Out of the Cask: Celebrating Julia Perry Composer
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal Northern College of Music
Department Name: Research Office
Abstract
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| Description | When the award was granted there was a very small specialist group of people who knew about Julia Perry. She had been written about by a few academics and work was stored in manuscript form in three major archives with a few scores in published form and many in archival manuscript form not in a performable state. Since the award there is more awareness of the composer within the music and broadcasting industries through conversations related to the award. There has also been a dissemination of information through the podcast on BBC Sounds and the Afternoon Concert on BBC Radio 3 with the BBC Philharmonic and Clare Hammond playing Julia Perry's Prelude for Piano and an evening concert Rediscovered Composers 19:30 Fri 4 Nov 2022 BBC Philharmonic on BBC Radio 3 presenting what was possibly the premiere of Julia Perry's Piano Concerto no. 2 with the pianist, Kunal Lahiry, and introduced by the researcher for the project,. Through the research, the researcher discovered other scholars who have been working on Julia Perry's output and her life. Together with Dr Louise Toppin of the University of Michigan School of Music and Dance, the researcher has formed the Julia Perry Working Group! to coordinate research and activity on the composer and work towards a celebration of her work and life for the centenary of her birth. The group aims to pinpoint activities related to work, collaborate to bring information and research to a central platform and coordinate scholarship and performance into an international platform of celebration. In addition to these performances, the research organised and produced a semi-staged reading of Julia Perry's opera, The Cask of Amontillado. The reading took place at the Royal Northern College of Music and was limited to students, faculty, and staff of the college. The performance was used to introduce the vocal music of Julia Perry to members of the college and to explore her particular mid-twentieth-century vocal writing and learning strategies for your young singers. There were three main parts assigned to postgraduate students and a smal chorus of five women of mixed undergraduate and postgraduate levels, a postgraduate student conductor, staff vocal coach, and a répétiteur. The research acted as director, producer, set and costume designer. There was a separate digital set backdrop designed by a professional videographer and the lighting was provided by the technical team at the Royal Northern. The opera provided the all involved their first engagement with Julia Perry, with a mid-twentieth-century modernist composer, with serial music, and with a composition by an African-heritage composer. The performers were offered coachings, and rehearsals as they would have been with any other operatic conductors. Even though scores were used in the production, there was also basic movement and some choreography. This research has also reignited scholarship already in train and joined together efforts in scholarship in performance in the UK, the United States, and Italy |
| Exploitation Route | The work to plan an international celebration of Julia Perry's work is in train. There are plans for a major celebration at one of the UK's leading conservatoires and conversations with the BBC to continue exploring this work. There are also discussions about celebrating the legacy of Julia Perry and her family. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/events/composers/d0ca4bda-82ee-421e-9a2f-64e4e002cb31 |
| Description | The research on Julia Perry has led to an international collaboration amongst a group of academics and performers dedicated to promoting Julia Perry's work and celebrating the centenary of her birth in 2024. These celebrations will take place in various places internationally including: Manchester (Royal Northern College of Music and BBC Philharmonic), Ann Arbor, Michigan (University of Michigan), Akron, Ohio (Akron Symphony Orchestra), Lexington, Kentucky (Julia Perry's birthplace). The Royal Northern College of Music will also dedicate a week to these celebrations including a master classes, and lectures. Though this has not had a specific measurable and immediate global impact, it has offered students, faculty, and audience within the targeted institutions and audiences of the BBC and various podcasts a broader sense of what the music canon should be - that is, including more people of colour and women composers. Julia Perry fits into both of these categories. The performances have potentially reached millions of people. The work has also allowed for some examination of the societal barriers to success and recognition in classical music by underrepresented composers and provided a platform for that omission to be rectified. This exploration has and probably will continue to challenge and change policy in public organisations programming classical music in the UK. This work and similar research has certainly had an influence and impact in the academic institutions in the UK. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | BBC Philharmonic Concert, Salford Studios - Rediscovered Composers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | On Friday, 4 November 2022, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra presented a concert entitled "Rediscovered Composers" at it's Salford Studios to an invited audience (through application for tickets) and a wider radio audience (BBC Radio 3). It was presented through a collaboration between BBC Philharmonic, Radio 3 and UK Research and Innovation's (UKRI) Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The concert was the culmination of the research work done by the scholars on this scheme. The concert had been postponed due to Covid restrictions. An initial concert highlighting the same composers had been given on Wednesday, 2 February 2022. The programme included: R. Nathaniel Dett - Magnolia Suite Part Two: No 4 'Mammy'; Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges - Sinfonia concertante in B flat Op 6 No 2; Julia Perry Piano Concerto No.2; R. Nathaniel Dett -The Daybreak Charioteer; Margaret Bonds -Troubled Water; Ali Osman - From the South; Kikuko Kanai - Ryukyu where the Deigo flowers blossom; Margaret Bonds - Montgomery Variations. The purpose of the performance was to highlight composers who have made significant contributions but for one reason or another have not been included in the canon or orchestral/instrumental repertoire. For the purposes of this researcher's work that composer was Julia Perry (1924-1979), a mid-twentieth-century modernist composer. Each piece was introduced on live radio (Radio 3) by researcher representing the respective composer. They were interviewed by the present, Linton Stephens before each piece was played. It was a successful and well received recital. For this particular project, it was significant that this was likely the European, if not the world premiere of the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in Two Uninterrupted Speeds ossia Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra. (Due to a need for further research on Julia Perry's later works, this has not yet been substantiated.) It was the first time for the researcher and everyone in the audience to hear the piece performed. It highlighted the skill and talent of Julia Perry as a composer in creating a soundscape, masterful orchestration, and variety of texture and colour with minimal material. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ecb6gw |
| Description | Diversity in Music: BBC Philharmonic play music by "Forgotten" composers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On 2 February 2022, the BBC Philharmonic played pieces by underrepresented composers in their recording studio in Salford. Because the pandemic, this was the first direct in engagement with the performing forces of the BBC and the first broadcast directly related to this grant. The audience was limited in the studio, but the broader impact was significant. There were many people who listened on the BBC as the broadcast went out on the Afternoon Concert at 14.00 GMT on BBC Radio 3. s. The BBC Philharmonic played orchestral pieces by Joseph Boulogne, Margaret Bonds, and Ali Osman with solo piano pieces by Nathaniel Dett, Kikuko Kanai, and Julia Perry played by Clare Hammond. There was also some historical information and background shared by the presenters, Tom McKinney and Linton Stephens. Though the researchers were not interviewed in the broadcast, we were invited to be part of the reduced audience (20 people) for the performance in the studio. The original performance was meant to happen in public with an audience and be recorded. Though that could not happen due to the pandemic, this radio performance has already started to make an impact with many people commenting on the radio broadcast. It will also be there as long as the recorded archives last and there will be the possibility for re-broadcast and research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001414g |
| Description | Opera Reading (RNCM) The Cask of Amontillado |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The purpose of the reading of the Cask of Amontillado was to expose the students, staff, and faculty at the Royal Northern College of Music to the vocal works ofJulia Perry. The activity allowed students and staff: To explore: 1. the techniques employed in a mid-century serialist opera 2. specific methods of learning for such a piece of music 3. a different soundscapes and vocal production unfamiliar to the students. It afforded most of them a first chance to explore the works of an African-heritage woman composer. The event was attended by approximately 25 pp and we received positive feedback both from the Deputy Head for Voice, the Head of Composition, and the (former)Head of the BBC Philharmonic. The researcher produced and directed a semi-staged reading with movement, costumes, and props in order to give the students a fuller experience of performing the opera. The three students singing a principal role were given coaching by a staff coach, rehearsals with a staff répétiteur, a rehearsals with a student conductor. The five chorus members were rehearsed by the conductor and the répétiteur. A backdrop was provided by a professional designer and the lighting was provided by the RNCM technical department. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Web Interview with BBC Sounds Arts and Ideas -New Thinking: Diverse Classical Music |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This is an interview on the BBC Sounds website. The interview was an opportunity to talk about my research on Julia Perry and discuss general aspects of her life and composition. The platform was shared with two other recipients of the AHRC/BBC award Christopher Dingle, a Professor of Music at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Mai Kawabata, from the Royal College of Music, is a musicologist and violinist. The intention was to make the information of research widely available to the general public for extended period of time. We were interviewed by Christienna Fryar. The programme was produced by Amelia Parker. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0bk26w2 |