced by the rural communities of South

Cambridgeshire in accessing quality arts provision. The Swavesey Venue provides a

welcoming social space for the community to cometogether and be inspired and entertained. The

venue delivers a varied programme of events and

activities allowing professional and amateur arts

events to take place in this developing area of

South Cambridgeshire.

The Swavesey Venue was opened by Dame Evelyn

Glennie on 15 October 2010 and its construction

and fit out funded by Cambridgeshire County

Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council,

Swavesey Village College, Arts Council England,

Garfield Weston Foundation and the generous

support of the local community.

Project Delivery

Swavesey In C was developed and delivered between July and October 2010; although a

short delivery period, its impact continues to be felt by all involved.

The project was delivered in developmental stages to reflect the development of the young

people and children involved.

Fraser Trainer of Britten Sinfonia led the delivery of the project. Fraser studied composition

at Huddersfield University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as a postgraduate

student, where he won the 1992 Lutoslawski Prize. He has four London Sinfonietta

commissions to his name and has established himself as a composer keen to communicate

with both performers and audiences through a vivid and direct musical language. Other

ensembles to have performed his music include the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC

Symphony Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, the Gürzenich Orchestra, the Malaysian

Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Athens Kamerata, The Scottish Ensemble,

Viva, Psappha, Kokoro and London Brass.

Dame Evelyn Glennie officially opens the new

Swavesey Venue



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Fraser leads a Saturday morning workshop with young mentors to support younger children.

From early discussions between Fraser Trainer and Audrey Caldwell, Director of Music at

Swavesey Village College, it was decided that Terry Riley's piece In C would be most

suitable as it can be played in a variety of ways which would suit the varying abilities of the

children and young people involved. In C is one of the seminal works of the late 20th

century. Premiered in 1964, it was the work that introduced the musical style now known as

Minimalism to a mainstream audience. Riley said of the piece that he wanted to writesomething for all his friends to play together, hence the flexibility of the material. Full of

repeating cells, insistent rhythms, and high energy, In C is a work that can also be endlessly

colourful. It is an "open score," meaning that it can be played by any combination of

instruments. Over the decades, it has been played by numerous ensembles including

percussion ensembles, guitar groups, a Chinese traditional orchestra, and a microtonal

band. It is also open to wide and creative interpretation meaning that every musician

involved can decide to play a particular fragment, move to the next one, rest, etc, whilst

keeping the insistent beat ever present in the background. All decisions are left in the hands

of the players.

Mentoring and skills sharing was a key element to this

project. Music students from Swavesey Music School

supported sessions at the Saturday morning

Swavesey Music School from the start of the

September term. The young people built strong

relationships with the children and were highly

supportive of their learning; giving them advice,

sharing their skills and inspiring them with their

passion. The aspiration for this is that the young

children will see the students being so enthused bymusic that they will continue to play their instruments

and have an active interest in music throughout their

teenage years and through to adulthood.

In turn, the young musicians from Swavesey Village College developed a strong rapport with

Fraser Trainer, Judith Kelly and the learning team from Britten Sinfonia. They built up their

confidence to find out more about being a professional musician, discovering their

inspirations, who their favourite musicians and composers are, asking what projects they

were working on, discovering that they might be in a school in Cambridgeshire one day and

then flying out to Abu Dhabi to perform the next etc. In addition to this they felt their own

value as musicians increase; being able to perform alongside international musicians and tohave discussions with them, made the young people feel more credible and recognised as

musicians themselves. These short but significant interactions have made the world of a

professional musician more attainable to these young people.

Fraser Trainer broke his workshops down into distinct sections, with clear themes for each

workshop. Each session followed a similar pattern of a warm-up activity, a game with an

objective, breaking down and understanding a new section of In C, and rehearsals.

Fraser introduced each session with a warm up activity in order to bring the children and

young people out of the classroom mentality and awaken their creativity. These short

activities would then lead on to an educational game. The games would link to key themes



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Britten Sinfonia musicians rehearse

with the young performers

from In C. For example, with the children of Swavesey Music School Fraser introduced an

echoing game where Fraser played a rhythm using his body as percussion which the

children repeated back. The rhythms became gradually more complex; resting on the first

beat, varying tempos, playing a mixture of semi quavers and minims etc and challenged

some of the children but their ear quickly adapted. Another rhythm game divided the group

into four sub-groups who started out clapping the same rhythm but then each group wouldgradually be brought in clapping a new rhythm and they had to keep this rhythm going whilst

their neighbours were clapping something different. Games, such as these, really developed

the children’s understanding and musical skills but were additionally highly significant when

playing In C.

For the older students of the Village College, Fraser introduced games which would break

down their preconceptions of ensemble playing and encourage them to work together

instinctively. For example, the students were asked to form bird’s eye shapes using all the

participants but without talking and communicating in other ways. This proved highly

effective and the students appreciated the fact that they had to work together andcommunicate in new ways in order to achieve an end result. This was then translated into In

C as the students then used these skills to bring in and out other instruments as they learnt

the piece.

On the day of the performance the children from Swavesey

Music School and the young musicians of Swavesey Village

College were joined by the professional musicians of Britten

Sinfonia. Through these joint rehearsals the college students

gained a great deal of support and advice from the

professionals. This experience certainly improved their own

confidence in their performance and musical skills andinspired them to continue to develop their appreciation of

music. Students reported how ‘normal’ the musicians were

and by building a relationship with them the project has

demystified what or who a professional musician is – and

made these young people realise that they could also

become a musician of the future.

The project ended with two unique performances of In C. A special performance took place

for family, friends and open for the community during the late afternoon. This opportunity toperform in front of a friendly and supportive audience did a lot to give the musicians, young

and old, a welcome confidence boost before the official opening of the new arts venue later

that evening. Additionally, the community were delighted to be welcomed as the first

audience permitted into the new venue and particularly delighted to experience the talented

musicians located in their village.

The official opening performance was an intimidating prospect for all concerned! As well as

members of the community, the audience consisted of local dignitaries, funders, supporters,

members of staff and a special guest of honour, Dame Evelyn Glennie, who also gave a

performance of Prim by Askell Masson. The young musicians were able to watch her

performance before warming up for their own. The audience were stunned by the mature



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Rehearsals with Britten Sinfonia and the young musicians

performance that was given. Many in the audience had not encountered minimalist music

themselves and very much enjoyed the experience and were keen to discover more about

the style. Dame Evelyn Glennie was delighted by the piece and stayed later than intended

in order to congratulate all the young performers – which they were amazed at!

Project governance

Swavesey In C was managed in collaboration by the Creative Learning Director of Britten

Sinfonia and the Swavesey Arts Development Manager with the support of Britten Sinfonia

Creative Learning Intern, Rosalind Kipps. The creative content of the project was developed

by composer Fraser Trainer who was supported in its delivery by violinist Judith Kelly. The

project was only made possible by the dedication and vision of Audrey Caldwell, Director of

Music at Swavesey Village College and founder of Swavesey Music School

The Project Team consisted of:

Sophie Dunn, Creative Learning Director, Britten Sinfonia

Karen Thomas, Arts Development Manager, StART

Rosalind Kipps, Creative Learning Intern, Britten Sinfonia

Audrey Caldwell, Director of Music at Swavesey Village College and founder of Swavesey

Music School

Fraser Trainer, Composer and workshop

facilitator, Britten Sinfonia

Judith Kelly, Violinist and workshopfacilitator, Britten Sinfonia

Anna Noakes, Flute, Britten Sinfonia

Stuart King, Clarinet, Britten Sinfonia

Andrew Webster, Bass clarinet, Britten

Sinfonia

Lucy Payne, Cello, Britten Sinfonia

Jo Harris, Trumpet, Britten Sinfonia

Blair Sinclair, Trombone, Britten Sinfonia

Tim Gunnell, Percussion, Britten Sinfonia



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Swavesey musicians receive their music award from

John Lewis and Cambridgeshire Music

Judith Kelly of Britten Sinfonia teaching pizzicato to

students

Inputs and outputs

• Partnerships developed between Swavesey Village College, Swavesey Music

School, StART and Britten Sinfonia

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More than £1500 generated through funding in addition to Orchestra’s Live support

• Nine professional musicians

employed over the duration of the

project

• Six workshops delivered

• 45 children and young people

directly impacted upon

• 50 community members involved

• 2 performances to 353 audience

members

• Fliers, invites, tweets etc

generated media coverage and support regionally

Outcomes

Response data collected from participants reflected a consistently positive response toSwavesey In C. The children and young people described the workshops and performances

as “fun”, “excellent” and “great”, often referring to the opportunity, inspiring music leaders

and the opportunity to play a new style of music.

Confidence

A significant aspiration of the project was to develop the confidence of the children and

young people participating in both their own musical skills and more generally in themselves.

The very nature on Terry Riley’s In C puts a great deal of the decision making-process in the

hands of each individual musician. Fraser

Trainer encouraged the participants to enjoy

playing the piece and to make decisions which

support their experience and the audience’s

reception of it. Students were able to decide

what octave they played a note, whether to

play minims, crochets or quavers and for how

long they repeated a phrase for. This freedom

for the vast majority of the children and young

people involved was hugely refreshing and

allowed them to perform with confidence that

they could play the piece of music in front of



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Learning transposition from a fellow student

them and get every note right.

“One of my favourite things about the project was being able to be your own boss”

Swavesey Music School participant

Participants also grew in confidence with their own musical skills. The more they practised

the piece together, the more confident they became with understanding how the piece could

work and appreciated the impact of their decisions on the performance and creating their

own interpretation.

“I was able to decide when to come in and when to go out of the piece”

Swavesey Village College student

The young participants developed their confidence in their own skills and described

themselves as musicians along with the professional musicians from Britten Sinfonia.

“I enjoyed working with other musicians”

Swavesey Village College student.

Pride

In addition to inspiring confidence in themselves the young participants were also very proud

of their collective outcomes as an orchestra. Feedback from participants, and observations

throughout the project, recognises that all of the children and young people involved worked

very hard to get to grips with, conceptually, a very challenging piece and performed it with

expertise. One of the important aspects of these comments is that each participantrecognised that it was a collective effort and also noted the diligence which each and every

orchestra member, despite their age or ability, performed. Furthermore, participants

recognised that their audiences enjoyed the performance and, for them, that was the reward

for all their efforts.

“My favourite part of the project was doing the performance after we’d pulled it all together”


“It was nice to see all our hard work pay off and to see people enjoying our music”


Skills in music

From the outset of the project it was evident

that, despite the broad ages and abilities

involved in the project everyone developed their

skills. For the more inexperienced players they

learnt new notes on their instruments, new

bowing techniques from Judith Kelly and how an

orchestra tune’s up from Fraser Trainer. For



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A young flautist in a Terry Riley workshop

intermediate players, they developed their confidence in transposition, playing pizzicato and

playing over the break. The most confident players gleaned advice from the Britten Sinfonia

players and were also able to support their less confident colleagues.

Very few of the participants had played as an orchestra before. Although the school has

many opportunities for ensemble playing, it does not have a full orchestra. However, it mustbe said that In C is not an orchestral piece but an ensemble piece and the performance was

not a full orchestra but certainly the closest experience of it than most of the children and

young people had previously had.

All the children and young people certainly developed their skills in ensemble playing –

particularly as they were playing such an unfamiliar style of music.

“I learnt to listen out for other musicians more carefully”


As the musicians made their own creative decisions it made every performer consider their

own role and the dynamics of the piece and the performance.

“I’ve gained the skills to be aware of what other people play in a group and how it can all link

together”


The experience has provided the young musicians with transferable skills which can be

utilised in a number of future situations:

“I gained a lot of experience from working with Britten Sinfonia. I also learned and gained experience about how to work in a big group and listen to other around who are playing, in

order to make the best performance possible.”


For many of the younger performers of Swavesey Music School, the piece was certainly the

longest piece of music they had ever played. This presented new challenges from

concentration, maintaining consistency and

accuracy and stamina!

“One of my least favourite things about the project was playing for half an hour when

playing the piece because it was tiring!


Music appreciation

Terry Riley’s In C is frequently cited as the

first minimalist composition and was written

in 1964. Almost all of the students had not

experienced any form of minimalist music



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Fraser Trainer introducing rhythms

and through exploring In C they have been given an opportunity to discover this style “from

the inside” and, with the guidance of Fraser Trainer, have developed a strong understanding

of how this music is composed, why it has been composed in this way and has provided

them with the cognitive tools to be able to explore more modern and contemporary music

styles for life.

“My favourite thing about the project was the actual piece – it was unique.”


“I think I’ve gained knowledge of a new type of music and how different music can be”


For some participants, it was not only discovering a new style of music to listen or perform,

discovering In C has provided this young composer with a whole new approach creating his

own compositions.

“I really loved taking a new approach to music”


Enjoyment

An important part of undertaking projects such as Swavesey In C is to instil a sense of fun

and enjoyment in creating and experiencing music. Associating an activity with fun and fond

memories ensures that this continues to be an interest throughout adolescence and then into

adulthood.

This is where the strengths of someone such as Fraser Trainer comes into play. Fraser

ensured that the sessions were peppered with fun games, competitiveness and, crucially, a

sense of humour throughout.

“I liked Fraser and enjoyed playing with the

Britten Sinfonia – and I would love to play

with them again please!”


However, also importantly, the new

experience itself was fun – a great mix of

adrenaline, nerves, pride and enjoyment will

ensure that students had a positive

experience.

“I enjoyed learning loads of new stuff,

having a new experience and being part of

an orchestra!”




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Judith Kelly teaching new

fingerings to a young violinist

Community recognition

The children and young people gave two performances of In C; one open performance for

the community and one performance for invited guests and VIPs for the official opening of

the new performance venue at the school.

Having the opportunity to share their experience with their family, friends and neighbours

was an exciting opportunity and allowed the young people in particular to share something of

themselves with the community. It was also important to the young people to allow the

community to see them achieving and view them in a positive

light.

“The project was a great success. Not only did we get to work

with Britten Sinfonia, but we then were able to share it with

the community. It was a great experience and one that I

would repeat if given the opportunity.”


“My favourite thing about the project was working towards an

end result and then being able to share that end result with

others.”


It was also a recognised opportunity for the primary school

children to perform alongside older students from the Village

College. They gained a lot of confidence and also developed a strong admiration for the

older musicians. Who, likewise, developed a strong admiration for the professional Britten

Sinfonia musicians.

“Working with different age groups was fun”


“One of my favourite things about the project was playing with the experienced players.”


Similarly, the school received a number of complimentary messages back from communitymembers who were delighted to be welcomed into the school to have an opportunity to

share the talents and successes of the students.

“All the staff and students who performed and supported tonight’s event deserve praise.” Cllr

John Hall

In the past, the school has been perceived as off-limits by the local community – if you don’t

have a child at the school it is quite a courageous task to attend an event there. Fortunately

the Swavesey In C project gave a welcome opportunity for the community to experience the

musical talents of the children and young people and were made to feel very welcome by the

school.



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Dame Evelyn congratulating young musicians

after their performance.

Swavesey Music School singing at the Cambridgeshire

High Sheriff’s Award ceremony

“Many thanks; the occasion was a credit to the whole College”. Retired Headteacher

Professional recognition

Swavesey In C also performed to eminent musician

Dame Evelyn Glennie, who officially opened the

new performing arts venue at the Village College.

All the children and young people were delighted

that they were able to perform for her and then

meet her afterwards. It was a memorable

experience which will inspire many of them to

continue to appreciate music throughout their lives.

“The excellent evening was a testament to the

dedication of the staff and pupils resulting in a

tremendous performance .” Dame Evelyn Glennie

DBE

Additional outcomes

In addition to these outcomes the project also achieved a number of additional outcomes.

With a partnership with such a prestigious orchestra, the Saturday morning music school has

gained a great deal of kudos and increased its intake. Additionally, the projects outcome of

encouraging mentoring between primary pupils and secondary pupils, has been recognised

by the Cambridgeshire High Sheriff Music

Award at a special awards ceremony in

January.

Furthermore, this initial project has forged a

new relationship between the school and

Britten Sinfonia. Follow up meetings have

taken place and future opportunities for

partnership have been identified and are

being investigated.

Although teacher training was not officially

delivered through the project, a number of

Swavesey music teachers have employedsome of the activities used during the project

in their own teaching in order to

communicate key skills. Being involved with

Britten Sinfonia certainly reinvigorated their

teaching practice and re-engaged them with their genuine passion for music.

Conclusion

This report has explored the successes and challenges of Swavesey In C. The report has

indicated many positive outcomes were achieved for all involved.



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Swavesey in C achieved its original aims and objectives in inspiring young musicians and

exposing them to a professional orchestra and experiencing an unfamiliar style of music.

Additionally some unexpected outcomes were achieved, such as new friendships formed

between younger children and the older students and the new and on-going partnership

between the school and Britten Sinfonia.

The impact of the project continues to be felt and a number of students involved are

continuing to follow their studies in music.

Final performance of In C by Britten Sinfonia, Swavesey Music School children, Swavesey Village College students and led by

Fraser Trainer.

Appendix

Press clippings

A copy of the official opening programme

A copy of Tweets from Dame Evelyn Glennie DBE

Documents

Swavesey in C Full Evaluation