The Wicklow Piano Concerto

The Performance

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:44:00 +0000

Hello,

Apologies for the terrible delay in this last blog post! Well, there were two performance of the work, both of which I was absolutely thrilled with! The World Premiere took place at the Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, and then the following day it was performed in Wicklow Town in a wonderful room in The Grand Hotel.

Bobby and the orchestra played absolutely fabulously - everybody really rose to the occasion and I'm so grateful for all the hard work that everybody put into preparing the concerto for performance.

Well, that's the blog finished really! Do visit www.cherylfranceshoad.co.uk to hear musical excerpts, and keep up to date with all my other projects!

Very best,

Cheryl

Rehearsal two weeks before the premiere

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:50:00 +0000

Two weeks before the premiere Bobby Chen and I flew out to Ireland (there and back in one day, we felt like proper business people!) for our first rehearsal with the orchestra. It went really well and each run through just got better and better as everybody got used to performing the piece in its entirety (up until now there had been a lot of instruments missing in the orchestral rehearsals, let alone the fact that the piano part had been missing!). The whole day was really enjoyable and both Bobby and I were left really looking forward to the premiere!

Finished!!!!!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:45:00 +0000

I have finished the piano concerto! Wonderful feeling. Took some 10 months or so, so can't quite believe I actually managed to get to the end! However, still got the parts to do and all the inevitable proof-reading etc etc etc. Hope this will all be done by the end of the week so I can go out and properly celebrate! :)

A Well overdue update....

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:56:00 +0000

Deary me, it seems I've again lapsed with my blogging. It's obviously not something that comes very naturally to me!

So, I'm very nearly finished with the concerto! I think the last time I posted I was getting towards the end of the second movement: that all seems a very long time ago now! I sent the first two movements off to the orchestra on the 1st December and I know that they have had several rehearsals on it. I think it went down OK! But I really want to just keep telling people that it will sound so much better when all the instruments are there (the brass won't be at rehearsals until near the concert) and, of course, the piano part is missing! So it must sound rather skeletal at rehearsals and I'm rather glad I can hide in Cambridge for the time being!

So, in December I began the third movement, which is based on trains! It was the railway that really helped Greystones to thrive, turning a town that was very provincial into a thriving holiday destination, so, it seemed appropriate! To be honest it was also largely to do with the fact that this meant I could include lots of rhythmical material in the last movement which will be a great contrast to the slow, chordal slow movement. I've had great fun dictating various steam train rhythms, with one in particular featuring heavily in the piano part: it sounds as if one set of cogs (or whatever goes on in a train!) are moving very slightly faster than the other, creating a phasing effect. I hope Bobby won't mind the cross rhythms that I've written for him!

So, I actually have a double bar anyway. But lots and lots of gaps to fill in! But, psychologically it's incredibly reassuring to have that last bar...I thought I would never get there when I started the concerto!

General admin has started to rear its ugly head again, and soon I'm going to have to think about booking flights, B&B's and everything else needed for the rehearsals and concert. But I'll try and finish the notes first!

It's been a while....

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:01:00 +0000

Gemima provides a critical ear and some good company!

Hello, I'm aware that it's been absolutely ages since I last posted on this blog, so am here to remedy that now! I've been working hard on the concerto and have been making good progress: I'm hoping to finish the second movement by the end of next week (although I haven't finished the first yet!)

I spent a lot of time thinking about what to base each movement on, and have relied heavily on all the ideas that the children in all the schools Bobby and I went to gave us. So, the first movement will recreate and journey that we took in improvisation up Bray Head: first, walking along the promenade, then climbing up and seeing the panoramic views and beautiful scenery. But I'll talk more about this in another post as it's not at the forefront of my mind at the moment. I have rough sketches of most of this movement but decided to head on to the second which I'm immersed in now (I wouldn't usually do this, preferring to finish each movement before going onto the next, but, because I'm slightly nervous about writing such a long piece, I decided to try and plough through the minutes, even if they are not completely full of all the notes yet).

The second movement will be less programmatic, and is inspired by my walk across the Greystones Cliffs when I was in the area for the final round interview. At the top there was such a feeling of space and freedom and this is the mood that I want to recreate in the second movement. The cliffs are represented in a way: I'm writing chords with huge ranges for Bobby to play at the beginning which will hopefully evoke their hugeness, and much of the harmony is based on the colours in the scenery (as I may have said before, I associate certain harmonies with certain colours: blue is D for me, E is green, C is white, A is yellow. These are the colours of the sea, the cliffs, and the grasses and gorse that cover the cliffs). This movement is much less 'busy' than anything I've written for a while, which is quite nerve wracking in a way (I always worry that people will get bored!) but I think it is essential if the feeling of space is to be conveyed. Another thing I am trying to do is make chords that could be considered dissonant sound consonant: I'm aiming for a 'majory' sound that is just slightly skewiff!

Before writing the piece I did a lot of reading about everything associated with Bray Head and the Greystones cliffs. I've learnt what types of minerals they are made of, the different types of birds that live there (some rare) and about the History of Bray itself (in fact, various spellings of the town provide the musical material of the first movement). I've had quite a lot of fun hiding words in the pieces - in addition to various forms of the names of the towns, my name and Bobby's initials appear in the second movement! I also spent a while transcribing the bird calls of the species that make the cliffs their homes, and they will appear in the second section of the movement.

Anyway, today was a bit of a slow day, mainly because the hedge was being cut and the noise of the wood-chipping machine outside wasn't tremendously helpful! But I managed to write a series of six chords that I'm pleased with, and am still hopefully on track to finish the second movement by early next week at the latest. I shall endeavour to keep this a bit more up to date from now on!

Cheryl :)

Bobby's account of our week in Wicklow...

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:02:00 +0000

The short trip to Bray was quite an experience, together with my friend Cheryl, we were fearfully expecting a wild horde of schoolchildren throwing fruits and vegetables at us at every workshop. However, it did not turn out that way!

We started the trip by spending an evening at the Bray Arts Club, where we were entertained by some charming and heart-warming verse and poetry readings, as well as the singing of a lovely local choir. Topping that all off was a bold and engaging performance of some numbers from the Musical 'Chicago' by some local ladies, which drew enthusiastic applause from the intimate crowd! We managed to squeeze a few sentences in, introducing the project, and playing some music from our 2 CDs. We then invited members of the Club to come forward with ideas and stories which may be used in the composition. We jotted down some tales and e-mail addresses before heading back to the B&B with lightened hearts.

Over the following few days, we visited several schools, some close by, some in the neighbouring town of Wicklow. Each school has a very different character, and different sized classes. We brought along some leaflets which Cheryl had done, filled with photos of the local landscape and questions designed to stimulate the children into sharing their thoughts. After a short while talking with them, we divided them into 2 groups, with each group creating an original musical work, based on scenes or stories from Bray. At the end of the preparations, the 2 groups came together for a performance in front of each other, and one senses a little competition between them! After the applauses, the children and teachers went back to their work..

We were assisted throughout the trip by Sarah Ross, who met with us several times and was on hand to help with anything, even having her car break down at one point! She took us to meet with the people at the Mermaid Centre, one of the venues where the concerto will be performed, as well as taking us to have a meeting with a supervisor in the Council Office.

With some time to burn after the sessions, we went round exploring the surrounding countryside, taking in Glendalough, a 13th century medieval ruins, to sampling guiness in the highest pub in Ireland, Johnny Fox's Pub. We spent some time taking the car round bends and twists, always following mysteriously appearing signs pointing the way to this famous watering hole. Boasting visitors such as former President Bill Clinton, and Hollywood star Val Kilmer, Jackie Chan and Jack Nicholson, the glamour seemed not to have rubbed off the local punters, who sat there sipping their drinks with such a nonchalant air!

After the end of the last school workshop, we felt extremely relieved to have done all the things, and on the plane home, recounted all the experiences and looked at the photos we took. Phew! After such an experience in Ireland, we are looking forward very much to the premiere set for May 2009, it should be a fantastic occasion for everyone, Cheryl, I, and Wicklow County Council!

Back home in Cambridge...

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 08:42:00 +0000

So, now that the workshops have finished, the next thing to do is write the piano concerto! The week away gave me many ideas: stories that the children told us, the pieces we composed and performed, and the stories that we heard from everybody at Bray Arts. I've also got several books to read, about the history of Greystones, and the local railways which will all no doubt contain lots of interesting material which might be useful.

However, before I start the piano concerto I've got a string quartet to write for the Cheltenham Festival, and another piano work (this time solo) for Bobby Chen! I'll begin the piano concerto in about June '08, and will be regularly posting here from then onwards...

But there's plenty to be doing in the meantime! I have to book the venues and dates of the three concerts that we will do. Then I have to make sure that the piano gets there in time and is tuned, make sure the concert is recorded, and organise a competition for art work and poetry in the schools that we went to (there will hopefully be a big display at the Mermaid Arts Centre, and the winning painting will get to go on the front of the CD that will be made!). I've got to sign a million contracts making sure that everybody gets the money they need to put on the concerts (the budget is solely my responsibility). And that's about half of it! But it's all going to be totally worth it, as I think this project is going to be fabulous, and I can't wait to get started on the concerto!

Last day

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 23:02:00 +0000

On our last day in Co. Wicklow we went to St. Fergal's school in Bray for another two 45 minute workshops. We again decided to portray walking up Bray Head. The story began with us climbing up the hill (some very good tom-tom playing!), followed by seeing the flowers at the top of the hill (fantastically played by three girls on a keyboard, with a D major chord spanning some five octaves!), and amongst other things hearing the birds singing (the group doing the birds were fabulous, and were really listening and "talking" to each other on their penny whistles. By the end of the second workshop Bobby and I were totally exhausted! After a meeting at Wicklow County Council, we made our move back to the airport, and took off back to the U.K. It had been a fantastic week and we have both decided we would like to do many more workshops in the future!

Three workshops in one day!

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 22:54:00 +0000

Thursday was perhaps our most hectic day! Bobby and I did two workshops at St. Kevin's School, Greystones, and then one in the afternoon at the Bray Institute of further education. The workshops at St. Kevin's were 45 minutes each, not the usual 90, so things were extra hectic! However, we still had a wonderful time and managed to create some great pieces. One piece described walking over Bray Head (a huge hill between Bray and Greystones). Groups of five to six students musically depicted the wind at the top of the hill (bells, and some wonderful coloured tubes of all different lenghts, which you could blow through), the beautiful yellow and pink gorse at the top of the hill (motifs on penny whistles), looking down at the sea bellow, climbing up the mountain (big crescendo's on the drums) and so on!

In the afternoon at the Bray Institute, we met up with another group and made some great music with keyboards, guitars and a few other instruments, The piece we made here lasted 7 minutes, with rhythmic guitar strumming and chords on the piano that spanned many octaves. Representing the arrival and departure of a train through the area, this piece was a great success!

Time for a little more sightseeing...

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:25:00 +0000

On Wednesday afternoon we went to visit Glendalough, a village located at the site of a monastery founded by St. Kevin in the 6th Century. You can find more information about Glendalough here: http://www.glendalough.connect.ie/pages/monastic/monastic.html

Here are some pictures of the monastery, the surrounding buildings and the beautiful scenery.

The second workshop at the Glebe School, Wicklow

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:59:00 +0000

Our next workshop was at 9.30am in the Glebe School in Wicklow. We followed a similar format in this workshop, and created some wonderful pieces! After handing out the leaflets that I had prepared (which I've attached with this post) we began creating pieces about walking along the beach in Wicklow, depicting all the boats in the harbour with various percussion instruments, and one pupil did a fantastic flute solo (representing a swan swimming calmly over the water (the water being represented by glockenspiels, triangles, penny whistle tones and bells). Bobby's group also did a great performance, which including some acting (very convincing miming of walking up and down the beach).

Musical%20Workshop%20handout.doc

Time for some sightseeing!

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:35:00 +0000

After the meeting in Bray, Bobby and I decided to take advantage of the hire car (which by now I'd got used to....it was slightly different to my renault 5, with no power steering, at home!). We set off for Powerscourt Estate (http://www.powerscourt.ie/) and wandered around the amazing gardens there, then we followed the signs to "Johnny Fox's Pub" (having no idea what it actually was) and ended up having half a pint in the highest pub in Ireland!

Visiting the Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray: the venue for the premiere!

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:26:00 +0000

After the workshops, we visited the Mermaid Arts theatre, where (hopefully) the premiere of the piano concerto will take place. It was great to see inside the hall: it is a really happening, modern building in centre of Bray with so much going on, from craft exhibitions to classical, folk and concerts and film showings. You can find out more about the hall here: http://www.mermaidartscentre.ie/

Our first day of workshops, 4th December 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:25:00 +0000

On tuesday morning we had a mercifully leisurely start (something we would not have for the rest of the week!). We had a huge breakfast at our fantastic B&B and set off for St. Philomena's School in Bray. I was very nervous about the whole thing, having never really done a school workshop before, certainly not for thirty pupils! However, it was soon apparent that we were going to have a fantastic time. All the pupils at the school were absolutely wonderful, and I was so grateful for everybody's enthusiasm and willingness to participate (I know when I was eleven someone would have had to have forced any comment or opinion out of me!)

The workshops had several aims: to get the children's ideas as to what should inspire the piano concerto, and to get everybody creating musical compositions of their own (through group improvisation). To begin, Bobby and I each gave our own little performances, me via a few minutes of my recorded CD, and Bobby captivated everybody with his performance of some Liszt. Then we got divided into two groups, and got everybody talking about what they liked best about their town. Many children sited the beach as one of their favourite places, so in my group we decided to do a piece all about Bray beach.

First of all we set out about thinking about how to represent Bray beach in the different weathers: what could you use to portray the calm sea and the sunlight etc (we decided to use recorders playing major chords and twinkly percussion instruments to represent the sea and the light reflecting upon it), and how would you musically represent a storm (lots of percussion was used, as well as glissandi up and down the piano!).

Half way through the workshop Bobby and I changed places, so we could both work with each group. Bobby's group was already well rehearsed, with their piece called "Freedom Alex". Not exactly based on Bray's scenery, but the piece was based on "light" and "dark" music, and used lots of lovely recorder sounds and melodies.

When we got everybody back together in the main hall, in order for each group to perform their pieces to each other. As the consumate performer, Bobby had managed to put the piece about Bray beach together wonderfully. The piece started with a representation of Bray beach in calm weather, then a storm came over as night fell, and their was an alien landing!!! (my flexitone leant itself to this bit perfectly). Everyone really joined in, and at the end of the performance looked suprised at how well they had done (the two piano players especially excelled themselves, playing notes over the entire range of the piano!)

After all the time planning the workshops, and worrying whether it would all work, it was fantastic to have spent 90 minutes with everybody and to have produced two great performances, and having so much fun on top of everything we learnt!

Our week in Ireland

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:05:00 +0000

Everyone enjoying a Christmas dance at the end of the Bray Arts Club meeting

So, on the 3rd December I set out for Bray, County Wicklow. My suitcase got a thorough rummaging through at the airport (due to the amount of metal in my suitcase: two penny whistles, a flexi-tone, and a melodica amongst other things) and it took me three hours to travel the 45 minute journey from the airport to Bray in my hire car (As far as I can remember I did three detours, one in totally the wrong direction, and two through the centre of Dublin in rush hour...), but otherwise things went without a hitch!

So , arriving very late there was no time to relax, and after meeting Bobby Chen at the B&B we immediately sped off to the Bray Arts Club meeting. We were received with such friendliness for which we are very grateful: our presentation about the project went well and we got lots of interesting feedback from the people there. One lady told us about her great-great grandfather who had been a Captain on a Ship, and managed to steer the vessel back to Bray despite a huge disaster at sea. The purpose of spending a week in Co. Wicklow was to gather as many stories as we could about the area, as well as doing the school workshops, so the meeting was very useful as well as fun. Another member told us about the erosion of the Greystones Cliffs (about a mile of land has disappeared into the sea in the last century), which was very interesting, and I think that the second movement of the piano concerto that I will write will be in some way based on this.

We didn't leave the meeting until gone 11pm, and (after briefly exploring Bray's nightlife) we went back to the B&B, and had thankfully little time to think (and panic) about the following day's first workshop!

The Workshops

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:29:00 +0000

So, on Monday the 3rd December, Bobby and I will go to Co. Wicklow to do a series of workshops in five local schools. Our schedule is filling up all the time - on Monday we are going to an exhibition in the Wicklow County Buildings, then onto the Bray Arts Evening (where we will talk about the project), then, after that we will go to the Greystones Orchestra rehearsal. During the course of the week we will visit the Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray (where the premiere performance will take place), meet with local musicians and writers, go to a historical society meeting in Greystones, and hopefully have time for some sightseeing (and the odd pint...)

It's all very exciting...do come back in a week or so's time, as there will be lots of photos up here of our week...

The first stage of the project gets underway...

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 18:44:00 +0000

Hello again, after a rather long sabatical from this blog....

Since getting back from from the interview in May, I've mostly been working on other compositions. The last few weeks however have been spent planning the workshops, which will take place in five schools in County Wicklow.

So far, this project has been a major learning curve for me. I will be paid (in three instalments) the entire budget of the project, and then I have to pay everyone/budget for everything/buy everything with that money. Thankfully my budget has stood up so far: I've even managed to undercut some of the estimated costs by a few pounds (by booking up the flights, car parking and car rental really early!). This was the easy part however - last week I spent five hours on the phone to insurance companies, trying to get Employer Liability Insurance. They all found it very hard to get their heads around what I was actually doing, and I was asked a load of totally silly questions several times: has anyone in my company been made redundant in the last 12 months (which would mean I'd have to sack myself!), has your company been involved in a merger in the last 12 months, and various other questions that are perfectly applicable to builders merchants and such, but not really to composers!

After I'd managed to sort out getting Bobby and I to Ireland, and making sure we were insured (I'm now petrified at the thought of where I shall put my bag when I get into the classrooms, in case a myriad of school children run past and trip over it) I had to work out what we were actually going to do in the workshops! So, the next stage was to get on the phone to each school, and find out a) how many students would be in each workshop, b) what their age range would be, c) whether they would have instruments or not, etc, etc! The various answers that I got helped me plan what I was to do next...

An amazing amount of Admin!

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 11:58:00 +0000

After all the excitment of winning the commission, I've now come down to earth after hearing the amount of admin I have to do before it all goes ahead! Spent ages yesterday phoning/emailing schools in Ireland, trying to fix dates for the composition workshops that Bobby Chen and I are going to do, signing lots of forms, finding out whether I'm insured for personal liability insurance whilst I'm in Ireland (in case I get hit by a flying cymbal in one of the Greystones Orchestra rehearsals?), finding out about bank charges (I'm wishing the UK had the Euro at the moment!), and a myriad other things!

Back home in Cambridge, with a piano concerto to write...

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 21:21:00 +0000

It took about a week for me to hear the result of the interview, during which time I got steadily more and more morose, emailing all my friends telling them how I must have failed...so, was quite a bizarre experience when I had a phone call telling me I'd won! Overjoyed of course, and immediately went to the piano with lots of ideas (when I should have been working on the piece I'm writing at the moment)...

So, I shall start to write the piano concerto in September, after I've finished the piece I'm currently working on, and after my second trip to Co. Wicklow to give a series of workshops with Bobby Chen (pianist).

In the meantime, I'm keen to gather as many comments and ideas as possible about what the piano concerto should be based on/inspired by! Here's the little advert I wrote about the piece again: please post any ideas, however small or however grand!

Ideas wanted! Help to create a new Musical Composition, based on/inspired by Wicklow County (musicians and non-musicians wanted!!)

I am a composer who has applied to Wicklow County Council for a grant to write a 25 minute piano concerto, which will be premiered in Greystones and Bray by the pianist Bobby Chen and the Greystones Orchestra in 2009.

I want to create a new musical work that is uniquely and specifically connected to the county of Wicklow and the surrounding area, and would like to receive any ideas that people have as to what the concerto should contain or be based on/inspired by. Perhaps you are a musician, and love a particular tune that is associated with the area? Or an artist who thinks one of your paintings (or a picture that you have seen) particularly sums up the atmosphere of Bray or Greystones? Or a writer/poet who would like to put some of your work forward to be used as inspiration for the new work? I am open to everyone’s ideas as to what the piece should contain, and these ideas need not be musical: I am open to absolutely every idea, no matter how big or small! Bobby Chen and I hope the creation of this work will give many people a unique chance to be involved in the conception and creation of a new piece of music.

Thanks! Cheryl :)

Immediately post-interview

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 21:17:00 +0000

A (very quiet!) pint after the interview, before heading back home.

Interview day! Going to Wicklow Town

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 21:12:00 +0000

The day of the interview I took an early train, giving me time to look around Wicklow Town....here are some photos!

Walking from Bray Head to Greystones

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 20:57:00 +0000

Walking along the Promenade in Bray Bray Head
A view of Bray from the top of Bray Head

The top of Bray Head

I had a free day before the interview after going to the Greystones Orchestral Concert, so decided to take a train to Bray and then walk back to Greystones over the cliffs....Some amazing views!

Some flowers on the cliff walk from Bray Head back to Greystones...

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 12:55:00 +0000

The Greystones Orchestra Concert in the Artane School of Music

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 10:26:00 +0000

The Greystones Orchestra get a standing ovation...

On the 27th May the Greystones Orchestra did a concert featuring songs from the shows. It was great fun (apparently a bit of a departure from their usual repertoire) and they were joined by the fantastic Artane Boys band (shown off to full effect in the Phantom of the Opera medley!)

It was great to meet some of the players afterwards, and the conductor Ronan O'Reilly.

You can find out more about the orchestra from their website: http://homepage.eircom.net/~greystonesorchestra/index.html

Anchors in Greystones...

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl Frances-Hoad) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 10:23:00 +0000