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Thrive Conducting Day with Richard Farnes
Budding conductors on our Thrive programme recently took part in a day of masterclasses with Richard Farnes. Taking place at the National Opera Studio, the event saw five musicians receive individual support. This took place in front of an invited audience also supported by Young Sounds. This was a fantastic and rare opportunity to observe Richard passing on his knowledge to the next generation of young musicians.
Richard has had a wide-ranging career in both symphonic music and opera, recognised with awards such as the 2017 Royal Philharmonic Society Conductor of the Year Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Critics’ Circle. In demand worldwide, Richard has appeared with all the major symphonic orchestras in the UK, including the BBC orchestras.
Setting the scene
First up, the young people were led through a warm-up exercise by Richard. It was great to see the whole room on their feet, experiencing how it felt to beat time with the music!
Next, the young musicians explored the use of body language and gestures, learning how best to express and communicate with the orchestra. Accompanying Richard and our conductors on piano was international pianist and continuo player, Ashok Gupta. Some observers were then offered the chance to take up the baton for a 5-minute taster session, conducting the pianist under Richard’s guidance.
Between masterclasses, Richard led fascinating workshops offering insights into the history of conducting, score-reading and top tips about how to navigate the music industry.
The day came to an end with a question-and-answer session, led by Young Sounds supporter and volunteer, Julia Roth. Here, the young people had the opportunity to ask Richard and Ashok about all things conducting and industry related as he shared anecdotes about his musical journey and career. Lots of questions were asked such as ‘How did you start a career in conducting’ and ‘Do you have any pre-concert rituals?’
The Colin Touchin Music Leadership Award
This insightful Conducting Day was funded generously by Malcolm Touchin and the award he set up in memory of his brother, musician and conductor Colin Touchin.
At the event, Malcolm Touchin said:
“I’m not myself a musician of any great note, but my brother Colin very much was. He sadly died three years ago, but he devoted his life to music, in particular to organising, conducting, composing music for groups of young musicians. I wanted to make sure his name carried on in some way; his legacy didn’t just die away with him. And so, I set up the Colin Touchin Music Leadership Award. I wanted to be sure that somehow, we could encourage and promote leadership amongst young aspiring musicians such as yourselves. So, I’m very pleased that this workshop has been set up today using that award.”
We’d like to thank Richard, Julia, Ashok Gupta, the National Opera Studio, Malcolm and all the young people, parents and carers who made this Conducting Day such a success.
Apply to Thrive today
Masterclasses are just some of the opportunities available to young people on our Thrive programme. Earlier this year we held a piano masterclass with Libby Burgess and we look forward to providing more experiences like this in the future.
If you are, or if you know, a young musician, aged 5-17, with bags of musical potential who could benefit from financial support and musical opportunities like this, Young Sounds UK could help!