Contemporary Performance Practice - See the Temporary Art Review

Have you heard of  Open Engagement, an annual conference on art and social practice held in Portland, Oregon?  We came across this blogpost on a blog called the Temporary Art Review.  We thought it might interest our Contemporary Performance Practice staff and students:-

http://temporaryartreview.com/social-practice-whats-at-stake/

The posting relates a conversation between Randall Szott and Sal Randolph in May of 2012. It is "published as part of a series of conversations on social practice, criticism and the professionalization of art that took place between Randall Szott and a group of artists, organizers and collaborators over the course of several years." 

Click the above link to find out more!

Temporary Art Review homepage: http://temporaryartreview.com/

Out this week on Digital Theatre Plus - On Playing Shakespeare's Clowns: Pearce Quigley

This week Digital Theatre Plus releases an interview On playing Shakespeare's Clowns.

Actor Pearce Quigley is one of the UK's most renowned Shakespearean funny men, having played a number of the Bard's greatest clowns on stage.  Pearce shares how his route into the industry began in childhood, his experiences in finding humour in unexpected places, and the problem with playing serious.

 

Staff and students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland can view the interview with Pearce Quigley by visiting the library Electronic Resource pages:-

https://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/libraryandit/databases/

Musica Scotica 2016 - Flashback

The Musica Scotica conference took place in Stirling last weekend.  Here's a quick social media Storify of the whole event!  (See if you recognise anyone ...)

New Dreams

New Dreams (Click Link to View)

Students from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow University and Glasgow School of Art collaborate with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra on a programme of delights featuring music, dance, composition and British Sign Language.

The performance features four intertwining pieces inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream, including a special recording by David Tennant.

The programme is curated by Graham McLaren, currently associate director for the National Theatre of Scotland, and presented by Jamie MacDougall.

What the Teachers are Reading: Mimi Zweig, String Pedagogy

Here's a link for anyone who teaches string instruments.  Indiana University string instructor Mimi Zweig is very highly thought of by fellow professionals. You can access her system, String Pedagogy, online for free:-  http://www.stringpedagogy.com/

Simply click on the link where it says "Sign Up", and you're in!  Our own staff think this is great ...

"This is actually a new online version and you are absolutely right it is free! Wonderful!"

You will find videos of Mimi at work on YouTube, like this one, instructing a student on playing Viotti's Concerto no.23. (Also, a Twitter search on Zweig Violin will give you plenty of links to her work.)

Japanese Woman Composer Chizuko Yoshida

Have you ever wondered why there isn't more music published by woman composers?  This blog isn't the place for an in-depth discussion (though much, much more could be said!), but since we've been adding more books about women and music, we thought we'd better also add more music by women!

What could be more timely than the discovery of Chizuko Yoshida's music in a pile of music pending cataloguing?  There are three books - mainly songs, choral works and oboe music - and a fourth book with the English lyrics, commentary, and some original art-work. 

Published by her son Naohiro Yoshida in 2010, the music was gifted to the Whittaker Library, with a letter explaining that Yoshida had used poems of Japanese classical poets from the 8th to 20th centuries as lyrics in her vocal works.  Her son comments, 'Works of Japanese women composers are still not well known outside Japan.  Please consider this as our contribution to better understanding and cultural exchange.'

Chizuko Yoshida died in 2013.  We'd like to think that her family will be pleased we are sharing her

music so that it can be discovered here in Glasgow, halfway round the world.

• Chizuko Yoshida website
• Look in our library catalogue

Social Media in the Whittaker Library

Welcome! You've found our blog!  Did you know we also have Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest accounts?  

• Twitter 
• Facebook 
• Pinterest - currently showcasing Shakespeare materials for Shakespeare 400.

The team shares responsibility for different social media accounts, but our common aim is to bring you interesting performing arts-related links, news, and to profile significant parts of our collection or new acquisitions that we think might interest you.

Our staff and students also get regular updates about new electronic media resources - all part of the service from the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Women in Music

In the interest of diversity and equality, the Library has been adding some more books to stock.  Now, if you search our catalogue for "women, music", you now find quite a good selection!  (Click here.)  
Search for "sexuality, music", and you find some more interesting reading material.  (Click here.)

Creative Teaching for Creative Learning in Higher Music Education

Teachers! Lecturers! Tutors!   

Creative Teaching for Creative Learning in Higher Music Education

Edited by Elizabeth Haddon, Pamela Burnard

© 2016 – Routledge

 Does this look interesting to you? It does to us!  Anything new on music pedagogy certainly attracts our attention here at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

We know that Ruth Slater and former colleagues Christina Guillaumier and Peter Argondizza have contributed a chapter to the book, but the whole volume will be great for our music faculty and people on the PGCert course.

It's released in May - we'll be ordering it!

Publication details here.

The Laird of Raasay's Niece and her 1812 Highland Music Collection

BOOK LAUNCH: GAELIC MELODIES FROM 1812

The Musica Scotica Trust announces the publication of "Original Highland Airs Collected at Raasay in 1812 by ELIZABETH JANE ROSS" edited by Peter Cooke, Morag MacLeod and Colm Ó Baoill. This is the seventh volume in the Trust's Main Series of volumes.

Musica Scotica is a series of scholarly editions of Early Scottish Music, founded by the late Dr Kenneth Elliott and published under the general editorship of Dr Gordon Munro.

Volume 7 contains a repertory of Gaelic melodies -- 96 song airs and 54 instrumental pieces -- notated for keyboard in 1812 by Elizabeth Ross, the niece of the Laird of the Island of Raasay, James MacLeod. The editors have provided detailed commentaries on all of the pieces as well as texts and translations for the songs. These distinctive settings comprise a unique and rich view of the musical tastes of MacLeod’s highland home and his island community.

Following the launch of the volume at the Musica Scoticaconference in Stirling on April 24, 2016, accompanied by music from students of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Traditional Music course, the volume will be available from the distributor, The Scottish Music Centre, City Halls, Candleriggs, Glasgow G1 1NG. Telephone: 0141 552 5222, email: info@scottishmusiccentre.com

Readers at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland - don't worry, we'll be ordering a copy!

• Dr Peter Cooke has lectured at the Universities of Edinburgh (School of Scottish Studies), Birmingham, Wolverhampton, London, and at RSAMD (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland).  He is a Research Associate at School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 
• Morag MacLeod was also a member of staff at the School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh. 
• Colm O'Baoill is Professor in Gaelic Studies, School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture, University of Aberdeen

Storify is Great for Collating Stories, such as our new Whittaker Library Exhibition

Have you come across Storify?  If you have a lot of weblinks and social media clips that you want to collate and share, then this simple application can do the job for you with minimal effort on your part!

We have just curated an exhibition of Scottish music and works authored by RCS staff.  To ensure that we don't lose all the buzz when the exhibition is pulled down, we've kept some of the tweets and photos to share later.

The Storify collated story has been added to the side-bar of this blog, so you can either read it there, or click on this Storify link to visit it on a full Storify page.

We need a Clarinet Quintet! (Clarinet and four strings)

New donation to the Whittaker Library - Michael Short's Clarinet Quintet.  Now we just need students to borrow it and give it a test run!

Find it in the library here.

Copyright Advice for Administrators, Academics and Librarians from LSE

We thought we had posted the last word in copyright advice in our recent blogpost, but of course, we're not the only library sharing helpful advice about what's legal and what, frankly, is not.

The London School of Economics recently posted this, which may be a useful addition to your favourites:- Nine things you need to know about copyright: A good practice guide for administrators, librarians and academics.

Songs by Alan Bickley

The name of Alan Bickley may be unfamiliar to singers at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.  Bickley was a deputy headmaster, and the respected organist and choirmaster of Walton Parish Church in Liverpool.  He died in 2005.  His daughter Susan sings opera internationally, and his son Graham is a musical theatre singer in London's West End.

Bickley's son-in-law has published six of Alan Bickley's songs, and donated a copy to the Whittaker Library.  If you're looking for new English songs for medium voice, then maybe these might be suitable additions to your repertoire.

Library catalogue details here.

Shakespeare in Russia - Shakespeare and Scotland

Shakespeare on the Russian Stage: Photographic Exhibition

In celebration of Shakespeare 400, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in collaboration with The Russian State Art Library,  with kind support of the Art Fund present an exhibition of images from the state art collections of the Russian Federation - “Shakespeare on the Russian Stage”.  The exhibition highlights Shakespeare as an international figure in world drama, with photographs and drawing images from Theatre Yugo-Zapad, Theatre Satirikon and the Moscow Arts Theatre among others.  The exhibition is in two parts with images of Hamlet, which is the most performed play globally and also a digital display of other Shakespearean productions in Russia.

The exhibition will run in the Cafe Bar until the 26th May 2016.

Mere Players: an Exhibition ... 

A complementary exhibition has been mounted to share some of our Shakespearean Ephemera from the Conservatoire's Archives and Collections.  On Level 2, round the corner from the Whittaker Library. 

 

A Symposium on Shakespeare and Scotland

On Friday 22nd April, why not nip over to the University of Glasgow to take in a symposium on Shakespeare and Scotland?  Details below ...

Shakespeare and Scotland
Symposium: Friday 22nd April
Andrew Stewart Cinema, Gilmorehill Halls, University of Glasgow
Marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, Theatre Studies at Glasgow University is hosting a one-day symposium. The symposium aims to explore the relationship and dialogue between Shakespeare and Scotland, to explore different approaches to adapting Shakespeare for the Scottish stage and, above all, to celebrate the Shakespeares of Scotland. To book a place please email: Victoria.Price@glasgow.ac.uk

This event is part of New Dreams - a festival of events to celebrate the life, work and legacy of Shakespeare.