Ben Markovic is the organ scholar at Worcester Cathedral and the third organist at our spring 2020 season of Wednesday@One. We spoke to him about his upcoming organ recital to find out what we can expect from his programme as well as finding out more about his career.You are an organ scholar at Worcester Cathedral?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I’m loving it. It’s an incredible experience to be able to work with such professional people at a high-level day-in and day-out.</span>Could you give us an introduction to yourself?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I started out as a pianist eleven-or-twelve years ago. I took up the trombone when I started secondary school, and was a junior at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in Central London for a couple of years. It was only in February 2017 that I started playing the organ. I had a friend in the choir at his parish church told me that their previous organ scholar had gone on to Birmingham Conservatoire and he then took up the post at Worcester Cathedral. It was at that point I realized that this was something I could seriously persue.</span>How did you pick the pieces for your recital?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I wanted to show a range of what the organ can do. I personally think that no recital is complete without Bach so I chose three lesser known of his works. Alongside that I’m going to try and show the more colourful side of the organ with pieces by Whitlock and Rideout, these are probably pieces which people may not have heard before. I’ll be beginning with a piece by Pierné which should blow any cobwebs off the organ!</span>Do you have a favourite piece to perform from those?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I guess it depends on my mood, but I find whenever I play the Soliloquies they always go down nicely. Although the Rideout rarely played, I think these pieces are absolute gems: very lyrical and interesting harmonically. I think they feel quite removed from what people think organ music is and for that reason, perhaps deserve to be heard more!</span>Do you enjoy playing something that might be fresh to the audience?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Certainly! I think all people should know what the organ is capable of doing. Not many people truly appreciate the full range of colour and sounds the organ is able to play. It’s an instrument that, in its own way, is an orchestra. I love to be able to show all the individual instruments within that orchestra and what the orchestra sounds like as a whole at various times within pieces and within a programme. ‘New’ pieces, I find, often help achieve this.</span>You mentioned that you played the trombone; is that something you still do?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I’ve had to put that to the side for the time, as organ playing has taken priority, but it is something that I want to keep doing, and I do the rounds in the local schools whenever they need it!</span>Have you got any other big plans for 2020?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I’ll be taking up the organ scholarship at Queen’s College Cambridge in October. I still can’t quite believe it! If everything turns out well, I’d really like to explore early music or opera, using skills I’ve learnt as an organist now. Also, I’m looking forward to taking some exams. I’m currently preparing to take my ARCO (in Summer 2020), and having just passed my ATCL exam in Piano Performance with distinction, I look forward to preparing for an LTCL exam in the future.</span>What attracts you to those styles?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I think it’s the purity. Early music has its own distinct pureness which I don’t feel is quite there in other sorts of music. That’s what attracts me to it!</span>Finally, as an organist, what do you hope the audience will take away from organ recitals?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I hope they’ll discover something new. I don’t necessarily mean a new piece of music or a new composer, but simply something new – whatever that means to the individual.</span>Join us for our weekly Wednesday@One Organ Recitals at 1pm, with a lunch buffet available from 12:30pm. Ben Markovic will be playing on Wednesday 29th January 2020. More information on this recital, all others and this season’s coffee concerts can be found in the programme available to buy from the recitals and concerts.
Robert Sharpe is the Director of Music at York Minster, and the second organist at our spring 2020 season of Wednesday@One. We spoke to him about his upcoming organ recital to find out what we can expect from his programme as well as finding out more about his career.York Minster is currently auditioning for new choristers. How is that going?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">The actual auditions are happening on Friday 24th January and we’re very much looking forward to the audition day. It’s not too late to apply and we would be keen to hear from more girls in current school year 2!</span>Could you tell us about your background as a musician?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">My home town is Lincoln and, like York, has a large cathedral with an impressive organ. After having organ lessons in a local church, I was lucky enough to be able to study there with the assistant organist. From there I won various organ scholarships and then went to Oxford University where I got into choir training as well. Since then I have held three cathedral jobs: I became the assistant organist at Lichfield Cathedral in Staffordshire for eight very happy years; then six years as the Director of Music in Truro, Cornwall; and since 2008 I’ve been at York Minster.</span>You’re the Director of Music at York Minster. How has that role been?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">It’s an exciting role, but the work is very much non-stop. We sing eight services a week with large numbers of people in attendance, with just one day off each week. In that sense in term-time it’s very busy but it’s also very rewarding as well, and we have good resources to hand.</span>We have two chorister treble lines, educated at the school next to the Minster. The girl and boy choirs alternate the eight services and the adult singers in the choir are professional Songmen, in part, and choral scholars at the University of York in the other part.How did you pick the pieces for your organ recital with us?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">They are pieces that I thought would work well on the Bradford organ, which I’ve played several times before. The Buxtehude at the beginning is particularly sparkly and bright in feel and suits the semi-classical style of the Bradford organ well, and the light acoustic there. Similarly with the Bach, Prelude and Fugue in B minor: I always like to include a major Bach work in these sort of recitals. The Vierne piece, and then the Cochereau piece which follows it and is based on the Vierne piece, are included because I think they are both very beautiful. The original Berceuse shows off the quiet, gentle side of the organ: it’s a cradle song. Then the Cochereau improvisation in memory of Vierne, developed the piece in a very symphonic way and again this way will suit the way the Bradford organ builds up which is, in some ways, a little bit like the more stringent tones, which you can hear in Notre Dame where Vierne was the organist.</span>Then at the end of the programme, Francis Jackson’s Prelude on “East Acklam” is an acknowledgement of my predecessor at York who was in the Minister from 1946 to 1982 and is 102 years old now, which is quite a thing! Over the years he’s had associations with Bradford in an advisory role. Then the final piece, an arrangement of Eric Coates’ Knightsbridge March is a lollipop-piece, because that kind of piece is very popular at the end of a lunchtime recital. It’s the kind of piece that will make people leave with a spring in their step.When it comes to an organ recital, what do you think it should it aim to do?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">It’s a good question, and audiences will vary depending on when and where the recital is. You have what you might call the town-hall type of programme, which tend include one or two arrangements of an orchestral piece, as that’s very much the tradition of those organs when they were made in the late 19th or early 20th century. It was intended for audiences to hear orchestral music that they might not be able to hear in the days before orchestral recordings. That sort of programming is very useful for lunchtime recitals in cathedrals, including an orchestral transcription which I’m doing at the end of my programme.</span>It’s important to think that a programme which is aimed at what might be called a popular-audience, who might not be intellectually curious about the music but know what they enjoy, also includes some more important works as well, such as the Bach piece. But, again, this piece is accessible to the audience. What I tend to avoid in a lunchtime recital environment is what you might call the more serious organ works which require a little more concentration on the instrument to appreciate, works like the larger romantic works by Liszt for example. Those have their place in a recital programme that’s more for the specialist organ audience, so maybe in an evening concert in a cathedral series, where most people attending are keen to hear that kind of work.In the end I want the programme to be enjoyed by those who are there. I think it’s important that people stay for the whole programme and not walk out in the middle.You were awarded the Cornwhylen Cross; what did you receive that for?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">It’s a Cornish award that’s presented each year to a different person. It’s almost like a cup really where you get your name engraved on it. I was very lucky to be given that in my final year in Cornwall for distinguished services to church music.</span>What are your plans for the rest of 2020? It’s a busy year with the work on the organ?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Very much so. The resetting or the Minster organ is the main focus of the year and I’m also taking some time in this term on some sabbatical leave to study some other choirs at work, which is a personal project for me, but it’s very much the organ after that.</span>The organ will be re-built between May and August this year, and then the scaffolding comes down, and during the autumn the tonal finishing of the instrument will take place, and then most excitingly at the end of November, going into December, we bring the organ back into use for the big Christmas services.<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Join us for our weekly Wednesday@One Organ Recitals at 1pm, with a lunch buffet available from 12:30pm. Robert Sharpe will be playing on Wednesday 22nd January 2020. More information on this recital, all others and this season’s coffee concerts can be found in the programme available to buy from the recitals and concerts.</span>
In March Bradford Cathedral is running its second annual singing day. Following the sold-out event with John Rutter in 2019 this year’s day will be led by Professor Paul Mealor. We caught up with Paul to find out more about his background, what to expect from the day and what it’s like to hold a Christmas number one.Could you give us a bit of background to yourself as a composer?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I come from one of the smallest, and most recent, cities in Wales, Saint Asaph. I started off as a chorister there aged nine, having lessons with William Mathias, the distinguished composer who was also a Professor at Bangor University. He took me on as a private student, but alongside that I also played in brass bands and school orchestras.</span>I started with the real practical side of things; starting as a chorister in a cathedral is one of the most important things for any creative artist, and I learnt lots doing that.I also had a religious experience around that same time that got me into composing. I was in Anglesey, where my grandparents had a place, and where I spend most of my summers now. I fell into a river and I was drowning, and at that point I surrendered myself to death. It was then that a huge warmth came over me and I realized there was something else in the world. Luckily I was dragged out and I sought out what that warmth was, which led me to the cathedral in Saint Asaph.When I walked in to see the Dean, at age nine, the cathedral choir were singing, and that’s what drew me to choral music.That must have been quite a turning point for you in your life?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Yes, it was, as at that point I had in my head that I was going to be a Minister but as soon as I heard the choir singing – they were singing See, See, the Word Is Incarnate by Orlando Gibbons, and What Sweeter Music by John Rutter – I realised that is what I wanted to do.</span>You held the role of Professor of Composition; What does that role entail?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I’ve just semi-retired from that, but I did it for eighteen years, and what it required was the teaching of composition to students, from undergraduate up to Masters, and to Doctor-level. I have eighteen PHD students at the moment that I’m working with. The class teaching of composition to the undergraduates covers technique and harmony, but as they got older and specialising at masters level or at PHD, it’s then helping them with their own language: how do they get their ideas down on the page, and how do I help them write their music. It becomes a kind of music therapy! The problem that most composers have is patience. We all have ideas, but how do we get them clearly down on the page? Most of my teaching is to do with the technique of getting ideas down. You can’t teach ideas; people have to have them. You can inspire them, but in the end people have to have the initial idea.</span>You can help them with the structure of those ideas, and so that’s what most of my teaching has been about. Of course, students are able to try out ideas on me and I can help them before they get anywhere near a choir or an orchestra, by showing them things that might not necessarily work.Do you find it rewarding that you’re nurturing those ideas and talent?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I really enjoy it. The thing that I’ve found over my eighteen years, and people say this a lot as teachers, is that I learn more than I teach, in a strange kind of way. By helping people with their problems you can solve problems in your work as well. It’s a two-way process, teaching, if you’re doing it right. One of the great joys for me is when I see a student who has worked hard on something and they hear the performance and it’s exactly how they imagined it. That’s a real high for me when I see that.</span>Can you give us a flavour of what is involved with the singing day?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">What I’m planning to do is offer a selection of pieces that I’ve written, some sacred, some secular, and spend some time learning about the music, the work behind it, but also having fun! Fun is very important: singing is about enjoyment. We’re finding out now in medicine that singing is one of the great medical jewels. It’s all about the technique of singing, the fun of singing, and the joy of singing!</span>It’s not going to be a stressed-out affair. It will be fun, enjoyable and a laugh, but along the way those taking part will be learning about the musical pieces.Do people who want to come along need any experience, like being able to read music?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Not really. I think there will be plenty of people coming along who can do that, but they can help the people who can’t, so if you can’t, come along anyway!</span>Next week I’m conducting the ‘Science Sings’ choir who are a group of scientists from all over Scotland that I’ve put together. They are working on ocean biodiversity, and are looking at how we can save the oceans from the terrible mess we’ve got them into. They wanted me to write a piece, so the world can see and hear what it’s all about. They have all come together, and none of them have sung before. Over the course of the weekend I’m going to teach them to sing and sing for HRH the Duchess of Cornwall on Tuesday!If they can do that with only two rehearsals, then people coming to this singing day can do anything!Are you excited about that performance?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I’m a little nervous because I’ve met all the scientists and there’s a Nobel Prize winner amongst them, so I know how intelligent they are! But none of them have sung before, so I’m nervous that the first and only gig that we have is a big one with a royal presence, so I’m hoping they can rally together in the rehearsal and we can put on a good show! But I’m sure they can. So after I’ve done that I’ll be more than ready for March.</span>Have you done singing days at cathedrals before?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I have, but they’ve all been different. I’m doing one soon in Lancaster, but they’ve chosen just one piece to sing.</span>What are you working on musically at the moment?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I’ve just finished an anthem commissioned to mark the centenary of the birth of St John Paul II, which will be part of the national Polish celebrations of his birth, and that will happen in April in Warsaw, by the John Paul II singers. It’ll all be broadcast and recorded.</span>I’m working on a piano concerto which gets premiered in July, and I need to finish that by the end of February.You also hold what a lot of people would dream of having: a Christmas Number One. Was that fun to be involved in?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">It was fantastic! The interesting thing about that was that it was all completely by accident. When Gareth Malone, who’s a good friend of mine, asked me to write that piece, none of us had an idea of that it would become the biggest selling charity record ever beating Candle in the Wind! It became number one in both the classical and pop chart.</span>It became quite a thing, and the funny thing I find now is that I go into a Christmas party and it’s on the jukebox, and so people sing it at me!You were also voted the nation’s favourite living composer in 2012. What was it like to receive that honour?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">That was another surprise, as I didn’t know that happened! Back then ‘Classic FM’ contacted me to tell me I’d won that accolade and it was great, as there are so many fine composers writing today, so it was amazing to be amongst so many of those.</span>What are your plans for 2020?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I’m doing less now at the university so I can spend more time composing and travelling, so I’ll be spending most of my time this year in America. I wrote a requiem in 2018 - The Souls of the Righteous – and there are around twenty performances of that this year, so I’m trying to attend as many of those as possible. The first Canadian performance is happening in Alberta and then I’m heading to Minneapolis, and to New York then to Connecticut. There are two CDs of mine coming out this year: Serenity and Blessing, and have been featured on ‘Classic FM’.</span>Do you find audiences in America and Canada different to a British audience?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Actually I think they’re very similar. The only real difference is the American audiences are more keen to come and speak to you, whereas the British audiences tend to want to go home and have a cup of tea! Both are fine, though, I don’t mind either.</span>I’ve had some great experiences over in the US. There was a sold-out performance of my requiem at Carnegie Hall and have had some wonderful chats with people. Because composing tends to be such a solitary thing, spending most of your time in a room writing music, it’s so lovely to meet people who might have sung a piece. That is lovely.One of the things that I’ve found most moving over the last ten years has been hearing from people who have chosen my music for when someone they know has died or is ill. I had a wonderful letter from a lady just before Christmas who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and she plays my music for comfort, which is a beautiful thing to hear, that it can bring comfort and light to someone during a dark time in their life.What do you hope people will learn from the day and take away from it?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I think that the first thing will be that they will have a good time! We’re going to enjoy ourselves, with plenty of stories about things I’ve been involved in. The second thing will be the performance. I’m going to teach them pieces that they may never have sung before and I can hopefully open their eyes to some new repertoire.</span>There will also be some old stuff which some of them might know. I think those taking part will get a lot of things out of it. The most important thing, though, will be the choir camaraderie, in that we’ll be all together as one.After the day will those taking part have a chance to follow-up what they learnt?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">It’ll be one of the things I’ll definitely be talking about. Some people who come along to these singing days may have never done anything like this, and so where do they go from there? There are plenty of choirs they can get involved with and join, including at the cathedral itself. But there will also be other singing days with other composers, who may offer different ideas on the same pieces, which I always find fascinating. There are be a whole host of things people can do to build on the day.</span>Finally, if you could sum up what people can expect from the day what would it be?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Each person will have a certain set of criteria of what they’re after. I think if you’re going there as a singer, what you’ll get out of it is the composer’s take on the music which you can’t get from anybody else. You’ll get the ideas I had about writing these pieces: how they were constructed and how, as a singer, you can change the way you sing to bring the best out of the music. For people who aren’t singers you get a chance to work with a living composer, who has actually written this music, which is actually quite special, as if you go to sing the repertoire of Bach or Mozart, of course they aren’t there! For some people they want to hear what the composer’s say, from the horse’s mouth. It’s a special thing, and gives a different slant to how the music will be sung and performed.</span>The Bradford Cathedral singing day with Professor Paul Mealor takes place on Saturday 14th March from 10am – 6pm. Tickets are just £15+bf with an optional lunch available for £3+bf. Tickets can be booked online at singing-day-paul-mealor.eventbrite.co.uk or by visiting the cathedral office.
Award-winning classical saxophonist and current Bradford Cathedral what’s-on cover star, Rob Burton won the Woodwind Category Final and was a Grand Finalist in BBC Young Musician 2018. Rob currently studies on a full scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music with Huw Wiggin and previously at the Junior Guildhall School of Music, where he was a Sax.co.uk Scholarship holder. We caught up with him ahead of his February Coffee Concert here at Bradford Cathedral as he waited for some emergency repairs to his saxophone, to talk about his musical background, what to expect from him at his concert, and what it was like to play on national television.Could you give background to you as a musician?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I got into music because my friends started recorder lessons at primary school. Even though I wasn’t signed up for these recorder lessons I thought that it sounded awesome and that I really wanted to do that as well. My parents went out and bought me a recorder and I started taking the lessons. I think because I enjoyed it so much I really got the hang of it a lot quicker than a lot of my friends. I guess I naturally progressed onto the saxophone after playing the recorder for four-or-five years.</span>The reason I chose the saxophone was because my parents absolutely adored the instrument. They actually made a CD for me of all their favourite pop saxophone solos, so it had songs on it like Baker Street and those kind of tunes. I used to listen to that when I was eight-or-nine and I fell in love with the saxophone and couldn’t wait to start playing it.Could you tell us a little about the pieces you’re going to play?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I’ll be playing a complete mixture of kind-of classical saxophone repertoire. I say kind-of classical because you shouldn’t expect pieces from composers like Mozart or Beethoven. They’ll be quite a lot of crossovers. I’ll be playing some pieces by Piazzolla which is kind-of classical music, but tango-inspired, and other work that has Spanish or jazz influences, as well as some Fauré. It’ll be a complete mixture: it’ll be a programme that showcases the saxophone in many different lights.</span>You were a grand finalist in the BBC Young Musician 2018. What was it like to get that far?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">It was absolutely amazing, and very surreal. I entered the competition thinking I’d never even get past the first round and so, as I progressed through the rounds, it got weirder every time! Ending up on television, playing in front of so many people watching at home and performing with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was an incredible experience, but a weird one. It went so quickly; it was phenomenal.</span>Did you find it nerve-racking?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I think because the competition took place over several months, it was like a whirlwind of emotions. I had to do lots of practice and meet so many amazing people, and really pushing myself hard, I don’t think I got too nervous. I was propelled by the whole experience!</span>You did some work with the young musicians of the Jersey Symphony Orchestra last year; do you enjoy inspiring other musicians?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Yes, definitely. I’ve done a few masterclass workshops recently, and done presentations to primary schools. I even went back to my old school. Doing things like getting young people interested in music and introducing playing an instrument to them is very rewarding for me, as it feels like I’m making an impact. Also, it’s lovely to see how much they all enjoy it.</span>What’s been your favourite place to play?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">That’s a very difficult question! I do really love playing music by Piazzolla. It’s has the classical side of music that I enjoy but it’s got this freedom, from the tango influences. His writing is either beautifully lyrical, or really raw and has a typical tango ‘drive’ -which is great fun to play!</span>You also play as part of a trio and quartet; does this help keep things fresh and interesting for you?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Yes, it does. Collaborating with other musicians is probably one of my favourite things. Whether that’s with a pianist or a trio or quarter, everyone brings so many ideas to the table; it’s not just always what I’m thinking all the time. I find it extremely inspiring to be with such amazing musicians like my peers at the Royal Academy of Music. And it gives me lots of notes to learn!</span>You are also a keen pencil artist – how did that come about?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">From the down time I do get (as I have a very busy schedule of practicing and concerts) I do enjoy doing art. I take on quite a few drawing commissions, usually animals or portraits, so that gives me something to do when I’m not practicing! I absolutely love doing it, and it gives me the chance to relax a bit, and take a break from music.</span>What else do you have lined up for 2020?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I’ve got lots of concerts lined-up. I’m playing all around the UK, then in Switzerland, Italy, in the Cayman Islands, and I’ve got lots of studying planned all over Europe. My dream is to just keep doing what I’m doing, and working with lots of young musicians and getting them involved with music. And to keep enjoying it!</span>Finally, have you had a place you’ve particularly enjoyed performing?<span style="font-size: 1rem;">I think performing at Buckingham Palace was one of my favourite experiences! The audience was made up of some amazing international musicians who were so great to meet.</span>Join us on Tuesday 11th February from 11am for our Coffee Concert with Rob Burton. Entry is free and refreshments are available from 10:30am.
