SE Music Conference 2022

MUSIC TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE

ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD | 13TH–15TH MAY 2022

MTA CONFERENCE 2022 | ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

Welcome from St Edward’s

‘Music is a moral law. It gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, and life to everything.’ There has been much debate about who penned these words, widely attributed to Plato, but what has not been contested is the truth found within them. Music can allow us to express, explore and interpret our feelings in a nuanced way. It can provide adventure and escapism, motivation and

solace. We are lucky, here at St Edward’s, to have a thriving Music Department teaching our pupils the universal language of music – how to play it, listen to it and search for meaning within it. The Ogston Music School, opened in 2017, encourages and facilitates musical ambition and our Olivier Hall frequently reverberates to the sound of one of our orchestras, bands or choirs, bringing our school community together to celebrate

the passion and talent of our pupils. We are thrilled to be welcoming you, a community of music educators, to the School for the annual Music Teachers’ Association Conference. I hope you enjoy your time here. Alastair Chirnside, Warden

Welcome from Alex Tester It’s a real pleasure to host so many MTA delegates over what should be an amazing weekend. I’ve always been astonished what you can gain from a conference like this – the inspiration you can take from lectures, the practical skills from workshops, the debates you can enter into within panel discussions, and the ideas you can gain from visiting a school in the middle of their Summer Term. We’re delighted to welcome you here and hope that you enjoy the huge number of sessions, performances and events. We love being a school with a strong boarding model, situated within a fantastic university city, and I’m proud of how this inspires our students to react to challenges – often with madcap musical events and performances! I hope you are able to sense the spirit of our School while you are here. But above all this weekend, there is the chance for all of us to network and meet with other teachers from a whole range of different schools and this is, I think, invaluable. I’m looking forward to both hosting you and getting my own new ideas from the wonderful group of people we have coming. I hope you also find it useful, exciting and inspiring in equal measure. Alex Tester, Director of Music and the Arts

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A History of St Edward’s

St Edward’s is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for girls and boys aged 13-18. Known colloquially as ‘Teddies’, the school was founded in 1863 by the Reverend Thomas Chamberlain, occupying buildings on Oxford’s New Inn Hall Street before moving to Summertown in 1873. The Warden at the time, Algernon Barrington Simeon, had grand dreams for the school and the original Victorian Gothic buildings were built around the second largest quad in Oxford after Christ Church. The school has changed radically since its early days, when it primarily educated the sons of middle-class clergy. Teddies is now at the forefront of inclusive co-education. Having taken the first girl into the Sixth Form in 1982 we have now been fully co-educational for 25 years. Underlying everything we do at Teddies is our mission to prepare our pupils for the rest of their lives by encouraging their passions and talents, enabling them to discover new ones and supporting them to achieve their own potential. Our community fizzes with diverse interests and enthusiasms, and our academic excellence means 90% of our top pupils gain the highest grades in their Sixth Form exams and take up places at the world’s best universities.

We are one of the few boarding schools in the UK to be lucky enough to be part of a vibrant university city and we make the most of our location - our pupils have access to lectures from world-class academics and opportunities to explore the city’s colleges, museums and theatres. The school itself has over 100 acres of grounds which include the Ogston Music School, The North Wall Arts Centre and, the newest additions to our original quad, the Christie Centre, a suite of modern and flexible classroom and study spaces topped with the collegiate-style Roe Reading Room, and our 1,000-seater Olivier Hall. www.stedwardsoxford.org

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MTA CONFERENCE 2022 | ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

Music at St Edward’s

The Ogston Music School, built in 2016, sets the scene for an extensive music programme at St Edward’s, which is seen to involve a large proportion of the School, whilst fitting into a popular and strong arts provision, and more broadly into a comprehensive co-curricular programme where students can be broad in their choice, and yet head for excellence in their interests and talents. 60% of the School learn an instrument, taught by our team of 37 visiting music staff, and there is a busy schedule of ensemble rehearsals and concerts each week, led by our seven full-time members of the department. On top of that, we link up with drama and dance in The North Wall Arts Centre, where 1 in 7 take LAMDA lessons (including musical theatre) and 1 in 6 take dance. We offer academic music to every Year 9 student once a week, teaching a curriculum planned to feed into GCSE Music, Pathways Music Technology and Popular Music (our own devised GCSE-level course accredited by Buckingham University), A level Music and Music Technology and IB Music. Our Chapel Choir, Symphony Orchestra and Concert Band prepare amid the perfect acoustics of the Weston Recital Room for performances at prestigious venues in the city of Oxford and beyond, including Cadogan Hall and St John’s Smith Square, or at our new home venue of the Olivier Hall. We enjoy collaborative work with professional orchestras and ensembles — and have increasing links with Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Instruments of Time and Truth

and the London Mozart Players. Recent concerts have also included work with other groups including the English Chamber Orchestra and Southbank Sinfonia. The School’s location makes it perfectly placed to take advantage of the cultural life of Oxford, London and Birmingham — whether that’s performance opportunities or trips to see opera (particularly using our links with Garsington), musicals, chamber recitals, orchestral programmes or lectures. The department has an eye for modern music in equal measure. Students are able to take 1:1 lessons in music tech/ sound engineering, songwriting and jazz harmony, and musical theatre specialisms within singing lessons. We prepare students for exams in ABRSM, Trinity London, Rockschool and LAMDA each term. Our Big Band performs in gigs around the county, complemented by our improvising Modern Jazz Ensemble. Rock bands link with music tech, making use of the fully equipped Fenton Recording Studio (running Ableton and Logic), and there are a number of gigs and band competitions for the School during the year. Pupils are also encouraged to take part in chamber music and smaller vocal groups too. We run year group close harmony choirs, a Brass Band, and a range of different chamber groups for quartets, quintets and small-scale ensembles. Every pupil has the chance to find something within their range, and head for excellence in those pursuits. It’s great to see students continuing their music to the highest level when they leave, with many classical recitalists, choral scholars, and recording engineers and DJs taking up music as a university subject or as a career.

https://teddiesmusic.com/

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MTA CONFERENCE 2022 | ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

St Edward’s Music Department

Alex Tester

Director of Music and the Arts Assistant Director of Music

Richard Powell Jack Thompson Gabriele Damiani Lawrence Tao Neville Creed Jack Fairbrother Annabel Sargent Merlin Blackham Ghislaine Isherwood

Head of Academic Music

School Organist and Teacher of Music Teacher of Music/Assistant Head Academic

Teacher of Music

Teacher of Music Technology Graduate Music Assistant

Graduate Music Tech. and AV Assistant

Ogston Music School Secretary

Visiting Music Teachers William Armstrong

Electric and Acoustic Guitars

Cara Berridge Anna Blonsky Anna Cashell Florence Cooke Stephen Cutting Anne Denholm Peter Dixon Jill Donald Steve Duffy Judith Ellis Heidi Fardell Judith Gairdner Marilyn Groves Tim Dawes

Cello Piano Violin Violin

Trumpet

Jazz and Songwriting

Harp

Electric and Acoustic Guitars

Piano

Bagpipes

Violin and Viola

Recorder

Piano

Singing

Ben Hall

Piano

John Halliday Elizabeth Harré

Drums/Percussion

Double Bass

Alex Hehir

Music Technology

Gary Howarth Lisa Howarth Claire Isdell

Composition and Accompaniment

Singing

Piano Freya Jacklin-Edward Singing Anne Law Oboe Bethe Levvy Piano Robert Manasse Flute Bruce Martin Flute Cassandra Mathews Duncan McNaughton Trumpet Jonathan Morgan

Classical Guitar

Drums/Percussion

Andrew Palmer Anna Phillips

Piano

Singing

Ning Pookhaothong

Piano Piano

Elliott Rooney Wallace Ruby David Stuart Lucy Tugwell Glyn Williams

Percussion

Singing

Saxophone and Clarinet

Bassoon, Clarinet and Saxophone

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MTA CONFERENCE 2022 | ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

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Welcome from Music Teachers’ Association It gives me great pleasure to welcome you here to our first in-person Music Teachers’ Association conference in three years. I am proud of the way in which the MTA has stepped up during the pandemic, moving our support for colleagues into the online world and ensuring that we responded to the needs of our members; nevertheless, I am delighted to be able to see you in person this weekend, rather than in little squares on a screen. If you are new to our conferences, please do make yourself known to members of the committee so we can introduce you to others from your area. With our most ambitious programme yet, we hope that this will be a stimulating few days, meeting other music educators and sharing ideas and best practice. The conference has sessions exploring aspects of the full learning journey from early years to university. From big-picture panel discussions where leading experts consider the dominant issues in music education, to workshops with specialist teachers on important topics such as SEND, curriculum tuning, and music technology, we hope that there is something for everyone. Building on the success of professional coaching sessions with Marion Friend in previous years, we are very pleased to be able to offer teaching and learning coaching with Liz Dunbar and James Manwaring this year, too. Alongside our breakout sessions, a wide range of corporate members are exhibiting their products and services in our trade fair; lots of time has been built into the programme to ensure that you can make the most of this, giving you a chance to speak to all the exhibitors.

I am hugely grateful to Alex Tester and the whole team at St Edward’s for the time they have taken to organise the conference, and to the Warden, Alastair Chirnside for hosting us. We are also very grateful for all the work of our committee, and employees, Sophie, Keith and Gill; this is Gill’s first year in her role as Conference and Events Manager and the ideas and expertise which she has

brought to the team have been instrumental in devising many new initiatives this year.

Don Gillthorpe, MTA President

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MTA CONFERENCE 2022 | ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

Music Teachers’ Association Committee

The MTA committee are on hand to help throughout the conference – look out for their green lanyards

OFFICERS

Simon Toyne Past President

John Padley Honorary Treasurer

Don Gillthorpe President

Catherine Barker President Elect

Caroline Robinson Honorary Secretary

STAFF

Gill Davies Conference and Events Manager

Sophie Kirk Membership Manager

Keith Ayling Media and Publications Manager

COMMITTEE

Mark Aitchison Trainees/ECT Lead

Steven Berryman Curriculum Lead

Luis Pares Partnerships

Emily Crowhurst Curriculum

David McKee EDI Lead

Lewis Edney Partnerships

Mark Penrose Primary/Prep Lead

Caitlin Sherring International

Margaret Edwards Trainees/ECT Lead

Tim Garrard Partnerships Lead

Patrick Johns Podcast Host

James Manwaring Teacher Support

Oliver Walker Partnerships

James Wilkinson

Liz Dunbar Teacher Support

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Timetable

Friday 13th May

Registration and Trade Fair, Willows Café and Old Library

12.00

Welcome address , Olivier Hall

12.30

Lunch and Trade Fair, Willows Café and Old Library

12.45

Panel discussion: Curriculum design , The North Wall Catherine Barker (Chair) with panellists including Rebecca Berkley, Liz Dunbar and Lawrence Tao introduction from oxford university press Unconsciously developing musicianship at KS4 , Recital Room Alex Aitken Bob Chilcott’s ‘Birdland’: a year 6/7 partnership project in rehearsal, with singers from MCS Oxford , Olivier Hall Bob Chilcott Music tech. for beginners , Ogston Music School Jack Fairbrother and Merlin Blackham Panel discussion: Equality, diversity and inclusion in music education , Olivier Hall David McKee (Chair) with panellists including YolanDa Brown, Sally-Anne Huang, Nate Holder and Louise Lansdown introduction from rsl awards Music tech. platforms in the classroom, featuring Soundtrap , Recital Room James Manwaring Choral conducting masterclass , Chapel Sarah Tenant-Flowers with the St Edward’s Chamber Choir introduction from musica europa Musical theatre in KS2/KS3 , The North Wall Alex Aitken with guests from Swanbourne House and the Dragon School Music tech. for beginners , Ogston Music School Jack Fairbrother and Merlin Blackham Trade Fair, Willows Café and Old Library

13.30-14.45

Session 1

14.45

15.30-16.45

Session 2

16.45

Trade Fair, Willows Café and Old Library

17.30

Keynote Speaker , YolanDa Brown, Olivier Hall

Drinks reception, Willows Café sponsored by furlong solutions

18.15

Concert: Howard Goodall Eternal Light Requiem , and music from Leia Zhu (violin) and presentation of the Douglas Fox Award , Olivier Hall

19.00

Supper, Dining Hall sponsored by furlong solutions

19.45

Return your completed map to the registration desk by 5.15pm on Saturday, ready for the prize draw at 5.30pm

Trade Fair O ur trade fair is your chance to chat with our corporate partners. Collect a sticker or signature from each exhibitor table to be in with a chance to win some fantastic prizes including theatre tickets, an Amazon Echo Dot, vouchers, a case of wine, books, goody bags and more.

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MTA CONFERENCE 2022 | ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

Saturday 14th May

Coffee and Trade Fair, Willows Café and Old Library

09.00

Panel discussion: The National Plan for Music Education , Olivier Hall Don Gillthorpe (Chair) with panellists including Bridget Whyte, Phil Castang and Catherine Barker introduction from coach house pianos Music education, SEND, and inclusive practice , Recital Room Kelly-Jo Foster-Peters Choral repertoire for adolescent voices , Chapel Oliver Tarney, sponsored by oxford university press The Swiss Army Knife of the music classroom: The Great American Songbook , The North Wall Patrick Johns introduction from practice pal Music tech. for beginners , Ogston Music School Jack Fairbrother and Merlin Blackham Panel discussion: Joining the dots - proof that partnerships really do work! Olivier Hall Tim Garrard (Chair) with panellists including Sam Gladstone, Emma Coulthard, Ruth Evans, Rose Martin and Helen Eccleston introduction from naxos music Curriculum tuning , Room 102, Ogston Music School Emily Crowhurst Engaging approaches for teaching composing at KS3 , Recital Room Rachel Shapey introduction from the real music video company Her Ensemble and RSL Awards: Driving positive change in the classical music industry - live performance and discussion , The North Wall Trade Fair, Willows Café and Old Library join beat goes on for a lively body percussion energizer on their stand in the trade fair

09.30-10.45

Session 3

10.45

11.15-12.30

Session 4

her ensemble , sponsored by rsl awards Music administrators’ forum , Chapel Keith Ayling

12.30

Lunch and Trade Fair, Willows Café and Old Library

Keynote Speaker , Caius Lee, Olivier Hall introduction from abrsm

13.15

14.00

Music Teachers’ Association AGM , Olivier Hall

Panel discussion: Career progression for music teachers , Olivier Hall Catherine Beddison (Chair) with panellists including Margaret O’Shea and Neil Blundell introduction from trybooking . com Constructing music schemes in KS1: Case study of a creative listening unit based on Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Sinfonia Antarctica , Recital Room Rebecca Berkley The KS3 classroom: Ways to keep the curriculum creative , Room 102, Ogston Music School Rachel Leach LIPA and The North Wall: Developing the arts in education , The North Wall George Fenton, John Hoggarth and Sir Mark Featherstone-Witty

14.30-15.30

Session 5

introduction from black cat music & acoustics Practical tips for leading a music tour , Chapel Caroline Robinson (Chair) with a panel of touring specialists

Saturday 14th May continued overleaf

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Timetable

Saturday 14th May

15.30

Trade Fair, Willows Café and Old Library

Panel discussion: Music in Higher Education , Olivier Hall Simon Toyne (Chair) with panellists including Louise Lansdown, Holly Boyle and Daniel Grimley introduction from musicfirst BBC Ten Pieces , Room 102, Ogston Music School Rachel Leach Inspiration from Film and TV: A composer’s world , Recital Room George Fenton and Jack Thompson introduction form steinberg media technologies Low Island: How to advise pupils wanting to make it in the music business , The North Wall Felix Higginbottom

16.00-17.00

Session 6

Trade Fair, Willows Café and Old Library

17.00

Return your prize draw entries to the registration desk

17.15

Prize draw, Olivier Hall

17.30

Drinks Reception and Back Tie Gala Dinner , Willows Café followed by the Dining Hall With after dinner speaker Sir Andrew Parmley sponsored by furlong business solutions

19.15

Sunday 15th May

Brunch, Willows Café

09.15

Buses depart for Merton College

10.30

Morning Service: A Sequence of Music and Readings at Merton College

11.00

Buses back to St Edward’s

12.00

CONFERENCE ENDS

Mentoring If you have pre-booked a 1-to-1 mentoring session, these will be held in the Ogston Music School. Our three mentors are Marion Friend MBE (room 115) , James Manwaring (room 116) and Liz Dunbar (room 119) .

With special thanks to our headline sponsors

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MTA CONFERENCE 2022 | ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

Sessions Friday 13th May

13.30–14.45 | Session 1 Panel discussion: Curriculum design The North Wall

15.30–16.45 | Session 2 Panel discussion: Equality, diversity and inclusion in music education , Olivier Hall David McKee (Chair) with panellists including Sally-Anne Huang, Nate Holder and Louise Lansdown David will chair a discussion on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Music Education. With a panel of industry leaders, he asks what are the biggest challenges when implementing EDI, and what in their experience have they found most difficult professionally. Where are we now really, and how do we get to where we want to be – quickly! Music tech. platforms in the classroom, featuring Soundtrap , Recital Room James Manwaring Music tech. is now very much part of our lives, and if it isn’t, then maybe it should be. James will be looking at how you can introduce, utilise and develop technology in your classroom. He will also be looking specifically at Soundtrap and how it can be used for Key Stages 1-4. The aim of the session is to leave participants feeling empowered to use music technology and confident to develop their curriculum around technology. James will be sharing real examples of classroom work and his top tips for music technology on a budget. Choral conducting masterclass , Chapel Sarah Tenant-Flowers with the St Edward’s Chamber Choir Revealing top tips for how to improve your choral conducting, this session will involve up to five volunteer conductors taking to the podium to work with the St Edward’s Chamber Choir on a range of pieces in contrasting styles, from Byrd’s ‘Ave verum corpus’ to Pentatonix’s ‘Run to You’. In this masterclass, to which observers are warmly invited, techniques for how to make your conducting clearer, more expressive, efficient and vocal-friendly will be explored and shared. We will be looking for five volunteers to come forward and have a go at conducting during this session. Please indicate if you would be happy to volunteer for this. Bit by bit, putting it together; Musical theatre in KS2/KS3 , The North Wall Alex Aitken with guests from Swanbourne House and the Dragon School Alex Aitken, William Morris and Matt Phillips discuss ways in which musical theatre can be used to galvanise and enrich students’ musical experiences at KS2 and KS3. A discussion, with guest performances from Swanbourne House and the Dragon School, and a short example workshop with Alex Aitken. Music tech. for beginners , Ogston Music School Jack Fairbrother and Merlin Blackham A chance for teachers to sign up for smaller sessions with the St Edward’s music tech. team, to learn the basics of DAWs, studio recording, to try out practical tasks, ask questions you’ve never dared ask, or just to discuss how music tech. has been introduced and developed here.

Catherine Barker (Chair) with panellists including Liz Dunbar, Rebecca Berkerley and Lawrence Tao Unlike many classroom teachers, musicians have the scope and necessity to adapt their curriculum for their own context. In this session, the panel will discuss approaches to curriculum design, including how they plan for musical progression and understanding, providing insight on what all music teachers should consider when designing the curriculum for their school. Unconsciously developing musicianship at KS4 Recital Room Alex Aitken There is never enough time to teach A level Music; but, by devoting greater energy to (and focusing on) developing students’ musicianship and musicality, might we be able to achieve that holy grail of teaching a richer, deeper and broader programme, in less time, with less work, and without students realising? Sounds impossible - or is it? Bob Chilcott’s ‘Birdland’: a year 6/7 partnership project in rehearsal, with singers from MCS Oxford Bob Chilcott leads a partnership rehearsal involving state school choirs from North Oxford, in a project led by St Edward’s and MCS Oxford. Watch Year 6 and 7 singers prepare for a performance of Bob’s new cantata ‘Birdland’. Music tech. for beginners , Ogston Music School Jack Fairbrother and Merlin Blackham A chance for teachers to sign up for smaller sessions with the St Edward’s music tech. team, to learn the basics of DAWs, studio recording, to try out practical tasks, ask questions you’ve never dared ask, or just to discuss how music tech. has been introduced and developed here. Olivier Hall Bob Chilcott

Please share your conference experience, and tag us on social media: Facebook: @MusicTeachersOrg Twitter: @MusicTeachers_ #MTAConference2022

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Sessions Saturday 14th May

11.15–12.30 | Session 4 Panel discussion: Joining the dots:

09.30–10.45 | Session 3 Panel discussion: The National Plan for Music Education , Olivier Hall

proof that partnerships really do work! , Olivier Hall Tim Garrard (Chair) with panellists including Sam Gladstone, Emma Coulthard, Ruth Evans, Rose Martin and Helen Eccleston A panel discussion exploring how schools, music hubs, venues, ensembles and charities and arts organisations both locally - including a case study of invaluable partnership in Oxfordshire - and nationally, can work together for the transformational benefit of every young person. Curriculum tuning , Room 102, Ogston Music School Emily Crowhurst During this interactive session we will be running a live tuning session, offering participants the opportunity to experience and get to grips with an effective, time efficient way of planning and developing rigorous and ambitious curriculum projects/schemes. We’ll be explaining the purpose and value of building this into your planning routine and a tuning protocol template will also be made available to use within your own department, school or education setting. Engaging approaches for teaching composing at KS3 , Recital Room Rachel Shapey Be prepared to get practical in this engaging workshop session full of ideas and approaches to take back to your classroom. Her Ensemble and RSL Awards: Driving positive change in the classical music industry - live performance and discussion , The North Wall Her Ensemble, sponsored by RSL Awards In 2019, just 3.6% of the classical music pieces performed worldwide were written by women. By 2020, this had risen to 5%. In this session, Her Ensemble will perform bespoke arrangements of repertoire from the new RSL Classical Violin syllabus and talk about their work to highlight and address the issues around gender in the classical music industry. They will share their lived experience of working with musicians across the pop and classical spheres and how this has informed their approach to live performance and their own musical development. The session will include a live Q&A between the musicians and delegates. Music administrators’ forum , Chapel Keith Ayling Forum chaired by Keith Ayling. Every music department has to think about how it structures what it delivers for the students. Instrumental lessons need timetabling, music needs printing, copyrights need checking, safeguarding needs to be up to date and in an ideal world, everything is coordinated! We’ll be discussing these areas and more, looking at the resources available.

Don Gillthorpe (Chair) with panellists including Bridget Whyte, Phil Castang and Catherine Barker In this session, MTA President Don Gillthorpe interviews members of the expert panel involved in the production of the Government’s revised National Plan for Music Education. At the time of writing, NPME2 had not yet been published, although we remain hopeful that it will be made available before the conference; nevertheless, this presents a good opportunity to hear from panellists about their hopes and aspirations for the plan, as well as taking questions from the audience in what promises to be a very lively conversation. Music education, SEND, and inclusive practice Recital Room Kelly-Jo Foster-Peters Kelly-Jo gives an overview of the national picture for music and SEND, as well as highlighting some of the best ensemble work nationally. The session offers an opportunity to learn more about categories of additional support needs and pedagogical solutions for inclusive practice. Additionally, Kelly-Jo will share some initial findings from an ongoing doctoral research study on challenges in partnership working with special schools. Choral repertoire for adolescent voices , Chapel Oliver Tarney, sponsored by Oxford University Press A chance to explore and sing through OUP repertoire, featuring music from established series ‘Emerging Voices’ (for changing voices) and ‘Songbird’ (for upper voices) and introducing a new series for lower voices, ‘In the Deep’. Oliver Tarney will also introduce some newly published longer works ideally suited for young and adolescent voices. The Swiss Army Knife of the music classroom: The Great American Songbook , The North Wall Patrick Johns Patrick Johns makes the case for a hugely under-used source of repertoire and classroom stimulus, the Great American Songbook, showing how this stunning collection of music can be used to teach just about anything in the classroom, from simple singalongs to large scale orchestral and big band compositions. Includes a practical demonstration of a composing course, using the Songbook, from a simple melodic idea into a complete big band chart. Music tech. for beginners , Ogston Music School Jack Fairbrother and Merlin Blackham A chance for teachers to sign up for smaller sessions with the St Edward’s music tech. team, to learn the basics of DAWs, studio recording, to try out practical tasks, ask questions you’ve never dared ask, or just to discuss how music tech. has been introduced and developed here.

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MTA CONFERENCE 2022 | ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

14.30–15.30 | Session 5 Panel discussion: Career progression for music teachers , Olivier Hall Catherine Beddison (Chair) with panellists including Margaret O’Shea and Neil Blundell This discussion will explore some of the transferable skills between the music teacher and leadership roles, encouraging teachers to analyse their strengths and consider potential career options. Constructing music schemes in KS1: Case study of a creative listening unit based on Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Sinfonia Antarctica Olivier Hall Rebecca Berkley This session will introduce a new creative listening scheme of work for KS1 children inspired by the music of Vaughan Williams’ Sinfonia Antarctica , where children can explore a range of creative responses to the music through analytical talking, movement and dance, drawing and mark making, and exploration of sounds on classroom percussion to help them understand the narratives and moods in the music. The KS3 classroom: Ways to keep the curriculum creative , Room 102, Ogston Music School Rachel Leach A hands-on session for KS3 teachers looking at ways to keep the curriculum creative! Using new online resources from LPO and LSO written by Rachel Leach, we will look at approaches to composition, how to encourage GCSE take-up and creative ways to tackle set works and subject areas at GCSE and A level. This session is suitable for KS3 (and above) classroom teachers and instrumental teachers of any level. Please bring an instrument! LIPA and The North Wall: Developing the arts in education , The North Wall George Fenton, John Hoggarth and Sir Mark Featherstone-Witty A panel discussion with Sir Mark, the founder of the Liverpool Institute of the Performing Arts, as we consider how music should be developed as an overall arts portfolio, then linking with the work of The North Wall in Oxford with a contribution from John Hoggarth , one of the Artistic Directors. Practical tips for leading a music tour , Chapel Caroline Robinson (Chair) with a panel of touring specialists Planning a music tour can be a daunting prospect, particularly in a post-Covid travel landscape when there are additional challenges to factor in. Caroline Robinson has run numerous tours, and will be sharing her practical tips on how to ensure they are a success. A panel of touring companies will be on-hand to share their top recommendations for inspiring destinations and answer your questions.

1-to-1 Mentoring We have expanded our mentoring programme for 2022, offering delegates the benefit of signing up to confidential 1-to-1 mentoring sessions. Marion Friend MBE will be available for support with professional development, covering any short- or long-term issues with career development, challenges in the working environment, and the impact on the individual with change in the workplace. Alongside this, James Manwaring and Liz Dunbar will be available for coaching conversations to support you with teaching and learning. 16.00–17.00 | Session 6 Panel discussion: Music in Higher Education Olivier Hall Simon Toyne (Chair) with panellists including Louise Lansdown and Holly Boyle Simon Toyne chairs a panel exploring connections between schools and higher education – how students can be best prepared for higher education, what universities and conservatoires can learn from schools, and how cross-sector partnerships can be mutually beneficial. BBC Ten Pieces , Room 102, Ogston Music School Rachel Leach Rachel Leach is the author of teachers’ resources for all 40 of the BBC Ten Pieces. Join her to discover how to use them in the classroom in a hands-on creative session. In this short session we’ll cover strategies for active listening and compose a new piece inspired by one of the works. This session is suitable for anyone but will be aimed at KS2 and lower KS3 classroom music teachers - specialist and generalist. Please bring an instrument if you have one! Inspiration from Film and TV: A composer’s world Recital Room George Fenton and Jack Thompson Hear from George Fenton, composer of film and TV scores, including The Blue Planet , about his compositional process and journey to creating the right soundscape for the right score. We’ll then open it up to a discussion of what we can learn from film in classroom composition, led by Head of Academic Music at St Edward’s, Jack Thompson. Low Island: How to advise pupils wanting to make it in the music business , T he North Wall Felix Higginbottom Do your pupils want to become the next pop star, record label executive, producer, or tour the world as an instrumentalist playing in orchestras and bands? This session offers an insight into how to get started, as well as what we can do to nurture talent.

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Speaker Biographies

Keynote and after dinner speakers

board of the National Plan for Music Education. YolanDa released a book The ABCs of Music with Hal Leonard and also released four play-along books showcasing black composers with Faber Music in 2021. She is a broadcaster working across TV and Radio, including her eponymous series for CBeebies, YolanDa’s Band Jam , which recently won the Royal Television Society Awards as Best Children’s Programme. She presented the Ella and Dizzy Centenary for BBC Proms, Gospel Choir of the Year and BBC Young Jazz Musician of the year. YolanDa has also appeared on TV shows including Celebrity Mastermind , Sunday Brunch , House of Games , The Hitlist , Celebrity Antiques Roadtrip and more. On BBC Radio 4, she co-presents Loose Ends with Clive Anderson and covers for Trevor Nelson and Vanessa Feltz on BBC Radio 2 and presents YolanDa Brown on Saturday on Jazz FM. YolanDa loves to drive fast cars around race tracks in her spare time and can even rattle off a Rubik’s Cube in around five minutes (on a good day). A real renaissance woman, set to reach new heights. www.yolandabrown.co.uk musical family, Caius’ journey started at Bradford Cathedral, aged 11. He became Organ Scholar there at the age of 15 before moving to Leeds Cathedral at 17. A year later, he was appointed Assistant Organist and worked as a Choral Assistant in Chapeltown. He read Music at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, as the Neville Burston Organ Scholar and was the President of the College Music Society, the Student Representative on the Faculty of Music’s Outreach Committee, and was a trustee for Awards for Young Musicians - a charity that supports musicians from low-income families. Caius’ passion for opportunities to young people started aged 15 when he formed a children’s choir, which won Caius Lee Not from a

its class at the 2016 Mrs Sunderland Music Festival. He is currently a Choral Director for the Diocese of Leeds, working in schools throughout Bradford, a Sing for Pleasure Conducting scholar and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Caius enjoys travelling and athletics, having previously represented his county at the English Schools’ National Championships.

YolanDa Brown

For some, world- wide touring and critically acclaimed albums would be

satisfaction enough. Not for YolanDa Brown who has garnered praise for her delicious fusion of reggae, jazz and soul. YolanDa has worked with The Temptations, Diana Krall, Billy Ocean and features on Jools Holland’s new album. She is currently composing music for the iconic Sesame Street and an animated series called Bea’s Block due for release in 2023. A champion for the importance of music education, YolanDa is chair of Youth Music (one of the largest music education charities in the UK) and an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and London Music Fund. She graduated with a first class degree in Operations Management from the University of Kent, followed by two Masters Degrees and studied for a PhD for four years, before taking a break from her thesis to pursue her music career. Brown was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts by the University of East London. In 2018 along with philanthropist James JP Drake, she launched the Drake YolanDa Award offering grants for emerging musicians. November 2020 saw YolanDa roll out her bespoke online music lesson plans for teachers, parents and pupils nationwide as she continues to promote music education in primary schools. The resources, produced with Sony Music UK’s Magic Star, kids creative-media agency SUPER and one of the world’s largest provider of online education resources, Twinkl, were launched on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show , and have now been used by an estimated 30 000 children. An entrepreneur, YolanDa launched The London Saxophone Festival in 2018, currently in its third edition. YolanDa has been invited to sit on panels for the PRS Foundation, The IVORs and delivered Keynotes for Music Mark, ABRSM and music hubs across the country. In 2021, she was invited by the Department for Education to sit on the advisory

Sir Andrew Parmley Andrew Parmley was born in Lancashire, grew up in Blackpool and

was educated at the Royal Academy of Music, Manchester and London Universities and Jesus College, Cambridge. He has had a career in education and music. In 2016- 17 he was the 689th Lord Mayor of London and was knighted in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List for services to music, education and civic engagement. Andrew Parmley is the Director of the Royal College of Organists, past Chairman and Visiting Professor of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, International Ambassador and Honorary Member of the London Symphony Orchestra, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and, in addition to a doctorate in 17th- century French opera, holds honorary doctorates from City and Strathclyde Universities. He is also Principal of the Harrodian School, Chairman of the Blackpool National Advisory Board, Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, Fellow of Trinity College of Music, Fellow of Goodenough College, Hon. Fellow of Royal Holloway College and an Hon. Bencher of Middle Temple. Andrew is a keen liveryman and is a member or honorary member of some twenty Livery Companies. He is Past Master of the Parish Clerks, the Musicians, the Glass Sellers and the Vintners Companies. Last month he celebrated forty years as honorary organist at St James Garlickhythe in his own Ward of Vintry.

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MTA CONFERENCE 2022 | ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

Panel Discussions Leaders

of England Academy in Lancaster, previously having been Director of Music there, establishing a large department with a national reputation for excellence in choral singing. Don is a Lead Practitioner and accredited Specialist Leader in Education, supporting music departments in other schools and leading a school-centred Music PGCE course. Outside of school, Don is Director of Music at Lancaster Priory, and a choral conducting tutor and Head of Publications for the national choral organisation, Sing for Pleasure. As a singing teacher specialising in boys’ changing voices, and a choral conductor with a great deal of experience working with teenage singers, Don is in demand as a speaker, workshop leader, conductor and adjudicator, and has led courses and events for organisations such as ABCD, RSCM and the Morland Choristers’ Camp. Association. He is the Director of Music at Westminster School and a trustee of Musical Boroughs Trust, the charitable arm of the Tri-borough Music Hub, which works across three West London boroughs to help transform young lives through the power of music. Tim read Music at Cambridge, where he was the senior choral scholar of the Choir of King’s College and the recipient of the College’s Gollin Prize. Prior to his appointment at Westminster in 2011, he taught at Eltham College before taking up the post of Head of Academic Music at Trinity School, Croydon. In 2019, Tim directed the Choir of Westminster School in its debut recording on the Signum international record label. Now may we singen: Music for Advent and Christmas was included in BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Top 10 Playlist for Christmas 2019’ and was album of the week on John Brunning’s Drive on Classic FM. As MTA Partnerships Lead, Tim has worked with Music Mark and ISM as Tim Garrard Tim Garrard is Partnerships Lead for the Music Teachers’

part of the CanDoMusic campaign, and he co-established HMC’s first ever official partnership with another association with the HMC-MTA partnership. Tim’s new project is Joining the Dots , an innovative new way of connecting everyone within the world of music education.

Catherine Barker Catherine Barker is the Head of Music and Performing Arts in

United Learning, the largest national schools’ group. Alongside supporting teachers with training and group-wide curriculum, she also leads national performance events and the Singing Champions programme. Alongside her work in the trust she is a school LGB Chair, a member of the Sheffield Music Hub advisory board and a curriculum lead with the Music Teachers’ Association. Prior to joining United Learning, Catherine led faculties in outstanding inner London schools, where she began her career in the inaugural Teach First cohort. Follow Catherine: @United_Music1

Catherine Beddison Catherine Beddison is an expert in musical education, with

an impressive track record of setting high standards, enthusing children and adults, and encouraging them to fully develop their skills. Catherine specialises in choral work and conducts Cranleigh Prep School Chamber Choir and Cranleigh Choral Society. She has a long-standing involvement with Sing for Pleasure, currently serving as a member of the Trustee board and working as a tutor. As Deputy Head (Operational) at Cranleigh Prep School, she oversees the day-to-day running of the school, which provides daily creative challenges of problem solving and innovative thinking!

David McKee David McKee

was educated at Oakham School and Exeter University

where he was a Choral Scholar in Exeter Cathedral Choir. He joined Cheltenham College as Director of Music in September 2014 from Milton Abbey School in Dorset, where among other things he founded and directed the Milton Abbey International Music Festival and Summer School. He has sung with a number of cathedral and professional choirs and is well known as a baritone soloist. He is a passionate advocate of EDI and of Partnership work, particularly in education. He is also a huge supporter of Irish rugby, and in 2016 ran the London Marathon in aid of the MS Society, for whom he will be raising money again by running the Berlin and London Marathons in September 2022.

Simon Toyne Born in Exeter, Simon Toyne received his musical training as a chorister in

Exeter Cathedral Choir, a music scholar at Eton College, and as Organ Scholar of University College, Oxford. For 24 years, he was Director of Tiffin Boys’ Choir, preparing them for projects with the major conductors in the world, including Pappano, Rattle, Gergiev, Maazel, Elder, Masur and Salonen, leading the choir on over twenty foreign tours, including to Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Russia, and conducting the choir in concert with the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Sinfonia Britannica and Philharmonia Orchestra. As Director of Music at All Saints’ Church, Kingston, a post he held concurrently with that of Assistant Head & Director of Music at Tiffin School, the

Don Gillthorpe

Don Gillthorpe is the current President of the MTA. He is Assistant Principal at Ripley St Thomas Church

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Session Leaders

choir broadcast on BBC1, Radio 4 and World Service Radio, and over 20 choristers gained choral scholarships to Oxford and Cambridge. Since 2015, he has been Executive Director of Music of the David Ross Education Trust, where he is responsible for the development of a music programme for over 13,000 children across 34 state primary and secondary schools in the East Midlands. His work at DRET has included the award- winning Singing Schools programme for primary schools, developing a Trust-wide primary and secondary music curriculum, fostering a network of partner organisations, including Gabrieli Roar, Nevill Holt Opera, Sing Up, the Royal Opera House and the Voices Foundation, creating a team of professional musicians in residence, and establishing a talent development programme. He was a member of the Government’s Expert Panel for developing a model music curriculum, and was the most recent President of the Music Teachers’ Association (2019- 21). His chapter on curriculum music in the recent book What Should Schools Teach? was published in January 2021 and is available as an open access pdf from UCL Press. He is currently serving on the Expert Panel to oversee the new National Plan for Music Education. He is a Director of the Rodolfus Foundation Choral Courses and conducted their most recent broadcast of Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3.

Industry and the UK government, Mark created The BRIT School near London, with its fresh, institute-wide curriculum. Mark went on to become the Founder of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and served as its Principal/CEO from its inception to 2021. During this time, he created the LIPA Primary School and then the LIPA Sixth Form College. The LIPA Primary School has since become the LIPA Primary and High School.

Bob Chilcott Described by the

Observer in London as ‘a contemporary hero of British Choral Music,’ composer and conductor Bob Chilcott has spent his working life dedicated to the art and joy of choral music and what it means to sing together. His catalogue of works, published by Oxford University Press, reflects his broad view of musical styles and genres, ranging from his ‘St John Passion’ to ‘A Little Jazz Mass,’ a large catalogue of music for young choirs, Christmas music and more recently ‘Sky Pictures’ for the distinguished British mezzo soprano, Dame Sarah Connolly. Bob has been Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Singers since 2002. He was also Conductor of the Chorus of the Royal College of Music in London between 1997 and 2004 and since 2019 he has been Principal Conductor of the Birmingham University Singers. OSE is a composer, working in film TV and theatre, for which he’s won multiple awards including five Oscar nominations. His films include Gandhi , Cry Freedom , Dangerous Liaisons , The Fisher King , Groundhog Day , You’ve Got Mail , Hitch , The Lady In the Van , The Wind that Shakes the Barley and most recently The Duke . TV work includes The Jewel in the Crown , Newsnight , Bergerac and The Blue Planet , Planet Earth and Frozen Planet , which he conducts in concerts worldwide. His current theatre project is Straight Line Crazy at the Bridge Theatre. He teaches at the RCM and Nottingham University. www.georgefenton.com. George Fenton George Fenton

Alex Aitken

Alex Aitken is the Children’s

Musical Director and Cover Conductor for

Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Mary Poppins in London, and is also a teacher, A level examiner, writer, pianist, and organist. A former Head of Academic Music, he contributed to Edexcel’s GCSE specification, and occasionally appears in music departments around the UK to work with students and teachers (sometimes by invitation). Alex regularly works with the National Youth Music Theatre, the National Children’s Choir and CBSO Youth Chorus, and strongly dislikes C major. www.alexaitken.co.uk

Caroline Robinson Caroline has been Director of Music at Warminster School for seven

years. Prior to that she has led Music departments in an Independent prep school and a community college. Since taking on the Music Department at Warminster School, both the choice of groups on offer and the numbers Warminster’s Concert Orchestra and various Bands are about to embark on their third concert tour this June. Having toured Europe extensively as a member of the Berkshire Young Musicians Trust in her teens, Caroline is passionate about giving her pupils similar life-affirming experiences and memories to hold dear. of pupils taking part in music have grown beyond recognition.

Sir Mark Featherstone- Witty

With the support of Richard Branson, the British Phonographic

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MTA CONFERENCE 2022 | ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

the Tiffin Girls’ School, Kingston-upon- Thames, is a subject expert for Ofqual, and a former A Level examiner for Eduqas. He is the creator of many well-used music education resources, and has worked as a proofreader for various exam board publications. He is also a freelance trombonist, bassist, arranger and composer, having played Jazz, Classical, Pop, Rock, Ska and Oompah all over the world for over two decades, notably with the UK’s top ‘Oompop’ quintet, Oompah Brass. Patrick presents and produces the MTA podcast, ‘Teaching Notes’, having conducted over 150 interviews with leading educators and musicians, across 57 episodes. Patrick is the producer of the BBC Radio 2 show ‘Top Brass’, and has also worked as a producer for BBC Radio 3 (Breakfast, Jazz Record Requests, Jazz Legends), and (very!) occasional presenter (The Early Music Show). His arranging work includes a whole orchestral concert of Elvis Presley songs, arrangements for Rainer Hersch and the Crouch End Festival Chorus, as well as choral arrangements for the BBC (Last Choir Standing), and a series of 1980s adverts in a 14th-century style for and Louis Andreissen. Her music has been recorded by NMC and published by Faber. Rachel has worked within the education departments of most of the UK’s orchestras and opera companies. The majority of her work is for the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Rachel has written well over twenty pieces for LSO Discovery and fifteen community operas, including seven for ETO. Alongside this she is increasingly in demand as a concert presenter. She is the presenter of the LSO St Luke’s lunchtime concert series and LSO Live Streams and regularly presents children’s concerts and pre-concert events for LSO, LPO, SCO, BBC Proms and others. Rachel is passionate about the value of using classical music in the classroom. As lead tutor on the LSO’s On Track teacher Channel 4… honestly. www.patrickjohns.co.uk Rachel Leach Rachel Leach studied composition with Simon Bainbridge, Robert Saxton

training programme and the LPO’s Creative Classrooms programme Rachel has trained over 100 teachers. She is the author of many free online classroom resources including LSO Play and BBC Ten Pieces lesson plans (all four sets). In Spring 2013 Rachel was awarded Honorary Membership of the RCM in recognition of her education work.

Keith Ayling Keith Ayling is chairing our Music Administrators’ Forum. A songwriter

and speaker, Keith is a Senior Lecturer in Songwriting at Leeds Conservatoire and a TEDx Speaker. He has written and released 14 albums over a 33- year career, including the biggest CCM album in the UK, and founded his own music education charity reaching over 20,000 young people in Eastern Europe with creative music lessons. In 2001, following 9/11, his song ‘Heaven Help’ was playlisted by New York radio stations and remained there for nine months. At Leeds Conservatoire he works with students on the fundamentals of songwriting, the building blocks of hits and hooks and how to develop your own individual artistic voice. He has spoken numerous times at the Music Education Expo as well as for the Prince’s Teaching Institute. His most recent work has been collaborating with Ellie Goulding’s Musical Director and Kaiser Chief’s bass player. Kelly-Jo Foster-Peters Kelly-Jo Foster- Peters taught curriculum music in both mainstream and SEND schools for 20 years. She have included being the SEND music teacher representative on the DfE Music Hubs Advisory Board (2014-2017), an SLE (Special Lead Educator) for the Southampton Inclusion Partnership and SEND Music Advisor for Southampton Music Hub. Kelly-Jo is the author of Jumpstart! Music: Ideas and Activities for Ages 7-14 . In her role as a cellist, Kelly still performs with orchestras and string quartets, which complements her passion for musicking on iPads. is currently finalising her doctoral research study on SEND music education partnerships. Past roles

Rachel Shapey Rachel is

passionate about composing in the classroom. She is the founder and director of I Can

Compose ( www.icancompose.com ), an innovative company dedicated to inspiring the next generation of great composers. Based in Manchester, Rachel has taught in both state and independent secondary schools. She won the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation Business Award in 2018 and Outstanding Music Education Product Award in the 2019 Music & Drama Teacher Awards for Excellence. Rachel is author of How to Teach Composition in the Secondary Classroom: 50 Inspiring

Ideas (HarperCollins) which was shortlisted for the 2022 Music Teacher Awards.

Rebecca Berkley Rebecca Berkley is an Associate Professor in Music Education at the

University of Reading, and director of Postgraduate Taught Programmes. She teaches music education on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at Reading, specialising in classroom musicianship, choral education, and leadership. She is the founder of Universal Voices, a free children’s community choir at the University. Universal Voices offers high quality choral education for children and opportunities for student conductors to learn to conduct by working with the choir. Rebecca also works with the British Kodály Academy and Sing for Pleasure as a musicianship tutor.

Patrick Johns Patrick has a portfolio career. He teaches music at Key Stage 3 to 5 at

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