“Come back when you're older”

© facebook.com/chungkyungwha

By Richard Brewer 

From my previous blog posts, you have probably ascertained that I feel rather strongly about audiences in the concert hall, in particular young children. In writing about this once again, I am running the risk of repeating myself and sounding like a broken record. However, I'm afraid I just couldn't resist writing about this particular topic this week...



Reverberating through the classical music world this week was a concert at the Royal Festival Hall. The concert, dubbed 'The Legend Returns', was performed by violin legend Kyung Wha Chung. As the rather self-assured title suggests, this was her big comeback concert after 12 years away from the performing stage. Reviews were very positive about her performance, stating that she “gave a recital in which every note was brim-full of her impetuous, intense personality”. 



The focus point of all articles about the concert, however, was not so positive. Kyung had just finished one movement of a sonata and, as with every classical concert that has ever happened, and ever will happen, a cacophony of coughs began to ring around the hall. This then led to cause amusement amongst some of the audience, who had a light chuckle. Unfortunately one young girl had a prolonged tickle in her throat. We've all had this feeling, where you just can't stop yourself from coughing, it's not a nice feeling. The remedy is simple; cough more. 



Now, Kyung took particular offence to this innocent young girl and decided to shout something from the stage. 



“Come back when you're older”. 



I'm not quite sure where to start in response to this quote. As a professional musician, it is surely one of Kyung's responsibilities to actively ensure that all of her audience feel comfortable when at her concerts, especially young children. Also, after 12 years away, would you not just be grateful to have a full audience of 3,000 people? Whether they are young, old, animal or human, they all paid for their seat and made an effort to see her.



Kyung wrote an article on the Guardian in response to the criticism she received. Perhaps understandably, she began by commenting how classical music is still most definitely 'alive' in the 21st century. This is true, and it has been shown by the amount of national press this event has seen, despite it being negative. However, for Kyung to then go on to say how she still believed the child shouldn't have been at the concert was beyond me; as were her comments about the ways in which we should listen to classical music in the concert hall. 



Kyung believes that listening should be done in complete silence with no noise at all, as this is the only way to truly appreciate the beauty of what is being played in front of you. What she doesn't seem to understand, however, is that this is completely unnatural. Again, as I mentioned in my previous blog, I am certainly not suggesting that we should all make noise constantly through a performance. What I do believe though, is that we should all feel comfortable. Feeling uncomfortable at a concert will not lead to a positive listening experience. Kyung suggests that we need to educate young people on “the art of true listening”, also stating that children should only attend “children's concerts”. Is this not completely alienating them from the real classical music world? In doing so are we not further enhancing the pre-conceived ideas many people have about classical music concerts? It is not healthy. 



This is actually my final blog post of the year, and it is a shame to have to finish on a negative story in the classical music world. However, it has to be said that Southern Sinfonia do not feel the same way as Kyung. We want as many young children as possible to come to our concerts; we actively encourage and strongly believe that everyone has the right to experience musical excellence. I can't wait for 2015 to start so we can show our beliefs through the many exciting projects we have got coming up. 



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

You can find out more about Southern Sinfonia by visiting our website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram 

Another supercalifragilisticexpialidocious year - BBC Proms launch 2014

By Julia Hudson 

As I’m sure our readership is aware by now, we are fond of the Proms here at the Southern Sinfonia offices. Once we discovered we could make it from Berkshire desk (via Paddington, and that deceptively long walk from South Kensington tube) to take our seats in time for a 7.30pm kick off, there was no stopping us. We are pleased and proud to see our beloved Patron Sir Roger Norrington will be at the helm of two Proms this summer; on 26^th July he will conduct his Zurich Chamber Orchestra in a St John Passion, with a cast of singers led by legendary James Gilchrist, and 3^rd September finds him as Honorary Conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, performing, Beethoven, Dvořák and Berlioz. As if this wasn’t enough, our wonderful Musical Director David Hill will be conducting his BBC Singers on 13^th August in a late-night Steve Reich Prom with Endymion. Intriguingly, all three concerts have been featured in the Proms’ ‘handpicked list’ of Classical for Starters; concerts to choose if you are new to classical music. 

In contrast to these varied yet comforting choices, there are of course the attention-grabbers; much to our surprise we loved the Urban Classic Prom last year, but this year Laura Mvula is joined by Paloma Faith, Rufus Wainwright and the Pet Shop Boys. The Pet Shop Boys are premiering their homage to Alan Turing, the pioneering computer scientist and World War II codebreaker prosecuted for homosexuality who received a posthumous royal pardon this year. Neil Tennant describes the work as “very different from anything else we’ve ever done”, and this 40-minute work ‘A Man From the Future’ will combine orchestra, electronic instruments, a chorus and narrator. Other notably ‘different’ Proms include a BBC Sport Prom, hosted by Gabby Logan, a CBeebies Prom, which prompted Roger Wright at the launch to describe the season (his last) as ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’, and a War Horse Prom involving Gareth Malone and his Military Wives Choir.

© John Wright

So far, so accessible, different, and novel. However, as Tom Service excellently put it in the Guardian, “it’s the genuine novelties I’m looking forward to, the 32 premieres of one stripe or another, including music by Simon Holt (27 July), Gabriel Prokofiev (29 July), Helen Grime (9 August), and Jörg Widmann (two pieces played by the Cleveland Orchestra on 7 and 8 September). Most intriguing of all is Benedict Mason’s Meld on 16 August, a piece whose mechanics are remaining as secret as possible beforehand, but which promises to confound "what we think of as an orchestra, of a concert, and even of music itself", as the brochure has it.” The season is also studded with performances marking the 80th birthdays of our greatest composers, Peter Maxwell Davies and Harrison Birtwistle, as well as many other anniversaries. As Roger Wright says, “Sir Roger (80 this year) will, like Sir Andrew Davis (70), Donald Runnicles (60) and

Edward Gardner (40), conduct two Proms and it is a thrill to welcome back Sir Neville Marriner in his 90th-birthday year, with the orchestra he founded, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, alongside its new Music Director, Joshua Bell.”

However, in my view, one of the most important developments this year has rather gone unnoticed. As one tiny part of Roger Wright’s legacy, this year all the Proms will be on iPlayer, there is a dedicated Proms button on the BBC iPlayer Radio app, six interactive BBC iWonder guides, and the addition of BBC Playlister, where music lovers can build playlists of their favourite presenters’ recommended works from the season. Already used as part of the BBC’s Glastonbury coverage, this illustrates the unique ability of the Proms, to solidify listeners’ relationship with music beyond a single night’s acquaintance. As an appropriate nod to the commemoration of Alan Turing, this demonstrates that, without shouting about it or losing its heart, the Proms is consistently remaining at the forefront of the year’s musical calendar for a contemporary generation.

So, what implications does this launch have for Southern Sinfonia? It is undeniable that interaction is key to solidify support for large-scale projects and events; we are fortunate to have platforms such as this blog and our website and social media feeds. We also enjoy working with a huge number of artistic organisations, from choral societies to universities, all with their own supporters, so we are constantly meeting new friends. Secondly, it is clear from the 2014 Proms series that diversity and variety allows the joy of the festival to spread across generations; we support this ethos through our education work and Young and Older Musician of the Year competitions.  With our own anniversary next season, and a host of projects across musical spheres and ages in the planning, we look forward to sharing our own launch with you.

Before then we have a number of other exciting concerts on the horizon, including Café Concert with harpist Olivia Jageurs and actor Alex Knox (both pictured above) on Friday 20th June; click here to find out more about this event. 

The heats for our Newbury Young Musician of the Year Competition are currently being held so keep checking our website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates!