Intern Diaries: Caroline

Learning & Participation intern, Caroline updates us on what she’s been up to over the last month:

The second half of the Winter Festival flew by at the beginning of January with, amongst other things, a fantastic performance by Paul Agnew in which he interspersed recitative with interesting and anecdotal commentary. Then there was the fabulous interactive schools’ concert, Monteverdi Explored. Sam Glazer led the concert  in collaboration with members of La Nuova Musica. To capture the attention of children as young as 5 for 75 minutes is a triumph in itself, but with music and instruments probably quite foreign to them, encouraging them to participate on stage with different percussion instruments, new rhythms, and teaching them a new song at the end – a real winner! Lots of smiley faces!

After the Festival, the Spring term Learning & Participation projects began to kick in. The first very exciting project – Lullabies for the post natal ward at the Royal London Hospital was incredibly moving in terms of the families’ involvement, the appreciation of the staff and their contribution to the sessions. Planning sessions for the next hospital project on the Grosvenor Ward, the Rocking Horse Crèche, the Cherry Trees school and the Royal Academy of Music projects all began to whirl into action! And so another busy and exciting term ahead!

Caroline Went
Learning & Participation Intern

Best of the Fest (and the Rest)

For our final instalment of the Spitalfields Music staff’s picks from the Winter Festival and the rest of cultural London, we have Marketing & Communications Intern, Michael sharing his favourite forthcoming events.

The concert I’m most looking forward to this festival is Monteverdi, Opera & Beyond (6 January) being given by some of the most renowned names of the English early music scene. In addition to the superb tenor Paul Agnew, there is harpsichordist, Mahan Esfahani, gambist Jonathan Manson and lutenist David Miller – a truly great line-up! Their exploration of recitative (an unusual take on the Monteverdi madrigal strand running through this winter’s programme) also allows them to touch on some lesser known gems, such as Nicholas Lanier’s epic Hero and Leander, as well as some more well-known items from Henry Purcell.

After a well-earned rest following the end of the festival this week, I’m quite looking forward to mezzo-soprano Christine Rice and pianist Roger Vignoles in concert at the Wigmore Hall on Sunday 16 January. The programme includes some real musical gems, such as chansons by Debussy and Poulenc, and Britten’s brilliant Cabaret Songs.

Winter Festival Highlights

As we head in to the New Year, Acting Executive Director, Sarah Macnee shares with us the highlights of the remaining Winter Festival concerts.

In the New Year we have two more wonderful Monteverdi concerts as well as Paul Agnew’s exploration of Monteverdi, Opera & Beyond on Thursday 6 January. This event explores the idea of recitative, examines its spread throughout Europe, and the way in which it developed. Paul is not only a great tenor, but also a great interpreter of the baroque and pre-classical repertoire and his approach through a lecture-concert format will be very illuminating and engaging.

And finally, I’m really excited about the last of this year’s Winter Festival events on Friday 7 January. It’s our only ensemble concert and Retrospect’s debut at Spitalfields. The focus of the programme is on Monteverdi’s contemporaries. Don’t miss it.

If you would like to book for any of these events you can do so online or via the Box Office on 020 7377 1362 (Re-opens Jan 4 2011)