ASMF & Junior Trinity
Empowering young musicians through collaborative performance
Collaborating with young people, both non-musicians and musicians, has always been an important part of my musical life as a violinist. Having three twenty-something “kids”, I am very aware of how many experiences I took for granted at their age no longer exist in the UK and Europe. This made the day special and enjoyable for my ASMF colleagues (Miranda Playfair, violin; Fiona Bonds, viola; Will Schofield, cello; Lynda Houghton, double bass) and me, working with students from the Junior String Department of Trinity Laban Conservatory in Greenwich, London.
Parachuting into a music department is always a challenge, so preparation is important that no valuable time is wasted, and it was new to see how the younger students, aged 14 to 19, would engage with what had been planned.
On this first occasion we decided to concentrate on the String Department, to explore working as a string quartet and then expanding into a conductorless or player-directed string ensemble. We brought the Mozart Divertimento in D major, K.136 and asked that the students be grouped into four string quartets, with a student double bass player providing the finishing touch to the expansion.
Of course, the piece was written when Mozart was about the students’ age. It is a wonderful introduction to the complexities of working both as a single player ensemble and as a larger group.
Having spent some time playing together, with the ASMF players as principal players directing from the front, we split into small ensembles to explore the intricacies of putting together a performance. It was a joy to see the players engage with this and quickly realise both what it takes and that it was within their grasp. From then on, we ceased to play and only offered advice on how to engage with their colleagues.
For this to work, there has to be a realisation that everyone has more musical responsibility wherever they are sitting, as well as the musical radar to see what is happening around them. Understanding that respect for others is key to extracting the best results from colleagues are clearly life lessons too! In the final large ensemble rehearsal, players swapped around, with each quartet having the opportunity to lead the sections.
When it came to the student-led performance for parents, every string quartet sat in the principal seats to help direct the performance and also experienced sitting within the section to see how to engage when not at the front.
It was inspirational to see how quickly the players learnt the art of both leading and breathing as an ensemble. It was a pleasurable way to finish the day, and I hope we have created a spark that will encourage this and perhaps see some players join ASMF in the future!
– Martin Burgess, ASMF Principal Second Violin