St Edward's Chronicle October 2016

9 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

FOCUS ON MUSIC

When did you first become interested in music? My best friend started having piano lessons so my parents thought it would be a good idea for me too. My teacher was brilliant – covering the basics of technique, but equally happy to cover other musical styles, and the theory of musical harmony and composition. I was taken to musical shows from an early age, around seven or eight years old: Me and My Girl , Les Misérables , Cats , The Phantom of the Opera – I loved them, and this soon became just as important to me as classical music. At senior school (Forest in East London), the Director of Music spotted my enthusiasm and took me under his wing. By the time I was 16, I was Musical Director for the local amateur dramatic society, and organist and choirmaster for a major church in Leytonstone. Being at a day school meant learning to juggle from an early age. Boarding pupils have the luxury of everything being on tap and an extended school day in which to pursue other interests. As a day pupil, I had to find opportunities outside school, and then tackle the inevitable logistics. It was an excellent grounding; all musicians need to be expert jugglers! What did you do after school? I won an organ scholarship to Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. The Chapel was built in 1990 so I wasn’t following in a great tradition – as only the second Organ Scholar, I had to work with the organ master to lay the foundations of scholarship in the practice and study of

Alex Tester

organ music. On the academic side, I specialised in medieval and renaissance notation, and the emergence of jazz and Gershwin. Alongside my academic study and roles of choirmaster and organist, I became musical director of Footlights and played jazz piano regularly. I went

We catch up with Alex Tester, Director of Music, as he looks forward to taking up residence in his Department’s new home on South Parade.

to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with Footlights in ‘96 and ‘97. The ’96 Fringe was a complete whirlwind – we performed three different shows every night for a month – at 5pm, 8pm and 11pm. It was

excellent preparation for managing Gaudy Week!